The People Problem in Energy Transition with Charles Cattermole
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.
More episodes of Wired for Energy
- The Human Side of Energy with Prof. Yolande Strengers
- Building 110 Gigawatts Of Green Hydrogen with Warner Priest
- Demand Side Finally Gets Mainstream Attention with Tony Arnel
- Australia's Energy Research Investment Crisis with Dani Alexander
- 2025: Year in Review and Themes for 2026
- Inside EnergyLab: Accelerating Climate Tech from Startup to Scale with Megan Fisher, Thomas Nann and Nick Hazell
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Wired for Energy podcast page.