Piloting the Future: If you’re not innovating, you’re dying, ft. Portland General Electric

The leaders at Portland General Electric knew they had a choice: Embrace innovative ideas…or get left behind. They chose the former—and now, PGE is charting a new path for scaled utilities to embrace technology, welcome innovation, and ask hard questions to ensure their customers get energy that’s reliable, efficient, and clean, day in and day out. Today on Piloting the Future, hosts Kim Getgen and Lee Krevat get the full rundown on PGE’s recent Innovation Impact Report from Larry Bekkedahl, Senior VP of Advanced Energy Delivery at PGE, and Allegra Hodges, Head of Strategic Innovation at PGE. Larry and Allegra explain PGE’s efforts to build a stronger grid, how strong process can empower innovation, the best strategies for finding consensus in a crowded tech ecosystem…and, of course, where AI fits into all this. PGE completed the first long-distance transmission of electricity in the US in 1889—and they haven’t stopped innovating since. Give this episode a listen to understand how embracing the future became part of a major utility’s culture. Want to check out PGE’s Innovation Impact Report? Find it here: https://portlandgeneral.com/about/who-we-are/innovative-energy Interested in Larry’s recommendation of Collective Genius by Prof. Linda Hill? Learn more here: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47530 See you next time.