EMPOWERED: ENERGY HEROES

#101 An Hour of Sunlight
The energy that hits the earth in an hour of sunlight is equivalent to all the energy the entire planet uses in one year. We can create all the energy we need from the sun. Chloe Goshay visits a microgrid in Sonoma, California where she meets researchers who show her how to do it.

#102 The Grid
Grid failures due to extreme weather events are causing deadly situations around the country. The electric grid caused the deadliest fire in California history. Now the grid is preemptively turned off during hot, dry wind events. Chloe Goshay explores how the grid was designed to work over a hundred years ago and the new challenges it faces today. A microgrid in the South Side of Chicago keeps the lights and the heat on during the worst winter storm. Batteries and fuel cells replace backup generators and help the grid balance the supply and demand.

#103 Winds of Change
Chloe Goshay goes to Somerset, Massachusetts, a small coastal town that has ridden the waves of our national energy policy. Once the home to the largest coal-burning power plant in New England, Somerset lost its bread and butter when the low cost of gas put the plant out of business. The town’s state representative, Pat Haddad, writes a bill that brings offshore wind to Massachusetts and revitalizes her small town. Now Somerset will be home to North America’s first offshore wind manufacturing plant.

#104 Workin’ With What You’ve Got
Vermont generates all of its electricity without burning fossil fuels. The innovative leaders of three utilities show Chloe Goshay how they create energy using Vermont’s own natural resources, including the waste from its two largest industries. Now the state has a plan to use that clean electricity to remove fossil fuels in all of the energy the state uses. Vermonters will have to switch to electric vehicles and electric heat pumps to reach their goal.