Energy Empire
Energy Empire
Energy Empire
The Costco of Solar — Meet the Man Quietly Cutting the Cost of Clean Energy
52 minutes Posted Jun 18, 2026 at 12:32 pm.
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Four generations of Daniel Dus's family have worked in American energy. His great-grandfather was a coal-mine engineer who became president of Michigan Tech; his grandfather built power transformers at General Electric. Daniel pivoted into renewables — and now runs Cleantech Industry Resources, the company he founded after running the US arm of one of the world's largest renewable energy firms.


Jigar and Jamie talk with Daniel about how he built one of the quietest, most efficient operations in clean energy, why he refuses to charge what the market would pay, what AI is doing to the people who used to do this work, and the boxing-themed fundraiser he runs every year for the industry.


Along the way: how a Vermont team plus AI agents can deliver solar work for a tenth of what consulting firms charge. Why cheaper energy means more jobs, not fewer. And the new platform Daniel started to push back on what he refuses to call "misinformation."


Links:

Learn more about CIR: https://cleantechir.com/products 


Clean Tech Fact Check: https://cleantechfactcheck.org/factcheck


Submit a question to Ask Jigar: ⁠https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigar


S2G Investments: ⁠https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-order


Octopus Energy: ⁠https://octopusenergy.com/faas⁠