With Great Power

Kim Getgen, experienced in startups and tech innovation, discusses encouraging innovation and psychological safety within risk-averse sectors like utilities. She founded InnovationForce to guide innovators through a rigorous process for vetting new technologies. The podcast explores the importance of good rate design and preventing new decarbonization technologies from getting stuck in pilot purgatory.

Ahmad Faruqui has been researching electricity pricing since the mid 1970’s, when the cost of a kilowatt-hour was flat. But in the 80’s and 90’s, he started working on dynamic pricing – pioneering the concept of time-of-use rates.The big breakthrough for time-of-use rates came during the fallout from the California energy crisis. Later, thanks to the rollout of smart meters, more power providers started experimenting with dynamic rates.Now, new technology is making time-of-use rate design more transparent. This week, Ahmad talks with Brad about why dynamic pricing is gaining momentum among electric utilities – and what makes for good rate design. On June 13th, Latitude Media and GridX will host a Frontier Forum to examine the imperative of good rate design – and the consequences of getting it wrong. Register at the link in the show notes, or go to latitudemdia.com/events. See you there!This podcast is produced by GridX in partnership with Latitude Studios. GridX is the Enterprise Rate Platform that modern utilities rely on to usher in our clean energy future.

Heather Rock, Senior Director of Strategy at PG&E, discusses using batteries to overcome service challenges in northern California. She talks about transforming the utility into a safer, resilient grid and the importance of driving change internally. The podcast delves into PG&E's innovations for customer experience and cost reduction in the clean energy transition.

From his early days working on regulatory policy on the Hill to his current role as president of Grid Strategies, Rob Gramlich has been focused on future-proofing the electrical grid.  Twenty years ago, utilities invested heavily in load demand forecasting. But as load growth fell precipitously in the 2000s, those departments shrank. Now, with load growth skyrocketing from increasingly-electrified manufacturing, burgeoning data centers, and electrified homes, planners are struggling to keep up. The grid simply isn’t ready for what’s coming. This week, Rob talks with Brad about how to mitigate the risks of this impending load demand, including how recent federal funding could help improve grid planning. They also dig into some  systemic fixes that could improve the grid’s health in the long term. This podcast is produced by GridX in partnership with Latitude Studios. GridX is the Enterprise Rate Platform that modern utilities rely on to usher in our clean energy future.

In 2016, Dr. Kyri Baker was a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory working on a new home energy management system. Called Foresee, the system reduced energy usage through machine learning algorithms that tracked consumption patterns and grid conditions. Today, Kyri is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she continues her research on machine learning applications for the power grid. Her work has expanded beyond home energy management to the transmission and distribution grids, and she is pioneering new techniques for power flow optimization. This week, Kyri talks with Brad about how utilities can use neural networks to reduce outage times with data they already have available. She also describes the machine learning algorithms she’s training to make power flow predictions more accurate. This podcast is produced by GridX in partnership with Latitude Studios. GridX is the Enterprise Rate Platform that modern utilities rely on to usher in our clean energy future.

The podcast discusses a rate restructuring plan at Holy Cross Energy that sparked conflict with the solar industry. Governor Polis stepped in to mediate, leading to discussions on utilities evolving into infrastructure operators like the 'FedEx of electricity'. The episode explores grid orchestration, virtual power plants, and empowering consumers in the energy transition.

Over the past two seasons of With Great Power, you've heard stories from all kinds of people working at the front lines of change on the power grid. We've covered the rise of electric vehicles, explored the dawn of long-duration storage, unpacked the utility digital transformation, and asked: how can power companies learn from other industries about change?In March, we’re coming back for another season on the tech, business, and market forces that are changing the grid. Season three will feature stories from some of the nation’s biggest utilities and most nimble cooperatives; we’ll hear from analysts and researchers following tech trends, like artificial intelligence and virtual power plants; and we'll dive into the massive federal efforts to make the grid more agile and resilient.Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or any other podcast app to get fresh episodes when the new season drops.

There are more than 250 million cars on U.S. roads today. Only about 1% of them are electric. But with seven million more EVs projected to hit the road by 2030, that percentage is changing.The problem? Access to all those EVs isn't equal. The majority of EV owners in the country are high-income and white. But to cut transportation emissions in the U.S., we need to make EV ownership and charging a staple in all communities.That's where Dr. Shelley Francis and her team at EVNoire come in. They're working to combat the lack of diversity in EV ownership by collaborating with utilities, automakers, and other stakeholders on national and regional projects.The data and insight EVNoire collects and presents to stakeholders isn't just for show. They can easily hone in on where there's a need for resources like EV chargers, which influences funding decisions down the line.This week, Brad speaks to Dr. Shelley Francis, co-founder and managing partner at EVNoire, about the state of EV adoption and ownership in communities of color and the policies and practices needed to help address it.This podcast is produced by GridX. GridX is the Enterprise Rate Platform that modern utilities rely on to usher in our clean energy future.

Over the past 20 years, Kerri Carnes has worked a lot of different jobs at Arizona Public Service, or APS. She's been an administrative assistant, real-time trader, and regulation manager. Today, she serves as the director of customer-to-grid solutions. Besides maintaining service, Kerri and her colleagues are determined to increase customer adoption of technologies like solar, EVs, and smart thermostats.They're leveraging all the resources at their disposal to meet customer demand for electrification. That includes making technologies more affordable to customers who struggle with accessibility.This week, Brad speaks to Kerri Carnes about the strategies APS is using to make that a reality.This podcast is produced by GridX. GridX is the Enterprise Rate Platform that modern utilities rely on to usher in our clean energy future.

A wave of extreme weather this year has left Jim Kapsis questioning whether utilities are prepared for more frequent, intense weather events in the future.There's a growing group of startups that are more than ready to provide solutions, but they've struggled to break into the space. They need help figuring out a business model that works in the unique market that is the utility industry. Jim's response? A new company called the Ad Hoc Group, founded in 2016 with the goal of helping those newcomers succeed.This week, Brad speaks with Jim Kapsis, CEO and founder of the Ad Hoc Group, about its extensive work helping climate tech startups navigate the highly regulated world of utilities.This podcast is produced by GridX. GridX is the Enterprise Rate Platform that modern utilities rely on to usher in our clean energy future.