Andrew Baglino on energy transition
From Critical Capital - The clean energy transition has a hardware problem, ft. Drew Baglino · · Crux Climate
“To have a sustainable energy economy which is largely going to be an electric powered one, we need to triple or or maybe even quintuple the electricity generation and consumption on the planet. And while it's clear that renewable energy developers are great at developing a ton of solar and the same is true for batteries and, you know, on the load side, you know, we can build homes, we can get heat pumps into people's houses, we can produce millions of electric vehicles per year. It is not obvious that the electricity sector itself, the utilities in the supply base to the utility sector, can grow by 500 percent.”
On , Andrew Baglino, Former SVP of Powertrain & Energy Engineering at Tesla, spoke about energy transition during Critical Capital - The clean energy transition has a hardware problem, ft. Drew Baglino on Crux Climate.
About Andrew Baglino
Andrew Baglino, founder and CEO of Heron Power and former Tesla executive, has been discussing the challenges of modernizing the U.S. electrical grid and critical mineral supply chains. In a May 2026 appearance on the podcast Critical Capital, Baglino argued that the aging hardware of the electric grid, such as transformers and cables, is a major bottleneck for the clean energy transition, independent of the source of generation. He said that the electricity sector needs to grow by 300% to 500% to support a sustainable energy economy, and described solid-state transformers as a technology that could free up supply chains, such as grain-oriented electric steel, for other electrification needs. Baglino also said that cash flow cycles and project delays are significant inhibitors to the ramp rate of new energy infrastructure. Speaking on a separate a16z podcast in May 2026, Baglino stated that the U.S. is "50 years behind on critical mineral supply" and "too slow at designing, building, and ramping up new minerals capacity." He advocated for durable industrial policy and a "federal highway trust fund for the grid" to coordinate infrastructure buildout and co-located supply chains. Baglino also expressed support for leveraging U.S.-based silicon carbide technology for domestic manufacturing, arguing that failing to do so would cede the benefits of the technology to other countries.