S2E8: Former FERC and PUCT Chairman Pat Wood discusses pro-competition policies past and future. Finishing the job in establishing competitive power markets nationally is an important prerequisite to decarbonizing the power grid, he says.

Pat Wood III was at the forefront of important pro-consumer electricity policy changes 20 years ago as the former chairman of both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas. While his pro-competition agenda at FERC was stymied by political blowback, the past 20 years have shown the wisdom of pro-competition policies in electricity, he says, calling for current regulators to just "rip off the band-aid" and get to a competitive market model in the public interest. Today, he is once again at the forefront of change in the electricity industry as he, in his role as CEO of the Hunt Energy Network and President of Hunt Power, is betting big on the future of energy storage, building hundreds of megawatts of battery storage capacity in Texas.

Support the show