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How do we get the money from climate legislation into the hands of someone buying a heat pump or solar? Between passing legislation, like the Inflation Reducaiton Act (IRA), and a homeowner getting new devices to run their homes there is a major coordination, paperwork, and financing problem to orchestrate. In this episode, Ben interviews Jeff Coleman, founder and CEO of Eli Technologies, and fellow climate dad. Jeff’s career has a theme of building digital infrastructure to drive systemic change. He worked on the 2008 Obama campaign, numerous non-profits, and built the digital tools behind Access Clean California. This all led to founding Eli—a startup on a mission to make home decarbonization more equitable and affordable at scale.
Side note—Eli is exactly the type of company that Stepchange is focused on--finding places where software-based products can accelerate the deployment speed of climate solutions. We're lucky to be investors in Eli and as always, nothing in this conversation is investment advice.
Referenced:
Hot Buttered Rum (Jeff’s Bluegrass band)
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To get in touch, email ben@climatepapa.com
Today’s outro music: Hot Buttered Rum - No Reason Why
Show theme music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)
02:20 Jeff's Musical Background and Family Life
06:03 Jeff's Journey: From Musician to Climate Advocate
10:11 The Obama Campaign Experience
17:24 Transition to Climate Solutions
21:12 Challenges in Solar Installation
22:52 Building Access Clean California
26:51 Government's Role in Program Funding
27:48 Program Administration and Challenges
30:03 Equity and Incentive Structures
32:21 Decentralization and Local Needs
34:29 Eli's Mission and Approach
41:20 Building a Multi-Sided Platform
44:19 The Role of Software in Climate Solutions
50:15 Balancing Startup Life and Family
56:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
In other fun news—
Two weeks ago we had the inaugural Bloomberg Green Festival come to Seattle. I had the privilege of a participating on a panel about careers in climate where we hit on everything from the labor market to the economics of working in climate tech. It was fun to reunite with Jessyn Farrell from a prior Climate Papa episode.
If you’re interested you can watch the panel here:
I was also really moved by the first TED talk on Thursday evening by Johan Rockström if you want a snapshot of where we are in the overall journey of climate impacts on the planet.
#19: Unlocking home decarbonization and a side of bluegrass, with Jeff Coleman