E111: The Span Plan: grid infrastructure in your garage
E111: The Span Plan: grid infrastructure in your garage  
Podcast: Everybody in the Pool
Published On: Fri Nov 14 2025
Description: This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re examining the seemingly humble—but absolutely critical—piece of hardware that could accelerate electrification, unlock virtual power plants, and save homeowners thousands of dollars: the electrical panel.My guest is Arch Rao, founder and CEO of Span, a company building smart electrical panels that replace your old breaker box with real-time power management, whole-home circuit-level visibility, and the ability to electrify without a costly service upgrade.If you’ve ever been told you need a new 200-amp panel before installing a heat pump, EV charger, induction stove, or home battery… Span thinks you don’t. And utilities are starting to agree.We get into:Why most of America’s 100-amp homes don’t actually need expensive utility upgradesHow Span’s digital panel manages loads in real time—throttling certain appliances for a few minutes a year to avoid tripping limitsWhat changes when every circuit in your house is visible and controllable (down to the second)Span as grid infrastructure: how utilities like PG&E see smart panels as a cheaper alternative to billions in grid upgradesLinks:Span: https://www.span.io/All episodes: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Subscribe to the Everybody in the Pool newsletter: https://www.mollywood.co/Become a member for the ad-free version of the show: https://everybodyinthepool.supercast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.