Energizing Tennessee, powered by the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council and FirstBank, explores the latest news and insights about the advanced energy sector. Join us to hear from advanced energy leaders and experts as they share their thoughts on transportation electrification, workforce development and this growing sector of our state’s economy. We're your #1 podcast for news about Tennessee's advanced energy sector.
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Episode 23: Michael McCall of the Tennessee Valley Authority
21:52
21:52
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Send us a Text Message. Host Cortney Piper interviews Michael McCall, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Vice President of Environment and Sustainability and Chief Sustainability Officer, about the agency’s 2023 Sustainability Report. They discuss how TVA prioritizes sustainability and has shifted its mindset from compliance to stewardship. This shif…
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Episode 22: Daniel Poneman of the U.S. Department of Energy and Centrus Energy
31:38
31:38
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31:38
Send us a Text Message. Host Cortney Piper interviews Daniel Poneman, former president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corporation, United States Deputy Secretary of Energy and chief operating officer of the Department of Energy. He has worked for three United States presidents on issues ranging from nuclear nonproliferation to clean …
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Send us a Text Message. Host Cortney Piper interviews Dr. Chris Burns, Chief Executive Officer of NOVONIX, a leading battery materials and technology company with operations in the United States and Canada. Recently, DOE awarded NOVONIX a $100 million grant and a $103 million tax credit under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Allocation Progra…
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Episode 20: Charles Sims of the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs
19:49
19:49
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Send us a Text Message. Host Cortney Piper interviews Dr. Charles Sims, Director of the Center for Energy, Transportation and Environmental Policy, Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, about the Valley Pathways Study. The Tennessee Valley Authority and the Baker School launched the Valley Pathways Study in February 2023 t…
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Episode 19: Lilly Tench of the Spark Innovation Center
20:04
20:04
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Send us a Text Message. In this episode, Host Cortney Piper interviews Lilly Tench, Director of the Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park. The two discuss the Spark Cleantech Accelerator program and how applications are open for Cohort Three until May 15, 2024. TAEBC is a proud partner of the Spark Cleantech Accelerat…
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Episode 18: Monica Walker of General Motors
14:20
14:20
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14:20
Send us a Text Message. In this episode, Host Cortney Piper interviews Monica Walker, Manager of Renewables & Energy Strategy at General Motors. GM has a bold vision for the future. One with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Piper and Walker discuss GM’s renewable energy commitments, electric vehicle charging partnership with the Pi…
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Episode 17: Jennifer Safavian of Autos Drive America
17:18
17:18
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17:18
Send us a Text Message. Host Cortney Piper interviews Jennifer Safavian, President and Chief Executive Officer of Autos Drive America. Autos Drive America’s mission is to grow the U.S. automotive industry by advocating for and defending open trade and investment policies that expand employment opportunities for Americans and choice for all consumer…
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Episode 16: Liliana Ramirez of Ford Motor Company
23:46
23:46
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Send us a Text Message. In what is likely Host Cortney Piper’s favorite interview to date, she interviews Liliana Ramirez, Global Director of Workforce Development at Ford. Ramirez is responsible for using cutting-edge strategies to build the manufacturing workforce required for BlueOval City and BlueOval SK Battery Park. In this episode, they disc…
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Send us a Text Message. How can we advance mobility solutions for all Tennesseans? In this episode, Host Cortney Piper interviews Dr. Kevin Heaslip, Director of the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Heaslip also served as the Chief Executive Officer of TEAM TN, a partnership with the National Science Foun…
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Send us a Text Message. Host Cortney Piper interviews Gina Bonini, Vice President and General Manager of Advanced Thermal Systems at Modine. Modine is the only U.S.-based automotive thermal management provider for electric vehicles. They are headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, but the EV component manufacturing occurs at their plant in Lawrenceburg…
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Episode 13: Julian Spector of Canary Media
26:28
26:28
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Send us a Text Message. In the first episode of Season 2, Host Cortney Piper interviews Julian Spector, senior reporter at Canary Media, an independent, nonprofit newsroom covering the transition to clean energy and solutions to the climate crisis. The pair spoke about Spector’s recent coverage of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decarbonization ef…
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Send us a Text Message. Today, we’re asking the question, “Why Tennessee?” Why are so many advanced energy companies moving to or expanding operations in our state? In 2021, Ford committed to a $5.6 billion investment in West Tennessee for electric vehicle production at its BlueOval City campus. Last year, WACKER, a German-based polysilicon manufac…
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Episode 11: How Tennessee manufacturers meet their sustainability goals
31:06
31:06
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31:06
Send us a Text Message. For this episode, Energizing Tennessee is changing its format – or rather, its host – a little bit. Steve Seifried, Tennessee Account Executive for Ameresco and President of the Board for the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council, is your guest host for today’s conversation. In this episode, Seifried and his guests will…
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Episode 10: Mentorship + opportunity = How we keep advanced energy startups in Tennessee
31:31
31:31
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Send us a Text Message. The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council has four commitments to our members. In this episode, we’re focusing on one: Foster the growth of Tennessee's advanced energy startups. TAEBC doesn’t just want advanced energy startups to launch in the state, we want them to grow, thrive and stay here. Today, we’re speaking with…
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Episode 9: Secret City to advanced nuclear hub: Tennessee’s legacy of innovation and development in nuclear energy
32:20
32:20
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32:20
Send us a Text Message. Tennessee is rooted in nuclear energy innovation. And today, Oak Ridge is a thriving epicenter for next-generation nuclear technology. So, what are we doing today? And what does next-generation nuclear energy even look like? To dive into today’s topic, we’re first speaking with Tracy Boatner, President of the East Tennessee …
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Episode 8: Lithium is key to an all-electric future: But what about the supply?
22:10
22:10
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Send us a Text Message. We’ve all seen the headlines: Lithium is key to making electric vehicles, but do we have enough to supply rapid EV adoption? Today, we’re speaking with two representatives from Piedmont Lithium, a North Carolina-based company that recently announced a massive project breaking ground right here in Tennessee. The company antic…
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Episode 7: Solar's transformational power for rural communities
33:18
33:18
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Send us a Text Message. We’re shining a light on the impact of solar in Tennessee. The International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2022 report predicts that in the next few years, the biggest source of electricity will be solar power. Meanwhile, the Inflation Reduction Act will usher in more high-paying solar jobs and tax credits for solar installatio…
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Episode 6: What’s the deal with hydrogen? Is it the silver bullet for our decarbonization needs?
40:48
40:48
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Send us a Text Message. To close out the first half of our first season, we’re asking the big question: What’s the deal with hydrogen? Is it the silver bullet to solve all our decarbonization needs? From the utility sector to transportation— we’ll speak with two industry experts to help answer these inquiries. First, we’ll talk with Jon Rodriguez, …
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Episode 5: How will we build out the nation’s EV charging infrastructure?
29:16
29:16
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Send us a Text Message. The age of the electric vehicle is here. Automakers are all in and the federal government is offering incentives to encourage the public to go electric and to create the infrastructure needed to enable wide-spread adoption. We need public EV charging stations to be just as available across the country as gas stations are now…
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Bonus Episode: Busting four common myths about EVs
31:58
31:58
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31:58
Send us a Text Message. Consumers have questions about EVs and we have the answers! In this bonus episode released during the Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Forum & Expo and the Drive Electric Tennessee Momentum Summit, we're speaking with Ryan Stanton, Sr. Project Manager - EV Evolution at the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Alexa Voytek, De…
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Episode 4: Becoming #1 in the Southeast for EV supply chain
23:42
23:42
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Send us a Text Message. For the next few episodes, we’re continuing to explore the question: “How can we electrify Tennessee?” Today, we’re discussing how how Tennessee is quickly becoming #1 in the Southeast for the electric vehicle supply chain. Our guest for the show is Kel Kearns, Plant Manager at BlueOval City Electric Vehicle Center, who will…
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Episode 3: All-hands-on-deck: A whole-ecosystem approach to transportation electrification
32:52
32:52
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32:52
Send us a Text Message. Electrification is the future of the mobility industry. It’s no longer a dream or far-away possibility. Yet, we must come together as an ecosystem quickly to make it a reality. We need more investment in forward-thinking mobility technology. We need aggressive action from policymakers. We need an all-hands-on-deck approach t…
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Episode 2: How can we electrify Tennessee? Getting over 200,000 EVs on Valley roads by 2028
24:34
24:34
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Send us a Text Message. For the next few episodes, we will explore the question: “How can we electrify Tennessee?” In the first episode in this mini series, we will discuss how Tennessee plans to build out its EV infrastructure to facilitate adoption of EVs. In 2021, the Tennessee Valley Authority and TN Department of Environment and Conservation a…
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Episode 1: What's the deal with advanced energy in Tennessee?
28:14
28:14
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Send us a Text Message. The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council champions advanced energy as a job creation and economic development strategy. We educate public officials and business leaders about Tennessee’s advanced energy assets, establish strategic partnerships to connect assets with opportunities, and inform policy that expands and str…
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Send us a Text Message. The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council champions advanced energy as a job creation and economic development strategy. Advanced energy is a relatively new term but refers to any technology that makes energy cleaner, safer, more secure and more efficient. Energizing Tennessee, powered by TAEBC and FirstBank, explores t…
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