Is Midwest Solar Expo the KEY to Unlocking Regional CLEAN ENERGY? | EP289

Today on the Clean Power Hour, host Tim Montague sits down with Jake Rozmaryn, the visionary founder of the Midwest Solar Expo, to discuss the game-changing acquisition by Intersolar and what it means for America's heartland energy transition.

For over a decade, Jake has been building bridges between coastal clean energy expertise and emerging Midwest markets. What started as a small Minnesota gathering has evolved into a powerhouse regional event that draws nearly 1,000 attendees annually. Now, with Intersolar's global platform behind it, the Midwest Solar Expo is poised to accelerate clean energy adoption across Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, and beyond.

Key Discussion Points:

• The strategic rationale behind Intersolar's acquisition of the Midwest Solar Expo
• How the event evolved from Minnesota's Twin Cities to Chicago's central location
• The critical role of community solar in Midwest market development
• Why utility engagement (like ComEd and Exelon's participation) is essential for industry growth
• The explosive intersection of AI, data centers, and clean energy demand
• Virtual power plants and their growing importance in grid modernization
• Storage integration as the "peanut butter and jelly" of modern energy solutions

Jake shares candid insights about the challenges facing the industry in today's political climate and why bringing the community together for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and unified advocacy has never been more important.

Whether you're a solar installer, community solar developer, utility professional, or clean energy investor, this conversation offers valuable perspectives on regional market dynamics and the future of distributed generation in America's heartland.

Don't miss the Midwest Solar Expo, June 9-11 in Chicago! Learn more at midwestsolarexpo.com

Featured Speakers Preview: Norm Taff (Generac), Doug Scott (Illinois Commerce Commission), Dean Solon (Create Energy), and executives from Exelon and ComEd.

#CleanEnergy #Solar #Storage #MidwestSolar #CommunityEnergyTransition #RenewableEnergy

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the middle of the country. Andas these markets, like New
Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland,DC, right? Like, as these
markets were maturing, obviouslyCalifornia was super mature, it
kind of felt like there's thisvoid, right? You fly over the
middle of the country, and likethe markets didn't exist. And so
the thesis for the show was,let's build a platform that's

(00:24):
going to get folks in market toconvene, right, do business
together and and meet andconnect, right? But let's also
bring all these companies on thecoast that have done it, that
have built it, that are moremature into these markets, and
get them to help catalyzeinvestment and you know, bring
expertise. Know how, you knowtechnology Bring, bring the

(00:47):
goods to the middle of thecountry to help get these
markets going.

intro (00:50):
Are you speeding the energy transition here at the
Clean Power Hour, our host, TimMontague, bring you the best in
solar, batteries and cleantechnologies every week. Want to
go deeper into decarbonization.
We do too. We're here to helpyou understand and command the
commercial, residential andutility, solar, wind and storage

(01:12):
industries. So let's get to ittogether. We can speed the
energy transition

Tim Montague (01:17):
today on the Clean Power Hour. We're giving you a
preview of the Midwest solarExpo, June 9 to 11 in Chicago,
Illinois. My guest today is JakeRozmaryn, the founder, the
owner, or recently ex owner.
Welcome to the show. Jake,

Jake Rozmaryn (01:36):
always a pleasure sitting down with Tim.

Tim Montague (01:39):
Well, let's get the cat out of the bag.
Congratulations, you haveofficially sold the Midwest
solar Expo to inter solar. Thankyou, inter solar. And what's the
story there? Jake,

Jake Rozmaryn (01:51):
the story. I mean, it was, it was really
synergistic. You know, been,been running the show for 10
years. You know, started theshow in Minnesota, moved into
Chicago. Inner solar is a worldclass event organization owned
by diversified communications.
Inner solar is a world classevent organization, unbelievable

(02:14):
reputation, unbelievableleadership. And when they
started to build out theirregional event strategy,
obviously they have theirflagship InterSolar North
America show. They launchedInterSolar Texas, you know, kind
of got my head scratched, andI'm like, Okay, well, you know,
probably, probably starting tobuild out, you know, some some,
some regional, regional shows,and it's just an incredible
platform to plug into. I'veknown the people at inner solar

(02:36):
for, you know, 1015, years atthis point. And so it was, it
was just very synergistic, youknow, really the perfect place,
you know, to look after thisbaby, you know that that we've
grown into a really dominantregional, regional event.

Tim Montague (02:58):
And just in case, you don't know, and you're
listening to this, the Midwestsolar Expo started in the Twin
Cities in Minnesota and thenmoved to Chicago a couple of
years ago. But it's been a, it'sbeen a Minnesota event. Largely,

Jake Rozmaryn (03:12):
it was, yeah, it was a Minnesota event. This is
our third year in Chicago. So,you know, the first seven or
eight events were in Minnesota,which was made a lot of it made
a ton of sense at the time. WithMinnesota had a ton of policy
leadership, you know,particularly around things like
community solar and the value ofsolar tariff, and, you know, a

(03:35):
variety of other things in thatmarket. And then, you know,
Illinois, there's a ton ofmomentum in Illinois. And so,
you know, we decided it was, itwas the right time. And, you
know, the show basically doubledin size after the move to
Illinois, which was incredible.
The market was super, superreceptive. Yeah,

Tim Montague (03:55):
yeah, I, I was a big fan of the move. I have
nothing against the Twin Cities.
I love going to the Twin Cities,but it is harder to get to the
Twin Cities than it is to thecity of Chicago, I will say so I
think for the national audiencethat we do a draw here in the
Midwest, it's great to have theevent in Chicago. And real
quick, I want to give a shoutout to the expo sponsors. The

(04:19):
host sponsor is poweringChicago. That is an IBEW Nica
organization. Thank you, Nika,and then many other sponsors,
including Nautilus solar, Nelnetrenewable energy, renewable
energy, evolution solar, Edgesolar, simplified summit ridge

(04:42):
energy, Terra smart trajectory.
Energy Partners, turning pointenergy, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters, wind, free, solar.

(05:04):
Uh, Goshen, green tech,renewables, Mars energy, and
that's it. Thank you allsponsors,

Jake Rozmaryn (05:11):
incredible, incredible. Have such amazing
support. So many sponsors comingback, you know, year after year.
And you know, the show's justbenefited so much from from all
of their support. And I thinkwe've, we've worked really hard
to, you know, bring value toeach and every one of them in
different ways.

Tim Montague (05:30):
So I think of the Midwest Expo as a DG focused
event. There is content at theevent for utility distributed
generation, meaning communitysolar, rooftop solar, and even
residential solar, but the sothe heart of it is DG, solar and
storage is definitely a themethat is just building, building,

(05:52):
building. I like to say that ifyou're a solar professional, you
need to be a solar and storageprofessional, because they are
just the peanut butter and jellyof of energy. What are you
looking forward to most aboutthe event?

Jake Rozmaryn (06:05):
I think the diversity of content is always,
always gets me excited, right?
Like, we work really hard tomake sure that we've got
compelling content, compellingspeakers, you know, industry
engagement from across the valuechain. So, you know, there's,
there's always a nice resi, youknow, contingent. So always a
nice CNI contingent, niceutility contingent. Obviously,
you know, you can't talk aboutIllinois, or, you know, a lot of

(06:30):
the Midwest at this pointwithout, you know, recognizing
the community solar leadership,which is really remarkable, you
know, particularly in placeslike Illinois and so, you know,
work really hard to diversifythe content. I think a lot of it
comes down to, like, the thingsthat get me really excited are
like, where are those big areasthat are gaining momentum,

(06:51):
right, that have hugeimplications for the industry?
So, you know, content on virtualpower plants always, you know,
it's super compelling, superinteresting, right now, you
know, you can't really have aclean energy show without
talking about the explosivegrowth of AI and data centers,
right? I mean, like that, thatfor sure, you know. So, you

(07:11):
know, I think those are some ofthe things that get me
particularly excited. But, youknow, this is a, it's a very
interesting time for theindustry. There's a lot of
transition more, I mean, you andI have been around this space
for a long time, right? It's it,you know, we started here, and
we're here, the path has lookedlike this, right? And we're in

(07:32):
depth, you know, definitely ina, you know, definitely in
turbulent times right now. But,you know, I think, I think
what's, what's very clear,despite all of the turbulence,
and, you know, the headwindsthat everyone's facing is that
these are market drivensolutions, and, you know,
they're going to continue to bedirected by the market. And I

(07:53):
think that's, that's going to bea message that comes through
across the show, right? Likethese, hey, like, regardless of
what's happened at a federallevel, or, you know, in various
states, you know, we're marchingforward, you know. And I think
that's that's exciting, and it'sa theme that's going to carry
through. You know, throughoutthe show,

Tim Montague (08:13):
we've got some great keynote speakers. I have
the privilege of interviewingNorm Taff, the president of
energy technology at Generac,and Doug Scott, chair of the
Illinois Commerce Commission,which is our PUC. And then I see
that Dean Solon, founder and CEOof create energy, is a speaker.

(08:36):
Dean is in the process oflaunching a very interesting
solar panel company calledCreate, and then a couple of
other right, sorry, oh, I know,right. Gonna

Jake Rozmaryn (08:50):
be amazing to have him on the stage. I can't
believe we're 11 years in. It'sour first time getting getting
the legend on our stage, butit's gonna be awesome. Yeah,

Tim Montague (09:00):
I had the pleasure of hanging out a little bit with
him in Boston at re plusnortheast. And he is, he is just
quite a character. And so youcan look forward to that. I'm
not sure exactly what he's goingto be speaking about, but it
will not be boring. Yeah, thatis for sure. And then shout out

(09:24):
to Sonny ellibua at Exelon,Senior Vice President of chief
and strategy sustainabilityofficer, and Melissa Washington,
Chief Customer Service Officerat come Ed, so we have Exelon
and come Ed also,

Jake Rozmaryn (09:42):
yeah, how awesome is that. I mean, like, they,
they, you know, they've alwaysattended the show, but they've
gotten significantly moreengaged in recent years. And,
you know, there really does seemto be very genuine interest in
the growth and development ofthese markets. And you know,
last year they ran a solarsummit during the Midwest solar

(10:06):
Expo, which was basically likean open forum to talk to
developers. And I think we hadsomething like 150 developers
show up to have a candidconversation about the
challenges that they're facing.
And you know, what kinds ofsolutions they want to see. It
was just like this collaborativesession where you had, you know,
one of the biggest utilities inthe country, basically being
like, how can we help you? Howcan we be better, right? Like,

(10:28):
how unique is that? And so I wasreally encouraged by that last
year. And they're going to bedoing some some interesting
things at the event this year,you know, they're going to be,
you know, meetings very similarmeeting with developers around
the show, and have the privilegeof having two very senior

(10:48):
executives from both Exxon andcomed grace the keynote stage
this year. And

Tim Montague (10:56):
that begs the question, Where is Ameren in the
mix? Why is not Ameren able tobe there? Do we know they have

Jake Rozmaryn (11:03):
participated in the past? But, yeah, I don't
know. We'd love, we'd love tosee them next year, you know,
playing a more, a more activerole, you know. But, you know, I
think comed and exons a greatplace to great place to be this
year,

Tim Montague (11:21):
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(12:09):
call 855-584-7168, to find outmore. I think it is so vital for
the utilities to be in dialogwith the industry and vice
versa. It's a two way street wecan learn from one another.
Nobody's perfect, and weultimately have to work together
to execute the clean energytransition. We are completely

(12:33):
interconnected. To use a keyphrase from the industry,

Jake Rozmaryn (12:37):
word there, Tim,

Tim Montague (12:40):
what can I say?
Um, so, you know, I'm curious,Jake, you know, having run this
event for 10 years, that's quitean arc of experience. First of
all, like, why on earth did youcreate the Midwest Expo, and
what do you hope will happenwith the expo moving forward

(13:01):
now, under the tutelage of innersolar, yeah,

Jake Rozmaryn (13:07):
so when we started the expo, I was living
in DC. I was very involved withat the time, was Maryland, DC
and Virginia. See a chapterwhich is now called Chessa
Chesapeake solar Association,and I was running their solar
conference called solar focus,which maybe you've been to at

(13:27):
some point. It's a great event,typically in like the Maryland,
DC area. And you know what weobserved is like, you know, I
was going to PV, what was itcalled? PV America East, and PV
America West. I was going toinner solar. I was going to, you
know, what the time SPI, right?

(13:50):
And all of these shows were onthe coasts, right? Or, you know,
you know, our SPI was, you know,often in Vegas, but everything
happening on the coast. Andthere's just seemed to be this
huge gap in the middle of thecountry. And as these markets,
like New Jersey, Massachusetts,Maryland, DC, right? Like, as
these markets were maturing,obviously California was super
mature, it kind of felt likethere's this void, right? You
fly over the middle of thecountry and like the markets

(14:11):
didn't exist. And so the thesisfor the show was, let's build a
platform that's going to getfolks in market to convene,
right, do business together andand meet and connect, right? But
let's also bring all thesecompanies on the coast that have

(14:33):
done it, that have built it,that are more mature into these
markets, and get them to helpcatalyze investment. And, you
know, bring expertise. Know How?
You know, technology Bring,bring the goods to the middle of
the country to help get thesemarkets going. And so, you know,
I mentioned earlier on, likeMinnesota was becoming this,
like, you know, kind ofbecoming, you know, really a

(14:55):
policy leader. So it made senseto start there. But then other
markets start to pick up. Or. Inthe Midwest. And I think that
was something that was reallyspecial about this show, is that
you had, you had, you know,obviously, tons of people in the
Midwest. We had all these peoplefrom the coasts that were, you
know, very, very interested inmarket development, very
interested in, you know,creating something from the

(15:17):
ground up. And so if you lookat, like, the attendance makeup
of this show, right, like it'svery high percent of people that
are coming from around thecountry, right? It's, obviously,
you have tons of people from theMidwest. Obviously, it's the
Midwest solar Expo, but youknow, you had a ton of people
from coming from all over thecountry with an interest in
these markets. And so, you know,we built it up. And, you know,

(15:41):
last year we had almost 1000people at the show. Is
incredible, amazing energy was,you know, the biggest event to
date. And, you know, so welooked at that, you know, we
looked at all that growth. And,you know, kind of like we're
small, you know, this is a smalloperation, is? It was not my
full time job, right? And kindof looked at that and said, you

(16:03):
know, what's what's next? Like,how can we continue to build on
that thesis, right? Of, like,continuing to catalyze momentum
in the middle of the country?
Obviously, these markets havecome a long way right over the
last 11 years. But, you know,inner solar was, was really the
perfect platform, if you look upthe makeup now of you know
exhibitors, there's, there'stons of new, first time

(16:24):
exhibitors that are beingintroduced to the market because
of the larger inner solarplatform, right? And so inner
solar is not, it's not just thenational it's a global platform.
So it continues to build on thatoriginal thesis of the show with
partners that are just soinvested in the success of the
industry, and have been for soso long, and so that was, that

(16:47):
was really compelling to me. Itreally felt like we were able
to, you know, continue to dowhat we started out to do,
right? But just with, with a, Imean, like the the inner solar
team is massive, you know,there's, there's so many
resources to do just interestingthings and flex, you know,
creatively in different ways.

(17:09):
You know, they have their ownincredible relationships, and so
that that really, you know, thatreally got me excited about,
about, you know, kind of handingthe baton on to to another
group, and I'm still, I'm stillvery much involved, you know, as
an advisor. And obviously, youknow, been, been, been doing
this a long time. Well,

Tim Montague (17:29):
an inner Solar has an amazing legacy, right there.
Event in inner solar Europe is,is kind of the grandfather in
the world of solar events. Andso they, they've been playing
second fiddle to re plus, youknow, with their major event,
but they're, they're catching upnow here in the US, and it's

(17:51):
great to see them creating someregional events. And congrats to
you. The thing that I lookforward to most about this is
both the diversity of theaudience, getting to rub
shoulders with community, solardevelopers, installers, EPCs,
manufacturers, of course, andcatching up on what's going on

(18:15):
across the Midwest. Of course, Ikeep my finger on the pulse of
what's going on, but I alwayscome away with some fresh, new
takes on, when is Michigan goingto pop? When is Ohio going to
pop? When is Missouri going topop? I mean, there's already
healthy, mostly residentialmarkets in across the Midwest,

(18:37):
but community solar, forexample, is a floodgate that
needs to get opened elsewherenow, in Wisconsin, Michigan,
Missouri, hopefully Sunday,Indiana, that's my birthplace.
But Indiana is a bit of a slowmover right now, I would say.

(18:59):
And then also solar and storage.
There's there's quite a bit ofstorage content here, so that'll
be juicy and relevant for bothbehind the meter and, I think
front of the meter. What elseshould we let our listeners
know? Jake, in our last coupleminutes together about what they
can look forward to at the Expo?

Jake Rozmaryn (19:17):
It's good question. I mean, this is a
really important time for peopleto be coming together, unifying
their voice, you know, reallybeing, you know, providing
fellowship and camaraderie toto, you know, folks in the
industry that are, you know,that are struggling with the

(19:39):
current environment. And youknow, it's going to be, it's
gonna be an amazing show. We'vegot amazing content. As always.
Can be amazing people there. Butyou know, this is a time where
we really need, you know, morethan you know in, you know,
maybe the last I've been in thisindustry, 1516, years, maybe
more than ever. You know, weneed people. You know, coming

(20:01):
together and having a unifiedvoice, and, you know,
collectively, punching above ourweight. You know, not that we're
lightweight anymore, right? Butit's just really important to
come to come together right now.
And so I think that that's goingto be really important. And I
think people are going to reallyappreciate, you know, the
insights, the the knowledgesharing and the camaraderie of

(20:21):
the Midwest solar Expo. It'salways been such a good party.
It's a party show. You know,it's always a good time. It's
always, it's always a greattime. So, yeah, I mean, I think
that that's, it's reallyimportant right now you know
probably more than maybe youknow, maybe more than ever. So
excited to see everyone in a fewweeks and yourself included.

(20:47):
Tim, appreciate all of yoursupport of the show over the
years, and I'm glad we're ableto you know, have you back on
the stage men you know multipletimes at this year's event, but,
but, yeah, can't wait. I'm superpumped.

Tim Montague (20:57):
Yeah, just want to encourage anybody who you know.
As far as exhibiting goes, thereare booths available. So just
check out Midwest solar Expocom. Go to the exhibitor page.
Shout out to Nico Johnson, whowill be on site doing some
interviews and recording in theSuncast media stage on the on

(21:18):
the exhibition floor. And that'sa great opportunity to get
exposure for your company, yourbrand and but all the major to
get involved for sure, so manyways. Well, I want to thank you,
Jake Rozmaryn and founder andorganizer of the Midwest Expo,
for sharing this time with me,and with that said, let's grow

(21:40):
solar and storage. Take care,Jake, let's

Jake Rozmaryn (21:43):
do it all right.
Have a great rest of your day.
You.