80: 'Taking A Geographic Approach To Public Grid Investment' With Bill Meehan And Pat Hohl Of Esri

Much has been made about the need to modernize the U.S. power grid, and recent developments at the federal level have made it clear that public funding to upgrade and expand our transmission and distribution infrastructure is on the way. Whether already designated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in late 2021 or potential new funding that may come in forthcoming legislation and budgets, the scale of spending is looking like it's going to finally catch up to what's been long needed, but vast quantities of money without an intelligent plan for how and where to spend them is shortsighted. Given the scale and complexity of the grid, even the most tuned-in grid professionals in the utility industry can struggle to grasp the best approach to the billions of dollars coming to the grid. That's why Bill Meehan and Pat Hohl, Directors of Electric Utility Solutions at Esri, advocate for a geographic approach to these investments. By tapping into the treasure troves of grid-wide data and utilizing tools like GIS and other geography-based approaches, the most efficient and intelligent decisions can be made. But doing so is no small feat, so Pat and Bill join the Energy Central podcast as returning guests to share with podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester their thought process for what will ensure optimal distribution of funds. Key Links Link to Create Your Own Profile on Energy Central: energycentral.com/user/register Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-80-taking-geographic-approach-public-grid-investment-bill-meehan-and-pat Bill Meehan's Energy Central Profile:https://energycentral.com/member/profile/360/about Bill's first apperance on the podcast:https://energycentral.com/c/iu/energy-central-power-perspectives%E2%84%A2-podcast-episode-12-%E2%80%98-unlock-modern-utility-gis Pat Hohl's Energy Central Profile:https://energycentral.com/member/profile/204983/about Pat's first appearance on the podcast:https://energycentral.com/c/iu/energy-central-power-perspectives%E2%84%A2-podcast-episode-10-%E2%80%98-past-future-circuits-how Devouring Underutilized Data With Spatial Analytics: https://energycentral.com/o/esri/devouring-underutilized-data-spatial-analytics Pop Quiz – What Happened on October 19, 1973: https://energycentral.com/o/esri/pop-quiz-%E2%80%93-what-happened-october-19-1973 Geospatial Infrastructure - Utility Lessons Learned with Pat Hohl and Bill Meehan - Episode #6: https://energycentral.com/o/esri/geospatial-infrastructure-utility-lessons-learned-pat-hohl-and-bill-meehan Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts