In 2016, I had recently bought assets (thru seller financing) for a PV software company — OnGrid — that I had worked for since ~2008. My daughter was two years old. I was leading a small whip-smart team. OnGrid once sort-of owned the U.S. PV financial-modeling-software market. By 2016, there were a ~dozen competitors. ...Including an option that supported more advanced modeling: Energy Toolbase.

Long-time OnGrid subscribers were canceling, and I decided to build new OnGrid software from the ground up — that would take PV modeling to the next level. As usual, Mike threw the long pass instead of running the ball up three yards at a time. Playing the long game, perpetually thinking the new software was almost ready to release... cash flow declining, missing a seller-financing payment... passing assets back to the seller and slinking into two years of painful employment at a PV-leads company (good people there, bad fit for Mike).

Despite ultimately falling on my face with the OnGrid venture...

It was an invigorating time. There were some great experiences.

One night, I went to an energy-nerd meetup in a San Francisco office building (as an aspiring energy nerd). Two former PG&E rate analysts — Thomas and Fred — presented on utility rate design. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved their personable quirky explanations.

I had also gone out to PV racking manufacturer Quick Mount's headquarters in Walnut Creek a few times. There, I met their training-video maker Jason. I really appreciated the clarity and crisp editing of his videos. (Since then, Jason filmed / edited the Solar Roots documentary.)

Quick Mount had an on-site green-screen studio for video making.

OnGrid's founder Andy Black was a go-to PV-industry educator, and I wanted to pick up where he left off.

I asked Thomas and Fred if they'd be game to star in an OnGrid-presented explainer video about electric rates. They were! Free of charge. I asked Jason if he was game to film / edit the video. He was! Low charge. I was stoked.

That night, meeting up with those guys at the Quick Mount site... forever, I'll fondly remember that.

In the next room over, industry party man Johan (then at Quick Mount), was practicing with his band.

I did the introduction. I was very nervous... very stiff. More-or-less a not funny version of Joe Pera.

Thomas, Fred, and Jason held it down. I was super happy with how it turned out. It's quirky. Really quirky.

...This is probably best exemplified by the video's commercial break:

Here's the whole video. It's a decade old now, but the underlying electric-rate concepts are timeless. If you'd like to learn how your electric bill works... the video will help.

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This blog and AI: I use AI all the time, to understand things better. But these blog posts are 100% written by Mike (for better or worse).