Programming Notes
No. 14 | April 21, 2025
I am North America this week, on a localized whirlwind of events for San Francisco Climate Week and an investor conference in Toronto. The mechanisms of global travel felt mechanical enough, on the long inbound flight.
Since I last wrote in this channel, I cannot say that anything has become more certain in geopolitics or macroeconomics except for ‘more uncertainty’.
Fond as I am of charts, here is another chart measuring global economic policy uncertainty. The highest since the index began, and mind you…this series is only through January.
With a full travel slate in mind, a few programming notes so to speak.
Halcyon
1. First in-person event during SFCW, 24 April
Delighted to be hosting Halcyon’s first in-person event during San Francisco Climate Week: a dive into product and service and a chance to meet our team in our Jackson Square headquarters. We still have a few spots left for registration. If you are in town, please join us. Registration link
2. 10 Things
For some months now I have been writing a weekly “what we learned” recounting a handful of notable, or compelling, or simply strange filings from the enormous corpus of US electricity regulatory documents. It surprises me somewhat to hear how well-liked it is, and so we are expanding in scope to 10 things we learned, every week.
Here is the latest.
Then again, maybe I should not be surprised. This arc reminds me of Benedict Evans’ decade-old dictum that “all curation grows until it requires search, all search grows until it requires curation.”
3. 50 States
My co-founder Bruce Falck has written a crisp summation of what comes next: crawling and then collecting every US state (we are approaching 40 at the moment). I think of it not just as an expanded scope, but as a completion of scope in one dimension. What comes next is exciting – there is much to build on the solid substructure of complete intake.
4. More Alerts
Halcyon’s alerting capabilities are growing apace with its collectors. Interested in one state, or one topic, or even one docket? Sign up here. Free, direct to your inbox, and useful.
Events and speaking
1. CIBC Electrification Summit, Toronto, 23 April
I am pleased to be keynoting this very timely event looking not just at energy demand growth, but specifically electricity demand in the future. Electrification is not just a change of energetic inputs; it’s a process shift through and across industries. The event is invite-only, but I recorded a podcast on key themes that’s free to air.
Here is a chart from the cutting room floor: there is no such thing as a high-income, low-electricity economy.
2. G2 Venture Partners, San Francisco, 24 April
A conversation with managing partner Ben Kortlang, reflecting on the past two decades of clean (now climate) tech, with a look ahead to the next two decades. link
3. Product-Market Fit for Climate Founders, San Francisco, 24 April
Led by Peter Nocchiero, the founder of Alternate Future, with Priscilla Tyler of True Ventures and yours truly. Peter will debut his work on product-market fit for climate, and Priscilla and I will join to discuss. A packed room already, but we would love to have you. link
4. Prelude Climate Summit, Napa, 7 May
Always a thoughtful and compelling event and a highlight of the year for founders and investors.
If you are in town for anything above - drop me a note and say hi.
Evening/Weekend/Travel reading
A few of the better longer-form essays or thought experiments I’ve read of late.
Bridgewater Associates’ examination of the state of decarbonization technology today. A few of my charts within. link
Carlyle’s “The New Joule Order”. Jeff Currie has a rightly-deserved high reputation as a commodity strategist. He is also a wonderful writer. link
Carbon Direct’s whitepaper on carbon capture for natural gas-fired power generation. Very timely, right now, given data center power demand projections. link
And worth listening: Shayle Kann’s interview with the report’s lead author Julio Friedmann for the Catalyst podcast. link
I am setting my speaking schedule for the second half of the year.
If you are interested in a keynote or a board briefing, you can reach me here.
