Forbes · Oct 6, 2026 · 35m · 21m saved
With Daniel Weiss, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Angeleno Group · Andrew Steer, Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics and former President and CEO of the World Resources Institute
When Angeleno Group started investing in clean energy in 2001, renewables could not compete on cost with fossil fuels. Daniel Weiss said they now can in two-thirds or more than 70% of the world, depending on whose figures are used.
In the US, rising electricity demand is mostly discussed as an AI story. Both guests said AI is a small part of the global increase, and that cooling homes in a richer, hotter world is a bigger one.
"If you zoom out and look globally over the next decade plus according to statistics from organizations like the IEA really it's about Indians buying air conditioners." — Daniel Weiss
Daniel Weiss, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Angeleno Group, a Los Angeles venture capital and growth equity firm that has invested only in clean energy and climate companies for 25 years, appeared on a Forbes panel with Andrew Steer, who ran the World Resources Institute and then the Bezos Earth Fund and now teaches at the London School of Economics. The conversation was recorded during the opening of the UN General Assembly.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 35 minutes of audio, 14 minutes of reading.
Here are the 12 insights that matter.
Key Takeaways
Clean energy is now cost-competitive with fossil fuels in most of the world, Weiss said, which was not true when his firm started in 2001
Solar panel and battery costs have collapsed, and Steer said the leading economists now see green investment as a source of growth rather than a cost
Roughly 50% of new power for US data centers this year will come from conventional energy, by Weiss's count, because data centers need power around the clock
He sees the investment opportunity in storage, round-the-clock renewables and the grid itself
The US has to grow electricity supply by 60%, Steer said, and the scale of that demand is pushing renewable prices down further
AI is the smaller part of the world's power story: Steer put AI at probably less than 5% of global demand, and air conditioning growth at twice AI's demand
Weiss called this possibly the most compelling moment to invest in his firm's 25-year history, despite the politics around the word "climate"
Steer said the UN process alone will not deliver; he wants small coalitions of governments, companies and scientists that act first
Decisions in India are now made on economics first, Weiss said, with climate benefits a byproduct
1. Clean Power Now Costs Less
The host asked what had changed in the economic case for the energy transition. Weiss,, said the firm was marking a milestone.
Angeleno Group has invested only in clean energy and climate for 25 years
"This month actually is our 25th anniversary at Angeleno Group as an investment firm." — Daniel Weiss
He listed what had changed since then: technology, from lithium-ion batteries to silicon solar cells; government policy, which he said has swung like a pendulum; public attitudes; and how executives and boards think about sustainability. He said economics was perhaps the biggest change.
The firm was early, and made mistakes
"And when we started investing in the space in 2001 and believe me we have plenty of tire marks on our back to prove that we were sort of early into this and we made many mistakes" — Daniel Weiss
In 2001, he said, renewables helped the planet but were not cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
That has reversed in most of the world
"And so today, you know, depending on whose statistics you look at in 2/3 or north of 70% of the planet, clean energy is actually cost-competitive with conventional energy" — Daniel Weiss
He said several factors besides cost are now pushing adoption of clean technology at a rate and scale his firm has not seen in more than 20 years of investing.
