This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Juan Carlos Jobet, former Chilean Minister of Energy and Mining and now Dean of the Business School at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. He joins José Muñoz, Aurora’s Country Lead for Chile, to discuss Chile’s path to a cleaner, more resilient energy system, from the coal phase-out and renewable growth to the country’s ambitions in green hydrogen and the decarbonisation of mining.

Juan Carlos served as Minister of Energy and Mining from 2019 to 2022, overseeing a period of profound change in Chile’s power sector. With a background spanning public service, investment banking and executive leadership in energy and infrastructure, he brings a unique perspective on the intersection of policy, markets and global energy challenges.

Main topics include: • The policies and partnerships that have enabled Chile’s rapid growth in renewables • The role of large-scale storage and grid infrastructure in supporting the transition • Green hydrogen’s progress and the challenges still to overcome • Mining’s role in the transition and pathways to reduce its emissions

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Ben Guest, Managing Director and Head of Gresham House Energy Transition, as well as Fund Manager of the Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. He joins Caroline Still, Principal in our Oxford Advisory team, to discuss the role of storage and flexibility in enabling the UK’s energy transition.

Ben has over two decades of experience in the energy sector and leads the UK’s largest utility-scale battery storage fund. He has overseen the deployment of over 800 MW of operational battery projects, with a pipeline of more than 2 GW under development.

Main topics include:

• Why storage is central to decarbonisation and balancing renewable intermittency
• The role of batteries in addressing grid bottlenecks and deferring costly reinforcements
• Long-duration storage, Dunkelflaute, and how policy must evolve to incentivise optimal system performance

This week on Energy Unplugged, we’re delighted to welcome Karin Burns, CEO of San Diego Community Power (SDCP). She joins Oliver Kerr, Aurora’s Managing Director for North America, and Farhad Billimoria, Head of US West Research, to discuss the rise of community choice aggregation (CCA) and its role in accelerating California’s clean energy transition.

Karin has led SDCP since 2022, overseeing its rapid growth into one of the largest CCAs in California, now serving nearly one million customers. With a background spanning international finance, non-profit leadership and sustainability strategy, she brings a unique perspective on how community-led models can deliver clean, affordable and reliable energy.

Main topics include:

• What community choice aggregation is and how it is reshaping California’s power market
• Balancing decarbonisation with affordability and reliability for customers
• The impact of federal policy changes and rapid demand growth from AI and data centres
• How distributed resources and virtual power plants can enhance resilience in local energy systems