The Grid Is Not Short on Generation, It's Short on Orchestration - with Mitch Berglund

What does it actually take to lead distributed energy programmes when the grid is the deadline? Mitch Berglund is Vice President of Sales and Grid Programmes at Texas Solar, founder of iTrust Power, and a 17-year veteran of the US distributed energy industry. He has generated over $150 million in cumulative revenue including $67 million in a single year at Lumio, built and led teams of more than 50 people, and pioneered Virtual Power Plant programmes across ERCOT and CAISO. A Golden Door Award recipient recognised for top 1% national performance in sales leadership, he brings rare field-level execution experience to the VPP and storage space.In this conversation we get into what alignment really means when the grid is the deadline, how to build trust at scale across functional teams, why the leaders winning right now are operators first and talkers second, and what the arrival of AI and data centres means for distributed energy and VPPs. We also cover retention, the player-coach mentality, and why the grid is not short on generation, it is short on orchestration.In this episode we cover:Why Mitch's leadership shifted from performance-driven to execution-driven, and what that looks like in practiceWhat alignment actually means across sales, operations, financing, compliance, and market policyHow to build trust quickly inside high-growth teams and across functional boundariesWhy retention is the most underrated lever in the energy transitionVPP deployment in ERCOT: what field reality looks like versus the conceptual hypeWhy battery storage installations are fundamentally more complex than solarHow AI and data centres are creating a new class of grid customerWhy the next phase of the grid will be defined by who orchestrates the fleet, not who installs the most assetsIf you lead teams in distributed energy, storage, or grid programmes, or you are building the next chapter of your career in the energy transition, this conversation is for you.Connect with Mitch: linkedin.com/in/mitch-berglund-593389a4Connect with Michael: linkedin.com/in/michael-thornhill-b42603367CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction and the orchestration era01:15 Mitch's background: from residential solar to grid programmes04:10 Leadership when the grid is the deadline08:10 Operators vs. talkers: what real leadership looks like09:05 What alignment actually means10:00 How to build trust at speed15:40 Advice to your younger self18:00 VPPs: hype vs. execution reality in ERCOT20:44 Why battery storage is harder than solar22:20 Retention: the most underrated lever in the energy transition27:30 The player-coach mentality and the abundant mindset34:00 Large companies vs. small teams: where people feel valued36:40 AI, data centres, and the new grid customer40:40 VPPs as the flex and shock absorber of the grid43:17 The new wave: leading in the orchestration era47:08 Wrap-up and how to connect with Mitch