Eighty-five towns across New York state sit under battery storage moratoriums right now, and two of three Westchester County towns where Joe Tassone Jr. built successful battery projects in 2020 have since banned the technology outright. In this episode, Tim Montague sits down with Joe Tassone Jr., partner at onCORE Origination, a site origination firm working in 25 states on solar, battery storage, data centers, and EV infrastructure.

This episode covers the top three issues blocking battery development at the community level, why fire safety fears around lithium-ion storage miss the wider context, and what separates developers who close projects from those who waste millions.

Here's what you'll learn in this conversation about battery development and site origination:

• You'll hear the three biggest objections communities raise against battery storage projects.
• Find out why 85 New York towns currently sit under battery moratoriums, and how two of three Westchester County towns where Joe built projects in 2020 have since banned storage outright.
• Learn why Joe argues developers should never treat zoning as black and white, even in towns with outright bans, because public utility statutes and use variances open paths to approval through the judicial process.
• Understand how state-level programs in Illinois, Maryland, and Connecticut remove local NIMBY obstacles.
• You'll get Joe's three tenets of successful development: knowing where to go through parcel acumen, committing fully to a market with a clear pipeline vision, and persisting relentlessly through headwinds.

Joe's 30 years of site origination experience surfaces one clear lesson: developers who treat zoning as static codes and give up at the first denial lose tens of millions in project value every year. The industry needs to move from reactive to proactive, meeting with town and county associations before moratoriums pass instead of reacting after.

Connect with Joe Tassone Jr

Joe Tassone Jr. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-f-tassone-jr-a778a1190/

onCORE Origination Website: https://oncoreorig.com/

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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com

Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

John Weaver calls California's daytime pricing shift the story of the year. Battery demand has pushed wholesale solar prices from negative five cents per kilowatt hour up by 4.2 cents, adding around $10,833 of revenue to solar asset owners in a single five-minute period. Tim Montague and John Weaver break down what this shift means for solar developers, plus community solar crossing 10 gigawatts, BYD's 14.5 megawatt-hour battery priced at 1.4 cents per kilowatt hour lifecycle cost, and Dean Solon's plan to build 50-year solar power plants in Tennessee.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• California batteries reverse the duck curve pricing. John Weaver's analysis shows wholesale daytime solar prices climbed from negative five cents per kilowatt hour to negative 0.8 cents, driven by battery demand absorbing midday generation. (PV Magazine)
• BYD reveals a 14.5 megawatt-hour DC energy storage system with a lifecycle cost of 1.4 cents per kilowatt hour (ESS News).
• India research indicates 90 percent grid coverage via solar plus storage at 5.6 cents per kilowatt hour. Four point nine gigawatts of solar paired with 13.5 gigawatt hours of battery delivers one gigawatt of 24/7 load. (PV Magazine)
• US community solar passes 10 gigawatts despite market contraction. (PV Magazine)
• California Public Utilities Commission seeks 6 gigawatts of new clean power capacity, with most expected to include paired battery storage. (PV Magazine)

California is giving every solar market a preview of what saturated grids look like once batteries scale. The pricing data, BYD's 1.4 cent per kWh lifecycle cost, and India's 90% grid coverage research all point in the same direction: solar plus storage economics are entering a new phase.

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Connect with Tim

Clean Power Hour
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Tim on Twitter
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Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com

Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com

Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

One large solar company reported less than 1% of its field employees were women. The solar industry overall sits at 25 to 30% women across all roles, but the construction side drops to an estimated 1 to 3%. Riley Neugebauer, founder of Solar for Women, joins Tim Montague on the Clean Power Hour to talk about why women are missing from solar installation and what the industry needs to do about it. Riley Neugebauer is the founder of Solar for Women, a nonprofit building a network of women in the solar trades.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

You will learn why girls outperform boys in STEM subjects through middle school but drop off by high school, and how socialization pushes women away from trades careers before they ever consider them.

You will hear Riley describe how one employer told her she had no natural ability after a year of work, while hiring men around her for the field roles she wanted. That experience led her to start the Facebook group that became Solar for Women.

Riley explains that companies need to do specific work: put women in visible roles, show diversity in marketing materials, create employee resource groups, offer mentorship, and allow schedule flexibility for parents.

You will hear about organizations already training women in solar, including Grid Alternatives, Remote Energy, and the Solar Energy International (SEI) women's lab programs. Riley credits Grid Alternatives with producing many of the women she knows in the solar construction workforce.

Tim and Riley discuss the broader U.S. trades shortage. The country needs a million new electricians, many are aging out, and K-12 education still steers students toward college rather than skilled trades.

This episode matters because the solar industry faces a labor shortage while half the population remains almost entirely absent from its construction workforce. Riley Neugebauer and Solar for Women are working to change that by building community, advocating for workplace culture shifts, and connecting women to training resources. The opportunity is large and the barriers are solvable.

Connect with Riley Neugebauer, Solar for Women

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riley-neugebauer-5a534a5/

Website: https://www.solarforwomen.com/

Support the show

Connect with Tim

Clean Power Hour
Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
Tim on LinkedIn

Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com

Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com

Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/

The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com