Catalyst with Shayle Kann

Electric transmission development is notoriously difficult, and these days, NIMBYism gets the brunt of the blame. But as data center loads surge and electricity prices climb, there’s a new roadblock –  the messy world of multi-state cost allocation.

The Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) — a planned 100-mile, $960 million transmission line stretching across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia — was approved by PJM in 2022 under standard rules that spread costs across the entire region. But that plan was made before ChatGPT took off and data center forecasts shot upwards. 

Fast forward four years, and now state consumer advocates are asking why local ratepayers should foot the bill for an infrastructure project designed to feed data centers in northern Virginia.

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Maeve Allsup, senior reporter at Latitude Media, to unpack her reporting on the project. They dive into how the rise of generative AI has disrupted traditional grid planning and explore why this challenge has proven to be such an impactful rate limiter for the AI boom.

[Correction: In this episode, Shayle and Maeve refer to MARL as the Mid-Atlantic Reliability Line. The correct name is the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link. We regret the error.]

Shayle and Maeve discuss topics like:

- How a project approved in 2022 hit a vastly different policy and regulatory landscape by the time it reached state dockets

- Why data center growth breaks the historic assumption that regional transmission costs eventually "even out" between states

- How the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — a voluntary commitment signed by tech hyperscalers at the White House — is being harnessed by state advocates as a cudgel to demand data centers pay for grid upgrades

- Why the United States has gone from building thousands of miles of transmission a decade ago to just hundreds today

- How the intersection of local opposition and confusion over utility tariffs is delaying grid buildouts

Resources

- Latitude Media: How the Ratepayer Protection Pledge became a transmission hurdle in PJM

- Latitude Media: FERC to grid operators: Connect large loads to transmission faster

- Catalyst: Looking for a turnaround in transmission

- Catalyst: The rise of flexible data centers

- Catalyst: AI scaling pathways: On grid, on edge, off grid, off planet

- Open Circuit: Grid utilization vs expansion: The 100 GW debate

- Open Circuit: A five-alarm fire for the grid?

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Tune into Critical Capital, a brand new podcast from Crux and Latitude Studios. Hosted by Crux CEO Alfred Johnson, Critical Capital explores the interlocking forces powering clean and critical infrastructure. Join us every other Tuesday for in-depth conversations at the intersection of energy, government, finance, and global markets. Listen here, or wherever you get podcasts.

Catalyst is brought to you by FischTank PR, an award-winning climate and energy tech, renewables, and sustainability-focused PR firm dedicated to elevating the work of both early-stage and established companies. Learn more about their PR approach and how they can support your company’s messaging by visiting fischtankpr.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

While many energy insiders remain focused on the staggering demand coming from AI and data centers, a much larger and far-reaching shift is happening. We are entering what Energy Impact Partners’ head of research Andy Lubershane calls the "electric supercycle" — a series of interlocking technological flywheels that are accelerating the clean energy transition faster than many may realize.

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Andy to map out the interconnected nature of the "electric stack.” They unpack how early investments in solar and EVs are scaling up technologies that are now feeding back into grid infrastructure, and look ahead to the massive electricity demands of the coming robotics and defense industry boom. They also consider the pressing question of the ultimate rate limiters for meeting this demand.

Shayle and Andy discuss topics like:

- The power grid supply crunch

- Why electricity prices have tracked inflation so far, but may surge past it when equipment costs hit retail customer bills.

- The four pillars of the electroindustrial tech stack: Solar PV, lithium-ion batteries, EVs, and wide-bandgap power electronics

- How a "Robo-Butler" load profile compares to other household appliances

- How the defense industry could catalyze climate tech, especially batteries

- Why physical transmission corridors remain the top rate limiter for the energy transition

- Andy Lubershane’s Substack post, “Riding the Electric Supercycle”

- Catalyst: Five big questions about the future of energy (with Andy Lubershane)

- Catalyst: Surprising trends in global electricity generation

- Catalyst: Live from Transition-AI 2026: Inside Google’s massive AI capex

- Catalyst: AI scaling pathways: On grid, on edge, off grid, off planet

- Open Circuit: America’s electricity rage is here

- Open Circuit: Have we run out of big ideas to fix the grid?

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Tune into Critical Capital, a brand new podcast from Crux and Latitude Studios. Hosted by Crux CEO Alfred Johnson, Critical Capital explores the interlocking forces powering clean and critical infrastructure. Join us every other Tuesday for in-depth conversations at the intersection of energy, government, finance, and global markets. Listen here, or wherever you get podcasts.

Catalyst is brought to you by FischTank PR, an award-winning climate and energy tech, renewables, and sustainability-focused PR firm dedicated to elevating the work of both early-stage and established companies. Learn more about their PR approach and how they can support your company’s messaging by visiting fischtankpr.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

In 2020, China exported about a million cars a year. Now, it’s tracking somewhere around twelve million — surpassing the historic peaks of giants like Japan and Germany. 

Yet this massive global shift feels nearly invisible in the U.S. A 100% tariff on Chinese vehicles, combined with strict rules keeping Chinese hardware and software off American roads, has effectively built a regulatory wall around the domestic market. But in virtually every other corner of the globe, Chinese automakers are dramatically reshaping markets — from Europe and Southeast Asia to Latin America and Canada.

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Michael Dunne, the CEO of Dunne Insights and author of the upcoming book Car Wars. Shayle and Michael map out the chaotic dynamics of the global auto market and consider what’s actually happening inside China’s automotive powerhouse. And they explore the biggest question of all: can America permanently shield legacy automakers, or is it just delaying an inevitable wave?

Shayle and Michael discuss topics including:

- How China successfully applied its massive manufacturing capacity to the automobile industry.

- The market forces governing China’s massive car exports

- Unpacking the two tiers of Chinese automakers: Legacy scale giants like BYD, Geely, and SAIC versus the "Teslas of China” like Xiaomi, Xpeng, Leapmotor, and Nio.

- Why China’s expansion is already forcing major European and Japanese automakers to plan for closures and layoffs.

- How regulatory frameworks in China are accelerating the commercialization of autonomous driving far quicker than in the U.S.

- Concerns over cybersecurity in Chinese automobiles

- Driving with Dunne podcast

- Catalyst: Repurposing EV batteries for grid storage

- Catalyst: Demystifying the Chinese EV market

- Catalyst: Has Humble Robotics cracked the code on autonomous trucking?

- Open Circuit: The AI race is really an electro-industrial race, led by China

- Latitude Media: Rivian and EnergyHub are teaming up on managed charging

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Tune into Critical Capital, a brand new podcast from Crux and Latitude Studios. Hosted by Crux CEO Alfred Johnson, Critical Capital explores the interlocking forces powering clean and critical infrastructure. Join us every other Tuesday for in-depth conversations at the intersection of energy, government, finance, and global markets. Listen here, or wherever you get podcasts.

Catalyst is brought to you by FischTank PR, an award-winning climate and energy tech, renewables, and sustainability-focused PR firm dedicated to elevating the work of both early-stage and established companies. Learn more about their PR approach and how they can support your company’s messaging by visiting fischtankpr.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

While global electricity demand is unquestionably rising, we may nonetheless be underestimating the scale of necessary future generation.

In this episode, Shayle speaks to Nic Fulghum, senior energy and climate data analyst at Ember. Nic is the co-author of Ember’s annual Global Electricity Review. This year’s installment, released in April, demonstrates that renewable sources – and solar in particular – are continuing to grow exponentially, even as those markets mature. In 2025, solar generation grew by a remarkable 30% year-over-year globally; its highest rate in eight years.

At the same time, global fossil generation declined in 2025, driven by drops in coal generation in both China and India. But as solar surges, how quickly grid-connected batteries can step in to absorb peak demand remains to be seen.

In their conversation, Shayle and Nic dive deep into the data behind global electricity generation in 2025 and consider the future of the grid. They explore a range of topics, including: 

- Why Ember’s report focuses on generation instead of capacity

- How solar continues to maintain exponential growth rates

- Why fossil generation has dropped in China and India

- How battery storage is being used to shift midday solar peaks to shoulder hours

- What the US’ LNG supply glut means for its power grid trajectory

Resources

- Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026

- Catalyst: 2026 trends: Gas turbines, Texas’ load queue, and China electrifies

- Catalyst: More 2026 trends: Solar costs, oil oversupply, and the startup slump

- Catalyst: Scaling America’s domestic solar supply chain

- Open Circuit: Clean energy didn’t collapse in 2025. It adapted

- Open Circuit: State of the transition: Oil shocks, power prices, and grid bottlenecks

- Latitude Media: The Iran war doesn’t give China an energy advantage. The US did

- Latitude Media: Putting numbers on China’s cleantech influence abroad

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Tune into Critical Capital, a brand new podcast from Crux and Latitude Studios. Hosted by Crux CEO Alfred Johnson, Critical Capital explores the interlocking forces powering clean and critical infrastructure. Join us every other Tuesday for in-depth conversations at the intersection of energy, government, finance, and global markets. Listen here, or wherever you get podcasts.

Catalyst is brought to you by FischTank PR, an award-winning climate and energy tech, renewables, and sustainability-focused PR firm dedicated to elevating the work of both early-stage and established companies. Learn more about their PR approach and how they can support your company’s messaging by visiting fischtankpr.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

Amidst the increasing urgency of powering data centers, a new solution has entered the mix: send them out to sea.

In this episode, Shayle speaks to Garth Sheldon-Coulson, co-founder and CEO of Panthalassa. The company is building 85-meter steel "nodes" – taller than Big Ben – that it deploys into the deep ocean. These untethered, self-propelled nodes harness wave energy to power AI clusters, then beam their data back to land via satellite. The technology isn’t without its fair share of logistic complications, but it nonetheless offers a pathway to powering the AI boom that’s largely independent from grid or fuel constraints.

Shayle and Garth cover topics including:

- The physics and mechanics that power Panthalassa’s nodes

- The significance of building an autonomous fleet

- The energy generation waiting to be tapped in the open ocean

- The logistics and unit economics behind scaling Panthalassa’s technology

- Why deep-sea compute is well-suited for long-running workloads like inference and reinforcement learning

- Catalyst: AI scaling pathways: On grid, on edge, off grid, off planet

- Catalyst: How to build more hydropower

- Latitude Media: Are Thiel-funded floating data centers enough to make wave energy pencil? 

- Open Circuit: Grid utilization vs expansion: The 100 GW debate

- Latitude Media: What geothermal can learn from offshore wind’s demise

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

Tune into Critical Capital, a brand new podcast from Crux and Latitude Studios. Hosted by Crux CEO Alfred Johnson, Critical Capital explores the interlocking forces powering clean and critical infrastructure. Join us every other Tuesday for in-depth conversations at the intersection of energy, government, finance, and global markets. Listen here, or wherever you get podcasts.

Catalyst is brought to you by FischTank PR, an award-winning climate and energy tech, renewables, and sustainability-focused PR firm dedicated to elevating the work of both early-stage and established companies. Learn more about their PR approach and how they can support your company’s messaging by visiting ⁠fischtankpr.com⁠.