Ep. 252 - Why Saying “Diesel” Now Feels Like Yelling “Mufasa” — Jim McDonald on Backup Power

Somewhere along the way “diesel” turned into a dirty word. Jim McDonald’s spent 30 years on the generators that keep 911, hospitals, and your data alive — and he’s a little tired of playing the villain. We get into what’s real, what’s myth, and why he still thinks everybody wins.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Welcome, and the “luminary chair”

00:01:24 From the University of Delaware to founding MIRATECH (1992)

00:04:16 The first data center (2006) and the “internet hotel”

00:06:52 What a backup generator does, and why a data center needs it

00:10:16 The “nines” of reliability and the 7-second diesel start

00:13:27 What “five nines” actually means in downtime

00:16:42 How often the generators really run (mostly testing)

00:19:44 Diesel’s “Mufasa moment”: how a word got loaded

00:24:00 “Dirty diesel” — where the myth comes from

00:25:07 The ratepayer pledge and the peak-power problem

00:27:06 Why diesel: 48 hours of fuel on site

00:30:15 Behind-the-meter and microgrids, explained

00:36:14 202(c) orders, Ashburn, and grid-vs-on-site emissions

00:48:14 PJM, the load-duration curve, and demand response

01:02:10 EPA Tier 2 to Tier 4 and a “new spirit of cooperation”

01:14:57 Energy storage: heating bricks, ice, and synthetic DNA

01:30:05 Small modular reactors and the nuclear question

01:33:24 Three daughters and “nuclear is super safe”

01:40:44 What to watch in the next 18–24 months

01:43:13 The takeaway: open minds, and everybody wins

References and Links:

Jim McDonald (guest), MIRATECH — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-mcdonald-80229223

MIRATECH (guest’s company): miratechcorp.com

David McCall (host): linkedin.com/in/davidnmccall

QTS: q.com

Ratepayer Protection Pledge (White House, March 2026): whitehouse.gov — Ratepayer Protection Pledge

PJM Interconnection (regional grid operator referenced re: load-duration curve / demand response): pjm.com

Book referenced — “The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel” by Douglas Brunt (2023).

Plant Vogtle (Georgia Power / Southern Company) — the Georgia nuclear plant Jim worked near during construction.

Michael Shellenberger nuclear talk (~10–15 years ago, “several million views”)

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