Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy Podcast

Major energy projects do not fail simply because of weak contractors, poor controls, or the wrong contract structure. They fail when owners misunderstand their role.
In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search, sits down with Gary Fischer, Executive Director of the Project Production Institute and a longtime capital projects leader who spent more than 40 years at Chevron.
Gary brings a rare perspective shaped by work across engineering, construction, operations, benchmarking, major project leadership, and enterprise project-system design. After helping architect Chevron’s project management system, he came to a difficult conclusion: even sophisticated project frameworks can produce disappointing results when they ignore how work actually flows through a production system.
The conversation centers on one critical idea: capital projects are not products an owner can simply buy. They are production systems that must be actively designed, led, and integrated.
Wes and Gary explore the difference between owners who behave like buyers and owners who behave like builders, along with the responsibilities that cannot be outsourced. These include defining the business outcome, setting requirements, managing stakeholders, making timely decisions, shaping the contracting strategy, and retaining accountability for the final result.
They also examine why lump-sum EPC contracts do not eliminate owner risk, how traditional metrics can reward excessive work in process, and why adding more people to a delayed project can sometimes make performance worse.
Gary shares lessons from major LNG, refinery, offshore, and supply chain environments, including how production control improved collaboration, reduced manpower, accelerated delivery, and helped teams complete more work with fewer resources.
The discussion also applies directly to renewable energy, battery storage, hydrogen, transmission, data centers, and other rapidly scaling infrastructure sectors. As companies deploy capital into new technologies and unfamiliar project environments, owner capability may become one of the most important competitive advantages.
In this episode:
Why project failure is often misdiagnosed
What separates a capable owner from a passive buyer
Why contractors cannot own the business outcome
How contracts can obscure risk without truly transferring it
Why production science changes project decision-making
How excessive work in process delays completion
Why supply chains should be managed as connected production systems
How rigid stage gates can encourage the wrong behavior
What leaders should evaluate before approving major capital
The first steps organizations can take to strengthen owner capability
This episode is essential listening for CEOs, project sponsors, investors, developers, EPC leaders, and anyone responsible for delivering complex energy and infrastructure projects.
Gary Fischer is Executive Director of the Project Production Institute and previously held senior project leadership roles at Chevron, including responsibility for Chevron’s project management system and capital project capability.
Links:
Project Production Institute Website & Resources
Gary Fischer on LinkedIn
Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
Email: wes@leegroupsearch.com
https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
https://leegroupsearch.com/

America’s energy system has entered a new phase.
After years of relatively flat electricity demand, the country is now facing sustained growth driven by data centers, industrial expansion, electrification, reshoring, aging infrastructure, and rising resilience needs. The challenge is no longer just how quickly the U.S. can decarbonize. It is how quickly the country can build enough power while protecting reliability, affordability, and long-term emissions progress.
In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search, welcomes back Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, to unpack the findings of the 2026 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook.
Lisa explains why this moment is different from previous periods of load growth, how urgency could help break years of infrastructure inertia, and why no single technology can meet the challenge alone. She makes the case for a broad portfolio that includes renewable energy, storage, natural gas, nuclear, energy efficiency, demand flexibility, sustainable transportation, and smarter use of existing grid assets.
The conversation also examines the growing impact of large electricity users. Data centers are an important part of the demand story, but the episode goes far beyond AI. Wes and Lisa explore what rising load means for utilities, regulators, communities, manufacturers, households, and businesses across the country.
A central question runs throughout the episode: Who pays for the infrastructure required to power America’s next era?
Lisa discusses the need to protect households and small businesses from unfair cost allocation, the role large customers can play in funding grid upgrades or bringing new power resources, and how regulators can evaluate projects based on local capacity, flexibility, community benefit, and long-term risk.
The episode also covers the technologies being deployed now. Solar and battery storage continue to lead new capacity additions because they can often move quickly and compete economically. At the same time, firm resources, existing nuclear assets, natural gas, long-duration storage, efficiency, virtual power plants, microgrids, and demand response all have distinct roles to play.
Wes and Lisa also examine:
Why energy efficiency should be treated as infrastructure
How smart meters and flexible demand can reduce grid strain
What utilities and regulators should ask before approving major new loads
Why storage is becoming more important to grid operations
How corporate clean energy procurement is reshaping the market
What policy uncertainty means for real projects and investment decisions
Which technologies emerged stronger from recent tax and policy changes
Why speed, cost, reliability, and sustainability must be solved together
Lisa closes with a practical message for governors, regulators, and policymakers: align economic development with reliable, affordable, and clean energy, then give the private sector the market signals needed to build.
This episode is a clear-eyed look at the next chapter of the U.S. power system and what it will take to meet rising demand without losing sight of consumers, communities, or climate goals.
Links:
2026 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook
Lisa Jacobson on LinkedIn
BCSE's Website
Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
Email: wes@leegroupsearch.com
https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
https://leegroupsearch.com/

Renewable energy has scaled rapidly. Now the industry faces a more demanding question: can solar, wind, and storage operate with the discipline, security, and reliability expected of critical infrastructure?
In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search, speaks with Kellie Macpherson, COO of Compliance + Security at Radian Generation and a board member at SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association).
Kellie brings deep experience across NERC compliance, cybersecurity, commissioning, audits, control centers, and renewable asset operations. Her perspective is shaped by a career spent bridging the gap between traditional grid operations and the fast-moving renewable energy sector.
The conversation explores why compliance is not simply paperwork, how reliability affects real communities, and why the industry’s long-term credibility depends on operating assets as well as it builds them.
Wes and Kellie also break down the significance of NERC Category 2 registration for inverter-based resources. They discuss which solar, wind, storage, and hybrid assets may now fall under increased oversight, why registration alone is not the same as being audit-ready, and what owner-operators should prioritize if they are behind.
Cybersecurity is another central theme. Modern renewable plants rely heavily on remote access, third-party vendors, software, connected devices, and operational technology. That creates efficiency, but also expands the attack surface. Kellie explains why commissioning is one of the most vulnerable stages of a project and why access management, patching, physical security, and documented controls need to be built in before commercial operation.
The episode also examines the leadership side of compliance. Mature programs require executive attention, clear accountability, employee training, operational evidence, and a company culture that understands the financial, reputational, and reliability risks of getting it wrong.
In this episode:
Why grid reliability became personal for Kellie early in life
How renewable energy became central to bulk power system reliability
What NERC Category 2 means for solar, wind, storage, and hybrid assets
The difference between registration and true audit readiness
Why cybersecurity should be treated as an operational priority now
The most common security risks during commissioning
Warning signs that a project may face future compliance problems
Why inverter settings, access controls, patching, and evidence matter
How executives and boards should think about compliance risk
What trusted renewable operators will do differently over the next three years
As electricity demand grows and renewable assets become more essential to the grid, the companies that earn long-term trust will be the ones that combine speed with discipline, growth with resilience, and innovation with operational accountability.
Links:
Kellie Macpherson on LinkedIn
Radian Generation's Website
Kellie's Power Play Newsletter
Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
Email: wes@leegroupsearch.com
https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
https://leegroupsearch.com/

Solar has world-changing technology, but the industry still struggles to explain itself clearly.
In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search, sits down with Aaron Nichols, Marketing and Business Development Specialist at Exact Solar and host of This Week in Solar, to explore why clarity, trust, and human communication have become competitive advantages in renewable energy.
Aaron’s path into solar was anything but traditional. Before entering the industry, he worked as a teacher, traveled internationally, trained as a solar installer, and built experience in copywriting and marketing. That background shaped his ability to translate complex topics into language customers, employees, and business leaders can actually understand.
The conversation examines why renewable energy companies often narrow their talent pools by hiring for the same backgrounds repeatedly. Aaron explains why small businesses need adaptable problem-solvers, how nontraditional candidates can demonstrate value through consulting, and why creativity and pattern recognition are difficult to identify through a conventional hiring process.
Wes and Aaron also unpack the widening gap between corporate communication and human communication. They discuss why jargon-heavy messaging weakens trust, how clear website copy can improve visibility in AI search, and why companies must explain what they do, how they do it, who they help, and why it matters.
The episode also explores the right and wrong ways to use artificial intelligence. AI can help simplify internal communication, organize workflows, identify automation opportunities, and generate new creative ideas. But without clear thinking, strong processes, and thoughtful editing, it only produces more noise.
Additional topics include:
Why stories earn attention before facts close the deal
 How customer case studies build long-term credibility
 Why automation should begin with process mapping
 What solar companies misunderstand about payback periods
 How authentic short-form video can outperform polished advertising
 Why simple, consistent communication is difficult to copy
 How expertise and a trusted public voice can strengthen a company’s brand
This episode is packed with practical insight for solar marketers, founders, sales leaders, recruiters, job seekers, and anyone working to make clean energy easier to understand.

Links:
Aaron Nichols on LinkedIn
This Week in Solar
Exact Solar's Website
Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
Email: wes@leegroupsearch.com
https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
https://leegroupsearch.com/

Electricity demand is entering a sharp new growth cycle. After years of relatively flat demand, the economy is becoming more electric at the same time AI and data centers are exploding. New manufacturing, reshoring, EV charging, building electrification, air conditioning growth, extreme weather, and 24/7 reliability expectations are all pushing more load onto the grid. 
AI is the loudest accelerant right now, and for good reason. Data centers need massive computing power, cooling systems, backup power, transformers, substations, and high-reliability grid connections. But the bigger story is broader: the energy transition is no longer just about generating cleaner electricity. It is about delivering enough reliable power, fast enough, in the places where demand is actually showing up.
That is why nuclear power, SMRs, gas, storage, renewables, transmission, transformers, and interconnection are currently front-page issues.
But there is a harder question behind the hype: can we actually build the infrastructure fast enough, safely enough, and predictably enough to meet the moment?
In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, host Wes Ashworth, President of Lee Group Search sits down with Todd Zabelle, author of Built to Fail: Why Construction Projects Take So Long, Cost Too Much, and How to Fix It. Todd brings more than 35 years of experience in complex capital project delivery and is the Founder and CEO of Strategic Project Solutions, Founder of the Project Production Institute, Founder and CEO of Pacific Contracting, and a founding equity partner of the Lean Construction Institute.
Todd’s perspective is clear: many major projects do not fail because the technology is impossible. They fail because the management system is wrong.
That matters now because AI, data centers, nuclear power, and SMRs are all converging around the same challenge: the physical world does not move at software speed.
Wes and Todd unpack why traditional project management tools often create false confidence, why schedules can become disconnected from actual production, and why measuring progress by money spent can hide problems until it is too late. Todd explains why critical infrastructure needs to be managed as a production system, not just an administrative exercise.
The conversation then turns to nuclear power for AI. Todd shares what he heard at Datacloud Global Congress, where nuclear for AI was a major topic, and explains the cultural gap between fast-moving data center developers and the more conservative, safety-driven nuclear industry.
They explore the real-world barriers standing between AI’s energy demand and nuclear deployment, including siting, permitting, grid connection, fuel supply, specialized labor, nuclear-grade quality standards, and the mismatch between data center load profiles and steady baseload nuclear generation.
The episode also takes a sober look at SMRs. Todd sees real value in smaller batch deployment, especially as data centers grow over time, but warns that SMRs are not plug and play. Even smaller reactors require serious infrastructure, containment, supply chains, fuel strategy, skilled operators, and disciplined execution.
This is not a conversation about whether nuclear matters. It clearly does. It is a conversation about what it will actually take to deliver nuclear-grade infrastructure in the AI era.
In this episode, Wes and Todd cover:
Why U.S. power demand is rising after years of relative stagnation
How AI, data centers, electrification, manufacturing, and reliability needs are reshaping the grid
Why major capital projects often fail long before the public sees the delay or cost overrun
How traditional scheduling, earned value, and percentage completion accounting can create false confidence
Why project delivery should focus on production systems, not just administration
What data center developers may be underestimating about nuclear power
Why SMRs solve some problems but leave many execution challenges intact
The fuel supply, workforce, and quality-control bottlenecks behind nuclear scaling
Why nuclear-grade welding, rebar, and construction tolerances demand a different level of skill
What capable owners must do differently on complex infrastructure projects
Where AI, digital twins, sensors, and automation can actually improve project delivery
Why the energy transition depends on execution discipline as much as technology innovation
If you are working in renewable energy, nuclear power, data center development, infrastructure, construction, utilities, project delivery, or AI energy strategy, this episode is a grounded look at the gap between ambition and execution.
The future of AI will require massive amounts of power. The future of clean energy will require massive amounts of infrastructure. And as Todd makes clear, the winners will be the companies and leaders who understand how to actually build.
Links:
Todd Zabelle on LinkedIn
Project Production Institute's Website
Strategic Project Solutions Website

Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
Email: wes@leegroupsearch.com
https://leegroupsearch.com/green-giants-podcast/
https://leegroupsearch.com/