70% of U.S. Substations Are Outdated...Here’s What's Next | NovaTech Automation

<p>Roughly 70% of U.S. substations were built before modern digital technology. Now AI, renewables, batteries, and EVs are forcing a century-old grid to become something fundamentally different.</p><p>Company bio:</p><p>NovaTech Automation provides automation, monitoring, and control technology for electric utilities, with equipment in roughly 25% of U.S. substations. Founded in 1979, the family-owned company helps utilities modernize aging infrastructure while integrating increasingly complex power sources and loads.</p><p>Guest bio:</p><p>Conrad Oakey is CEO of NovaTech Automation and the second generation to lead the 45-year-old company. A Duke MBA, he has helped expand the business while navigating utility sales, acquisitions, succession, and technological change.</p><p>Seven things you’ll learn in this episode:</p><ol><li>Why the grid must shift from “plan and predict” to “sense and respond.”</li><li>Why 4% power-demand growth changes the economics of grid innovation.</li><li>How to sell new technology into deeply risk-averse utilities.</li><li>Why customer pull matters more than technically elegant innovation.</li><li>How a $10K product can expand into a $100K integrated solution.</li><li>Why buying an established business can beat starting from zero.</li><li>Why NovaTech kills roughly 98 of every 100 product ideas.</li></ol><p></p><p><strong>--</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Are you a VC- or PE-backed CEO building in energy, infrastructure, or climate tech?</p><ul><li>Join 45 CEOs and 45 investors and post-exit founders who help each other make better decisions on capital, strategy, scaling, and leadership.</li><li>See if the CEO community is a fit → entrepreneursforimpact.com</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Get smarter on energy, infrastructure, and climate tech in 2 minutes.</p><ul><li>Join 40,000+ professionals getting practical insights on startups, investing, commercialization, strategy, and leadership.</li><li>Get the free newsletter → entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Help more people find this podcast.</p><ul><li>If this episode was useful, take 20 seconds to follow the show or leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. </li><li>It helps bring these conversations to more entrepreneurs, investors, and executives.</li></ul><p></p>