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The Gist
The Gist is the monthly newsletter of The Ad Hoc Group that covers everything at the intersection of climate tech and policy. Subscribe at the link here to have The Gist mailed to your inbox each month.
The Ad Hoc Gist: The Pentagon’s Energy Transition
While it’s been a minute since I worked in the Pentagon, I still consider myself a national security professional. After all, energy is the national security issue to which I’ve committed the better part of my career.
In this month’s Gist, my colleague Joshua Grelle and I write about how the energy transition — particularly the growing demand for electricity at home and globally — is transforming our military.
In big AHG news, in partnership with our friends at Latitude Media, we announced the launch of the Power Resilience Forum, a new industry event focused on managing threats to our electric grid. Save the date and come join us in Houston on January 22-23, 2026.
The Ad Hoc Gist: An interview with Biden’s Chief Sustainability Officer
What a difference a few months can make. We take a break from the tumult of the moment, and look back on the last four years with Andrew Mayock, President Biden’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Mayock, who left his post on January 20th, reflects on what they achieved, what might have been, and where we go from here.
In AHG news, we’re thrilled that Michael Kormos has joined us as a Senior Advisor, and Hannah McGrath and Max Davidson have joined as Associates.
The Ad Hoc Gist: Defending the Grid From Wildfires
While the Trump team has frozen federal climate spending and is purging federal employees working on climate policy, calling it “wasteful,” we expect that they will likely come to terms with reality on at least some key issues — even if they use different language to describe it.
That’s because the electric grid is undeniably under attack from wildfires and other forms of extreme weather. Yes, some companies and investors are backtracking from their climate commitments. But when it comes to climate risk and resilience, utilities and their rating agencies are not.
In this month’s Gist, AHG partner Julia Hamm shares how a new class of startups is emerging to help utilities prevent wildfires from taking down the grid. Without a reliable and resilient grid, the Trumpian goals of energy dominance and winning the AI race will prove out of reach.
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Press
Where the Smart Climate Tech Venture Money Is Going in 2025
This year is shaping up to be a dramatic one for climate tech investors.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House is set to shift the US landscape, with the possible rollback of key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, Energy Department loans drying up and weaker regulations. Beyond the US, the prospect of more trade wars is scrambling the economy in ways that will determine which climate tech sectors to bet on.
Meanwhile, headwinds for hydrogen are throwing doubt on its viability, and artificial intelligence is now fully on investors’ radars.
The Regulator’s Dilemma, Part 3
Virtual power plants (VPPs) are poised to revolutionize the power sector by orchestrating distributed energy resources (DERs) — like smart thermostats, household appliances, solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles — into real-time networks of dispatchable capacity. The opportunity is especially significant for advanced VPPs, which aggregate multiple device types, are fully automated and optimized by price signals, provide multiple reliable grid services, are compensated on a pay-for-performance basis, and serve as a true supply-side resource.
Advanced VPPs can offer grid operators significant value by reducing stress on generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure at lower cost than conventional solutions like large-scale batteries, peaker plants, or additional poles and wires.
C&IÂ customer needs are rapidly changing. How can utilities maximize their relationship?
In the blink of an eye, large commercial and industrial customers present big challenges and opportunities.
Commercial and industrial customers have historically been boring to utilities. As long as power was reliable and reasonably priced, utilities hardly ever heard from these customers. They were so boring that, according to a 2023 J.D. Power study, only 15% of C&I customers even had a utility account rep assigned to them. The feeling has been mutual. A representative from a major C&I customer with a large trucking fleet recently said “why would I want to talk to a utility? My job is to move boxes from warehouses to stores.”
Podcast
Hear more from our leadership on My Climate Journey and Technopolis.