Rob West’s Top Energy Themes for 2026 + Your Doomsday Power Backup Plan

This week on the podcast, we welcome back Rob West, founder and CEO of Thunder Said Energy.  Founded in 2019, the firm provides research that helps decision-makers identify energy opportunities. Based in Estonia, nine time zones away, Rob is an exceptionally productive energy expert whose work spans a wide range of topics. 

We begin by walking through Rob’s Top Ten Themes for Energy in 2026, including the continued steady growth in global oil demand, a waning focus on net zero, EVs, and decarbonization. With that lens, we also discuss Canada’s Pathways carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Rob then shares his bullish outlook for LNG demand growth, with positive implications for Canada’s aspiration to grow LNG exports. Rob also argues that there is a growing investment case for grid-enhancing technologies to increase the utilization of existing infrastructure and meet rising electricity loads. We also touch on the outlook for copper demand driven by electrification, robotics, and AI data centers, as well as Rob’s expectations for electricity load growth, which are more conservative than some other forecasts. 

Finally, Rob and Jackie revisit Jackie’s “doomsday” scenario: what it would actually cost to back up her home during an extended power outage, comparing options such as using stored power from an electric vehicle, a home battery, and a natural gas generator. 

Content referenced on this podcast:

• Sign up for Rob’s daily note at his website, https://thundersaidenergy.com/ 
• Ten Themes for Energy in 2026 from Thunder Said Energy (January 1, 2026) 
• Rob’s video: US load growth: unpopular opinions (September 3, 2025) 

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