Capital Energy: 2025 Impact Update & the Road to 2026
Hello from the Capital Energy team,
As we wrap up a big year (and begin an even bigger one), we wanted to share what we’ve been working on - what we learned, what we built, and where we’re headed in 2026.
🌱 Why this year mattered
At the start of 2025, we set out to sharpen a core belief that now sits at the center of our work: Building successful climate-tech companies requires both vision and execution - what we often call poetry and plumbing.
Breakthrough technology needs more than impressive engineering. It needs clarity, credibility, and a path to market. That tension shaped how we advised founders, framed stories, and supported growth this year.
🔧 What we worked on: Client highlights
A&I Power Group
With A&I Power, we documented a major milestone, going through third-party validation of their work on electrical efficiency and resilience for large-scale infrastructure. Our storytelling focused not just on hardware and results, but on readiness - framing a vision built for real-world deployment.
VEIR
We supported VEIR as they introduced their STAR Demonstration - showcasing superconducting, high-density power delivery for AI data centers. This was one of the boldest infrastructure stories we helped bring to market in 2025. VEIR isn’t just promising future potential; they’re demonstrating what scalable, energy-efficient AI data center power can look like today. Our role was to help translate that vision clearly for investors, operators, and the broader data-center ecosystem.
Transaera
Transaera is re-engineering how HVAC systems manage fresh air and humidity. Their technology systems integrate seamlessly into commercial buildings to deliver lower energy use and consistent comfort, even in humid climates. We helped translate that technical depth into a concise, engaging narrative that speaks directly to operators, OEMs, and partners.
🧰 How Capital Energy showed up
We didn’t just build stories, we built frameworks.
The plumbing: We went deeper into understanding full value chains - from manufacturing and installation to procurement and deployment - so founders could navigate not just what they build, but how it actually reaches the market.
The poetry: We distilled complex, infrastructure-heavy technologies into narratives that resonate with investors, partners, operators, and end users.
The bridge: We expanded our work in climate-tech branding, strategy, messaging, and commercialization - helping technical excellence translate into momentum.
We do as we say and say as we do: turning complexity into clarity that drives relationships, trust, and growth.
🔄 What we learned: Why poetry + plumbing matters
This year reinforced something we see again and again:
Great climate-tech leadership balances bold vision with gritty execution.
As highlighted in a recent Hidden Brain episode (drawing on the work of James G. March and Huggy Rao), effective leadership requires both:
Poetry: purpose, ambition, meaning—the why
Plumbing: systems, processes, constraints—the how
Without plumbing, vision remains theoretical.
Without poetry, execution lacks soul.
The companies shaping our climate future need both—and so do the stories we help them tell.
👥 Behind the scenes
Capital Energy continues to be led by a founding team grounded in infrastructure, storytelling, and market strategy:
Ted Butler - CEO & Head of Technology and Strategy. A longtime builder and advisor in the built environment, Ted brings over two decades of hands-on experience navigating real-world constraints, deployment challenges, and technical decision-making.
Carolyn MacNeill - Marketing Strategist & Content Lead. A systems thinker with deep experience in branding, communications, and narrative strategy, ensuring bold ideas cut through and connect.
As part of our evolution, Elayne Cronin has wrapped her chapter with Capital Energy and is pursuing new creative endeavors. We’re deeply grateful for her contributions and remain aligned in our shared commitment to impactful climate storytelling.
🚀 What’s next
Looking ahead to 2026:
We’re expanding our tent. If you’re building climate-tech, we’d love to talk, even if you’re early in the game.
We believe the right story matters as much as the right product - and that real impact comes from aligning both.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
Here’s to more plumbing, poetry, and progress in 2026.
— Team Capital Energy
