This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe
Ramón Méndez Galain helped Uruguay decarbonize its grid (today it’s 98% fossil-free) while keeping the utility public and letting private capital foot the bill. Now he’s trying to export the same playbook across the global South. We talk through how Uruguay pulled it off — the hydro “battery” for wind & solar “baseload,” the cross-party political deal, the market redesign — and what actually transfers to countries without the same advantages. We also discuss why, seven years on, no other country has followed Uruguay’s path.
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
03:09 – From particle physics to a nuclear proposal
05:46 – Taking the job as energy secretary
07:00 – The 2008 crisis: drought, expensive oil, blackouts
09:26 – Getting every party to sign the same plan
12:51 – Why climate was not the lead argument
15:42 – Attracting private capital without privatizing
20:22 – What a public utility made possible
23:06 – Planning a grid where wind and solar are the base load
29:26 – Thermal plants as insurance, and the last 2 percent
32:36 – EVs, smart meters, and building an electrostate
37:33 – Why bills fell less than generation costs
39:46 – What transfers to other countries
44:15 – Optimum curtailment, Colombia, and Haiti
50:51 – The political work, and the argument against the dominant narrative
56:36 – The Global South and the NDC as development catalyst
