POWER SURGE: Report on this one-day conference

An important conversation hosted by Doon Insights

Doon Insights, an investment-focused group organized by Howard Chao, convened dozens of subject-matter experts as speakers (see the list below) across many disciplines in Santa Cruz, California to address trends and issues impacting demand for and supply of energy in the coming years and decades. Energy, which is what makes today's technologically-dependent society possible, is a very large and important topic and was a lot to cover. But in an ambitious, rapid-paced one-day conference titled "POWER SURGE: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand," dozens of people laid out the fundamentals and discussed the key questions around both what is driving demand and how will we meet that demand. Questions tackled included:

Demand Side

Why projections for US power needs now greatly exceed what would have been predicted only a couple of year ago
Why the exceptional needs of AI Data Centers and the electrification of diverse parts of the economy are driving energy demand
What are the challenges of building, financing and operating new data centers?
How much more power will these new facilities require? Where will they be located and what is the attitude of utilities, state and federal government towards supporting them?
How will the rapidly changing AI competitive landscape affect these power projections? Does the advent of very cheap, highly efficient, smaller SLMs, open source models and Chinese competitors mean that investors have overestimated the need for huge data centers?
How will the electrification of vehicles, buildings, industry and transactions (blockchain and cryptocurrencies) further accelerate and add significant incremental power demand?
What are the primary challenges to meeting these power demands of these expanding use cases in the coming years and what will be the main challenges to implementation, including the need to expand the transmission capabilities of the grid?
Will the new administration's renewed emphasis on fossil fuels result in a slowdown in electrification?
What will be the impact of the tariffs on the buildout of all these projects?
How will the new administration's energy policies impact all of these areas? Will we be able to unleash power generation sufficient to sustain the foreseeable economic growth while also continuing to reduce carbon emissions?

Supply Side

What are the near and longer-term challenges and solutions to the surge in power demand?
Will growing renewables and batteries be sufficient?
Will fossil fuels experience a resurgence, with all that drilling?
Will the sexiest and biggest solutions—nuclear fission and fusion—be coming on stream faster than most people believe?
What are the short, medium and long-term prospects for these new technologies?
Will the "privatization" of nuclear innovation and the prevalence of an industry being led by fast-moving private companies, pleasantly surprise us with their speed to market?
What will be the near-term and longer-term mix of energy solutions?
How will a patchwork of revamped legacy technologies, including fuel cells, wind, solar, distributed generation, energy storage, energy time-of-use shifting and other behind-the-meter solutions help in the short-term?
How are advancements in small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), which offer enhanced safety features, reduced construction times, and the flexibility to be deployed in diverse locations, going to contribute?
Given that major technology companies like Google and Amazon are investing in SMRs to power their expansive data centers, how will this accelerate commercialization?
Fusion energy—which is experiencing a wave of breakthroughs, with multiple companies and research initiatives racing to develop and commercialize multiple technologies, such as high-temperature superconductors, improved plasma confinement techniques, and novel neutron flux applications—is beginning to generate revenues but has yet to complete a power-generating reactor design. Will the new administration help accelerate progress towards practical fusion power with pilot plants within the decade or is this game-changing technology still decades away?

The Nuclear Option

Valerie Gardner, Nucleation's managing partner, moderated the day's fission panel, called "The Nuclear Option: Generation IV and Small Modular Reactors," which looked at the role of fission innovation and the coming wave of small, modular reactors (SMRs), that were poised to bring nuclear power into the 21st century. She and her panelists, Leah Crider from Westinghouse (seated on the left), representing the eVinci design, and Clayton Scott from NuScale Power (in the center), which has the first NRC-certified advanced fission design, discussed how and why next-generation nuclear will be the ideal clean energy solution that few think is possible.

While the Fission panel had a full 45 minutes (and probably went over-time) to cover a lot of ground, including reviewing nuclear's status as a major source of today's clean energy, the fact that nuclear is turning into a "technology" product that can be manufactured in factories and shipped to locations, and how a growing assortment of energy buyers like Google, Amazon and Dow Chemical see advanced nuclear as solving their energy needs better than other solutions, because the subject matter was so expansive, Valerie and her panel were able to cover many but definitely not all of the important points. Nevertheless, the fact that this conference's supply-side conversation included nuclear fission at all was a huge victory. This inclusion reflects the fact that nuclear energy is no longer seen as the taboo topic it was long deemed to be, at least up until the last couple of years. For too long, nuclear fission was excluded and no one considered it a vital part of the clean energy solution set. But times have changed and especially among investors looking to understand key long-term trends and be able to invest into them at an early stage.

According to Howard Chao, each panel of the conference, by design, was too short, leaving a lot of unfinished conversations. Nucleation Capital was honored to have been included in this discussion and we look forward to continuing to see interest in advanced nuclear broaden.

POWER SURGE: List of Speakers

Ps speakers 1
Ps speakers 2 Ps speakers 3

March 25, 2025

POWER SURGE: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand

Announcing a Doon Insights Workshop

Power surge

Doon Insights, hosted by Howard Chao, is convening dozens of experts to address trends and discuss issues impacting demand for and supply of energy in the coming years and decades. This one-day conference is being held on April 30th, 2025 in Santa Cruz, at the Boardwalk's Cocoanut Grove Resort. This is Doon Insights first energy-focused workshop, so the event will bring investors up to speed on the topic of energy and how we will meet that demand. It is not too late to register to attend. The conference is titled "POWER SURGE: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand."

Ray Rothrock, renowned venture capitalist and Nucleation Capital advisor, will give a keynote talk about the solutions to the demand surge in conversation with Howard Chao. Valerie Gardner, Nucleation Capital's managing partner, is moderating an afternoon panel on Long Term Supply Side Solutions from Nuclear Fission: Specifically Gen IV and Small Modular Reactors. Following that, Matt Trevithick of Leitmotif Ventures, will moderate a panel on Fusion. For the complete event overview and agenda, see thePOWER SURGE website.

Official Event Description

Doon Insights is pleased to announce our Power Surge Workshop: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand!

Our Power Surge Workshop will convene an exclusive gathering of industry leaders, investors, technologists, and innovators to explore one of the most pressing challenges of our time: meeting the surging demand for energy in a scalable and sustainable way.

As data centers, the electrification of everything, crypto mining, and other emerging energy-intensive applications create an unprecedented spike in demand, the energy sector is facing a pivotal moment. This perfect storm of demand must be addressed with both more conventional power generation, better power management and revolutionary new technologies.

Why Attend?

This Workshop is a must-attend event for energy innovators, investors, technologists, energy, manufacturing, mobility and other energy industry executives. Engage in in-depth discussions, network with industry leaders, and discover actionable insights into our energy future. And enjoy the beach and mountains of Santa Cruz!

Event Details:

Date:April 30, 2025 - 8 am

Location:The Boardwalk's Classic Cocoanut Grove Ballroom, 400 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA (Workshop); Bonny Doon, CA (Reception and Dinner)

Join us to explore the technologies, strategies, and collaborations that will define the next generation of energy systems. Secure your spot today!

Very much looking forward to seeing everyone in Santa Cruz!

September 7, 2022

Celebrating A Nuclear Win and the Village that Created It

Diablo Canyon has been saved—for now! Rather than allowing this clean energy producing power plant to be wastefully decommissioned by those who simply dislike nuclear power, the California legislature, under the leadership of Governor Gavin Newsom, voted to extend its life by up to 10 years. Senate Bill 846, sponsored by Jordan Cunningham (CA-25, R), passed with nearly unanimous votes in both the Democratically-controlled Assembly and Senate. SB 846 also provides for as much as $1.4 billion in loans from California to PG&E for re-licensing and enables PG&E to also submit a timely application to the DOE's Civil Nuclear Credit program for further aid in re-starting licensing with the NRC and transitioning back to full-operating mode. This is a nearly miraculous win for California's pronuclear advocates and it is worth celebrating both the win and the broader community that made it possible.

While there are a lot of individuals and organizations who contributed to setting the stage for this phenomenal political win for nuclear power in general and Diablo Canyon specifically, there were also considerable underlying political realities that effectively forced the Governor's hand. In particular, the state's own energy experts from CALISO, CEC, as well as academia and industry, expressed extreme alarm at the high level of fragility of the grid and the high risk of power outages even with Diablo Canyon operating. The closure of Diablo Canyon was clearly going to exacerbate the already bad situation. Climate change and state clean energy mandates made the CPUC's plan to replace Diablo Canyon's clean energy with dirty coal power from PacifiCorp anathema to the both the state's goals and the Governor's political reputation. Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in dire energy shortages in Europe and rising gas prices. This is making the world's growing reliance on natural gas both uneconomical and politically unsavory.

With that as the political and economic backdrop, we wish to take a look at some of the individuals and groups that took on prominent roles advocating for nuclear power in general and for Diablo Canyon specifically. Some of these groups worked behind the scenes and some played highly prominent roles. The press has recognized the advocacy of the San Luis Obispo-based Mothers for Nuclear, which has consistently stood up for Diablo Canyon at local hearings, rallies and in the press. This mom-led non-profit further coordinated with Isabelle Boemeke, a model-turned "nuclear influencer," whose online presence "Isodope," introduced a witty, stylish and slightly snarky approach to pronuclear advocacy, sharing her frank messaging with a new generation. Together, they organized several recent and memorable public events, a rally on behalf of Diablo Canyon and the issuance of letter to Governor Newsom signed by 79 prominent scientific experts. As impactful as both of those campaigns were, their success rested upon a foundation of public opinion that had grown stronger due to very considerable contributions from the following very notable individuals and groups:

The Pronuclear Village

Nuclear-Focused Writers

James Conca, Forbes
Robert Bryce, Forbes and other
Michael Shellenberger, Forbes, Environmental Progress
Rod Adams, Atomic Insights
Catherine Clifford, CNBC

Academics & Scientists

Dr, James Hansen, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, at the Earth Institute of Columbia University
Dr. Todd Allen, University of Michigan
Dr. Jacopo Buongiorno, MIT
Dr. Steven Chu, Stanford University
Dr. Jesse Jenkins, Princeton
Dr. Jessica Lovering, University of Colorado, Boulder
Also, another 75 or so who signed the February 2022 letter to Governor Newsom

Non-Profits & Think Tanks

The Breakthrough Institute, Ted Nordhaus
Clean Air Task Force, Armond Cohen
Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Carl Wurtz, Dr. Gene Nelson
Anthropocene Institute, Carl Page
The Long Now, Stewart Brand
Energy for Humanity, Kirsty Gogan
Nuclear Innovation Alliance, Judi Greenwald
TerraPraxis, Erik Ingersoll, Kirsty Gogan
Good Energy Collective, Dr. Jessica Lovering, Suzy Hobbs Baker, Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh
Energy Impact Center, Bret Kugelmass
Energy for Humanity, Kirsty Gogan
Fastest Path to Zero, Dr. Todd Allen, at the University of Michigan
Climate Protection & Restoration Initiative, Dr. James Hansen, Donn J. Viviani and others
The Nature Conservancy, Mark Tercek
The World Resources Institute

Podcasters

Titans of Nuclear, Bret Kugelmass
The Atomic Show, Rod Adams
Decouple Podcast, Dr. Chris Keefer
Energy Impact Podcast, Bret Kugelmass
Climate Fix, Colby & Phil
Columbia Energy Exchange, Jason Bordoff, Bill Lovelass
Cowen’s Energy Transition Podcast, Marc Bianchi

Organizers & Advocates

Environmental Progress, Michael Shellenberger
Mothers for Nuclear, Heather Hoff and Kirstin Zaitz
Save Clean Energy, Isabelle Boemeke
Generation Atomic, Eric Meyers
Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal, Madison Hilly
Stand Up for Nuclear, Paris Ortiz-Wines
Emergency Reactor, Zion Lights
Climate Coalition, Valerie Gardner, Gary Kahanak
Nuclear New York, Dr. Dietmar Detering, Isuru Seneviratne
US Nuclear Industry: NEI, ANS, USNIC, NIA, INPO, etc.
International: IPCC, WNA, IAEA, WNN, etc.

Artists & Authors

Robert Stone, Pandora’s Promise (documentary)
Dave Schumacher, The New Fire (documentary)
Robert Bryce, Juice (documentary) and author of "A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations"
Oliver Stone, Nuclear: Time to Look Again (a new documentary, being released now)
Joshua Goldstein, "A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow"
Meredith Angwin, “Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of our Electric Grid” and "Campaigning for Clean Air"
Dr. Robert Hargraves, author of "Thorium, Energy Cheaper than Coal"
Michael Bloomberg, co-author of "Climate of Hope"
Gwyneth Cravens, author of "Power to Save the World: The Truth about Nuclear Energy"
Mathijs Beckers, author of "Highway to Dystopia: About spaceship Earth, Climate Change and more"
Isabelle Boemeke, creator of the “Isodope” TicTok videos and tweets
Baba Brinkman, Nuclear/Science rapper

Influencers

Stewart Brand, The Whole Earth Catalog
Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Dr. Gene Nelson
What is Nuclear, Nick Touran
Radiant Energy, Mark Nelson
Thorium Energy Alliance, John Kutsch
Google, Ross Koningstein (IEEE, White Papers)
D.J. LeClear, The Rad Guy
TEA, Silicon Valley, Alex Cannara
Save Clean Energy, Isabelle Boemeke
Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Jim Hopf (Nuclear group)
4^th Generation Blog, Canon Bryan, Amelia Tiemann
Rethinking Nuclear, Richard Steeves

Politicians & Biden Admin

Trump Administration & Congress, laid a foundation with the passage of NEIMA & NEICA
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, loudly pronuclear
Senator Cory Booker, introduced his support of nuclear power during the 2019 Primary Climate Debates
President Joe Biden, ushered in the Energy Bill of 2020, which funded the Advanced Reactor Development Program (ARDP), to accelerate commercialization of the next generation of reactors
Dept. of Energy, Secr. of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, worked overtime to introduce the Civil Nuclear Credit program in a timely way, plus, she has posted many great videos about the need for nuclear to address climate
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has expressed her support for the protection of the Palisades Nuclear Power plant and now for Holtec's application to restart it
The Infrastructure & Jobs Act, set up the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, with a $6 billion fund to save nuclear power plants, such as Palisades and Diablo Canyon
Representative Elaine Luria, has introduced a bevy of important nuclear energy bills, including the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (’19), Nuclear Power Purchase Agreements Act (’21), and Fueling our Nuclear Future Act (’22)
All of Congress, has used voice votes to approve key pronuclear pieces of legislation
Senator Diane Feinstein, wrote about her support for Diablo Canyon in a number of OpEds
DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO), under the leadership of Jigar Shah, has been working to provide Government-guaranteed loans to key projects

Funders

There is a small but dedicated community of funders who have shown a willing to support many of the above non-profits, as well as the various artistic and advocacy campaign initiatives. We are greatful to them, as they have allowed much of the work that others have not been willing to fund, to be produced.

[Please note: All of the above listed groups have websites that are available online. Legislation is all searchable. We are not able to provide links for every group but have provided for some that may be harder to find. If you have trouble finding information you need, please reach out through our contact form. We have had a prime seat for the last decade or so to follow the events but we cannot possibly include everyone or every group that is active in this space. However, if you think we have omitted an important contributor who should be listed as having had a meaningful impact on the decision to save Diablo Canyon, please use the comment box below to send us a private message.]

Published by Valerie Gardner in Climate change, Climate mayhem, Climate policy, Environmental support for nuclear, Government support, International support for nuclear, Investor activity, NEWS, Nucleation communications, Philanthropic support for nuclear, Politicians supporting nuclear, Pro-nuclear campaign, Solving climate, US technological leadership, Women in Nuclear

July 9, 2020

Oil and gas investments reach their “sell by” date

Ray Rothrock, famed Venrock VC who has made multiple investments in advanced nuclear, together with Ellen Hughes-Cromwick and Farah Benahmed, discuss the critical role that professional venture capital (VC) has long played in accelerating innovation. While the nature of VC has changed over time, the goal of providing precious capital to great entrepreneurs with world-changing ideas for solutions against big problems, remains the same. But now, rather than a handful of rich families, there are over 1,000 VC firms deploying about $100 billion a year to ventures of all kinds.

The record of success by VC is borne out by research which shows that 43% of today’s public companies were venture-backed, representing 57% of the public market capitalization, 38% of all employees at public companies and 82% of all the corporate R&D.

As fossil fuels fail and investors look ahead to the next phase of energy, many investors and VCs are once again looking to innovators and understanding both the threats and risks but also the opportunities that will come with a clean energy transition. While encouraging, we need to accelerate the pace by which clean energy innovators get capital and figure out the ways to unleash a wave of capital toward clean energy.

Read more in Third Way: "Innovation Sparks Advances Toward a Clean Energy Future"

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Asset manager support, Brilliant thinkers, Capital reallocation, Fossil fuels, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Venture capital support for nuclear

August 1, 2019

Venerable venture capitalist, Ray Rothrock, backs advanced nuclear ventures

Ray Rothrock, the venture capitalist with the most experience backing advanced nuclear ventures, has agreed to serve as an advisor to Nucleation Capital. Ray led Venrock's investment in Tri Alpha Energy in 2005 and sits on the TAE board. He personally invested in Transatomic Energy, and served as the chair of the board until the company closed in 2018. Ray has been involved in shifting the conversation about nuclear energy in the US, testifying on behalf of H.R. 4084, the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act, which was ultimately signed into law in 2018, funding the Robert Stone documentary, Pandora's Promise and many other facets of activity.

In 2016, Ray reflected on the role of venture capital in funding advanced nuclear ventures and wrote: "Aren’t we VCs supposed to be ruthlessly focused on finding ideas that we think can be brought to market with reasonable investments and in reasonable periods of time? Of course. But sometimes an opportunity presents itself that, if it works, can change the future forever and for everyone. . . "

Read more of Ray's thinking about the role of venture capital in What’s the Big Idea?, an article he published in the Winter 2016 edition of Issues in Science and Technology.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Climate policy, Future of Energy, Government support, NEWS, Nuclear innovation, Venture capital support for nuclear

December 22, 2016

What’s the big idea?

The Winter edition of Issues in Science and Technology has published a selection of very thoughtful essays from some of our smartest and most successful investors and academics.

In a piece called "What's the big idea?," venerated Venrock VC, Ray Rothrock, discusses his experience and, indeed, success as a venture capitalist and his honed understandings of how to sniff out the best teams and the brightest visions, remaining "ruthlessly focused on finding ideas that we think can be brought to market with reasonable investments and in reasonable periods of time." He then goes on to explain why he was motivated and even compelled to make an investment in Tri-Alpha Energy, a fusion venture, which he calls "the riskiest and most significant venture project of my career . . . an energy development company that, if it succeeds, would change the world in profound ways."

In "A Roadmap for US Nuclear Energy Innovation," Dr. Richard Lester, professor and associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reviews a variety of forces that are inspiring a renewed push for nuclear energy. He cites several recent climate policy assessments that have concluded that meeting the world’s growing appetite for energy while achieving deep reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions will be impossible without rapid nuclear energy growth, along with massive increases in the deployment of solar, wind, and other low-carbon energy technologies. He goes on to propose a roadmap for innovation that enables the U.S. to lead, rather than follow, Russia and China in advancing nuclear technology.

Read Ray Rothrock's essay "What's the big idea?," and Richard Lester essay "A Roadmap for US Nuclear Energy Innovation."

Published by Nucleation Capital in Climate change, Climate policy, Future of Energy, Government support, LINKS, Nuclear R&D

June 15, 2013

Billionaires backing nuclear

Paul Allen, Sir Richard Branson, Ray Rothrock, Steve Kirsch, Stewart Brand and Bill Gates support nuclear energy. In "Why Billionaire Paul Allen Backed Pro-Nuclear Power Film Pandora's Promise," author Kerry A. Dolan explores the reasons why these billionaires want to get people thinking about nuclear in a whole new way.

As the film itself explains, when actual facts about nuclear are laid out clearly, people can make up their own minds, which leads to informed decision-making, which, as Allen said, "is critical if we wat to tackle the world's biggest challenges." Unfortunately, most people don't know the facts—just the myths about nuclear power.

Read more about how these powerful men became involved with the making of Pandora's Promise in Forbes' "Why Billionaire Paul Allen Backed Pro-Nuclear Power Film Pandora's Promise."

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Brilliant thinkers, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate policy, Future of Energy, LINKS, Nuclear innovation, Philanthropic support for nuclear