Energy Central

The global energy transition isn’t theoretical anymore—it’s happening right now. But how fast can we go, and how far can renewables really take us?In this episode of Power Perspectives, hosts Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Mark Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University, to explore one of the most polarizing questions in energy today:100% clean energy, is it actually possible?For decades, Jacobson has modeled the path to a world powered entirely by wind, water, and solar, contending that fossil fuels, carbon capture, or nuclear aren’t necessary to meet the future energy needs. His research has influenced global climate policy, inspired states to adopt renewable targets, and sparked fierce debate across the energy sector.Whether you’re a skeptic of his stance or co-signer that the future can be all renewable, this conversation challenges assumptions and asks the most important question in energy today: what if the solutions we need are already here?Key Links:Mark Jacobson’s Stanford Profile: https://profiles.stanford.edu/mark-jacobsonMark Jacobson on X: https://x.com/mzjacobsonSignup for the Energy Central Daily Newsletter: https://energycentral.beehiiv.com/subscribe

AI is transforming everything, but what happens when it starts transforming the grid itself?As data centers explode in scale and AI workloads surge, utility leaders are wondering when the power system might reach a a breaking point. But what if the next generation of compute didn’t just consume energy? What if it instead helped stabilize the grid?In this episode of Power Perspectives, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Arushi Sharma Frank, Senior Advisor on Power Utilities at Emerald AI and a senior associate at CSIS, and a technology  investor who has launched a massive ERCOT campaign for tech neutral dispatachability solutions. In the conversation, they unpack how her team is redefining the relationship between technology and electricity. Frank, whose career spans Tesla, Exelon, and the intersection of policy and physics, shares how AI data centers can evolve from grid stressors to grid assets through orchestration, curtailment, and smart market design.As Emerald AI grabs industry headlines for its much-anticipated power-flexible AI infrastructure, Frank shares her deep technical insight with a visionary look at where AI and energy converge. It’s a must-listen for utility decision-makers, grid planners, and innovators who see the grid not as a limit, but as a launchpad.Key Links:Arushi Sharma Frank on Substack: https://arushisharmafrank.substack.com/Rich Miller on Substack: https://substack.com/@richmillerNVIDIA: How AI Factories Can Help Relieve Grid Stress: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/ai-factories-flexible-power-use/Two Bills in Texas for Data Center Speed to Power: (Guess Which One Investors Will Like More): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/two-bills-texas-data-center-speed-power-guess-which-1zabe/Power Access for AI: The Flexibility Compact: https://www.csis.org/analysis/power-access-ai-flexibility-compactARUSHI SHARMA FRANK: What Should Be In The Strategic Blueprint For A 21st Century Grid?: https://dailycaller.com/2025/08/12/opinion-what-should-be-in-the-strategic-blueprint-for-a-21st-century-grid-arushi-sharma-frank/AI requires a smarter grid — and so does everyone else: https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/ai-requires-a-smarter-grid-and-so-does-everyone-else/How the world’s first flexible AI factory will work in tandem with the grid: https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/how-the-worlds-first-flexible-ai-factory-will-work-in-tandem-with-the-grid/Aggregations and data centers: If a resource shows up when the grid is straining, make it count: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/aggregations-data-centers-grid-flexibility/756183/Mainstreaming AI data center flexibility: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/mainstreaming-ai-data-center-flexibility/804103/From Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs: Rewriting the Grid Planning Playbook in the Southwest Power Pool and Texas: https://www.csis.org/analysis/bottlenecks-breakthroughs-rewriting-grid-planning-playbook-southwest-power-pool-and-texasSignup for the Energy Central Daily Newsletter: https://energycentral.beehiiv.com/subscribe

It’s no secret: AI is changing everything from how we think, to where we build, to how we power the world.And nowhere is that disruption hitting harder and more quickly than in the rise of data centers, the massive energy users that are quickly becoming the new industrial load of the 21st century.In this episode of Power Perspectives, host Kinsey Grant Baker digs into the context of this transformation with the illuminating Pete Sacco, founder of Gray Wolf Data Center and physicist-turned-engineer-turned-developer. Sacco blends technical mastery with a human-centered vision for what the next generation of compute infrastructure could look like: distributed, opportunistic, and deeply integrated with local energy systems.From solid oxide fuel cells and on-site microgrids to new partnerships between utilities and data centers, this episode unpacks the radical rethink happening at the edge of the grid—and what it means for energy leaders tasked with keeping pace. This episode is a must-listen for anyone sitting at the intersection of energy, infrastructure, and innovation.And the message is clear: the data center revolution is coming fast, and utilities that embrace the change today will be the ones defining the next era of the grid tomorrow.And thanks to our partner, Renew Developers, for making this episode possible. ReNew Developers is a sustainable real estate development firm offering speed-to-market power solutions and Energy-as-a-Service. We serve data centers and large industrial power users by developing modern projects with on-site power generation. Our unique approach shaves years off the timeline to move into your data center. We have a pipeline of land with energy generation permits in place that can feed your state-of-the-art data center expansion needs. Contact us at ReNewDevelopers.com if you need land with power now.

Ask any utility exec: The key to accurate forecasting isn’t luck. It’s data. In fact, data might be more valuable than electrons these days.Knowing what your customers think (and how they act) is a prerequisite for long-term utility success. So today on The Watt & Why, host Mike Smith welcomes Elizabeth Parks, president and CMO of Parks Associates, for an insightful conversation about how consumers are adapting to new technologies—and the real ways the power industry can better leverage data to get answers to big questions.Mike and Elizabeth explore the utility’s role in communicating the massive benefits of grid tech to customers, the evolving relationship between consumers and power companies, and how utilities can improve everyday peoples’ perception of the work they do.Building trust starts with knowing your customer. Today’s conversation is a crash course in doing just that.

It’s one thing to create a culture of innovation. It’s an entirely other thing to ensure innovation exists at every juncture of your utility business.Today on Piloting the Future, Kim sits down (IRL, in the Philippines!) with execs from Aboitiz Power to learn how they’re incentivizing innovation in everyday ops.Aboitiz’s COO Jokin Aboitiz and AVP of Business Process & Strategic Performance Marynelle Leonor Rosales explain 1) why scale can hamstring innovation and how to outmaneuver business heft 2) the best strategy for making innovation more efficient 3) the role of next-gen tech in the pursuit of affordability…and so much more.Listen in to hear the exec’s playbook for keeping innovation affordable.

How is Exelon, the largest regulated electric utility in the US, preparing for a high-demand future dominated by large loads and electrification? Balancing customer equity with business opportunity? Getting the smartest people excited to work in energy? Fighting for the regulation we need to build things quicker and more efficiently?Mike Innocenzo, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Exelon, answers all that (and more) today on Power Perspectives.He’s giving us a rare glimpse at how decisions are made and strategies are formed at one of the most important companies in power. Press play to see how the modern utility is adapting, pivoting, and prioritizing.

The grid is growing up fast, and the old ways of planning can’t keep up.Explosive new demand from AI, data centers, and the rest of the grid is converging with aging infrastructure and affordability pressures. The result: utilities are being asked to make billion-dollar investment decisions faster, smarter, and with more coordination than ever before.Enter Integrated Grid Planning , the idea that breaking down traditional silos between resource, distribution, and investment planning isn’t just nice-to-have, it’s essential.In this episode of Power Perspectives, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Wen Tu, Senior Director of Integrated Grid Planning at PG&E, and Marc Lamoureux, Director of Product Management at IFS Copperleaf, to explore how utilities can modernize their planning playbook. Wen and Marc share how they’ve spearheaded partnership between PG&E and IFS to unify data, align teams, and optimize investments, all in service of a grid that’s more reliable, resilient, and affordable.What does “integrated grid planning” really mean? Why is it becoming mission-critical for utilities? And what steps can utilities take today to move toward true integration tomorrow? Plug into this episode to learn the answers to those questions and more as these thought leaders highlight the roadmap to planning for the grid of tomorrow.Thanks to IFS Copperleaf for making this episode possible. Every day, companies around the world are spending billions on the infrastructure we all rely on—the electricity that powers our communities, the water that keeps us healthy, and the transportation infrastructure that moves us. IFS Copperleaf’s AI-powered asset investment planning solution helps critical infrastructure organizations deploy capital with confidence. By aligning every investment with strategic goals like decarbonization, risk mitigation, and regulatory outcomes, IFS Copperleaf delivers capital efficiency and business agility.For anyone interested in learning more about the IFS Copperleaf Integrated Planning solution, see https://www.copperleaf.com/landing-page/ifs-copperleaf-integrated/For any IOU wants to learn more about the IFS Copperleaf Integrated Planning consortium efforts (IOU benchmarking or the Task Force focused on industry-consensus value frameworks), reach out to PG&E at sean.ness@pge.com.

America’s grid is facing a daunting and pervasive challenge: explosive demand growth driven by data centers, EVs, and electrification. Utilities are seeking to navigate this reality all while politics threaten to slow down the clean energy buildout. But in California, with the state’s commitment to meeting future energy needs sustainably and affordably, one emerging model appears to hold the key: the virtual power plant.VPPs promise to turn homes, batteries, and even EVs into a coordinated, flexible energy resource, or a unified system that can keep the grid stable, lower emissions, and even save customers money. The technology has been discussed for years, but we’re currently facing the real question: can VPPs scale fast enough to make a real dent in demand?In this episode of Power Perspectives, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Tim McDonnell, Climate and Energy Editor at Semafor, to unpack California’s massive virtual power plant experiment and dig into what the recent results could mean for the rest of the country. From Tesla’s and Sunrun’s aggregated home batteries to the regulatory hurdles of a Trump 2.0 policy landscape, Tim explains why this story could redefine how utilities think about flexibility, customer engagement, and distributed assets.For utilities staring down rising demand and political headwinds, this conversation offers a glimpse of what’s next and why VPPs might be the most impactful clean energy story of the decade.

AI data centers are rising faster than utilities can build new capacity—and that’s creating the toughest balancing act the power sector has faced in decades. Explosive load growth, renewable integration challenges, and mounting customer affordability pressures are all converging at once. How can utilities plan for this future without pricing out the communities they serve?In this episode of Power Perspectives, Claire Gotham, Consulting Lead for Utilities Americas at Wipro, and Brooke Haman, Regulated Solutions Development Manager at Georgia Power, join host Kinsey Grant Baker for a candid discussion about what it takes to keep up with this new energy reality. Together, they explore the strategies, policy shifts, and business model innovations utilities will need to power the next era of electrification.Listen in as Claire and Brooke discuss exactly why today’s surge in data center demand is unlike any previous growth cycle and the strategies necessary to ensure this new era of load growth is met reliably without compromising fairness for all customers across the grid. Further, these leaders share lessons learned about the role of storytelling amid making these complex planning decisions and look ahead to the right policy and regulatory mix that will enable faster, smarter infrastructure investment. For executives, planners, and regulators grappling with the unprecedented load-growth wave, this episode offers both strategic insight and actionable guidance on how to build the grid that will power the AI age.And thanks to our partner, Wipro, for making this episode possible. Wipro is an AI-powered technology services company focused on building innovative solutions that address clients’ most complex digital transformation needs. Leveraging our holistic portfolio of capabilities in consulting, design, engineering, and operations, we help clients realise their boldest ambitions and build future-ready, sustainable businesses.With a global workforce of over 230,000 employees and business partners across 65 countries, we deliver on the promise of helping our customers, colleagues, and communities thrive in an ever-changing world. For additional information, visit us at https://www.wipro.com.

Utilities are all balancing a three-legged stool: reliability, affordability, and environmental stewardship. So how do they keep from toppling over when facing unprecedented load growth?This week on The Watt & Why, host Mike Smith is joined by John Di Stasio, former president of the Large Public Power Council and former CEO of SMUD, to unpack the real strategies utility leaders can deploy to stay balanced—and prepared for the future.Together, Mike and John have 1) more than a half-century of power industry experience and 2) a deep well of insight on approaches to load growth, both traditional and cutting edge. They tackle…- How to win over customers on next-gen tech, with real-world examples from SMUD- The role of hydrogen, nuclear, and more in the power mix of the future (John says one of these is “a no-brainer for the technological capability of the United States”)- Why removing fossil fuels won’t be as simple as people think- The importance of localized generation to sidestep the transmission problemAnd so much more. Don’t miss this one—it’s packed. Hit play to hear how one of the utility industry’s most celebrated vets is thinking about meeting the moment.