State of the transition: The biggest fights in energy

Everyone has a strong opinion on energy right now. If you’ve followed energy for a while, none of this is new. There have always been strong opinions — renewables versus fossil fuels, subsidies versus markets, activists versus infrastructure. But the intensity feels different right now. People are arguing about everything: the speed of the transition, how to fix broken electricity markets, whether renewables raise or lower power prices, whether AI data centers are about to break the grid. So who’s actually right? This week, JP Morgan’s Michael Cembalest joins the show to weigh in on some of the top fights in energy. Michael is the chairman of market and investment strategy at JP Morgan Asset and Wealth Management. He writes the “Eye on the Market” newsletter, and every year he publishes a deep dive on energy market trends. This year’s report is called “Fighting Words.” We talk with Michael about the fallout from the war with Iran and why the global economy may absorb it differently than past crises. We also dig into gas markets, electricity prices, data centers, CCS, green hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuels — and what they all reveal about the reality of today’s energy system. Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Caroline Golin. Produced and edited by Anne Bailey, Sean Marquand, and Stephen Lacey. Want to watch this episode? Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Ready to accelerate your career in clean energy? Yale’s Financing and Deploying Clean Energy Certificate is a fully online, 10-month program built for working professionals. It delivers real-world skills in clean energy policy, technology, project finance, and innovation — all in just five hours a week. Enroll here and use the discount code OpenCircuit26 on your application to save $500 on tuition. Applications close April 20, 2026. Explore the new era of AI innovation in the fifth season of Where the Internet Lives, an award-winning podcast from Google and Latitude Studios. Follow and listen to Where the Internet Lives on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts.Join Latitude Media on April 13-14, in San Francisco for Transition-AI 2026, a two-day, in-person conference on the digital and energy infrastructure buildout needed to support AI load growth. Our podcast listeners get a 10% discount on this year’s conference using the code PODS10. ⁠Register today here⁠!