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Here's What EVs Are Doing to California's Energy Grid
David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
If you’ve been outside lately in Southern California, you’ll know there’s an ongoing heatwave here. In something of an annual tradition, the electricity grid is under duress because of the heightened demand for power-hungry air conditioners.
In response, the California Independent Systems Operator, which oversees the state’s electric grid, has issued “flex alerts,” which are essentially pleas to residents to conserve power during peak usage (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) by turning off appliances, air conditioning, setting thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and refraining from charging electric vehicles.
This last item–don’t charge your EVs–has drawn some schadenfreude from some news outlets which point out that, just last week, the state announced plans to ban new gas car sales. How can California possibly hope to power a fleet of around 20 million electric vehicles in the future when it can hardly power around 1 million cars today?
Whether or not it’s being asked in good faith, it’s a valid question. So here’s an explainer about what exactly is going on with the grid and the role that EVs will likely play in the future.
The problem is that it’s too hot right now. As always, no one can claim that climate change caused this heatwave, but the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that human-caused climate change is making heatwaves like this one more common. The future will certainly have more such heat events than the present, especially if we don’t find a way to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions.
When it’s too hot, people use a lot more air conditioning. Air conditioning is especially energy-intensive. The result is that–all at once–there’s more demand for electricity. When demand outstrips supply, blackouts occur.
“People think of ‘the grid’ as this uniform system. But really, it's a bunch of electrical connections that have evolved over time,” says Cascade Tuholske, an assistant professor of Human-Environment Geography at Montana State University. “Some aspects of the grid are super antiquated. And you can't just pump more electricity into a system without upgrading it.”
You can imagine the electrical grid sort of like plumbing. Like water in pipes of different diameters, there’s a maximum amount of electronics that can flow through different grid architectures, so simply adding more energy into the system doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.
The California electric grid, in other words, has failed to keep pace with the increasing demand for air conditioning. Or, as California Gov. Newsom put it in a press conference yesterday, “All of us have been trying to outrun Mother Nature, but it’s pretty clear Mother Nature has outrun us.”
Even without the increased demand from electric vehicles, the grid needs upgrades. But EVs–even a whole state’s worth–don’t add as much demand to the grid as fossil fuel advocates might suggest. The main reason EVs aren’t likely to cripple the grid is that they don’t all charge at the same time and they don't usually charge when demand is high. Like with smartphones, most EV charging happens overnight, while the car sits in the garage, while people aren’t awake to use appliances, while demand for air conditioning is lowest.
Nationally, EV charging accounts for just .2% of energy grid consumption, by some estimates. Adding a nation of EVs will absolutely add demand for electricity to the grid–as much as 25% more, according to scientists–but this transition is going to happen slowly, over time. Even California, which has the most ambitious EV adoption policy, is allowing 13 years before banning gas-powered car sales. It will probably be 30 years or more before 90% of the cars on the road are electric. The demand for more power will ramp up slowly, just as it has historically as Americans bought refrigerators, air conditioners, computers, etc.
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act includes massive amounts of funding to address these exact issues, including $2.5 billion to “modernize and expand capacity of America’s power grid.”
Ironically, EVs actually may offer help to a stressed electrical grid if they’re used correctly. Cars with full batteries can be plugged in and used to supply energy to the grid – just as they did a month ago when Tesla pooled energy from its users’ vehicles to boost California’s supply. Of course this will drain your car’s battery, but you should be able to get paid for your troubles. A 50kWh battery like what’s found in an electric vehicle is more than enough to power the average house for a day.
“At least in theory, if they're integrated into the grid, you can draw the power off your EV battery during periods of excess demand,” says Tuholske.
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David Shultz
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Kobe Bryant Remembered for his Second Act: Venture Capitalist
11:05 PM | January 26, 2020
Kobe Bryant's precision as a shooting guard in a Lakers jersey was legendary. But, the NBA superstar's acumen in the boardroom was his future.
The basketball phenomenon was laying down the groundwork for the next part of his career years before he retired as a five-time NBA champion in 2016. Bryant partnered with entrepreneur Jeff Stibel, a scientist and former tech chief executive, to form a venture capital fund. He threw the gauntlet down on Hollywood, forming Granity Studios to front streaming and movie efforts, and Kobe Inc. for some of his personal investments.
He was determined to avoid the financial mistakes that have plagued so many athletes, applying the same drive and work ethic that won him five championships to a successful new phase as an investor. Like Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who exited the Lakers with his investment business tied to a string of movie theater chains and other ventures, Bryant was setting up the next stage of his life.
"Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act," former President Barack Obama tweeted Sunday.
Bryant earned $680 million in salary and endorsements during his two decade career, the most ever for a team athlete during their playing career, according to Forbes. But Bryant was determined to be more than just a celebrity athlete; He wanted to be respected as a venture capitalist who mentored entrepreneurs.
"The most important thing I enjoy now is helping others be successful," Bryant said in 2016. "I enjoy doing that much, much more, that's something that lasts forever, and hope they do that for the next generation."
Art by Shane Eichacker
In 2013, while still wearing the Lakers uniform, Bryant teamed with Stibel, to form Bryant Stibel, which provided strategic, financial, and operational consulting to businesses. Three years later, the duo announced a $100 million venture capital fund – funded with their own money – to invest in tech, media, and data companies. The portfolio included the sports media website The Players Tribune, legal-services company LegalZoom, mobile game designer Scopely, Alibaba Group, home-juicing company called Juicero, and enterprise voice communications platform RingDNA.
"He didn't want to just write checks but he wanted to be in the boardroom," said Brian Hollins, co-founder of BLCK VC, a group advancing black venture capitalists, who worked with Bryant's firm during its deal to back RingDNA. "He wanted to participate and be thought of as someone that was going to add high value."
Bryant purchased a 10 percent share for $6 million in 2014 for the sports drink BodyArmor, a stake ESPN reported became worth $200 million four years later when the Coca-Cola Company acquired part of the company.
It is difficult to overstate how beloved Bryant was in Los Angeles. When he transitioned from basketball to investing there was hope he would also have an outsize impact on the city in his new role.
"When we learned his next acts would be venture capital we certainly sat up and took notice," said Cinny Kennard, executive director at Annenberg Foundation, which co-runs PledgeLA, an initiative to improve equity and inclusion in the venture capital and tech industry. "We said who could be a better role model, who could link arms with this new wealth and this new tech community - who could be better than that?"
Bryant said he tried to apply the same lessons he learned on the basketball court to business, including the value of patience.
"A lot of time through the course of a game, you may notice a gap in defense or something you can take advantage of offensively," he told USA Today last year. "If you attack all at once, you show your hand too early, Team sports does a great job in teaching that and how to trust others."
When asked whether he thought hitting the winning shot in the playoffs or finding a winning company was more exciting and satisfying, Bryant quickly answered: "It's finding that winning company as an investor. Because I always expected to hit a game-winning shot growing up."
Staff writers Rachel Uranga and Tami Abdollah contributed to this report.
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Ben Bergman
Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.
https://twitter.com/thebenbergman
ben@dot.la
From 'the Passenger Seat to the Driver's Seat': Upfront Ventures' Nortman Is Now Co-Managing Partner
07:00 AM | October 26, 2020
Kara Nortman is already widely regarded as one of the top VCs in Los Angeles. Now, she is getting a promotion to make it official.
Upfront Ventures, the Santa Monica firm with more than $2 billion in assets under management that Nortman joined as partner in 2014, announced Monday she will become Co-Managing Partner.
Nortman will share the new title with Yves Sisteron, who founded the firm in 1996, and Mark Suster, who came aboard in 2007. But Nortman is quick to point out she's not replacing anyone.
"Yves is not going anywhere and Mark is not going anywhere, but he is 10 years older than me, so I have to be pretty good at this hopefully by the time I'm in my 50s," said Nortman, 44. "It really is an apprenticeship."
Nortman says she is taking a more active role in raising capital for Upfront's next $270 million fund (the firm raises a new vehicle every three years.) Citing SEC regulations, she declined to go into specifics but said fundraising is "going great."
As a native Angeleno, Nortman is a tireless cheerleader of the city's growing tech scene. In 2022, she will also be cheering on Angel City Football Club, L.A.'s new women's professional soccer team she co-founded with top celebrities like Natalie Portman and Serena Williams.
Nortman's promotion also makes her one of the few women who have ascended to the highest ranks of venture capital.
She is a founding member of All Raise, a nonprofit advocating for female founders and funders and a board member of TIME'S UP, created by women in Hollywood to fight harassment and discrimination. In an interview Friday, Nortman talked about her new role, how she gets along with Suster and what investments she's most proud of. She also talked about the fate of the lavish Upfront Summit, which normally brings hundreds of investors and founders to L.A. every January for several days of glitzy parties and panels.
What will this new role entail and how will you split duties with the other managing partners?
It will feel like a big shift maybe to the outside, but it's been a very gradual evolution. In a lot of ways I've already been stepping into this role over the last year or so and doing more on the leadership front, like strategy, hiring and building relationships with the LPs, which is an interesting part of the business. I've always met LPs, but it's almost like moving from the trunk to the back seat to the passenger seat to the driver's seat.
From the outside, you and Mark Suster seem to have such different personalities. Can you give us a window into how you work together?
The funny thing is Mark and I have a lot of similarities. How would I describe our working relationship? It's the best I've had in my career. That doesn't mean it's not without friction at times. It doesn't mean in the early years we didn't bump heads when I thought I knew the business really well because I had done it at Battery Ventures for five years a decade earlier and it had changed a little bit. I had to evolve and understand how to operate in a different market at a different time and all those different things. He's been hard on me but in ways that have really helped me learn and evolve. And now we have very productive differences of opinions and he's still probably right 90% of the time. But in a lot of cases, there is no right.
When you say he's been hard on you, what's an example of something that he has changed about you or tried to change?
He cares deeply about giving me real feedback and that's not always been easy to hear. I think about a performance review I had two or three years ago where I think he typed me up a 10-page essay on my strengths and weaknesses with specific examples and it really kind of changed the way I invested.
I almost have this innate, positive energy that I used to call anxiety around making sure I meet the best people that we can invest in. I was so interested in getting in front of everything that I'd say one of the best things Mark did for me was slow me down. It really kind of goes to a place of developing your own point of view. And I think it's an important thing for women in this industry in particular. We want more people of color to be in leadership roles in this industry. But if we're all using the same inputs as everybody else and making decisions in the same way you just chase a little bit better. You're not actually going to leverage the important part of diversity, which is getting different kinds of thinkers with different kinds of networks.
Now that you are one of the few female VCs in a position of top leadership, what do you see as the key to further breaking up the boys' club and diversifying VC firms?
Once you're a woman or a person of color in a VC firm, it is making sure other talented people like you get hired, but also hiring people who are not totally like you. You have to make room for different kinds of people. And how do you empower those people? How do you support their process of making investments so they can win things when they don't have a huge portfolio? How do you bring the weight of the firm behind their process? It's really hard in the beginning. And so those first two years and having an awareness around mentorship and allowing that person to make mistakes and giving them the room to go slowly and get things wrong and really speak and have presence and feel like in their comfort zone is really important.
Over your decade-plus of doing this in L.A., what investment are you most proud of?
That's like asking to pick your favorite child! (laughs).
Is that an unfair question?
Totally! I'll just mention a few different things. When I got to L.A., the first startup I was involved with was Tinder. I recruited Sean Rad into IAC [the holding company that owns brands across 100 countries] to build something totally different, and during a hackathon, he built Tinder. It's turned out to be one of the biggest brands of its time.
Then I would go to a company like Fleetsmith, which was bought by Apple earlier this year in the middle of COVID when no one was buying anything. [The startup automates Apple device management.] I got to know those guys when they were just starting. I did their $7 million Series A and they were talking about things at the time that everybody thought was a little bit nuts. While they were in the Bay Area all three founders were from L.A. and this is a Mac town. I think I got the Mac thesis pretty quickly at a time when it was not as obvious and everyone was like, "if Apple's not doing it, there must be a reason."
A final one I'll mention is Parachute Home, which was my very first investment when I got to Upfront. [It makes modern bedding, bath, linens and other home decor essentials.] I think it reflects all the great parts of L.A. But it is built on technology. The headless eCom platform they built with data science around driving repeat rates and increasing load times is done so incredibly well.
What can you tell us about next year's Upfront Summit?
We are definitely doing something and it's going to be in a different form. Obviously, in a COVID world it's not going to be what it was in in 2020.
How much time are you spending on Angel City?
It's an important part of my life and my community but we have a full time CEO who is exceptional, Julie Irman.
What has surprised me is how much overlap there is between my day job and Angel City. One of those things about L.A. is we can sit at the intersection of tech, business, brand, celebrity and really think about community. I may take things away from my DevOps cloud cyber security companies by how we're building community at Angel City because they're doing very similar things where they're testing open source strategies. It sounds a little bit of a stretch, but I really like to think about systems and how different parts of my life influence my job.
***This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
**Upfront Ventures is an investor in dot.LA.
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Ben Bergman
Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.
https://twitter.com/thebenbergman
ben@dot.la
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