Five things I took away from RE+
If there is one repeating theme that kept coming up in my mind at RE+ this year, it’s that the industry has made truly stunning advances, but we are far from mature. We are having the conversations we need to, with the people we need in the room, but we must keep working on and […]
Utility Dive: Solar tariffs are in the spotlight again. Our current approach isn’t the answer.
By Dan Whitten Provisions in the IRA combined with aggressive tariff policy will cause the price of solar to skyrocket when we need to deploy it at a massive scale to solve the climate crisis. With the news surrounding new tariffs proposed by U.S. manufacturers on Asian solar products, it feels like the American solar industry and […]
If We Can’t Solve Critical Minerals, We Can’t Make the Transition
If you are working on the clean energy transition but not also deeply engaged in critical minerals production, you are not really fixing the problem. That’s the message I took from the Chatham House rules session hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Similar to what’s happening with solar products, China dominates large […]
Chaberton, OMCO, Athanor and the Sunrise
Last week, I had the privilege of doing two things I love: working in solar and communing with nature in a place that is dear to me. Chaberton Energy’s commercial team held a retreat outside Phoenix, to talk about the company’s impressive growth plans and specifically what it’s going to take to reach their goals. I learned […]
After Two Days, My Five Takeaways From RE+
It’s not surprising to see a lot of breathless posts on social media from industry groups putting on trade shows. But if you are in the solar industry and you are in Vegas right now at #REPlus, I’m pretty sure you are literally trying to catch your breath. I’ve walked close to a marathon in […]
Athanor: A month on the books
What a first month of business for Athanor Public Affairs. I made mistakes, I adopted a scary mascot, I identified hopeful clients by the wrong names, I didn’t quite nail my elevator pitch, and oh the bookkeeping and web site management. But I’ve had successes too. I have some great clients doing exciting work. I’ve […]
Energy Communicator Dan Whitten Launches Athanor Public Affairs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Veteran energy communicator and public affairs executive Dan Whitten announced today that he is launching Athanor Public Affairs, a consultancy aimed at creating campaigns for companies and organizations focused on the nation’s clean energy transition. Harnessing Whitten’s deep communications background in climate change and energy policy, Athanor Public Affairs will work with […]
Introducing Athanor Public Affairs
This is the first blog post for Athanor Public Affairs and I’m keeping it short, I promise. My name is Dan Whitten and I spent 17 years breaking stories on energy, climate, transportation and trade for Bloomberg News, Platts and others. For the last 13 years, I have run, or helped run communications and public […]