S2E3: COP30, AI-Driven Power Demand, and On-Site Energy Innovation with Catherine McKenna (Former Canadian Climate Minister) and Shannon Miller (Co-Founder & CEO, Mainspring Energy)

This week, Brynne Kennedy and Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE speak with two leaders shaping global climate policy and the future of on-site power: Catherine McKenna, former Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Chair of the UN Net Zero Expert Group, and Shannon Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Mainspring Energy.Brynne and Chris discuss the key outcomes from COP in Brazil, the rising strain between AI-driven electricity demand and grid capacity, and the renewed focus on nuclear power as clean baseload. They examine how geopolitics, permitting, and implementation are now central to the energy transition.Catherine McKenna reflects on her path from negotiating the Paris Agreement to defining global net-zero standards at the UN. She outlines what drives real climate action today: credible regulation, pricing climate risk, ending public fossil fuel finance, and ensuring policy certainty for investors.Shannon Miller explains how Mainspring’s linear generator technology delivers reliable, fuel-flexible on-site power for data centers, industrial users, and logistics hubs. She highlights deployments with partners like Prologis and utilities, showing how microgrids and modular systems are accelerating clean, resilient power where it’s needed most.