Catalyst with Shayle Kann

Despite its ability to deliver ample carbon-free energy, the potential of geothermal and EGS is limited by the number of drilling sites close enough to the earth’s surface.

But a few pioneering companies have landed on a potential solution: dig way deeper.

In this episode, Shayle speaks with Carlos Araque, the founder of Quaise Energy. The company has developed millimeter-wave drills to vaporize rock, allowing them to dig up to twelve miles underground in search of water around 800 degrees Fahrenheit. That super hot and "supercritical" water packs a huge punch: ten times more energy density than traditional geothermal.

Shayle and Carlos explore a range of topics, including:

Why 800 degree water is the “ideal” temperature for deep geothermal

How "activating" permeability in deep rock differs from traditional fracking

The state of Quaise’s Oregon project pilot, including their goal of a commercial-grade flow test by the end of 2026

How the LCOE of super hot geothermal compares to traditional baseload energy sources

Resources


Catalyst: How geothermal gets built


Open Circuit: Is this geothermal’s breakout moment?


Latitude Media: Armed with $115 million, geothermal startup Zanskar gets ready to build


Green Blueprint: Sage Geosystems’ bet on geothermal energy storage


Latitude Media: Fervo’s Tim Latimer is ‘bullish’ on DOE funding for geothermal

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 Uplight. Uplight activates energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy—improving grid resilience and energy affordability while accelerating decarbonization. Learn how Uplight is helping utilities unlock flexible load at scale at uplight.com. 

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate, energy, and infrastructure leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.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.

They’re at it again. Two years after they last teamed up for a Volts/Catalyst crossover episode, David Roberts joins Shayle for another far-ranging conversation exploring the future of energy. Their prompt was simple: Each host brought three critical questions they want to see answered in the next decade.

From “data center fever” to closed-loop critical mineral economics, Shayle and David take the opportunity to dive deep into a myriad of second-order effects of the clean energy transition.

In the hour-long conversation, the two hosts cover topics including:

The coming explosion of self-driving cars, and whether it will fuel urban sprawl

The feasibility of "electrifying everything” and whether a proliferation of “micro-DERs” in home devices will create create a more efficient grid or a software-fueled dystopia

The future of off-grid data centers

Whether the pros of geoengineering and solar radiation modification, or SRM, outweigh the potential moral hazards

Resources:


Catalyst: The Volts crossover episode


Catalyst: The plug-in DER case for small businesses


Catalyst: AMA: Geoengineering, nuclear, power prices, and more


Open Circuit: Tesla’s fork in the road


Latitude Media: The growing free-market push to let data centers go off 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.

Catalyst is brought to you by Uplight. Uplight activates energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy—improving grid resilience and energy affordability while accelerating decarbonization. Learn how Uplight is helping utilities unlock flexible load at scale at uplight.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate, energy, and infrastructure leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.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.

For decades, the physical equipment underpinning the electric grid has remained largely unchanged: passive, "dumb" devices installed as far back as the 1970s that lack much real-time control. But today, in the face of skyrocketing energy demand, a new class of technologies has emerged.

In this episode, Drew Baglino, the founder and CEO of Heron Power, returns to the show to discuss his company’s new generation of solid-state transformers, or SSTs. After a 17-year career at Tesla — where he led energy and powertrain development — Drew is now focused on replacing the grid’s aging infrastructure with these advanced power electronics.

Shayle and Drew take a deep dive into the history of the power transistor, and then explore how the SST has the potential to transform the grid into a highly optimized and intelligent machine. They cover topics like:

The evolution of power electronics

Why we still haven’t fixed the transformer shortage

How Heron Power’s SSTs remove legacy transformers and switches to create a substantial uplift for project developers

The potential to remove 70% of traditional electrical equipment at data centers by distributing power directly to the rack

Why Drew thinks SSTs offer a "pathway toward affordability"

Resources


Catalyst: Drew Baglino on Tesla’s master plan


Latitude Media: Inside Heron Power’s plan to transform the grid


Catalyst: Understanding the electric transformer shortage


Open Circuit: The grid resilience dilemma


Latitude Media: These Autogrid alums want to change how data centers use power

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 Uplight. Uplight activates energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy—improving grid resilience and energy affordability while accelerating decarbonization. Learn how Uplight is helping utilities unlock flexible load at scale at uplight.com. 

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate, energy, and infrastructure leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.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.

Last year, the PJM capacity crunch became a focal point for an entire industry struggling to navigate the explosive growth of hyperscaler data centers. Yet even in the first two months of 2026, capacity prices have continued to skyrocket, and the economics of energy generation have only become more tenuous. 

In this episode, Shayle Kann talks to Paul Segal, the CEO of LS Power. A major player in the space, LS Power owns a diverse portfolio of generation, storage, and transmission assets across the U.S.

Shayle and Paul dive into the volatility currently defining the two most talked-about power markets in the country: PJM and ERCOT. They cover topics like:

How PJM flipped nearly overnight from a state of "stasis" to a capacity shortage


The federal government's emergency order to make large data centers "pay their way" 


Why 10 gigawatts of expected load failed to show up during the recent Texas winter storm


Why Paul sees ERCOT as a “cyclical” market that is currently difficult for new gas generation, despite massive load growth


Paul’s strategy for ensuring sufficient “bridge” generation before new large-scale projects come online

Resources


Catalyst: PJM and the capacity crunch


Latitude Media: PJM’s $178 billion fork in the road


Catalyst: The potential for flexible data centers

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 Uplight. Uplight activates energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy—improving grid resilience and energy affordability while accelerating decarbonization. Learn how Uplight is helping utilities unlock flexible load at scale at uplight.com. 

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate, energy, and infrastructure leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.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.

Spurred by a suite of executive orders and investments from the federal government, new nuclear reactors are coming soon. Or the announcements are at least. 

The advanced nuclear sector has found itself in the spotlight as companies race to acquire licenses and permits aimed at achieving "criticality.” But what do these milestones signify? And is hitting the deadlines even feasible?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Katy Huff,  former assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Department of Energy and current associate professor at the University of Illinois. They unpack the wave of new nuclear announcements, the realities of navigating an arcane regulatory gauntlet, and what Katy considers a realistic timeline for new nuclear deployment.

Shayle and Katy cover topics like:


The NRC’s “murky” pre-application process


The differences between various licensing pathways


Why Katy views the DOE’s goal to have three reactors reach criticality by July 4th as “an extremely aggressive milestone”


Upcoming revised guidance on nuclear radiation dose rates


The challenges facing the DOE amidst a staff shortage


Katy’s assessment of a feasible timeline for getting new reactors operational


Why Katy doesn’t think microreactors are economically scalable…yet


Catalyst: The US nuclear groundswell


Open Circuit: Inside Meta’s massive nuclear push


Latitude Media: The self-inflicted hurdles facing Trump’s nuclear orders


Latitude Media: The Department of Energy’s 2026 playbook⁠

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 Uplight. Uplight activates energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy—improving grid resilience and energy affordability while accelerating decarbonization. Learn how Uplight is helping utilities unlock flexible load at scale at ⁠uplight.com⁠. 

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate, energy, and infrastructure leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at ⁠antennagroup.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.