Inspiring Conversations with James Clegern of KineticCore Solutions

Today we’d like to introduce you to James Clegern

James, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I traveled with family across much of the US and Europe as an USAF dependent, and was active in Boy Scouting (Eagle Scout!) and churches at each base my family was assigned. This gave me a great appreciation for military operations, the natural environment and service to others. My college education started with the University of Maryland, on an Air Force ROTC scholarship and then a Master’s research fellowship at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, earning my commission and BS + MS degrees in Aerospace Engineering. At the end of my 22-year USAF career leading multiple engineering, test and project management teams, I completed my PhD in Industrial Engineering at the University of Tennessee, with a focus on early AI guided technology optimization. One of my PhD case studies was optimizing advanced composite flywheels for cost-effective, high-power energy storage, which then formed the technology and patent base for my Colorado start-up company KineticCore Solutions (KCS), founded in 2019.

Our visionary energy storage mission was validated in 2000 with the Department of Energy (DOE) identifying the need for high-power energy storage systems to support over $350B commercial, industrial, renewable energy and utility customer peak power requirements needed by 2035 that an aging electrical grid is currently getting overwhelmed to sustain. These high-power requirements include advanced electrification (large HVAC, heat pumps, refrigeration, and furnaces), Electric Vehicle (EV) charging, solar/wind renewable power stabilization, and utility grid regulation. Now, going into 2025, KCS has demonstrated our advanced “Kinetic Battery” proof of concept and is preparing full scale system development for strategic partner pilot deployments in 2026 and commercial availability in 2027.

For our commercial & industrial (C&I) facilities initial market, KCS helps affordably solve high peak power access problems for projects and makes them more affordable by reducing high monthly power charges on their electric bills. Return on Investment (ROI) is an unprecedented 24-months or less in nearly all applications. Deploying Kinetic Battery also provides a path for rural and disadvantaged communities to access the power needed for advanced electrification without the project stopping high costs often experienced for full electrical grid upgrades.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our first challenge has been convincing folks that an established technology (flywheels) could be improved. “It’s not new” and “It’s too expensive and unsafe to utilize widely” have been the battle cries of the naysayers. All current flywheel and chemical energy storage “batteries” are based on discoveries decades or centuries old. Most are being refined, repackaged and repurposed to meet evolving energy storage demands. KCS brings a patented, next generation “Kinetic Battery” composite flywheel into the equation, which keeps all of the advantages of a traditional flywheel,
• Long Life: No replacements for 15-25 years with nearly unlimited cycles per day
• Constant Performance: Does not degrade over time, with depth-of-discharge or with high-power
• Efficient: 86%-93% round trip efficiency for up to 4 hours operation
• All Weather: Operates outside in nearly any weather condition without extra heating/cooling
• Environmentally Clean: No hazardous chemicals to replace, transport, recycle or dispose of
but with initial costs 50% less than Li-ion for the same power, levelized costs under $0.05/kWh and does not uncontrollably catch fire, freeze, emit poisonous gasses or have explosive failures for improved safety.

Our second challenge has been to overcome the “grin and bare it” position of commercial and industrial customers who have always paid through the nose for high power access. Advanced electrification (HVAC, heat pumps, electric boilers/ovens and refrigeration) and EV charging require higher power access compared with polluting carbon-based fuel systems, and for many facilities paying up to $1,000 per kW for added power from the local grid is required. Previous Peak Power Support (PPS) options, like traditional energy storage & building energy management systems, often cost more than just paying for the grid power upgrade, so just paying for the power is the norm. The KCS “Kinetic Battery” brings a PPS solution that costs 30-60% less than a grid upgrade and saves 50-80% on electrical bill power demand charges each month for 25-years. It is time to rethink the status quo.

Our third challenge has been with the utilities and regulation accepting something “new” when the alternative is passing along trillions of grid upgrade costs to utility customers. Advanced electrification and increasing power demands from customers like data centers is straining current grid infrastructure and is expected to require up to $2.5T ($2,500,000,000) for upgrades by 2035. If commercial/industrial customer can utilize a cost-effective PPS like the KCS “Kinetic Battery” to reduce their peak power demands, up to 50% of that expected upgrade cost could be mitigated directly by the customer.

Our final challenge has been securing development and production funding in the past four-years to accelerate KCS to market when the national focus has been on long-duration energy storage hardware to support the intermittent nature of renewable energy. With utility customers demanding more power from a grid designed in the last century, a better balance of funding and investment needs to be encouraged since one class of energy storage can not do everything well.

As you know, we’re big fans of KineticCore Solutions. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
For most Commercial and Industrial (C&I) customers, their higher power draw (20kW to 1,000s of kW) is typically billed separately from the charge for energy (kWh) used. Traditional conservation efforts reduce energy used by reducing the hours machinery is in operation and investing in energy efficient systems. Unfortunately, conservation rarely reduces the power used by a system. So, for example, when a large commercial 150 kW central air conditioning system comes on, the grid sees a 150 kW power demand whether it is used for 30-minutes or 2-hours. To address this, KCS is developing one of the first high-power battery PPS systems that allow C&I customers to cost-effectively lower their periodic power demand and reduce their monthly power demand charges up to 80%. This not only allows C&I customers to reduce their utility bills up to $90k/year (based on 2024 electrical rates) for each 200 kW Kinetic Battery peak power reduction, but it helps stabilize the local grid by not having pulses of power hitting the grid every time a power hungry system turns on or off. At scale, behind-the-meter C&I PPS systems could reduce grid peak power demand up to 50%, minimizing overdemand brownouts, equipment failures and “peaker” power plant operations, and decrease the costs for all electrical customers.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Flying into the Washington DC area at night when I was about 12 years old and seeing the Nation’s Capital spread out in a glowing sea of multi-colored lights. My Dad pointed out from my window seat that a web of grid resources generating power allowed the light show every night. He said we (as Americans) were fortunate to live in a place where electricity was available to everyone, and not every place in the world had access like us. Just shows that for all its wonder, we are still responsible for being good stewards to our electrical grid and its resources.

Pricing:

• Under $200 per kW of power provided
• Under $0.05/kWh levelized over the Kinetic Battery’s life time
• Under 50% the cost of Li-ion batteries for the same power

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kineticcore.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kineticcore

Image Credits
KineticCore Solutions