In this episode, Elena and Pete speak with Alex Laskey, the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Rewiring America. Alex gives his fresh take on the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate legislation his organization helped shape and discusses why, despite good intentions, it can be hard to get consumers to switch from fossil-fuels to electric.

Alex previously led OPower, the behavioral Energy Efficiency company he founded with Dan Yates. Under his leadership, Opower grew into a publicly traded company whose cloud-based software is used by more than half of the largest electric and gas utilities in the United States. Today, Opower, now a division of Oracle, delivers more than 6 TWh of energy savings per year and helps homeowners save more than $1B per year on their energy bills.

• 0:00 – Introduction
• 2:05 – Career walk and origins of Opower
• 11:45 – Rewiring America’s origins
• 18:20 – Changing the narrative around combating climate change to a “story of abundance.”
• 20:00 – Alex’s reaction to the Inflation Reduction Act
• 25:21 – Overcoming friction in decision-making to move consumers to electric
• 31:08 – It’s a great time to become an electrician
• 40:40:28 – Alex’s recommended resources

Recommended resources:

Rewiring America’s IRA Calculator

Rewiring America’s Explainer on the IRA

“Smart Power” by Peter Fox-Penner

“The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Ford Motor Company, and Their Epic Quest to Arm an America at War” by A.J. Baime

“Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World,” by Helen and Scott Nearing

“Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals,” by Oliver Burkeman