Hydrogen was supposed to be the breakout tool of the clean energy boom.
Then the rules landed. Hard.
The “three pillars” froze major projects almost overnight. Capital paused. Developers hit the brakes. Monarch Energy felt the headwind like everyone else, but instead of waiting on Treasury, they pivoted to something more fundamental.
Load.
This week’s guest, Kevin Boudreaux, has spent his career reading these shifts before they hit the headlines. A Navy crypto, an Enron survivor, an early VPP architect in ERCOT, and now a senior leader at Monarch Energy, he is building multi-hundred-megawatt powered land for hydrogen, data centers, and industrial load.
His career is a map of how markets actually change and what veterans can do to stay ahead of the next wave.
Because markets shift fast. Missions shift fast.
Your network and mindset decide whether you stay in the fight.
When the Hydrogen Halo Faded
Along the Gulf Coast, hydrogen has been around for decades. The IRA looked like the moment green hydrogen would finally go mainstream: cut carbon intensity, earn tax credits, scale fast.
Then Treasury’s guidance hit.
Strict time-matching, additionality, and geography rules stalled the very projects meant to kickstart the sector. Green hydrogen didn’t die, but the simple path disappeared.
Blue hydrogen still has openings along the Gulf Coast. Everywhere else, developers needed a new angle.
Monarch widened the mission:
Build powered land that works no matter which technology wins the next round of policy battles.
The Real Scarcity Now: Interconnection
Most people think big projects are a land problem.
Inside the industry, everyone knows the real constraint is interconnection.
Utilities are clearing queues, removing speculators, and tightening requirements for large loads. Texas added special rules for projects over 75 megawatts. That means any serious developer needs clear answers:
What are you interconnecting to, and when does it arrive.
Who pays for upgrades.
How you perform as a flexible load on a stressed grid.
Monarch starts there. They target sites with real access to high-voltage lines and pipelines, then speak the utility’s language to secure agreements. Without a viable interconnection path, land is just land.
Why Monarch Is Betting On Load And On-Site Generation
Hydrogen is still viable in certain pockets.
But the big opportunity now is large load.
Monarch is designing sites around 600 MW-scale customers like data centers. At that size, hoping the utility catches up is not a strategy. It is a delay.
So they pair interconnection with on-site generation.
Natural gas is the workhorse today because it can be financed and built fast. Geothermal and small modular nuclear may matter later, but gas is the reliable bridge right now. In some cases, it may be the only viable path to megawatts at all.
The high-level debates keep circling ideology. On the ground, the question is simple:
Can you get power, when and where you need it, at a price that works.
From Enron To VPPs: How Markets Actually Change
Kevin Boudreaux didn’t land here by accident.
After the Navy, a family connection got him into a startup gas storage company. That led to Enron, where he helped structure and then unwind major bundled deals in bankruptcy. It was a crash course in risk, contracts, and how power markets really work.
“Try to unwind a deal through bankruptcy. You’re going to learn every facet of that deal.”
From there he moved across generation, retail power, and then MP2 Energy, where he helped design early ERCOT offerings for rooftop solar, batteries, and EVs. The SolarCity work he touched became one of the seeds of Tesla’s virtual power plant program.
Today, his own Powerwall runs inside a Tesla plan that optimizes his battery for the grid. What used to be an experiment is now routine.
That’s how markets change:
A small group tests a new structure.
Someone proves it works.
A decade later, it becomes standard practice.
Veterans who recognize that arc can place themselves where the next shift is happening.
The Veteran Playbook: Network Hard, Build Structure, Do The Inner Work
Nothing in Kevin’s career happened in isolation.
Every move came from relationships, not job boards.
“Every place I’ve gone in my career has been through somebody I know.”
That is why Project Vanguard exists. Veterans should not be sending résumés into a void. They should be pulled into opportunities by people who know their work.
Networking here is not salesmanship. It’s mission planning:
Conversations are reconnaissance.
Follow-through is reputation.
Introductions are force multipliers.
But the internal side matters too. Kevin talks about routines, discipline, reading widely, and doing the emotional work required to navigate stress, markets, and family life.
The uniform gave purpose and structure. Civilian energy work requires building both for yourself.
Your edge isn’t knowing the next acronym. It’s knowing how to learn fast, adapt under pressure, and show up for the team.
Final Thoughts
Policy will shift. Tech will swing. Loads will grow faster than grids can catch up.
What does not change is the need for people who can carry the mission and the details at the same time.
That is Kevin Boudreaux. A Navy linguist who went from Enron bankruptcy to early VPP design to building powered land for the next wave of industrial load.
Energy security is national security. Veterans have carried that weight before. The next chapter is carrying it into the grid, the field, the development office, and the boardroom.
If this hit home, send it to a veteran figuring out their next move. And if you want more real stories from the people building America’s next energy chapter, subscribe and stay with us.
Timestamps:
00:06 – Intro and episode setup
01:59 – Guest welcome and Monarch overview
03:18 – Green hydrogen hype and IRA moment
05:10 – Treasury guidance, three pillars, and project freeze
07:08 – Monarch’s powered land and value stacking model
09:22 – SB6, interconnection rules, and rising costs
13:19 – Spain, language, and discovering Navy crypto
16:49 – Leaving the Navy and first Houston energy job
18:45 – Networking, mentors, and veteran career strategy
22:35 – Enron bankruptcy and learning how deals really work
25:56 – SolarCity partnership and early ERCOT VPP programs
29:11 – On-site generation and Monarch’s bridge power strategy
31:19 – Advice to younger self and veteran mindset
34:04 – What Kevin is reading, inner work, and closing
