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Episode 1.11 On Resilient Microgrids and the Courage to Implement with Daniel Wiggins Jr.

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Content provided by Amy Simpkins. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Amy Simpkins or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

After a historic flooding event in 2016, which left the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa without power and critical infrastructure, the tribe committed themselves to installing microgrids to ensure clean, resilient power on tribal lands. In May 2021, the tribe commissioned three building level microgrids, incorporating more than 520 kW of solar and over 1MWh of battery storage, the largest battery system to date in the state of Wisconsin. The project is named Ishkonige Nawadide, which means "it catches fire" in Anishinaabemowin.
Dan Wiggins is the visionary who led the team to implement these projects. He's been working for the tribe for over 10 years as a tribal energy manager and air quality technician, with expertise from utility scale infrastructure to residential energy efficiency, and now three tremendously successful microgrids.
It's been my great pleasure to work with Dan on his energy team to plan, design, and realize his vision for resilient tribal energy and energy sovereignty. This conversation is an extension of our professional partnership, and our friendship: fiery, passionate, fun, and very committed to doing projects when they are the right thing to do.

Referenced in this episode:

Episode 1.06 with Liana Cassar on Energy Policy
Episode 1.09 with Katherine Lucey on Air Quality

Quotables

"We all answer to somebody, whether it's leadership, whether it's our children, or whether it's the community we reside in. Really listening to all of those resources is the right thing to do."

"The way I approach renewable energy is that you have do first do it because it's the right thing to do. That has to be the #1 goal for any renewable energy project."

"Strategic planning is the fun part of project development. You get to take everybody's ideas, throw them in a blender, and hope something magic comes out."

This week’s guest

Daniel Wiggins Jr is a Bad River Tribal Member and the Mashkiiziibii (Bad River) Natural Resource Department’s Air Quality Technician (AQT). He has worked for the Tribe for nearly 10 years as the AQT and has had oversight of the Tribe’s Renewable Energy Activities since 2017.

He was recently tasked as Project Lead for the Ishkonige Nawadide Solar Microgrid Project, which installed over 500 kilowatts of solar and 1,000 kilowatt hours of batteries at three tribal facilities.

The Tribe’s energy projects are planned and executed on the Tribe’s ability to exercise energy sovereignty, and eventually reach the Tribe’s energy vision, “to empower and enable the community to move towards energy independence.”

Resources:

Connect with the Mashkiiziibii Natural Resource Departmen on Facebook.

Check out Bad River’s website.

If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!

  continue reading

40 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 306739208 series 2954218
Content provided by Amy Simpkins. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Amy Simpkins or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

After a historic flooding event in 2016, which left the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa without power and critical infrastructure, the tribe committed themselves to installing microgrids to ensure clean, resilient power on tribal lands. In May 2021, the tribe commissioned three building level microgrids, incorporating more than 520 kW of solar and over 1MWh of battery storage, the largest battery system to date in the state of Wisconsin. The project is named Ishkonige Nawadide, which means "it catches fire" in Anishinaabemowin.
Dan Wiggins is the visionary who led the team to implement these projects. He's been working for the tribe for over 10 years as a tribal energy manager and air quality technician, with expertise from utility scale infrastructure to residential energy efficiency, and now three tremendously successful microgrids.
It's been my great pleasure to work with Dan on his energy team to plan, design, and realize his vision for resilient tribal energy and energy sovereignty. This conversation is an extension of our professional partnership, and our friendship: fiery, passionate, fun, and very committed to doing projects when they are the right thing to do.

Referenced in this episode:

Episode 1.06 with Liana Cassar on Energy Policy
Episode 1.09 with Katherine Lucey on Air Quality

Quotables

"We all answer to somebody, whether it's leadership, whether it's our children, or whether it's the community we reside in. Really listening to all of those resources is the right thing to do."

"The way I approach renewable energy is that you have do first do it because it's the right thing to do. That has to be the #1 goal for any renewable energy project."

"Strategic planning is the fun part of project development. You get to take everybody's ideas, throw them in a blender, and hope something magic comes out."

This week’s guest

Daniel Wiggins Jr is a Bad River Tribal Member and the Mashkiiziibii (Bad River) Natural Resource Department’s Air Quality Technician (AQT). He has worked for the Tribe for nearly 10 years as the AQT and has had oversight of the Tribe’s Renewable Energy Activities since 2017.

He was recently tasked as Project Lead for the Ishkonige Nawadide Solar Microgrid Project, which installed over 500 kilowatts of solar and 1,000 kilowatt hours of batteries at three tribal facilities.

The Tribe’s energy projects are planned and executed on the Tribe’s ability to exercise energy sovereignty, and eventually reach the Tribe’s energy vision, “to empower and enable the community to move towards energy independence.”

Resources:

Connect with the Mashkiiziibii Natural Resource Departmen on Facebook.

Check out Bad River’s website.

If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!

  continue reading

40 episodes

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In this episode, Erika Ginsberg-Klemmt shares her family’s journey to creating Gismo Power, her joy in driving EVs and traveling the seven seas, as well as her drive to make solar solutions more accessible to everyone. Quotes “It’s fun to run on sun.” – Erika Ginsberg-Klemmt “Ease of interconnection, especially for small systems, would really explode growth.” – Amy Simpkins “There are things that have to be addressed at a regulatory level that can help more than just this technology.” – Amy Simpkins “I feel like I’m much more of a public servant, much more of an activist than an entrepreneur.” – Erika Ginsberg-Klemmt In 1990, realizing that she wanted to see more of the world before she sold it, Erika abandoned an upwardly mobile position at a travel agency for a one-way ticket to the South of France. She lived and worked in Cannes, Paris and Hamburg before embracing the liveaboard life with her husband on their sailboat Pangaea for the last seven years. The spirit of Pangaea's Wandering Website took form decades ago as an informal newsletter while she studied at UC Berkeley. Indigenous of Laguna Beach, California, Erika became a grassroots Technomad, faithfully maintaining her wireless Internet updates while sailing around the globe. Then the word "blog" arrived on the scene and she stopped writing for 20+ years, raising her 3 kids and establishing her first company, SRQUS LLC, with which she bootstraps GismoPower. Now she's a solar justice peace-seeker and kochluffel (look it up.) Resources: Check out Gizsmo Power’s website: https://gismopower.com/ . Connect with Erika via email: erika@gismopower.com . If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out our awesome merch ! And hey, we’re new, so you can even apply to be a sponsor or a guest . You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn , Instagram , and Facebook .…
 
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In this episode, Amy and Ali discuss lithium mining and how it affects the clean energy future. Ali Haji is the CEO of ION Energy - a leader in the exploration and development of lithium salars within Mongolia and a strong pioneer in the third wave of the green energy revolution. Together, Ali and Amy explore the split between mobility/electric vehicles and stationary batteries, the supply and demand of minerals (including the rising cost of lithium and the importance of recycling) as well as lithium extraction technology, and lithium vs other chemistries, like vanadium oxide, in addition to how much the grid can actually support. According to Ali, “Batteries, in essence, are going to fuel the growth of everything.” *A correction: The Mercedes car mentioned got 1000 km (621 miles) on a single charge, not 1000 miles. Quotes “We need to bring more resources online to help fuel this electrification.” – Ali Haji “Ultimately with today’s prices, it’s clear and evident there is a massive supply chain gap that needs to be filled in order for us to carry on down this path of the clean energy revolution.” – Ali Haji “Education is paramount. People don’t realize the importance of mining and what it’s doing to allow us to move towards this revolution. It’s an integral part of essentially everything we do, yet as far as I can remember, no one in school ever learned about mining.” – Ali Haji “Moving into a future where we can view mining through an environmental lens and an ethical lens is going to be important in the future.” – Amy Simpkins “Mining is a big part of everything that we do, whether we like it or not, but the best way to move forward is to educate people on its importance, but also ensure that we’re doing it sustainably.” – Ali Haji “The fact that people are starting to think about where their energy comes from, where the equipment is coming from, where the raw materials that goes into that equipment is coming from signals a positive shift and makes me, in spite of all evidence, optimistic.” – Amy Simpkins About/Connect Ali Haji is the CEO of ION Energy - a leader in the exploration and development of lithium salars within Mongolia and a strong pioneer in the third wave of the green energy revolution. Since 2019 the company has been aggressively growing its assets in its extensive growth strategy through acquiring new resources and sites. Website: https://www.ionenergy.ca/ You can connect with Ion Energy on Youtube , LinkedIn , Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook . If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. And hey, check out our awesome merch ! You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn , Instagram , and Facebook . Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!…
 
On this episode’s one year anniversary, we are sharing for the first time our recording from the LIVE episode with Julia Hamm on her last days as the founder of Solar Power International (now RE+) and President and CEO of SEPA. This episode was recorded at RE+ in September 2022. Quotes: “We all want to accelerate this transition as fast as possible but we cannot do it in a way that sacrifices reliability or affordability or resiliency and most certainly not equity.” – Julia Hamm “All players – no matter where they sit in the value chain – are going to have to partner in ways that they’ve never partnered before… there needs to be a lot more intentionality about understanding where other players are coming from and then partnering with them in order to achieve common objectives.” – Julia Hamm “Utilities are going to have to partner in an unprecedented way going forward.” – Julia Hamm “Rest is revolutionary. Rest is innovative.” – Amy Simpkins If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out our awesome merch ! And hey, we’re new, so you can even apply to be a sponsor or a guest . You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn , Instagram , and Facebook . Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!…
 
Jennifer Gray Thompson is a lifelong resident of Sonoma Valley in Northern California. She attended Santa Rosa Junior College and graduated from Dominican University in 2001 with degrees in English and History. After teaching high school for 10 years, Jennifer went on to earn a master’s degree in Public Administration from University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. Post graduate school, Jennifer worked for the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. She is the CEO of After the Fire , an initiative of 501c3 nonprofit Rebuild NorthBay Foundation (RNBF), which was founded after the devastating fires in the North Bay of San Francisco in October 2017. RNBF is an organization dedicated to helping the region rebuild better, greener, safer, and faster. In summer of 2021, RNBF created After the Fire USA in response to the prevalence of massive megafires in response to climate change and wildland imbalances. Our tagline remains “Recover. Rebuild. Reimagine.” Jennifer is nationally recognized as a leader in the space of wildfire and has presented at several national conferences on the issue by invitation of the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, HAC, Fannie Mae, Brownsfield, Smart Cities, FEMA, and many more. She is cofounder of CANVAS , an association of professional leaders in disaster working together to “listen locally, act regionally, reform nationally.” Jennifer is the creator and host of the How to Disaster podcast , which highlights proven and effective leaders with great ideas in the space of disaster. She is on the board of directors of La Luz Center , a nonprofit serving primarily the Latino community in Sonoma Valley. Jennifer interviewed Amy Simpkins on How to Disaster on Enhancing Equity and Sustainability back in September of 2021. Quotables “Every single community can recover at the same rate as another community if they are offered the right tools and capacity and funding and support.” - Jennifer Gray Thompson “Energy is also an ecosystem.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson "What is good for the ecology is good for the economy." – Jennifer Gray Thompson “The renewal of faith in humanity is really common in disaster places.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson “The American culture is very good in a crisis and is very good at stepping in with heroics in a crisis. But what we’re bad at culturally is taking responsibility for our neighbors and our communities prior to the crisis.” – Amy Simpkins “Disaster is a great leveler and a great teacher.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson “There is a way forward and I believe clean energy is at the center of that.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. And hey, we’re new, so you can even apply to be a sponsor or a guest . You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Tik Tok . Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!…
 
Trained as an architect, Jordana is passionate about socially-driven multidisciplinary projects that advance climate resilience and social justice. Currently, she is the Manager for Climate Resilience & Equity at Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities). At R-Cities, she focuses on supporting cities in developing actions and implementation projects with climate resilience and equity lens. Prior to her work at R-Cities, she worked at Building Energy Exchange (BE-Ex), developing BE-Ex's industry resources in response to climate change. Before BE-Ex, she worked as a sustainability consultant and community development officer providing high-performance technical assistance and development aid for Hurricane Sandy's multifamily recovery and resiliency efforts. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a Bachelors in Architecture, and is a LEED Green Associate. She holds certifications from the Environmental Leadership Program and the Global Leadership Human Impacts Institute. Lastly, in 2019 she launched and co-founded Women of Color Collective in Sustainability ( WOC/CS ) - the only global digital collective and community that is 100% dedicated to advancing women of color working across the sustainability industry. Since then the community has brought together over 5,000 women of color through virtual and in-person events, social media channels, a digital community, and online publication. Referenced episode Episode 2.03 On Intentionality & Intersections in Energy with Melanie Santiago-Mosier Quotables “What does resilience actually mean?” – Amy Simpkins “The way I would define resiliency would be threefold: the ability to survive, the ability to adapt, and the ability to grow/thrive, no matter what kind of shocks and stresses.” – Jordana Vasquez “The best thing you can do as an ally is listen. Don’t make assumptions.” – Jordana Vasquez “Our reliance on fossil fuels for power and transportation needs to change.” – Jordana Vasquez Jordana mentioned a quote by JFK: “Fix the roof while the sun is shining.” “As communities, as cities, as a country, we are in a really unique position as a society to demand how we want to live in cities, how we want to power our cities, and how we want to prepare the next generation.” – Jordana Vasquez If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out our awesome merch ! And hey, we’re new, so you can even apply to be a sponsor or a guest . You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Tik Tok . Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!…
 
A senior operations and finance executive, Claire Broido Johnson is the director of the University System of Maryland Momentum Fund. (MMF). She has a proven track record in creating and managing successful businesses and driving operations: including as founder of SunEdison and program executive at the Department of Energy during the Obama Administration. At DOE, Claire guided the deployment of $11 billion in economic stimulus funds in 2009-2010 to improve the economy through the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. A bottom-line focused innovator, Claire also runs CBJ Energy where she developed an energy efficiency financing product for Serious Energy, launched new products and new states for Next Step Living, and managed energy projects and research for Katerra. Recognized for financial and operational expertise, she currently serves on the boards of BlocPower.io, the National Sierra Club Foundation, and Living Classrooms. Claire is also on the advisory board of Upsurge Baltimore, a Baltimore-based incubator, and a member of Blu Ventures network of early-stage DC/Baltimore investors Claire earned a B.A. in environmental science and public policy from Harvard College, where she helped to create that major, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Claire recommends Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business by Gino and Mark C Winters to supercharge your entrepreneurial efforts. Quotables “I think finally even the most unresponsive person is realizing that climate change is here and there need to be solutions.” – Claire Broido Johnson “I think all of us who are mentors and who care about climate change have to support early stage startups with good ideas.” - Claire Broido Johnson “I have believed for a long time that the way we do innovation in this country, in general, is broken.” – Amy Simpkins “I am trying to innovate the process of innovation.” – Amy Simpkins “I move fast and break things.” – Claire Broido Johnson “The small scrappy startups are here because we believe we can make a difference fundamentally.” – Amy Simpkins “If you have one of those great ideas there’s no time like the present to find your mentor, fill your toolbox, and go make it happen because the world depends on you.” -Amy Simpkins If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out our awesome merch ! And hey, we’re new, so you can even apply to be a sponsor or a guest . You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Tik Tok . Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!…
 
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