Energy Central

The utility sector has a reputation over its history for being somewhat insular: common ways of thinking persist and radical changes to the status quo are met with resistance and take some amount of time to be embraced. Fortunately, that reputation is finally falling as the various revolutions across the power industry are being embraced: digitalization, clean energy, and more. Today's guest on the podcast, though, entered the energy industry from a complete outsider's perspective to identify where the sector could be most suitably and impactfully disrupted. Seeing the need for the clean energy transition and thinking about what that would mean for the future of energy, Bill Nussey set out to interview hundreds of people in the sector and publish a book on what he learned, titled Freeing Energy. Now, Bill joins podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to share the lessons surrounding the two D's he sees as critical to the energy industry of tomorrow: Distributed and Disruptive. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Full Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-101-disrupting-energy-entrepreneurial-perspective-bill-nussey-energy Bill Nussey's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/bill-nussey Freeing Energy: https://www.freeingenergy.com/ Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': https://blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts/

Since the advent of the power sector over a century ago, the business model has seen incremental evolution over time but for most of that time has remained pretty consistent. Centralized power plants, long distances of transmission, and embedded utility companies being the sole provider for a given region. But the past decade or two have seen some landscape-shifting progress: new digital technologies, priorities towards clean energy, the availability of distributed resources, and the shift of consumers to prosumers. Together, those changes collectively warrant a reevaluation of the utility model, what can be considered Utility 2.0. Today's guest on the landmark 100th episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast is Jereme Kent. Jereme is the CEO of One Energy and earlier this year he was recognized as an Innovation Leader by Energy Central for his efforts to shift towards this Utility 2.0 model. As a utility-scale distributed-generation wind energy developer and operator, Jereme and his team at One Energy aren't afraid to shake things up and push the envelope in utility evolution even further, so Jereme joins podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to share how the company has gotten to this point and what he sees as the future of the utility sector. Thanks to all of our guests, listeners, and team members at Energy Central for supporting the Power Perspective Podcast over the course of the last 100 episodes. This milestone is only possible because of the hard work of many people behind the scenes, but also the enthusiasm and the intelligent discussions prompted by the Energy Central Community. Here's to the next 100 episodes and beyond! Key Links Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-100-innovating-model-utility-20-jereme-kent-ceo-one-energy-energy-central Jereme Kent's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/jereme-kent Energy Central Announces: The 2022 Innovation Champions: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/energy-central-announces-2022-innovation-champions Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': https://blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts/

Recent years have seen the critical topic of equity in opportunities in utilities finally elevated to the top of the priority list across the sector. Ensuring that potential advancements and transformations are accessible to wider portions of the population, eliminating the risk that any negative impacts are borne only by disadvantage communities, and raising the playing field for all have rightfully become a top focus of utility executives. That said, many organizations who strive for equitable outcomes may not know the best way to start towards those goals. Fortunately, leaders have stepped up across the utility industry to demonstrate with actions within their company the best way to make sure equity isn't a buzz word but is a core principle from the top to the bottom. The guest on this episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast is one of the most respected voices in this regard. Calvin Butler, Senior Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer of Exelon, has brought equity to the forefront of one of the nation's most prominent utilities and has been recognized for this leadership as one of the "Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America" by Black Enterprise Magazine and ETS Thought Leader of the Year by Zpryme. Calvin joins podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to give tangible advice and examples on how utilities can and should take their steps on the equity journey. Key Links Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-99-creating-real-change-utility-equity-investment-calvin-butler-senior Calvin Butler's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/calvin-butler Investing in Minority-Owned Small Businesses Is Part of How we Recover Equitably from the Pandemic: https://energycentral.com/c/ec/investing-minority-owned-small-businesses-part-how-we-recover-equitably-pandemic 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/

The utility industry is amidst a revolution of the types, complexity, and scale of advanced technologies that are transforming the sector. Building on the foundation of successful smart grid deployments over the past decade, we are now in the golden age where operational data, new ways of working and emerging applications are converging to help the sector achieve ambitious decarbonization targets. For power companies, understanding the array of applications, vendors and successful implementations will be key as we continue this decade of clean technology deployments. As such, this episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast seeks to explore how the current landscape of solutions are poised to deliver, and how frontier technologies will accelerate this evolution. To discuss these topics, this week's episode features a tremendous trio from Indigo. David Groarke (Managing Director), Paul Sayour (Strategy & Research Analyst), and Leo Trudel (Innovation & Technology Director) join podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to break down the fast-moving area of grid tech and give our listeners an inside view of the state of these markets and where they are seeing opportunities for power companies. Key Links Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-98-advancing-world-grid-tech-david-groarke-paul-sayour-and-leo-trudel Grid Tech – Analyzing the Decade of Deployment: https://energycentral.com/o/indigo/grid-tech-%E2%80%93-analyzing-decade-deployment The Grid Tech 150 - Identifying the Leading Utility Partners and Applications: https://energycentral.com/c/gr/grid-tech-150-identifying-leading-utility-partners-and-applications David Groarke's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/david-groarke Paul Sayour's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/paul-sayour Leo Trudel's Enregy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/leo-trudel Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': https://blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts/

Episode #97: 'Providing a Jolt to Virtual Power Plants from DOE's Loan Programs Office' with David Nemtzow, Senior Advisor at DOE's LPO [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast] Virtual power plants (VPPs) have been making waves in the utility sector in recent years, truly disrupting what the status quo for power generation and delivery could look like. As the industry moves forward towards goals that cannot be missed, namely the reliable and affordable delivery of a cleaner energy mix, shifting away from the centralized power plant paradigm seems inevitable. Simultaneously, the rise of smart and connected technologies is allowing the virtual power plant model to leapfrog from theoretical to practical. Among the entities that have keen interest in fostering the developments in VPPs is the U.S. Department of Energy. In particular, recent years have seen DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO) empowered to move the needle in emerging clean energy markets, and VPPs are a key area of focus in that regard. To discuss the impact and importance of VPPs, David Nemtzow, the Senior Advisor on Virtual Power Plants at DOE's Loan Programs Office, joined the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast. David discusses with podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester why VPPs are top priority, what the goals of the Loan Programs Office are, and what ultimate success will look like. Key Links Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-97-providing-jolt-virtual-power-plants-does-loan-programs-office-david Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': https://blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts/

Episode #96: ‘Tracking Gas Flows and Infrastructure with GIS and Other Digital Tools' with Angela Marra of TECO Peoples Gas [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast] In today's modern world, everything has data behind it that can be tracked, monitored, reported, and analyzed. Nowhere across the economy is that truer than in the utility sector, where investments in infrastructure are major sources of public spending, where anything going wrong and interrupting energy supplies can be dangerous for customers, and where the rapidly advancing concept of the digital utility is forcing leaders to rethink what can be turned into data. Especially with the gas utilities who inherently put their expensive installations underground and reaccessing them for maintenance or repair is both costly and largely inconvenient, using advanced tools to track this infrastructure has gained a lot of steam in recent years. Among the leaders of this charge for better digital tracking of gas infrastructure has been TECO Peoples Gas in Florida. In the past few years, TECO has undertaken the massive project to implement GIS and mapping services for every single piece of gas infrastructure placed underground, tracking the model of the equipment, who the welder was, the precise location it lives, and so much more. To get a better insights into the how and why of it all, the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast is thrilled to welcome Angela Marra, Supervisor of GIS and Mapping Services at TECO Peoples Gas. She dives deep into this topic with podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to highlight the benefits of this practice and why other utilities should catch up to implement these solutions as well. Thanks to the sponsor of this episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast: West Monroe. Key Links Angela Marra's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/angela-marra Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': https://blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts/ Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-96-%E2%80%98tracking-gas-flows-and-infrastructure-gis-and-other-digital-tools

The evolution of transportation systems to be electrified has been a rising story in the power sector for years, and thanks to advancing technologies and progressing electric vehicle (EV) policies it is also poised to be the defining story for utilities over the next decade or two. EVs bring the electric power sector and the transportation industry together like never before, and because the changes needed are so unprecedented, power leaders don't have a singular playbook to follow on how these coming years should play out. While thought leaders in the energy space agree that change is coming and utilities must prepare, the precise strategy for this transformation does not have a consensus. As these conversations play out, geographic information systems (GIS) and related tools will be critical, but the exact way to utilize these solutions even sparks debate. And so on this episode of the Energy Central Power Perspective Podcast, returning guests Bill Meehan and Pat Hohl, both Directors of Electric Utility Solutions at Esri, join podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to take these debates to the airwaves. What should utility leaders be doing today to prepare for the EV future of tomorrow? What are the best ways to integrate GIS tools in that process? And how exactly will the next 5, 10, 20 years play out? Bill and Pat go point-counterpoint in the Power Perspectives Podcast's first debate. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-95-debating-utilities-role-transportation-electrification-esris-bill Esri's Electric Utilities Page: https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/electric/overview 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 Modeling Electric Distribution with GIS By Bill Meehan: https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/modeling-electric.pdf GIS for Enhanced Electric Utility Performance by Bill Meehan: https://www.amazon.com/Enhanced-Electric-Utility-Performance-Engineering/dp/1608075591/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9UCPMZE5TCYB&keywords=enhanced+electric+utility+performance+with+GIS&qid=1663019244&sprefix=enhanced+electric+utility+performance+with+gis%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1 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 Bill and Pat's Podcast Episoe from Earlier this Year: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-80-taking-geographic-approach-public-grid-investment-bill-meehan-and-pat Taking the Community Pulse: How Prepared Are Utilities for the EV Revolution?: https://energycentral.com/o/esri/taking-community-pulse-how-prepared-are-utilities-ev-revolution 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

As the key technologies used by utilities across the country evolve, so too must the institutional knowledge and protocols to be able to handle that new technology. A key technological area where utilities are becoming more and more accustomed with each passing years is with batteries, whether that's large grid-tied batteries, residential energy storage installations, or even electric vehicle batteries. The transformation of the grid is bringing batteries to the utility landscape at an unprecedented scale, and to make this trend even more challenging the technologies behind batteries are in a constant state of flux as well. In terms of preparing for the new technologies, safety must always be a utility's top priority, and as such fire safety practices related to batteries simply cannot be overlooked. Most people have seen the scary videos of batteries or electric vehicles catching fire and the uncertainty that may come for less trained people in how to handle such fires due to the unique chemical elements in play during a battery fire. Today's guest to the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast is trying to wipe away that uncertainty by training utilities and local emergency response teams alike on the proper practices for battery fire safety. Bringing his unique combination of experience across the firefighting industry and the power generation sector, Jay Sadler, Energy Storage Operations Lead at Duke Energy, is the leading utility voice on battery fire safety and he's been taking that knowledge on the road to spread the insight. Most recently, he joined podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to share his insights and explain what utility leaders should be doing to prepare if they are not doing so already regarding battery fire safety preparations. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-94-prioritizing-and-advancing-battery-fire-safety-utilities-jay-sadler Jay Sadler's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/jay-sadler 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

Episode 93: ‘The Invaluable Role of Advanced Nuclear Today and Tomorrow' with Christine King of Idaho National Lab's GAIN While nuclear energy has been a mainstay of U.S. and global power grids for many decades, recent months have seen a renewed focus on the importance of this dispatchable and carbon-free power source. Rising and volatile fossil fuel prices, variable renewable energy sources, and the urgent prioritization to decarbonize the energy sector have all left nuclear energy as a critical and unreplicable source for the sector. That said, nuclear energy is not without its detractors or challenges. But those guiding the future of nuclear energy aren't resting on the power source's laurels, nor are they willing to accept any of the existing downsides, which is why the topic of advanced nuclear continues to gain favor. The future of nuclear energy can see generation with reduced costs, smaller footprints, more adaptability, and other benefits that further drive the energy source into the spotlight. Among the most critical entities driving this future of nuclear is the U.S. Department of Energy, and specifically Idaho National Lab and its Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN). Joining podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester to discuss the importance of nuclear today and tomorrow, as well as the breakthrough work being done by federal scientists and researchers, is Christine King , Director of GAIN. Listen in as she highlights what you need to know about this critical moment in the nuclear power sector. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-93-invaluable-role-advanced-nuclear-today-and-tomorrow-christine-king Christine King's Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/christine-king 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

Episode #92: 'Stepping Up to Meet the Utility's Regulatory and Policy Needs' with Dave Robertson, VP of Public Affairs at Portland General Electric [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast] The utility industry is one of the more tightly regulated sectors of the economy, given the local monopoly that most power providers naturally have and the essential nature of the end product: electricity to run our daily lives. As such, the interplay between the utility business side and the public policy taking place on the federal, state, and local level is a key area of focus in every utility across the country. These days especially, with topics like power outages and climate change driving public attention and government leaders alike, the regulatory and policy affairs departments of the typical utility are more in the spotlight than ever before. With that in the mind, it's a perfect moment in time to reflect on how the relationship between utilities and regulations have evolved over time and what this space will look like in the years to come, and to do so we must continue to lean on the institutional knowledge of the veterans of the industry. Ahead of his departure from Portland General Electric as their Vice President of Public Affairs, Dave Robertson joined host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester of the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast to reflect on his time in this role and speculate about the future direction the industry can and should take. Key Links: Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-92-stepping-meet-utilitys-regulatory-and-policy-needs-dave-robertson-vp Dave Robertson's Energy Central Profile: energycentral.com/member/profile/dave-robertson 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