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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: Our 2026 Grid PredictionsÂ
We’re barely into 2026, and already it’s full of surprises. This month, Julia and I, along with two of our senior advisors, share our predictions for the year in energy.
We’re also proud to share a new Alliance to Save Energy report co-authored by our own Matt Anderson on how hyperscalers like Google and Microsoft can leverage investments in distributed resources and energy efficiency to create more capacity on the grid.
The Ad Hoc Gist: Four Things Our Team Thinks You Missed in 2025Â
As 2025 wraps up, we asked our team a simple question: What’s one development that flew under the radar this year—something overlooked in the usual energy market coverage—that you believe will have a significant impact in 2026 and beyond?
The answers surprised us. From the politics of electricity bills to a quiet federal tax provision that could reshape residential heating and cooling, this month’s Gist highlights four trends worth watching as we head into the new year.
The Ad Hoc Gist: Who Pays For a Resilient Grid?
The grid is reaching a breaking point. Utilities say they need a trillion dollars for upgrades by 2030. Regulators say: prove it. Somewhere between California’s wildfire zones and Florida’s hurricane corridors, we’re entering a period where every investment decision carries real political and economic consequences.
The core question is no longer whether we need a more resilient grid. It’s how much resilience is enough and who pays?
Blog
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People as Moat – Ad Hoc Expands into Search
In climate tech, we talk a lot about, well, technology. But talk with most CEOs and they’ll share that the hardest part of their job is figuring out how to hire and retain the right people. In my experience, a company’s ability to hire and effectively onboard the right people is what differentiates successful businesses from those that falter. Because, as a CEO, you can have a great vision, but if you don’t have the right people, you can’t execute it.
Press
Know thyself: Advice for climate tech founders
Building a climate tech company is not for the faint-of-heart.
No part of the process is easy; the tech is difficult, customers can be decidedly old-school, and regulation is often complex, for instance. And too often, the innate challenge for founders is compounded by the weight of high valuations, enormous growth targets, and limited exit options.
We don’t have all the answers for navigating what is an increasingly complicated market, but we do have some advice.
We need to rethink climate investing
For climate tech to scale, the collaboration between climate tech founders and capital providers will need to change. It will need to be a durable — and dare we say, sustainable? — relationship, and one designed for deep partnership.Â
To get a sense of what this might look like, it is worth looking backward: to the very first days of Silicon Valley venture capital and the case of Intel. The company was founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore with an innovative capital model proposed by Arthur Rock. Intel was given a $2.5 million pre-money valuation in 1968 — the equivalent of $21 million today — and Rock invested $2.5 million.
Is winter coming for climate tech?
We’re worried about climate tech.
We lived through cleantech 1.0 (b. 2007, d. 2011), and we see signs of similar mistakes unfolding this time around. And the problems are not restricted to a single group. Both founders and venture capitalists need to re-think their approach to the market.
On the one hand, founders need to deeply assess the business they’re building, and create a capital plan that fits their model — not every company is built to be a unicorn. On the other, VCs need to re-assess how they partner with startups, and consider paths that involve more ownership and increased operational expertise. For both sides, it’s time to focus on putting points on the board.
Podcast
Hear more from our leadership on My Climate Journey and Technopolis.