The energy grid is becoming more dynamic, but the way we interact with it hasn’t always kept pace. Michael Grasso, Founder & CEO of Grid Rails, is working to change that by making it easier for utilities, businesses, and consumers to connect, control, and transact with the energy devices already around them. In this episode, Michael explains how Grid Rails enables real-time measurement, control, and payments across devices such as EVs, batteries, solar systems, and smart thermostats, as well as why he believes greater flexibility can help utilities get more from existing grid infrastructure.

Listen in as Michael explores what’s holding virtual power plant programs back, why real-time incentives could encourage greater participation, and how businesses can turn energy assets from a cost-saving tool into a potential source of revenue. He also discusses the growing role of large commercial and industrial customers, what data centers are looking for, and why companies need to think more strategically about energy resilience and exposure. You'll hear how emerging technologies could reshape the way we generate and consume power and get Michael's thoughts on the future of distributed energy, from batteries and EVs to more unexpected sources of generation.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• What Grid Rails is building and how it works.
• How metered devices can support grid flexibility.
• Why real-time payments could increase participation.
• How utilities can use flexible energy programs.
• Where commercial and industrial customers fit in.
• Why real-time energy signals could change behavior.
• How businesses can turn energy assets into revenue.
• What data centers are looking for from the grid.
• Why energy resilience is becoming a business priority.
• How emerging technologies could reshape energy generation.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• Michael Grasso: LinkedIn
• Grid Rails
• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/evv9wn2c

In this highlight episode, DeVynne Farquharson explains how organizations can use utility data to uncover cost savings, improve operational efficiency, and build practical sustainability strategies that deliver measurable results. You'll learn how utility bill management, rebate programs, and data analysis can help businesses reduce unnecessary spending while creating a stronger foundation for long-term environmental goals.

DeVynne also shares how his team works with organizations to identify opportunities they may never have spotted on their own, from reducing water consumption and improving energy efficiency to evaluating new technologies and infrastructure upgrades. He discusses the importance of trust, data-driven decision-making, and ROI, while highlighting how businesses can turn utility savings into meaningful investments that support sustainability initiatives across their portfolios.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• How utility bill management reduces costs.
• Why accurate utility data matters.
• Common barriers to sustainability projects.
• How rebates improve project economics.
• The role of ROI in decision-making.
• How data reveals hidden opportunities.
• Strategies for reducing water consumption.
• The value of trusted sustainability partners.
• How businesses prioritize energy projects.
• Ways to accelerate sustainability goals.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• DeVynne Farquharson: LinkedIn
• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/3dmekfe9

What happens to the business case for onsite energy when the incentives that helped drive it start to disappear? In this episode, we explore how changing U.S. energy policy, rising electricity costs, and growing grid investment are reshaping the economics of solar, batteries, and other onsite energy systems. You’ll learn why incentives should be treated as one part of a broader strategy, how to identify the highest-value opportunities across a portfolio, and what businesses should understand before deciding where and when to invest.

The conversation also breaks down the factors that determine whether a project makes financial sense, from electricity usage and demand charges to installation costs, additional value streams, and supplier margins. Listen in to hear why competitive procurement can materially change project economics, how to compare proposals effectively, why a portfolio-wide approach can uncover opportunities that individual sites might miss, and how businesses can build a strategy that remains useful even as the policy environment continues to shift.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• How energy policy is changing the market.
• Why rising electricity costs matter.
• How to evaluate opportunities across a portfolio.
• Why incentives shouldn't drive strategy.
• How to prioritize projects economically.
• What goes into an onsite energy business case.
• How demand charges affect project economics.
• Where onsite energy costs come from.
• Why competitive procurement matters.
• How to evaluate competing project proposals.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• Calvin Fine: LinkedIn
• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/4ykjw53r

What if businesses could take greater control of their energy costs, resilience, and sustainability without relying entirely on the traditional grid? In this highlight episode, we explore the growing opportunity for onsite energy systems and why more business leaders are looking at generating, storing, and managing energy directly where it is needed. You’ll learn what onsite energy can include, how microgrids can help businesses continue operating during grid disruptions, and why understanding your energy consumption is the essential first step towards becoming more energy independent.

We also unpack the key benefits driving the adoption of onsite energy, from improving operational resilience and gaining greater certainty over long-term energy costs to creating new value from existing real estate assets. Plus, we talk about the major barriers businesses face when implementing these systems, including complex planning processes, financial decision-making, technology choices, and the challenge of coordinating multiple stakeholders across large organizations.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• How the traditional utility model is changing.
• What onsite energy systems can include.
• How microgrids provide greater energy independence.
• Why energy monitoring is the essential first step.
• How businesses can benefit from demand response programs.
• Why operational resilience is becoming increasingly important.
• How onsite energy can create greater cost certainty.
• How rising electricity costs are changing business priorities.
• How businesses can unlock more value from their real estate.
• The biggest barriers to implementing onsite energy systems.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/yc3d43tu

What if your rooftop, car park, or unused land could become not just part of your property, but also a source of revenue? In this episode, Gareth joins Tom McGee on the From Where I Sit podcast to explain how commercial real estate owners can take greater control of their energy through onsite generation, storage, and other distributed energy solutions. You’ll learn why aging grid infrastructure, rising energy demand, and falling technology costs are making energy strategy increasingly important for property owners, as well as how solar, batteries, microgrids, and other technologies can help reduce costs, improve resilience, and lower emissions.

Listen in to hear how real estate owners can move beyond simply consuming energy to actively generating, selling, and monetizing it. You'll hear different approaches to energy investment, from leasing rooftop and car park space to developing onsite energy assets and selling power to tenants, the grid, or emerging energy users. Gareth also explains how VECKTA analyzes thousands of data points across a property portfolio to identify the right opportunities, structure projects, and connect owners with suppliers. Beyond the technology, he shares lessons from his journey from energy consulting and working in Iraq to founding a technology company—and why adaptability, trust, and resilience are essential when building a business in a rapidly changing industry.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• How commercial properties can use energy to improve tenant retention.
• How leasing rooftops and car parks can create additional revenue.
• Why commercial businesses are taking greater control of their energy.
• How onsite generation and storage can reduce costs and improve resilience.
• Why aging grid infrastructure is making energy strategy more important.
• How different energy technologies can be matched to specific property needs.
• How real estate owners can generate and sell energy for additional revenue.
• How Veckta analyses property portfolios to identify energy opportunities.
• How technology can simplify energy procurement and supplier selection.
• Why adaptability and resilience are essential when building a business.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• S2E13: How AI Data Centers and Electric Grid Strain Create Challenges and Opportunities for CRE. Gareth Evans, CEO & Co-Founder, VECKTA
• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/3ppbje2e

What if clean energy investments could be measured not just in dollars and emissions, but in lives saved, species protected and economic value created? In this highlight episode, you’ll learn how Andrew DeMille and Quantum Energy are bringing impact analytics into energy decision-making, helping businesses quantify the broader human, environmental and economic outcomes of clean energy projects. Andrew explains how sophisticated grid modelling, AI and machine learning can reveal what happens when new renewable energy projects come online, from the fossil fuel generation they displace to the resulting changes in emissions, health outcomes and ecosystem impacts.

You’ll also discover why these metrics are becoming increasingly important for project approvals, access to capital, corporate reporting and investment decisions. Listen in to hear lessons from major renewable energy projects and how businesses can move beyond a narrow ROI mindset, use impact analytics to de-risk clean energy investments and communicate the value of energy projects in a way that resonates with executives, investors, customers and communities.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• Why energy decisions need impact analytics.
• How grid modelling measures project impacts.
• How renewable energy displaces fossil fuels.
• Why health impacts matter in energy decisions.
• How clean energy can create economic value.
• Why sustainability metrics are becoming financial metrics.
• How impact data can de-risk energy projects.
• Why AI is increasing demand for clean power.
• How businesses can quantify clean energy ROI.
• How to make energy investments more compelling.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• Andrew DeMille: LinkedIn
• Quantum Energy
• Vista Sands Solar Farm
• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/yjcbpb69

What happens when energy and sustainability stop being “nice-to-have” initiatives and become a core part of business strategy? In this episode, Ryan Knudson, Vice President of Energy and Sustainability at Phillips Edison, shares how Phillips Edison is approaching energy and sustainability as a way to manage rising utility costs, protect tenants from future energy headwinds, and create long-term value for shopping centers and the communities they serve.

Listen in as Ryan breaks down the biggest opportunities and challenges facing commercial real estate, from the “triangle of death” between landlords, tenants, and developers to the changing role of utilities and the growing impact of AI and data centers on energy demand. You’ll discover the four potential value streams for distributed energy, as well as how to get internal stakeholders behind sustainability initiatives. Ryan also talks about what could be an overlooked opportunity for reducing grid demand and his vision for a future where energy and sustainability are simply embedded into everyday business decisions.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• Why Ryan sees business as a force for positive change.
• Why community is central to Phillips Edison’s strategy.
• How Phillips Edison built its energy and sustainability program.
• Why rising utility costs are a growing real estate risk.
• How AI and data centers could reshape energy markets.
• Why the landlord-tenant-developer “triangle of death” matters.
• The four value streams for distributed energy.
• How Phillips Edison is scaling its renewable energy strategy.
• Why energy and sustainability must become everyday business.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• Ryan Knudson: LinkedIn
• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/ywturyz2

What happens when AI's demand for electricity grows faster than the grid can keep up? In this highlight episode, we unpack the growing pressure AI data centers are placing on power infrastructure, from rising electricity prices and political backlash to lengthy transmission queues, generation bottlenecks, and the limits of simply building more centralized infrastructure.

Listen in to learn what the recent White House pledge to protect ratepayers actually means, why paying for infrastructure doesn’t necessarily make it appear faster, and why the AI boom is turning electricity from an invisible utility into a boardroom and political issue. You'll hear about the immediate grid strain, as well as a different model for powering AI. We also discuss why training and inference have very different energy requirements, how distributed and edge computing could change where AI infrastructure is located, and how commercial and industrial buildings could become part of the energy solution.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode:

• Why AI is putting unprecedented pressure on the electricity grid.
• How data centers are affecting electricity prices and politics.
• Why funding infrastructure doesn't solve physical bottlenecks.
• The limitations of relying on centralized grid expansion.
• Why AI data centers need reliability and power certainty.
• How training and inference have different energy needs.
• Why edge inference could support more distributed AI infrastructure.
• How existing commercial buildings could unlock hidden capacity.
• What “enabled capacity” means for property owners.
• What AI, energy, and infrastructure leaders should consider next.

Resources in Today's Episode:

• Gareth Evans: LinkedIn
• Dan Roberts: LinkedIn
• VECKTA: News

You can view a video of the conversation on VECKTA's website here: https://tinyurl.com/4haeunym