Energy Gang: Year in Review 2025 – The Highs, The Lows, The People, and The Technologies

Podcast: Wood Mackenzie's Energy Gang
Host: Ed Crooks (Vice-Chairman, Wood Mackenzie)
Guests: Dr. Melissa Lott (Microsoft), Shanu Mathew (Investor), Amy Myers Jaffe (NYU)
Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

The Energy Gang’s final episode of 2025 revisits the defining moments, people, and technologies that shaped energy and climate issues over the past year. Under the guidance of Ed Crooks, the panel offers a spirited, deeply informed roundtable on grid transformation, permitting reform, explosive growth in energy storage, the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on power demand and society, and the evolving geopolitics of the clean energy transition. With authenticity and wit, the gang navigates both high points and persistent challenges from the perspective of practitioners, analysts, and policy insiders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. 2025’s High Points in Energy

[03:00–13:19]

• Bipartisan Breakthrough on Permitting Reform
  Ed Crooks: “There is now very broad agreement...a real momentum behind actually doing something about that, passing legislation.” (04:13)

  • Congratulates unlikely alliances — for example, America’s Clean Power (renewables) and the American Petroleum Institute (fossil fuels) uniting behind the “Speed Act.”
  • Warns optimism could be short-lived if politics block progress.

• AI and Compute Flexibility: The Year of the Data Center
  Shanu Mathew: “The highlight was the emergence of compute flexibility...grids can really benefit from data centers in a way if compute is flexible.” (05:10)

  • Data centers are increasingly seen as flexible energy users (“bring your own capacity”), beneficial to grids if managed smartly — a sharp turnaround in industry thinking.
  • Noted major pilot projects (Google with TVA, AI-led pilots).

• Electricity Replaces Gasoline – Reliability and Investment
  Amy Myers Jaffe: “Electricity is the new gasoline...debate about what brings reliability.” (07:17)

  • Notable: Constellation’s $26B acquisition of Calpine to guarantee reliable supply.
  • Improved grid performance: No major blackouts in the US, with batteries and virtual power plants (VPPs) credited.
  • Public debate has shifted: “Where does my energy come from? Where will my bills come from?” (09:40–10:05)

• Record Battery Deployment
  Melissa Lott: “My brain just exploded with how big that number is...just over 10 gigawatts...this year...about 18.2 gigawatts of utility scale battery storage.” (10:52)

  • Utility-scale battery capacity doubled, driven by price drops and need for grid flexibility.
  • Consensus: Battery storage transitions from theory to practical, widespread deployment.

2. Low Points and “Hopes for the Future”

[13:19–18:29]

• Supply Chain Disruptions and Geopolitics

  • Amy Myers Jaffe: The “big beautiful bill” (a new, Trump-era policy) preserved battery tax credits but left unresolved “Foreign Entities of Concern” (FEOC/FIAC) restrictions that complicate reliance on Chinese components. (14:18)
  • Growing risk: Too much of the supply chain is still Chinese — and policy changes ahead could disrupt plans.
  • Melissa Lott: “I’m not going to call it a lowlight. I’m going to call it a hope for the future: more rapid progress on robust, diversified supply chains.” (16:52)

• Clarity Needed on Tax Credits and Policy
  Shanu Mathew: “Storage set to boom if FIAC allows it…in terms of the capital and velocity of deployment is the certainty around the tax credits and how they're defined.” (17:50)

3. Person of the Year

[18:29–33:03]

• Sam Altman (CEO, OpenAI) – Shanu Mathew’s pick
  “He singlehandedly pushed us to evolve...by virtue of him striking so many deals, it started to bring the question of: how does this actually get done? We’re talking trillions of dollars.” (18:54, paraphrased)

  • Sparked “execution over hype” conversations about the real power, financial needs, and practicality of massive new AI data center proposals.

• Gary Marcus (cognitive science, NYU) – Amy Myers Jaffe

  • Counter-voice on AI hype, skeptical that current “large language models” (LLMs) are the path to true artificial general intelligence (AGI).
  • Marcus’s critiques gain traction as AI models’ “hallucinations” persist. (20:18–21:50)

• Fatih Birol (Executive Director, IEA) – Melissa Lott’s choice

  • For cutting through noise, repeatedly refocusing on facts: “Let me tell you what the numbers say.” (24:01)
  • Cited for key reports on workforce and data center energy use; for prioritizing skills and practical pathways.
  • Runner up: Katharine Hayhoe (atmospheric scientist and climate communicator), for her clarity and accessibility.

• Kathy Hochul (Governor, New York) – Ed Crooks

  • For leading congestion pricing policy: “A measurable drop in congestion and pollution...foot traffic to businesses up...a great policy.” (26:19)
  • Backed offshore wind, defended nuclear, and supported a key NY gas pipeline — praised for pragmatic, evidence-based leadership.
  • Melissa Lott: Study showed a 22% drop in PM2.5 particulates in Manhattan, with direct impacts on public health. (32:00)

4. Technology of the Year

[35:03–49:24]

• AI Tools for Every Domain
  Shanu Mathew: “Nano Banana 3” (Google) and “Claude Code” (Anthropic’s coding model)
  - AI is now doing high-level research summarization (converting technical reports into 5-min videos and infographics), and even complex interactive data dashboard creation with zero code required — huge leap for productivity and accessibility. (35:03–37:28)

  Amy Myers Jaffe (caution): Teaching with LLMs exposed difficulty for beginners; greatest value still when user already knows the field. (37:28–39:50)

• Nuclear: AP1000 vs. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

  • Ed Crooks: “AP1000 is the only real nuclear reactor with any kind of future in the United States…” (40:02)
    • Praises practical deployment and firm commitments
  • Amy Myers Jaffe: “Everyone’s talking about SMRs. … Even people who never considered nuclear are talking about SMRs.” (41:49)
    • Points to buzz and new international projects
  • Melissa Lott: “Different horses for courses…both are valuable…[SMRs offer] potential to do things AP1000 isn’t set up to do.” (43:33–45:37)
    • The debate underscores the big distinction between currently deployable vs. “possible future star” technologies.

• Battery Chemistry Innovations

  • Melissa Lott: Highlights Enlightene Energy’s sodium/iron batteries — offering complementary chemistries to lithium and new supply chain pathways. (48:19)

• AI for Permitting

  • Idaho National Lab’s partnership with Microsoft Azure is streamlining safety analysis and permitting using AI — “accelerating how we build energy projects.” (48:19–49:24)

5. Wildcards & Free Electrons

[50:13–56:55]

• Investment Fads and Failures:
  Ed Crooks: Notes Fermi’s Texas data center/power hybrid’s IPO deflating by 74% in 3 months — foreshadowing painful shakeouts in energy/AI. (50:13)

• Robotic AVs & Home Robots
  Amy Myers Jaffe: “2025 was the year when Avoided [Autonomous Vehicles] started getting momentum…and toward the end of the year, people started talking about commercial robots.” (53:48)

  • As electrification extends to “robotic everything,” electricity demand and the grid’s role will radically increase.

• Book Picks

  • Melissa Lott: “The Borderless Healthcare Revolution,” exploring links between energy, AI, and medical access and equity. (51:57)
  • Shanu Mathew: “Five Types of Wealth” (Sahil Bloom), a philosophical reset for energy people at year’s end. (56:10)

6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Battery Storage Growth
  Melissa Lott: “My brain just exploded with how big that number is…10 gigawatts…this year about 18.2 gigawatts…” (11:00–11:10)

• On AI Changing Industry Focus
  Shanu Mathew: “Now we’re execution focused versus just saying the biggest numbers” about the shift in AI data center development. (19:44)

• On Pragmatic Leadership
  Amy Myers Jaffe:
  “We need to govern in reality. As governor, a top priority is to make sure the lights and heat stay on for all New Yorkers…” (29:58)

• On Public Health Impact
  Melissa Lott: “If I was living in those areas and had a child with asthma, I might...see a drop in critical acute asthma attacks...” (31:10)

7. Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:13] – Permitting reform
• [05:05] – Data center flexibility & AI
• [07:17] – Electricity reliability & Constellation-Calpine deal
• [10:52] – Explosive growth in battery storage
• [14:18] – “Big beautiful bill” and FIAC/FEOC on supply chains
• [18:38] – Person of the year begins
• [24:01] – Fatih Birol’s impact
• [26:19] – Kathy Hochul & New York congestion pricing
• [32:00] – Measurable public health outcomes from congestion pricing
• [35:03] – Technology of the year segment
• [40:02] – Nuclear: AP1000 vs. SMRs debate
• [48:19] – Sodium/iron batteries and AI in permitting
• [50:13] – Fermi’s IPO flop and investment exuberance
• [53:48] – Rise of AVs and robots
• [56:10] – Book picks and philosophical year-end notes

Tone and Style

The conversation maintains a collegial and slightly irreverent tone, balancing hard data with true “energy nerd” enthusiasm. Speakers are candid about uncertainty and future risks, but return consistently to pragmatic optimism about innovation and policy progress — with room for honest debate. Friendly ribbing and personal recommendations add warmth and relatability.

Conclusion

The Energy Gang’s 2025 year in review reveals a sector on the cusp of historic transformation: new alliances, record tech deployments, and a public dialogue more engaged than ever — but not without complex policy, supply chain, and AI-driven disruption ahead. The episode is a call for creative, evidence-based, and inclusive leadership as the energy transition both accelerates and encounters real-world roadblocks.

(For specific studies, books, or reports referenced (e.g., Cornell pollution study, Enlightene Energy’s battery drug), see show notes or transcript for links and further details.)