DERVOS 2025: Energy Dominance and the Electrostate
From DER Task Force by DER Task Force
January 16, 2026 · 59 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of electricity as a primary source of economic and geopolitical power, focusing on the emergence of electrostates, particularly China.
Our final discussion of DERVOS 2025 was a panel on the ramifications of electricity becoming the primary lever of economic and geopolitical might. If you’re listening to this as a podcast, keep in mind that the full video is available on our website www.dertaskforce.com and Youtube channel. This year James solidified the newfound tradition of saving the arguably wonkiest discussion for the end of the day. It did not disappoint. The topic at hand is the emergence of electrostates, where electricity is the dominant energy input to a nation’s power and security. There is no question that China will likely be the first electrostate. In the first half of 2025 alone, for instance, it built about 250 GW of solar, more than twice as much solar capacity as the rest of the world combined (in May alone, it built an eye-popping 93 GW). It’s not just about renewables build out. China owns and has mastered the electrotech stack, argues Impluse’s Sam D’amico, which includes lithium-ion batteries, magnets and electric motors, power electronics and embedded computing. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening in the U.S. Here it is unsurprisingly messier, slower, and certainly hampered by our…
People in this episode
Guests: Drew Baglino, Tristan Doherty, Sam D’Amico, Daan Walter
Topics covered
- energy dominance
- geopolitical power
- electrostate
- renewable energy
- electricity
- China
- U.S. energy policy
Keywords
- electricity
- economic power
- geopolitical might
- electrostate
- renewable energy
- solar capacity
- lithium-ion batteries
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Heron Power, LG Energy Solution Vertech, Impulse, Ember Futures
Places: China, U.S.
More episodes of DER Task Force
- Electromaxxing With Daan Walter · March 24, 2026 · 2h 34m
- The dawn of a new DERcade · January 30, 2026 · 1h 51m
- DERVOS 2025: Deploying and Orchestrating GWs of Distributed Capacity · January 15, 2026 · 42 min
- DERVOS 2025: Permissionless DERs Wait for No One · January 14, 2026 · 32 min
- DERVOS 2025: Big DERs Energy · January 13, 2026 · 54 min
- DERVOS 2025 Keynote: Solar Pill the World with Jesse Peltan · December 22, 2025 · 14 min
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