The sky is the limit

I admit it. I’m an energy nerd. Energy prices, weather, volatility, optionality…it all fascinates me, endlessly. And not me alone, it seems.

I joined EnAppSys, now Montel Analytics, back in 2017. Ever since, I’ve used LinkedIn to find the questions that need answers and answer the questions that haven’t been answered. Together we’ve done so much. I’ve crowdsourced answers to mysteries I couldn’t have solved without you. I’ve challenged my existing knowledge and hope we have learnt much along the way. That’s why I want to say thank you, because this week I’ve passed 10,000 followers.

I’m humbled and grateful at the same time. To reach this kind of following in a niche subject, only suited for fellow nerds, is pretty cool. While 10.000 followers was never originally one of my goals, I am proud to have achieved it and have learnt a few key lessons along the way.

Lesson 1: we’re all learning, all the time. When I properly started my LinkedIn journey seven years ago, I thought I knew everything there was to know about power markets. How silly of me. I now realise, I learnt more in the first six months of my new job than in the 15 years before, working in energy trading and analysis. The following years have been a rollercoaster ride of new developments, changing markets and soaking up the knowledge of power traders, fellow analysts, journalists.

Lesson 2: there’s no such thing as a stupid question. I’ve been asked a few over the years on LinkedIn and honestly some of the most seemingly obvious or stupid questions have made me think again, challenge my assumptions, check what I thought I knew or was known. The energy markets are changing as never before. The pace is breathtaking and so being forced to question what you always assumed is a fantastic way to check you’re still accurate.

Lesson 3: it’s a privilege to seek knowledge together and share it. The last few years has culminated in the role I have now within Montel Analytics, working on data and analytics products and presenting my learnings more frequently to larger and larger audiences. Like this week, when over 1800 people registered for a webinar about negative power prices. I like presenting, it forces you to condense your ideas into clear reasoning and it is especially rewarding when people send you feedback afterwards, which is then either positive, or helps you understand different perspectives and challenges your assumptions.

And talking about different perspectives, I ended this week sky high. Not just because I hit the 10,000 followers mark but also because I found myself next to my wife 1,200 meters up in the air, peering down on the world on a short trip in a hot air balloon. Another new perspective, this time on the place I live. And being the proud energy nerd I am, of course I spent all my time photographing the power plants, solar fields and wind turbines underneath me.

It reminded me that whether it’s the energy sector I love to study, or the LinkedIn community I love to engage with, we can only scale great heights by asking questions and looking for answers with an open mind and a critical mindset. This does build into something big. Really, the sky is the limit.

P.S.: On the odd chance you’ve reached the end of this post AND you’ve missed the webinar on negative prices, you can watch it here: https://montelgroup.com/paid-to-use-power-a-pan-european-perspective-on-negative-prices-access-to-presentation-slides-and-recording