Yann and Abby dig into why regulatory strategy — from the FCC's new inverter rule to the bulk power executive order — has become a core lever for company valuations, not just a compliance afterthought, and what it means that companies are now actively lobbying to shape the rules that determine who wins and loses.

From there, the conversation turns to the friction points slowing the industry down. Yann and Abby unpack the growing local opposition to data centers and solar projects, the difference between organic land-use concerns and organized misinformation campaigns, and Florida's Live Local Act, which strips cities of the power to block certain developments. They also make the case that the industry needs to stop avoiding an honest, unified conversation about the future of the ITC before Washington has it without them.

Energy storage gets its own deep dive: Yann argues the sector could skip the 15 years of trade drama that defined solar, thanks to the auto industry's head start on battery manufacturing and its built-in demand for cells. The episode wraps with wins and fails — Dominion's rate-case miscalculation, CISA's cybersecurity budget cuts, an all-time F1 upset in Monza, and a viral duct-taped airline passenger — plus predictions for where the capital markets go from here.

Links:

• Watch and subscribe: solarwakeup.com/boots
• Also on YouTube: SolarWakeup YouTube channel
• Follow Yann and Abby on LinkedIn — tag them to help share the episode
• Sponsored by CleanTech Industry Resources (CIR): cleantechir.com
• Interested in sponsoring Boots on the Ground? Reach out to Yann or Abby on LinkedIn

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Solar and storage just got hit with a one-two-three punch — an FCC inverter rule, a Section 232 tariff proclamation, and a national emergency executive order on bulk power cybersecurity, all inside five weeks. Yann Brandt and Abby Hopper break down what each order actually does, why the rollout has been a mess for procurement teams, and what it means for domestic manufacturing, pricing, and risk.

Then they zoom out to the money question of the year: data centers. Between Anthropic's multi-billion-dollar compute deal, exploding utility rate cases in Maine, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina, and a midterm election where six Senate races are true toss-ups, Yann and Abby map out exactly how the balance of power in Washington could reshape the ITC, 45X, and permitting reform — and why solar's "purple" politics make it so hard to pass anything as a standalone bill.

Plus: predictions for energy storage's next big market, the week's biggest wins and fails, and Abby's new tattoo.

In This Episode

[00:01] Cold Open & Catch-Up — Abby debuts a new wrist tattoo, Yann celebrates his youngest son's 10th birthday, and the two set up the whiplash five weeks the industry just had.

[02:37] Sponsor Break: Cleantech Industry Resources (CIR)

[03:54] The Big Three: FCC Rule, Section 232 & the Bulk Power EO — A rundown of the July 28th FCC inverter rule, the Section 232 proclamation, and the August 26th national emergency executive order on grid cybersecurity.

[07:02] What Should Procurement Teams Actually Do? — Reading the intent behind the rules, the Sun Grow inverter carve-out, and why durability (or lack of it) is the real problem for business planning.

[16:27] Section 232, 45X, and the Case for Domestic Manufacturing — EBOS, FEOC rules, the ITC extension, and why Yann thinks the US total-cost-of-solar conversation needs to include national security.

[26:08] Capital, Risk, and Who Gets Squeezed — Quarterly earnings pressure, de-risking, and why uncertainty tends to help big companies and hurt small ones.

[27:43] Data Centers, Anthropic's Big Compute Deal & the New Cost of Energy — The economics behind a 460MW data center, why "compute doesn't exist without solar," and the politics of data center backlash — including Florida's governor's race.

[39:43] Data Center Politics: Before and After November 3rd — Super PAC ad spending, moratorium politics, and what changes once the election pressure lifts.

[44:02] Six Toss-Up Senate Races & What's at Stake for Solar — Why control of the Senate matters for confirmations, oversight, and the path to extending the ITC and 45X.

[47:45] Scenario Planning: Divided vs. Unified Government — How the solar industry's ask list changes depending on who controls the House and Senate.

[51:17] Solar's Bipartisan Problem — Why solar polls well on both sides of the aisle but almost never passes as a standalone bill — and the "purple room" reality inside the industry itself.

[1:03:05] Wins of the Week — Domestic manufacturers' big month, and a tribute to Tim Cook's exit as Apple CEO.

[1:06:02] Fails of the Week — Abby calls out the Callaway Golf/Good Good ad controversy, and Yann takes the White House to task for the confusing, timeline-free rollout of its executive orders.

This episode is sponsored by Cleantech Industry Resources (CIR). Their team has diligenced 334 gigawatts across more than 17,000 projects globally. Visit cleantechir.com or connect with Daniel on LinkedIn — and let him know Yann and Abby from Boots on the Ground sent you.

Texas Gov. Abbott says data centers "dug their own grave" for ignoring local communities; 61% of Americans now oppose a nearby data center, up from 49% in March. https://www.axios.com/2026/08/23/greg-abbott-texas-data-centers-ai-backlash

PA Gov. Shapiro signs order requiring data centers to cover their own power/water costs, use clean energy, and win local approval before building. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/08/18/pennsylvania-gov-josh-shapiro-set-order-new-limits-data-center-development/

MAHA coalition urges Trump not to use AI power demand to justify more coal, pushing solar-plus-storage instead. https://www.axios.com/2026/08/21/ai-data-centers-coal-trump-rfk-maga-warning

POLICY & MANUFACTURING

FCC expands foreign inverter ban to hardwired devices, but adds a safe harbor for manufacturers eligible for Section 45X tax credits. https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/08/21/fcc-updates-foreign-inverter-ban-to-include-wired-devices-adds-45x-safe-harbor/

SEIA: US solar supply chain now fully reshored, module capacity up 37% since 2024; warns 100+ factories and $31B at risk without policy certainty. https://seia.org/news/domestic-solar-manufacturing-booms-during-trump-administration-with-entire-solar-supply-chain-reshored/

DOE redirects $500M clean-steel grant to upgrade Cleveland-Cliffs' coal furnace instead of the original hydrogen-ready plan. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/green-steel/trump-clean-steel-grant-coal

MARKETS

Batteries now displacing gas peakers as the price-setter in wholesale power markets; CAISO batteries provide 53% of grid-balancing services. https://qz.com/batteries-set-electricity-prices-wholesale-markets-081726

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Boots on the Ground — the news you need, straight talk you won't get anywhere else.

Solar and storage industry vets Yann Brandt and Abby Hopper are done just texting each other about it — now they're putting it on mic. Each week, Yann Brandt (former President & CEO of FTC Solar, founder of SolarWakeup) and Abby Hopper (former CEO of SEIA) cut through the noise on the headlines shaping solar, storage, and energy: policy fights in DC, what's really moving in Congress, data centers, the governors' races that'll decide state energy policy, and everything in between.

No fluff, no filler — just two people who've been in the rooms where it happens, telling you what actually matters and why.

First episode drops Tuesday, August 25th. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.

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