Debra Smith, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer for Seattle City Light, joined the Karen, Matt, and Paul for a special bonus discussion about the electric utility enthusiast trifecta: Electrification, Markets, and People. We also get some jokes, elephant noises, an intermission game, and some new merch ideas.

05:49 - what’s going well, a numbered list

12:14 - Attracting, retaining, and recruiting public power people

36:56 - an Intermission Game called “Fantasy Utility Draft” where we do a mock electric utility draft from the characters of Schitts Creek, Succession, Ted Lasso, and Parks & Rec

51:27 - Debra’s thoughts on market development in the Northwest

57:03 - Seattle City Lights approach to electrification and highlights of their recent projects

• Curbside EV charging
• New electric bus charging base
• Electrification study developed in collaboration w/ EPRI

1:01:46 - Scaling up our workforce as the biggest challenge facing electric utilities

• background from interview w/ Jesse Jenkins
• Saul Griffith’s book Electrify and link to Rewiring America
• the hk tweet

1:10:03 - new merch ideas

You can find our merch on shopify. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpowerunderground.substack.com