The People Problem in Energy Transition with Charles Cattermole

The People Problem in Energy Transition with Charles Cattermole

From Wired for Energy by Network Edge

October 30, 2025 · 36 min · Episode 14

About this episode

The episode discusses the human side of Australia's energy transition with insights from Charles Cattermole on scaling innovation and the importance of trust in customer adoption.

Dr Greg Trainor and Neil Belford sit down with Charles Cattermole, Principal at Outpost Ventures, for a look into the human side of Australia's energy transition. From his accidental entry into energy through the Australian Navy to roles at Green Sync and Energy Australia, Charles shares hard-won insights about scaling innovation within large utilities and the critical importance of people over technology in driving change. The conversation explores the challenges of virtual power plants, the complexity of Australia's energy markets, and why trust remains the biggest barrier to customer adoption of interactive energy products. Charles reveals lessons from successfully scaling a pilot from 20,000 to 250,000 customers, discusses the misalignment between startup accelerators and utility needs, and shares his vision for securitising distributed energy resources like traditional power stations.

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr Greg Trainor, Neil Belford

Guest: Charles Cattermole

Topics covered

  • energy transition
  • human factors in energy
  • scaling innovation
  • virtual power plants
  • customer adoption
  • distributed energy resources

Keywords

  • energy transition
  • innovation
  • utilities
  • customer trust
  • virtual power plants
  • distributed energy
  • scaling customers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Outpost Ventures, Green Sync, Energy Australia

Places: Australia, Australia's energy markets

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