Public Power Underground is more than a discussion about public ownership of electric infrastructure, the infotaining episodes cover the energy enthusiast trifecta of electrification, markets, and people. The hosts interview industry experts on a broad range of energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics at the nexus of electric utilities and the energy transition. The podcast doesn’t take itself too seriously and frequently plays energy inspired games like “energy enthusiasm distilled,” “draw an analogy,” and “say something nice about electric utilities." publicpowerunderground.substack.com
Bonus · Fri, December 20, 2024
In a LIVE! recording at GridLiance ’s 2024 Transmission Symposium, Crystal Ball hosts a competition between Mark Nelson and Emeka Anyanwu to determine the most creative prognosticator of energy headlines for 2025. The episode is un-edited and available on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. A video recording is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ABUXJsdjbBc It’s a special “afterparty” edition, since it was recorded after the party of special significance commemorating the season and series finale . Thanks for staying subscribed. There may be more afterparties in the future. Stay connected at publicpowerunderground.substack.com Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, December 17, 2024
[recorded August 28, 2024] Tony Reames and Salma Elmallah discuss their work and research on energy justice in a special episode recorded after the season and series finale. In a much anticipated episode recorded on August 28, 2024, Dr. Tony Reames and Dr. Salma Elmallah join Paul Dockery and Dr. Ahlmahz Negash to discuss their paper on frontlining energy justice. Elmallah, S., Reames, T.G. and Spurlock, C.A., 2022. Frontlining energy justice: Visioning principles for energy transitions from community-based organizations in the United States . Energy Research & Social Science , 94 , p.102855. The episode is audio-only and un-edited available on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s a special “afterparty” edition, since it was recorded after the party of special significance commemorating the season and series finale. Thanks for staying subscribed. There’s at least one more of the after-party episodes. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, October 11, 2024
A party of special significance to celebrate the eleventy-first and final episode with an energy system analogy world cup championship tournament, celebrity guests, and stump speeches Friends-of-the-Underground participated in a special, in-person recording of the eleventy-first and final episode of Public Power Underground celebrating our community of electric utility enthusiasts. The episode includes a live performance of Roll On, Enthusiasts with special musical guest Daryl Wayne Dasher joining Arin Guillory and Ian Bledsoe. It also closes the Season 6 Energy System Analogy World Cup with celebrity judges Debra Smith and Daniel Kirschen picking winners in an 8-analogy, single elimination Championship Tournament. And, just like Bilbo Baggins ended his eleventy-first birthday celebration giving a speech on a stump, the season ends with open-mic stump speeches from electric utility enthusiasts. 07:11 - Short-to-Ground, Analogy Edition Top 8 seeds for Energy System Analogy World Cup Championship Tournament All 20 Grand Analogies of the Energy System from Season 6 15:51 - Energy System Analogy World Cup Championship Tournament 37:01 - Kurt Miller Stump Speech 40:05 - Crystal Ball Stump Speech 42:42 - Debra Smith Stump Speech 44:02 - Pamela Sporborg Stump Speech 45:50 - Robb Davis Stump Speech 48:54 - Sarah Edmonds Stump Speech 50:34 - Megan Capper Stump Speech 52:16 - Scott Corwin Stump Speech 54:01 - Farhad Billimoria Stump Speech 55:48 - Eric Hiaasen Stump Speech 59:07 - Matt Schroettnig Stump Speech 1:01:44 - Kieran Connelly Stump Speech 1:03:21 - Mary Wiencke Stump Speech 1:05:42 - Doug Marker Stump Speech 1:09:08 - Nicole Hughes Stump Speech 1:10:29 - Conleigh Byers Stump Speech 1:12:00 - Chris Roden Stump Speech 1:15:02 - Ryan Neale Stump Speech 1:16:47 - Humaira Falkenberg Stump Speech 1:20:20 - Closing thoughts from Ian Bledsoe, Arin Guillory, and Ahlmahz Negash 1:24:00 - Closing thoughts from Paul Dockery If you stay subscribed to Public Power Underground, you may find interesting items in your feed from time to time. Thank you for being a friend of the underground. I hope you have enjoyed the content and feel valued and appreciated. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://publicpowerund
Fri, September 27, 2024
A discussion of the building blocks of a just energy transition with Professor Erin Baker, the Faculty Director of the Energy Transition Institute at UMass Amherst. Professor Erin Baker visited with Ahlmahz Negash and Paul Dockery in-person at the office of the Pacific Northwest Utility Conference Committee (PNUCC) about energy justice, meaningful metrics, and the Holyoke Community Energy Project . The discussion is wrapped by insightful commentary on energy justice from hosts Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , Paul Dockery, and Ahlmahz Negash. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 2:58 - 30 seconds of theory What is energy justice? Jenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science , 11 , pp.174-182. 3 core tenets of energy justice Jenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science , 11 , pp.174-182. 5 categories of energy justice metrics Baker, E., Carley, S., Castellanos, S., Nock, D., Bozeman III, J.F., Konisky, D., Monyei, C.G., Shah, M. and Sovacool, B., 2023. Metrics for decision-making in energy justice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources , 48 (1), pp.737-760. 11:31 - Interview with Prof. Erin Baker 58:22 - Debriefing from interview w/ hosts Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, Paul Dockery, and Ahlmahz Negash 1:33:00 - Closing Thoughts from Conleigh Byers & Farhad Billimoria Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, September 20, 2024
The electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift; at least that's the hypothesis that Commissioner Ann Rendahl and Gen-Z-Swiftie Scholar, Sherry Zuo, consider in a special episode. Commissioner Ann Rendahl and Sherry Zuo join hosts Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball to consider how the electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift . Paul and Crystal joined Commissioner Rendahl at the offices of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and Sherry joined remotely from Cornell University where she is a PhD candidate in the Mays Group . Agreeing on the eras of the electric sector and how they map to the eras of Taylor Swift is no small task. To facilitate the conversation we put together some reference materials including a summary of the proposed timeline with sector milestones and representative songs. The discussion considered how the eras of the electric sector fell on a quadrant map that mapped along vectors of structured ←→ chaotic and building ←→ optimizing. The quadrant mapping was compared to the eras of Taylor Swift mapped along the vectors of career ←→ romantic and confident ←→ pensive. The conversation also used a 40”x30” histomap of organizing activities across the eras of the electric sector that I presented at the 2024 Macro Energy System workshop . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! For additional reading, Commissioner Rendahl recommends the following: Prophets of Regulation Electricity Regulation in the U.S. The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations You can also listen to our eras of the electric sector playlist on Spotify! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://publicpowe
Fri, September 13, 2024
a special, bonus episode recorded at the Western Power Pool with celebrity guests Sarah Edmonds, Bob Rowe and Debra Smith Crystal Ball and Matthew Schroettnig host a conversation with Sarah Edmonds, Bob Rowe and Debra Smith about their “Theory of Change” for expanding high voltage, long distance transmission in the West. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! Western Transmission Expansion Coalition (WTEC) is a West-wide effort to develop an actionable transmission plan to support the needs of the future energy grid. The Western Transmission Consortium aims to support the development of transmission infrastructure in the West through a collaborative process involving infrastructure owners and investors. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, August 30, 2024
A trip to the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project to talk about power system inertia with Seattle City Light operators, plus a discussion of popular fallacies and unpopular opinions with the hosts. To experience the visceral sounds and sights of big synchronous generation, an interview with Mike Haynes , Will Andersen , and Brandt March was recorded in-person at Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. To start the episode Ahlmahz , Paul , Farhad , and Conleigh discuss popular fallacies of the energy system and share some of their own unpopular opinions. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 03:17 - Popular Fallacies & Unpopular Opions 52:08 - Big Synchronous Generation - Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Mon, August 19, 2024
Ben Serrurier returns to Public Power Underground to share some maybe-good-maybe-bad-but-definitely-not-thought-out ideas with Ahlmahz Negash , Paul Dockery , and Farhad Billimoria in a returning segment, Half-Baked Ideas. Then Irina Rasputnis , Madeline Kostic , and Eric Strandberg from the Seattle City Light’s Lighting Design Lab sit down to talk with Paul Dockery about innovation in building electrification. 13:19 - Half-Baked Ideas Inspiration for the segment comes from the Bill Simmons Podcast Ben’s prior appearances on the podcast 52:51 - The Lighting Design Lab 1:30:25 - Invitation to the Eleventy-First and Final episode of Public Power Underground Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Wed, July 24, 2024
A discussion about public goods and what classifying services as common pool resources, congestible public goods, or club goods means for grid planning and market design. Lynne Kiesling joins Ahlmahz Negash , Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , and Paul Dockery to discuss the classification system used in economics to distinguish public goods from private goods and what classifying some services as common pool resources means for grid planning and market design. Lynne Kiesling is an economist focusing on regulation, market design, and the economics of digitization and smart grid technologies in the electricity industry. She is Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics in the Center on Law, Business, and Economics, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Energy and Sustainability program, both at Northwestern University. She is also a Research Professor at University of Colorado Denver, a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In addition to her academic research, she is currently a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, has served as a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Smart Grid Advisory Committee, and is an emerita member of the GridWise Architecture Council. Her academic background includes a B.S. in Economics from Miami University (Ohio) and a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 05:07 - 30 seconds of theory Ahlmahz: Public Good Farhad: Common Pool Resource Conleigh: Club good Lynne: The pacing problem Ahlmahz: The collective action problem Farhad: The tragedy of the commons Conleigh: Induced demand Lynne: The Knowledge Problem 39:02 - What is and what is not a public good in the electric system Billimoria, F., Mancarella, P. and Poudineh, R., 2022. Market and regulatory frameworks for operational security in decarbonizing electricity systems: from physics to economics . Oxford Open Energy , 1 , p.oiac007. 51:06 - Is transmission a Public Good? 1:16:22 -
Thu, July 11, 2024
Ari Peskoe describes himself as an electric utility critic and has advice for electric utility enthusiasts. Ari Peskoe is the Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program and a prolific writer about regulation of the U.S. power sector on issues ranging from constitutional challenges to states’ energy laws to interstate transmission development. The interview is wrapped in commentary from co-hosts Paul Dockery , Ahlmahz Negash , and Farhad Billimoria . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 03:11 - 30 seconds of theory Farhad on Cost of Service vs Incentive based regulation Joskow, P.L., 2024. The Expansion of Incentive (Performance-Based) Regulation of Electricity Distribution and Transmission in the United States. Review of Industrial Organization, pp.1-49. Ahlmahz on Procedural Justice Jenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science, 11, pp.174-182. 11:01 - Ari Peskoe on Governance 11/01/2023 - CleanLaw Podcast - Electricity Law Initiative CleanLaw–Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate’s Control, Hannah Dobie interviews Ari Peskoe about his new article in Energy Law Journal Peskoe, A., 2023. Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate's Control. Energy LJ , 44 , p.447. Market Configuration Matters; Effects of Market Choices on Consumers in the Northwest US 51:10 - Ranking Governance, Configuration, and Market Design 59:37 - Ari Peskoe’s Energy System Analogy 1:04:48 - Debriefing on transmission, governance, and public power with Ahlmahz Negash and Farhad Billimoria Public Power Underground, for electric utility e
Fri, June 21, 2024
Rich Glick initiated the proceedings that led to Order 1920 as Chair of FERC, he returns to Public Power Underground with experts Prof. Jacob Mays and Pamela Quinlan to reflect on its adoption -------------------- Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball bring their curiosity to an in-depth discussion of transmission planning, transmission investment, and transmission policy with Rich Glick , Pamela Quinlan , and Prof. Jacob Mays . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 08:48 - Rich, What were you hoping for? FERC 2022 - 2026 Strategic Plan Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission 32:33 - Pamela, Does this do what you wanted? Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation High-Level Summary of FERC Order No. 1920 on Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation published by Troutman Pepper (h/t Adrienne Thompson ) “Plan for the future with the best available information, select the best plan for consumers and allocate costs according to benefits" - Rob Gramlich on Volts 1:05:15 - Jacob, What is missing? Shu, H. and Mays, J., 2024. Transmission Benefits and Cost Allocation under Ambiguity. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.14803 . 1:15:48 - Rich Glick’s Energy System Analogy: The energy transition is like the 1973 Mets. 1:17:55 - Jacob Mays’s Energy System Analogy: The 2005 Royals, never say it can’t get worse. 1:19:09 - Pamela Quinlan’s Energy System Analogy: The energy transition is like Game of Thrones. BONUS: Ke Xin (Sherry) Zuo , a PhD candidate at Cornell University in the Mays Group, provided her reflections onTaylor Swift’s newest album, <a href="https:
Mon, June 10, 2024
Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul debrief on coverage of FERC Order 1920 then discuss resource adequacy, hedging tail risk, and preview business capability models. Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, and Farhad Billimoria scan news stories after FERC’s release of Order 1920 , then Conleigh Byers explains Resource adequacy, and Farhad Billimoria explains Hedging & Tail Risk in Electricity Markets. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 03:17 - Short-to-Ground (FERC Order 1920 Edition) On May 13th the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a sweeping long-term transmission planning and cost-allocation rule aimed at modernizing the grid In the Special Transmission Reform Meeting , Chair Willie Phillips said the U.S. faces "an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society." FERC is helping to pave the way for a much-needed investment in our transmission infrastructure The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s fact sheet for Order 1920 states that the grid rule contains five major elements : Requirement to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning to anticipate future needs. Requirement to consider a broad set of benefits when planning new facilities. Requirement to identify opportunities to modify in-kind replacement of existing transmission facilities to increase their transfer capability, known as “right-sizing.” Customers pay only for projects from which they benefit. Expands states’ pivotal role throughout the process of planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission facilities. “ Landmark transmission reform could dramatically speed US energy transition ” Large Public Power Council’s president, <a href="https:/
Wed, May 29, 2024
Apoorv Bhargava discusses his work at WeaveGrid optimizing electric vehicle charging within distribution systems. The interview is wrapped by context and insights from the regular hosts: Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 01:21 - 30 seconds of Theory Farhad Billimoria on Distribution System Operators (DSOs) Conleigh Byers on Transactive Energy Ahlmahz Negash on the Energy Equity Gap 10:28 - Apoorv Bhargava on WeaveGrid and the Grid 53:38 - Apoorv Bhargava’s analogy; the electric grid is like a well stocked bar 1:00:27 - Updating our Priors Fred Scweppe: Power systems `2000': hierarchical control strategies Paul Joskow & Richard Schmalensee: Markets for Power 1:20:24 - Community Planning as Energy Planning We Need to Make Cities Less Car-Dependent, Scientific American, 2024 Car harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environment, Journal of Transport Geography, 2024 1:28:20 - ESA World Cup Standings Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Mon, May 13, 2024
Katherine Blunt joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss her reporting at the Wall Street Journal on the energy industry and her book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid . Matthew Schroettnig joins Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , and Paul Dockery for the rest of the episode to cover utility risks, load growth, and the current landscape of America’s power grid. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 03:13 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a suite of standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as toxic air pollution, water pollution, and land contamination from fossil fuel plants Bureau of Land Management (BLM) updated regulations on Broadband Authorization, Cost Recovery, and Vegetation Management for Fire Risk Management Letter from twenty-six entities from across the West to the Southwest Power Pool expressing interest in continuing the development of Markets+ Portland General Electric is seeking approval for a new, 7.4 mile, 115 KV transmission line Spot market power in the U.S. Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM) Energy Information Administration’s <a href="https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly
Mon, April 29, 2024
Dr. Kyri Baker , an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Colorado , makes a return visit to discuss the use of artificial intelligence for power grid optimization. Plus, Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , Ahlmahz Negash , and P aul Dockery wrap the interview with an explanation of AI and all its acronyms. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 01:19 - 30 second theory Farhad Billimoria on “What is OPF?” Conleigh Byers on “What’s the difference between artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Deep Learning, Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINN), Large Language Models (LLM), generative AI, and general intelligence?” 14:28 - Dr. Kyri Baker: Using AI and Machine Learning for Power Grid Optimization Using AI and Machine Learning for Power Grid Optimization: How Neural Networks Can Speed Up Optimal Power Flow Baker, Kyri. "Emulating ac opf solvers with neural networks." IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 37.6 (2022): 4950-4953. Baker, Kyri, and Harsha Gangammanavar. "Locational Marginal Prices Obey DC Circuit Laws." arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.19032 (2024). 1:06:14 - Updating our Priors Chatzivasileiadis, Spyros, et al. "Machine learning in power systems: Is it time to trust it?." IEEE Power and Energy Magazine 20.3 (2022): 32-41. APA 1:23:26 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! -------- photo credit Carl Bower for The New York Times 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
Fri, April 19, 2024
Katherine Blunt, author of California Burning, joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss the eras of the electric sector (Taylor's Version). To celebrate Taylor Swift’s April 19th release of The Tortured Poets Department (and Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology), Katherine Blunt , Crystal Ball , and Paul Dockery recorded a special, bonus, episode dedicated to the Eras of the Electric Sector. Katherine Blunt is the author of California Burning; The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid which is the most approachable introduction to the history of the electric sector ever published! The book interprets, unpacks, and conveys the complex history of Pacific Gas & Electric, and, through it, provides an introduction to the history of the electric sector as well. Katherine Blunt joined Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery for an interview that’ll be part of an upcoming, regular, episode of Public Power Underground, but while we were together we took some time to record a discussion of the sector’s history. In the recording (and attached 20 slide power point) Katherine, Crystal, and Paul explore the history of the electric sector and Pacific Gas & Electric through Taylor Swift’s discography. The exploration answers the age old question of what electric sector milestone Taylor Swift wrote “You Belong With Me” about. And, because you know it’s what you wanted, there’s an official Eras of the Electric Sector Spotify playlist . Yes, my wife and I share a Spotify account. And, yes, my whole family contributed to the playlist including the additions, modification, and resorting of songs like “The Last Great American Dynasty” starting the Efficiency Era instead of “Cardigan” and the addition of Jimmy Carter’s sweater speech as an electric sector milestone. But, no, we didn’t get a preview of The Tortured Poets Department to include songs from the new album in the playlist. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! This is a public episode. If you would li
Mon, April 01, 2024
exploration of approaches to distribution systems from microcontrollers and software to MOAR HARDWARE Distribution infrastructure, microcontrollers in everything, hardware vs software solutions, and prices-to-devices get covered in a distribution systems episode with Ahlmahz Negash , Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , and Paul Dockery featuring an interview with the enthusiastic Francis Sammy! A discussion that manages to navigate the nuances of MOAR HARDWARE as an actionable energy transition strategy while articulating the benefit of deploying smart, controllable, and price-responsive devices. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 01:18 - 30 second theory Schweppe, Fred C., et al. Spot pricing of electricity . Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Schweppe, Fred C. "Power systems2000': hierarchical control strategies." IEEE spectrum 15.7 (1978): 42-47. 08:59 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news The Major Drivers of Long-term Distribution Transformer Demand Cybersecurity baselines for both electric distribution systems and distributed energy resources (DER) Portland-based GridStor announced its acquisition of a planned 450-MW/900-MWh lithium-ion battery storage installation The National Renewable Energy Lab recently released a report studying the economics of building long-distance, high-voltage transmission lines Spot market power in the U.S. Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM) Energy Information Administration’s <a href="https://www.eia.gov/nat
Wed, March 13, 2024
John Hairston returns to discuss what BPA is doing to navigate an era of transmission expansion for the grid. John Hairston , the CEO and Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, shares his enthusiasm for transmission and people in an interview with Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball . The interview is wrapped in informative discussion on energy industry news, research, and reflection by Ahlmahz Negash , Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , and Paul Dockery. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 01:36 - How transmission is addressed in seminal texts Power System Economics: Designing Markets for Electricity by Steven Stoft Imperfect Markets and Imperfect Regulation: An Introduction to the Microeconomics and Political Economy of Power Markets by Thomas-Olivier Léautier 05:23 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news. Wednesday February 28th the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hosted the eighth public meeting of the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission Rob Gramlich and his team at GridStrategies released a report in February titled “Fostering collaboration would help build needed transmission” Utility Dive published an opinion piece by Will Kenworthy and Boratha Tan titled “Advancing energy justice: A new paradigm in grid equity and reliability analysis” The Bonneville Power Administration identified 14 new transmission projects costing an estimated $3.9 billion in its 2023 TSR Study and Expansion Process The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC or Commission) has releas
Fri, March 01, 2024
Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul start season six with a discussion of ways to understand the energy system and analogies that can be used to explore its complications Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , Ahlmahz Negash , and Paul Dockery discuss various ways of understanding the energy system in the Season 6 Premiere of Public Power Underground. The episode starts with “Short-to-Ground,” a TL;DR segment where the hosts run through summaries of topical news from around the world and then have a short discussion of trends in the industry. Paul then introduces the ground rules for a season-spanning Energy System Analogies World Cup tournament. Lastly, the hosts discuss analogies for the energy system for consideration by future guests on Season 6. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! 04:17 - Promotion for Conleigh’s upcoming presentation for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Energy Policy Seminar: “The Future of Resource Adequacy in a Decarbonized Grid" - March 25, 2024 - Register with the link 06:54 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news. Increased EV-Charging Demand and Changing Load Profile Underscore Need for Cross-Sector Collaboration Utilities, EV charging companies must collaborate to avoid bulk power system disruptions: NERC Another tower collapse poses more questions about transmission Preliminary Thoughts after Preliminary Report: A few early thoughts following the release of the AEMO Preliminary Report into the recent Victorian power system event. Industry to drive tripling of natural gas consumption in India by 2050 <a href="https://isonewswire.com/2024/02/08/iso-ne-recommends-capacity-market
Mon, February 12, 2024
The next season of Public Power Underground is coming soon with a new format and new regular hosts. Subscribe to make sure you don't miss the season premiere! After a short break, Public Power Underground is coming back for its sixth season of energy enthusiasm! This season Paul Dockery and Ahlmahz Negash will be joined by world-renowned energy researchers Conleigh Byers and Farhad Billimoria to investigate energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics by bringing together expert insights with practitioner perspectives. The episode format for Public Power Underground has evolved for Season 6, which will include a new, season-spanning energy-inspired game. Tune in for the season premiere for more. Season 6 Contributors Paul Dockery is a Senior Manager of Energy Resource Strategy & Planning for Seattle City Light and the Creative Director of Public Power Underground. Ahlmahz Negash is a Principal Data Analyst for Tacoma Power, an energy system researcher, and Executive Producer of Public Power Underground. Conleigh Byers is an Environmental Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment based at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She uses tools from operations research, electrical engineering, and economics to design decarbonized energy systems, with a focus on power systems operations and planning. Her current research focuses on achieving resource adequacy under deep decarbonization, hosted by Professor William Hogan. She holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zürich and a dual masters in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Technology & Policy from MIT. Farhad Billimoria is the Director, Electricity Markets for S&P Global and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He has previously served as a Principal in Market Design at the Australian Energy Market Operator and has a background in international infrastructure and energy finance, investment and capital markets. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Electron During the Season 5 Finale, friend-of-the-underground Jordan White referenced the buildout of transmission infrastructure as a “Sisterhood of the Traveling Electron”. As an enthusiast of both romantic comedies and electric utilities, the cross-over merch idea was too perfect to p
Wed, November 15, 2023
“This paper argues for the centrality of real-time markets, which are cleared sequentially with a single binding interval.” Prof. Dr. Jacob Mays and Paul Dockery have an in-depth discussion in Hollister Hall at Cornell University about Prof. Mays recently released working paper on Sequential Pricing of Electricity. The discussion is only available as a podcast and is published uninterrupted and unedited. Mays, J. (2023). Sequential Pricing of Electricity. Working Paper, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! The conversation explores the paper in 8 parts. 1. The goal of the paper “The goal of this paper is to promote a shift in the discussion of price formation in wholesale electricity markets from a static to a dynamic modeling framework. While the design and analysis of systems with significant reservoir hydropower have long relied on dynamic models, most other systems have come to rely on simpler static models that have nevertheless been useful in contexts with limited variability, uncertainty, and intertemporal constraints. The entry of large quantities of renewable and battery storage has increased the salience of all these factors, necessitating a richer modeling framework.” p. 40“This paper argues for the centrality of real-time markets, which are cleared sequentially with a single binding interval.” p. 3. 2. Framework to assess the effect of price formation proposals on market outcomes “This paper develops a framework to assess the effect of such proposals on market outcomes, investigating how choices made by wholesale market operators regarding algorithms for commitment, dispatch, and market clearing can affect incentives for operation and investment.” p. 2“Step 1: specifying the model for operations” Section 3.2.1, p. 15“Step 2: specifying a parameterization” Section 3.2.2, p. 15“Step 3: specifying a pricing policy” Section 3.2.3, pp. 15-16 3. Static vs Dynamic modeling frameworks “The paper’s conceptual goal is a shift from the static picture of the merit-order curve in thermal-dominant markets to a dynamic understanding of price formation. Electricity prices are often colloquially described as the cost to serve an additional unit of load for a given period. In a static, convex economic dispatch model, prices that maximize efficiency both in short-run operations and long-run investment can be calculated as the dual variables corresponding to power balance constraints equating supply and demand. With no intertemporal
Mon, November 06, 2023
Inspired by the YouTube series *Hot Ones*, Whitney Muse (Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation), Mark Lauby (Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer at North American Electric Reliability Corporation), and Jordan White (Executive Director, Development at GridLiance) join co-hosts Paul and Crystal to discuss increasingly controversial topics while eating a series of increasingly spicy wings. The conversation triangulates hot topics in the energy industry from engineering, policy, and business perspectives. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! Round 1: Mild Spice - ERO Report / Texas & Utah Inverter caused outages Round 2: Medium Spice - No Transition without Transmission & Regulatory Frameworks for Change Round 3: Hot - Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission & Western States Transmission Initiative Round 4: Spicy Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, October 06, 2023
Steve Pantano from Rewiring America and Danielle Walker from the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a discussion of electrification. The crews discuss the Inflation Reduction Act’s Home Energy Rebates, Rewiring America’s IRA Savings Calculator, best practices in building electrification, and the newly announced American Climate Corp! You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 08:41 - Hierarchy of Electrification 17:53 - Home Energy Rebates Program 30:44 - Rewiring America Calculator 44:34 - Building Electrification Best Practices - ACEEE report 50:31 - Workforce! American Climate Corp Clean Energy Corp 59:27 - Alhmahz’s Insightful Question of the Week 1:06:29 - Electrician for a Day 1:12:52 - Danielle Walker’s Closing Thoughts Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, September 21, 2023
three energy historians join public power underground for an infotaining and slightly irreverent discussion of the major milestones for the electric industry in the northwest -------------------- Mark Ohrenschall , Shauna McReynolds and Crystal Ball join and Paul Dockery to discuss the history of the electric industry in the Northwest from acronyms to statutes and a myriad of institutions along the way. There were three primary texts used for the conversation. NewsData’s list of Western Energy Acronyms Public Power Council’s excellent guide to Public Power in the Pacific Northwest, the Public Power Chronicle Public Generating Pool’s famous Organized Market Retrospective . The recording ends with Mark Ohrenschall’s closing thoughts on his final day as Executive Editor of NewsData. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 03:27 - Acronym Anagrams 13:06 - Historian’s ranking of major milestones 38:13 - Preference 48:03 - Whoops 56:25 - Energy Policy Acts 58:42 - The Energy Crisis 1:06:57 - Market Evolution 1:21:10 - Mark Ohrenschall’s Closing Thoughts Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, September 08, 2023
Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling join Ahlmahz and Paul to talk about maximizing the deployment of distributed energy resources but first we make them say something nice about electric utilities Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a discussion of FERC 2222, maximizing the distribution-level customer value of distributed energy resources, international examples of unbundling the functions of distribution utilities, and 80/20 advice on how to make the most progress toward DER deployment. First, we make them compliment electric utilities. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 12:17 - say something nice about electric utilities Lorenzo and Josh brought a lot of great compliments and some not-so-nice compliments. Among the list of compliments they didn’t get to but shared by Josh Keeling afterward: Pretty good at the poles and wires game Never get confused about the differences between “useful life” and “economic life” Captain planet-like super team of lawyers, economists, engineers, and accountants Never scared to pilot something Always happy to explain what “you just don’t understand” about distribution engineering Very optimistic: can always find a way to point out how “used and useful” things are Really good at finding new ways to apply the word “innovation” Never too quick into something “at scale” Really are the best of both world between trudging local government and greedy corporate monopoly 15:51 - discussion of FERC Order No. 2222 FERC order 2222 NREL summary NARUC status update 25:05 - maximizing the distribution-level and customer value of DERs Catalyst w/ Shayle Kahn episode on electrification 40:06 - international examples of unbundling the functions of distribution utilities 48:58 - 80/20 of DER interconnection <a hr
Thu, August 17, 2023
Ric O’Connell and Anna Sommers join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a deep dive into power planning best practices including planning for extremes, open source models, and best in class computational techniques. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 09:41 - how to explain power planning to a five year old 19:00 - best practices in power planning 58:10 - Ahlmahz’s unfair question of the week: what about AI? 1:03:50 - PUC-for-a-day for more about open source planning, GridLab recently collaborated with RMI on an open source modeling report. you can find it here . Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Mon, August 07, 2023
Transmission experts talk about horror stories from permitting Idaho Power's Boardman to Hemmingway transmission line and react to a regional planning organization scorecard -------------------- Adam Richins , Christina Hayes , and Pam Sporborg join Paul Dockery at Paddy’s Bar & Grill for an after-hour conversation about transmission in the West. The recording starts with another edition of Energy Enthusiasm, Distilled where the experts distill complicated topics in infotaining ways while on a clock. The conversation then tackles the 3Ps of transmission policy (Planning, Permitting, and Paying-for) and closes out with a new, unscripted game: FERC-for-a-Day . Permitting: Horror Stories from Boardman to Hemmingway (B2H) Planning: Transmission Planning & Development Regional Report Card Paying-for: Importance of transmission to Clean Energy Pathways We also discussed briefly the cultural importance of the Bonneville Power Administration ’s rate hearing room for the energy community in the northwest, which led me (Paul) to bring up an Ezra Klein podcast about cultural evolution. A link is included here for those who want the background information. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, July 20, 2023
Prof. Dr. Destenie Nock joins Dr. Ahlmahz Negash and Paul Dockery for a conversation about what the grid of the future *should* look like. The discussion dives deep into (1) the energy equity gap, (2) a methodology for finding the optimal expansion of a power system under the objective of maximizing social benefit, (3) the Gini coefficient, and (4) how to use the Strategic Objective Hierarchy combined with the expertise of social scientists to translate community input into rigorously measurable inputs into an optimization model! You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 09:24 - A benefit maximization approach to utility planning Destenie Nock, Todd Levin, Erin Baker, Changing the policy paradigm: A benefit maximization approach to electricity planning in developing countries, Applied Energy, Volume 264, 2020, 114583, ISSN 0306-2619, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114583 . 28:13 - Amplifying community leader perspectives Erin Baker, Destenie Nock, Todd Levin, Samuel A. Atarah, Anthony Afful-Dadzie, David Dodoo-Arhin, Léonce Ndikumana, Ekundayo Shittu, Edwin Muchapondwa, Charles Van-Hein Sackey, Who is marginalized in energy justice? Amplifying community leader perspectives of energy transitions in Ghana, Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 73, 2021, 101933, ISSN 2214-6296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.101933 . Prof. Dr. Destenie Nock explainer videos: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.destenienock4164/videos 48:53 - Unveiling hidden energy poverty using the energy equity gap Cong, S., Nock, D., Qiu, Y.L. et al. Unveiling hidden energy poverty using the energy equity gap. Nat Commun 13 , 2456 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30146-5 Video link to “The Energy Equity
Thu, July 06, 2023
Debra Smith, Randy Hardy, Bill Drummond, and Steve Wright recorded an info-taining conversation live on-stage at NWPPA’s 83rd Annual Conference and Membership Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Debra hosts the three former Administrators of the Bonneville Power Administration who continue to engage in energy policy. The discussion ranges from greatest regrets to reasons for optimism, and proudest moments. At the end Paul Dockery joins to facilitate an energy inspired game called Energy Enthusiasm Distilled. The episode was edited prior to the news of Debra Smith’s surgery. For updates on her recovery you can find updates on Caring Bridge. Her electric utility enthusiast friends wish her a speedy and full recovery! You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, June 20, 2023
We discuss how utility risk management is a lot like dungeons and dragons: creatively managing risk by leveraging strengths to maximize the likelihood of beneficial outcomes when solving problems. Kevin Nordt , Paul Dietz , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery talk about managing market risk from utility risk managers perspectives. Including (1) putting uncertainty in perspective, (2) organizational and customer risk tolerance, (3) translating risk tolerance strategies for risk management, and (4) risk based thinking in the context of power supply. Plus the crew answers an insightful question from Ahlmahz and they discuss the set up of an energy inspired dungeons and dragons campaign. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 07:59 - Risks as friend or foe 15:18 - Risk tolerance 32:39 - Risk awareness 52:06 - Risk based thinking in the context of power supply 1:02:52 - Ahlmahz’s insightful question of the week 1:14:14 - Dams and Distribution ; setting up an energy industry inspired Dungeons and Dragons campaign Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, June 01, 2023
Ben Serrurier, Lea Fisher, Matt Schroettnig, and Paul Dockery share some energy themed maybe-good-maybe-bad-brainstorming ideas during a special windowless conference room in-person recording. Ben Serrurier , Lea Fisher , Matthew Schroettnig , and Paul Dockery were all in Anchorage, Alaska for NWPPA’s 83rd Annual Conference and Membership Meeting so they decided to borrow a windowless conference room for an informal brainstorming session about energy and energy-adjacent ideas. The format for the bonus episode is inspired by a Bill Simmons segment with Kevin Wildes on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” called “Half-Baked Ideas” 1 . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 05:50 - Cowpoke ISO 09:20 - Kids & Grids Our Hidden Powers 14:18 - “Space: The Energy Frontier” - Space Elevator w/ Space Solar & Wireless Transmission PG&E & Start-Up Solaren Corp. Plan To Beam Solar Power From Space 21:38 - Wireless Transmission, just on it’s own 24:09 - District cooling Deep Lake Water Cooling System 27:32 - Cut me off, conservation 36:28 - Text-to-bid for price responsive demand; $ for % load reduced https://twitter.com/kyrib/status/1544018634762231808?s=20&t=7ewwz-xBMUixjkXEXe0BCw 45:30 - Connect & Manage for generator interconnection https://twitter.com/jacob_mays/status/1655966663135600640?s=20 50:02 - crypto as a battery; mandatory demand response programs for crypto mining facilities 52:02 - explain the grid to kids with jump rope https://twitter.com/NicoleKelner/status/1631352402086354945?s=20 52:57 - slower planes 55:58 - “Opt-in to save the distribution lines” // community infrastructure opt-in https://twitter.com/waDNR Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Under
Thu, May 18, 2023
Pam Sporborg, Spencer Gray, Joe Taylor and Paul Dockery debrief and synthesize the discussion from an SPP Markets+ Leadership Forum hosted by Tacoma Power, NV Energy, and the Bonneville Power Administration on May 12th, 2023. 05:04 - Benefits, Opportunities and Barriers to Market Expansion 18:18 - Long-run resource portfolios adapted to market design 30:00 - Seams 41:49 - The toughest outstanding issues for market expansion in the west 56:13 - Final Predictions You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Mon, May 08, 2023
learning lessons about deeply decarbonized electricity markets from around the world including optimal prices in non-convex markets, reliability insurance, and system security Farhad Billimoria, Conleigh Byers, PhD, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss adaptation of market design for the energy transition including fat tails and increased exposure to extremes; batteries and price responsive demand; natural gas fragility and marginal pricing; and inverter-driven resources and system security. Then the team plays a new game where they synthesize expert explanations of convex vs non-convex pricing and reliability insurance. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 05:30 - Lessons Learned on deeply decarbonized electric systems from electricity markets around the world with “ Handbook on Electricity Markets ” and P.L. Joskow’s “ From hierarchies to markets and partially back again in electricity: responding to decarbonization and security of supply goals ” as background 07:06 - Lesson 1: natural gas fragility and marginal pricing 17:20 - Lesson 2: batteries and price responsive demand 24:23 - Lesson 3: fat tails and increased exposure to extremes 38:20 - Lesson 4: Inverter based grids and system security ( synchronous condensers and grid inertia ) 48:15 - Wonky energy game synthesizing expert explanations Farhad Billimoria provides a 2 minute 20 second explanation of A reliability insurance overlay on energy-only electricity markets 1 ; followed by the rest of the crew’s interpretation Conleigh Byers, PhD, provides a 2 minute 20 second explanation of Long-run optimal pricing in electricity markets with non-convex costs 2 ; followed by the rest of the crew’s interpretation (and discussion of computational time for a solution using the Convex Hull pricing<a href="#foot
Thu, April 27, 2023
Emily Grubert, PhD, Frank Incropera, PhD, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss natural gas distribution system obsolescence, energy security during the transition away from fossil fuels, the magic of heat pumps, increased reliance on electric utility reliability, and the wickedness of the problem of a just energy transition. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 07:03 - Discussion of what constitutes a wicked problem and whether the mid-transition qualifies - Climate Change: A Wicked Problem by Frank Incropera, PhD, Chapter 1 - Energy, economics, and climate change - Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge | Department of Energy - News Releases - Rheem Manufacturing Company 44:57 - Natural Gas distribution systems’ obsolescence - Designing the mid-transition: A review of medium-term challenges for coordinated decarbonization in the United States - Grubert, E., & Hastings-Simon, S. (2022). Designing the mid-transition: A review of medium-term challenges for coordinated decarbonization in the United States. WIREs Climate Change, 13( 3), e768. 59:19 - Electrification of end-uses and the need for reliability - Climate Change: A Wicked Problem by Frank Incropera, PhD, Chapter 10 - - The ethics of climate change 1:12:03 - Ahlmahz’s insightful question of the week 1:19:49 - Dr. Frank Incropera’s Closing Thoughts Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, April 14, 2023
Laura Trolese, Tyler Wolford, Matt Johnson, and Paul Dockery recorded an episode at a spas about how power contracts could change during a transition from bilateral to centrally dispatched markets. In a special, bonus episode recorded at the One Ocean Resort & Spas in Atlantic Beach, Florida during The Energy Authority’s 2023 Energy Symposium, Laura Trolese , Tyler Wolford , Matt Johnson , and Paul Dockery discuss the impact of transitioning from bilateral markets to centrally dispatched day-ahead markets on long-term wholesale power supply agreements. Caution: it gets extremely wonky. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, April 04, 2023
Rob, Kathleen, Ahlmahz, and Paul discuss the transmission expansion: it's importance, it's barriers, and it's path forward. Rob Gramlich , Kathleen Staks , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery discuss transmission policy, planning, and funding in light of the increased need for an interconnected grid due to electrification of end-uses, new generator interconnections, and increasing footprint of extreme weather events. 07:34 - Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office release of a draft National Transmission Needs Study 23:43 - The Quagmire of Transmission Investment and Cost Recovery Rob’s 3 Ps of Transmission Policy Reform Rob’s tweets about the importance of solving the cost allocation quagmire A brilliant quote by Rob on the conundrum of transmission investment in a New York Times article Ahlmahz’s articles ( part 1 and part 2 ) on the Grid as a Public Good 48:26 - Why transmission and market expansion is important to commercial and industrial customers Seattle utilities consider massive efforts that could help green our grid by Brendan Kiley in the Seattle Times 59:48 - Interconnection queues and solutions for clearing them Prof Jacob Mays hot take about Connect and Manage and how it relates to Resource Adequacy Prof Jesse Jenkins solutioning on #energytwitter 1:09:50 - Ahlmahz’s insightful question of the week 1:15:07 - Kathleen Stak’s Closing Thoughts Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! This is a public e
Mon, March 27, 2023
With quotes from the hit comedy “Shrinking”, Paul navigates the vibes after a Regional Expansion Summit hosted by Seattle City Light, Portland General Electric, and the Bonneville Power Administration Jan Smutny-Jones , Mary Wiencke , Jim Shetler , and Chris Robinson join Paul Dockery to debrief and synthesize the participants shared understanding after a California/Northwest Regional Expansion Summit hosted by Seattle City Light, Portland General Electric, and the Bonneville Power Administration on March 10th, 2023. In true Public Power Underground fashion the topics were introduced with quotes from the first two episodes of the new Apple TV comedy Shrinking starring Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, and Harrison Ford who all play psychologists. The timestamps for the quotes are included in the show notes, just in case you want to get some laughs before diving into the discussion. 05:03 - History of Market Development in the West “Classic compassion fatigue, we ask questions, listen, stay non-judgmental and you don’t make that face” - Dr. Paul Rhoades played by Harrison Ford (Episode 1, 10:13) 19:12 - Benefits, Opportunities and Barriers “Look, I don't have people in my home, it’s not that I’m antisocial. I know that you do this [referring to Jimmy and Gaby asking probing questions] to shame me because I'm a somewhat private person, but it just strengthens my resolve. I’m pro boundaries, my family is for me, my home is my fortress of solitude” - Dr. Paul Rhoades played by Harrison Ford (Episode 2, 7:54) 48:12 - Decarbonization pathways and the role of Regional Markets “I know someone does [i.e., who “gets it”] , he’s tall and he calls me too much.” - Dr. Paul Rhoades played by Harrison Ford (Episode 2, 17:16) 1:03:55 - A shared understanding
Mon, March 20, 2023
Jackie Flowers, PE , Humaira Falkenberg , Karen Heim , and Ahlmahz Negash, PhD discuss pathways to workforces that are representative of our communities in an all-female-cast episode of Public Power Underground. 05:07 - Introduction of Diverse Workforce of the Future article by Jackie Flowers, PE, in NWPPA ’s Monthly Bulletin 24:14 - Lessons learned from Tacoma’s experience with the Math-Engineering-Science-Achievement (MESA) program that could apply to open positions at peer utilities today An insightful Venn Diagram of belonging 1 The Waymaker by Tara Jaye Frank 46:15 - Sharing wisdom in mentorship and sponsoring 57:38 - Ahlmahz’s Insightful Question of the Week 1:17:03 - Short to Ground Billi Kohler, the General Manager of West Oregon Electric Cooperative, is featured in a national rural electric magazine story about workforce changes Lane Electric’s 7-member board of directors now includes 6 women working with Debi Wilson, the first female general manager in the co-op’s 83-year history 1:19:40 - Humaira Falkenberg’s Closing Thoughts You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, March 14, 2023
LIVE! from the main stage at The Energy Authority's 2023 Energy Symposium, Paul and Laura moderate a panel on market disruptors with energy executives and leaders Paul Dockery and Laura Trolese moderate a panel on disruptors to resource adequacy, day-ahead, and real-time markets at The Energy Authority’s 2023 Energy Symposium with Melie Vincent , Richard Dillon , and Jamie Mahne . After a serious discussion of disruptors, they tackle less serious energy analogies in a game called “Disruptors or Duds”. 07:34 - Large weather patterns changing evaluation of resource adequacy 21:40 - Accounting for new uncertainty in day-ahead markets 32:32 - Volatility of natural gas and real-time markets 46:38 - Disruptors or Duds: a niche pop culture or sports reference as an analogue to an energy industry topic You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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
Thu, February 02, 2023
Sarah Edmonds , Crystal Ball , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery discuss a how resource adequacy design theory applies to resource adequacy program design, why FERC asked questions about market based rate authority, what it means for a program to be interoperable, and where inter-regional transmission is coming from. 06:08 - Reminder for friends and fans of Therese Hampton to RSVP for her Celebration of Life and information about the Therese Hampton Endowed Scholarship for Economics and Business 1 at Portland State University. 09:53 - translating theory into a program, debriefing from the interview with Prof. Jacob Mays 23:55 - Market Based Rate Authority and the status at FERC FERC Wants More Western Resource Adequacy Program Information Western Power Pool’s response to FERC’s deficiency letter 35:45 - Interoperability of a resource adequacy program with multiple markets Western US regional grid, reliability efforts reach crossroads in 2023 47:57 - Interregional transmission and the West FERC Staff-Led Workshop on Establishing Interregional Transfer Capability Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation Requirements FERC urged to set interregional transfer capacity requirements to boost reliability, lower costs Inter-regional planning and transmission could help keep the lights on during extreme weather 1:05:55 - Short to Ground ; where we TL;DR our way through the rest of the news <a href="https://www.newsda
Fri, January 27, 2023
Jacob Mays, PhD , Matt Schroettnig , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery discuss a paper Prof. Mays co-authored on contractual form in electricity reliability obligations, how it applies to the program getting developed in the Northwest, and what perspective he has on electric market development in the Northwest. 06:52 - discuss recently published article by Professor Mays and Han Shu Shu, Han, and Jacob Mays. "Beyond capacity: contractual form in electricity reliability obligations." arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.10858 (2022). episode from the last time Prof. Mays was on Public Power Underground 23:54 - applying Prof. Mays insights to the Western Power Pool’s Western Resource Adequacy Program 47:27 - thoughts on the NYT article on electric utility deregulation Why are Energy Prices so High? Some Experts Blame Deregulation by Ivan Penn twitter thread by @MichaelGiberso3 in response to the article substack post on Knowledge Problem by Lynn Kiesling RTO Insider article in response to the NY Times piece Ari Pesckoe twitter thread in response to the article 54:56 - New Segment! : Ahlmahz’s Insightful Question of the Week! 1:01:43 - Short to Ground ; where we TL;DR our way through the rest of the news NWPCC: NW Needs More Reserves to Maintain Resource Adequacy <a href="https://www.newsdata.com/california_energy_markets/regional_roundup/pause-in-storms-allows-utilities-state-responders-valuable-tim
Thu, January 12, 2023
Kyri Baker, PhD , Karen Heim , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery address topical energy issues and share stories in the latest episode of Public Power Underground. 06:36 - hot takes and lessons to be learned from Winter Storm Elliott oral history of the winter storm elliott takes on #energytwitter compiled by Brian Bartholomew TVA and Duke Energy notices of level 3 Energy Emergency Alerts PJM, MISO, and SPP energy emergency alerts paper co-authored by Prof Baker on the Texas freeze of February 2021 19:26 - debrief from White House Electrification Summit RTO Insider coverage recording of the event Dafoe, S., Krarti, M., and Baker, K. (March 7, 2022). "Optimal Designs of Grid-Connected Energy Efficient and Resilient Residential Communities." ASME. J. Eng. Sustain. Bldgs. Cities . February 2022; 3(1): 011004. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4053908 33:00 - transformer shortages and why distribution needs to be taken more seriously in discussion of electrification Utility Dive coverage of transformer shortages by Robert Walton APPA survey of its members shows that production of distribution transformers is not meeting current demand Inaction on electric transformer crisis adds to reliability concerns, APPA warn
Thu, December 22, 2022
LIVE from the Lounge at NWPPA’s Power Supply Conference hosts Paul Dockery , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Dan Catchpole play an energy-themed analogy game; Arne Olson and Laura Trolese make sports analogies to electric markets in a continuation of Season 4’s Electric Market Enthusiasm Series; and Debra Smith joins to rant about energy and energy-adjacent topics in a rant wheel segment inspired by Lovett or Leave It. 03:22 - the Underground vs OpenAI: a game of energy-adjacent analogies with contestants Doug Gilmore and Matt Schroettnig 16:30 - Electric Market Enthusiasm pt 5.1: sports analogies for electric markets w/ Arne Olson and Laura Trolese 35:47 - the rant wheel w/ Debra Smith ; and special contributors Crystal Ball and Matt Schroettnig You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, December 09, 2022
Nicole Hughes , Karen Heim , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery address topical energy issues and share stories in the latest episode of Public Power Underground. 06:43 - debrief from The NY Times article on the opportunities awaiting electric utilities How utilities can maximize IIJA and IRA benefits a new way to reference the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (aka the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 24:34 - another run at transmission siting reform SEEC releases Policy Brief on Permitting Reform for the Clean Energy Future REPEAT project report on Electricity Transmission Michael Cembalest’s 12th annual energy report We recorded on Monday December 5th. Permitting reform legislation has gained some momentum in the days since. If we recorded again today, we’d probably have more to say! 39:34 - Southwest Power Pool Markets+ detailed design proposal Coverage in Utility Dive by Robert Walton Coverage in Clearing Up by Dan Catchpole 57:11 - Short to Ground ; where we TL;DR our way through the rest of the news BPA Proposes New Transmission Line Near Tri-Cities by Stever Ernst i
Mon, December 05, 2022
Goodbyes are hard and tend to be cringeworthy. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A SPECIAL EPISODE!!! The original cast of Public Power Underground gets together for a nostalgic recording with a throwback script to celebrate Ian Bledsoe's promotion to Senior Power Analyst, and acknowledge Paul Dockery's last day at Clatskanie PUD. 3:48 - Celebration of Ian Bledsoe's promotion to Senior Power Analyst! 8:06 - Conveyance of Anadromous Championship smelt belts for best friends of the underground because they kept coming back 12:03 - Paul gives a pep talk on the difficulty of transitions while Ian plays the ukelele Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it's work to watch! 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
Thu, December 01, 2022
Lea Fisher , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , Dan Catchpole , and Paul Dockery cover electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news in Season 5, Episode 3. 06:32 - introduce Ahlmahz Negash, PhD as new co-host for Public Power Underground Ahlmahz has been a recurring guest on Public Power Underground and even accepted the designation of a Special Correspondent during earlier seasons. She has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, was recently the Chair of the Pacific Northwest Utility Conference Committee’s System Planning Committee, is a recipient of PNUCC’s “Albert Einstein Award” , and is currently on sabbatical from Tacoma Public Utilities where she is a Senior Power Analyst. [I forgot to do an adequate introduction during the recording because I figured y’all knew Ahlmahz, but then I realized I shouldn’t take knowledge for granted and am hopeful y’all will look here.] 09:18 - a lot going on with WRAP BPA’s draft close out letter and workshop materials coverage of draft closeout letter by Steve Ernst in Clearing Up Dan Catchpole’s coverage in Clearing Up on deficiency letter from FERC Comments filed by the Power Pool acknowledging BPA’s unique statutory obligations (WRAP22 0011 - Edmonds/Western Power Pool) 27:05 - tensions/tradeoffs of the incremental approach to markets coverage of Markets+ two-day, in-person development session by Tom Kleckner in RTO Insider presentation from workshop on implementation cost of Markets+ (slide 14) <a href="https://us-east-2.protection.sophos.com/?d=spp.org&u=aHR0cHM6Ly9zcHAub3JnL2RvY3VtZW50cy82NDk4MC8yMDIxJTIwMDclMjAwNiUyMG1lbWJlcnMlMjBmb3J1bSUyMG1lZXRpbmclMjBtYXRlcmlhbHMucGRm&i=NjMwZTc5NzBmZGQwYzQwZjk1ZWRlOWNm&t=S1lNOGR
Mon, November 21, 2022
Travis Kavulla , Abigail Sawyer , Dan Catchpole , and Paul Dockery cover electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news in Season 5, Episode 2. 05:51 - energy angles to election coverage Abigail Sawyer coverage of elections in the Southwest in California Energy Markets Anne Ernst coverage of California elections in California Energy Markets Dan Catchpole’s coverage of NW election results in Clearing Up 21:15 - Travis Kavulla acts as the Underground’s Special Correspondent from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) Annual Meeting in New Orleans White Paper on approaches to State-Federal Cooperation in a Decarbonizing Electricity Sector Twitter Wager between Rob Gramlich and Travis Kavulla 32:57 - Travis Kavulla’s take on bifurcating spot market price formation 45:33 - legislative mandates for RTO participation from a former regulator’s perspective story on Nevada legislation from Utility Dive story on Colorado legislation from Utility Dive job opening for Executive Director of the California Electric Transmission Authority 55:58 - Short to Ground ; where we TL;DR our way through the rest of the news California Public Utilities Commissio
Fri, November 11, 2022
Kieran Connolly , Dan Catchpole , Abigail Sawyer , and Paul Dockery kick off the Season 5 premier of Public Power Underground. 06:11 - what evolution into a centrally dispatched market means for a hydro-centric region SPP Sees Markets+ as Potential Path to Full RTO in the West Carrie Simpson to serve as Southwest Power Pool’s director of western services development California Independent System Operator released its draft final proposal for the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) 18:42 - how does increased deployment of wind and solar in the Northwest impact hydro operations Biden Signs Inflation Reduction Act; Permitting Reform Next Step Rural Electric Co-ops Glad to Be Included in Inflation Reduction Act Benefits Twitter memo on Ira versus I-R-A The definitive podcasts on the content of the Inflation Reduction Act 29:05 - thoughts on SMRs in a hydro dominated region like the Pacific Northwest PacifiCorp, TerraPower to Study Deploying Five More SMRs by 2035 TVA developing plans for 20 small nuclear reactors to power Tennessee Valley by 2050 TVA takes step to build small modular reactor near Oak Ridge 38:52 - hydro operations under stressed grid conditions <a href="https://www.newsdata.com/california_energy_markets/regional_roundup
Thu, August 18, 2022
In the fifth installment of Public Power Underground’s Electric Market Enthusiasm series, an expert panel including Laura Trolese (Senior Market Design & Policy Analyst, The Energy Authority), Carrie Simpson (Director - Western Markets, Xcel Energy), and Jeff Spires (Director - Power, PowerEx) discuss different choices made in market paradigms and how it all makes sense. Specifically the discussion is framed as a compare and contract episode of different market design choices, but in a fun, infotaining way using professional sports analogies whenever possible. The notes from the analogies are available as a google sheet (← link works) . 05:59 - Resource Adequacy is like Roster Management for professional sports leagues 25:24 - Real Time Markets are “the game” 43:34 - Day Ahead Markets are like practice / training / coaching 55:50 - Transitioning from bilateral to centrally dispatched markets make comparisons complex 01:09:23 - Transmission cost recovery is as controversial as who pays for professional sports stadiums You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, August 11, 2022
Richard Glick , the Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), joined Crystal Ball , Matt Schroettnig , and Paul Dockery for the fourth installation of our Electric Market Enthusiasm series . We try to keep it light while discussing transmission, batteries, price formation, the incremental approach to market expansion, governance, and FERC’s recently published five year strategic plan. To close it out we played an outro game called "Which FERC is the best FERC?". 06:02 - Discuss elements of FERC’s FY22-26 Strategic Plan FERC FY22-26 Strategic Plan | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Fact Sheet | Strategic Plan FY 2022-2026 | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 15:01 - New merch idea 15:12 - Benefits of Transmission Regionalization The Pacific Northwest/Pacific Southwest Intertie MISO board approves $10.3B transmission plan to support 53 GW of renewables the Organization of MISO States 24:28 - Governance and the incremental approach to market expansion 27:58 - “I think it’s inevitable” 31:46 - Outro Game: Which FERC is the best FERC? You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, August 05, 2022
Paul Dockery , Jason Fordney , Abigail Sawyer , and Dan Catchpole field listener submitted questions from all types of energy enthusiasts. Plus, we have a Bluey Inspired intermission game with the Honorable Katie Mapes , Matt Schroettnig , and Jon Hart . 03:12 - Dan Campbell wonders about the DER value proposition for Public Power 13:24 - Dr. Kyri Baker pitches an airline idea for electric utilities 27:13 - Travis Kavulla has a contracting question 34:46 - Mary Wienke wants to know how we think about new technology development Ben Serrurier ’s work on A Fair Green Deal for the Last Coal Plant in Mississippi Family Guy’s recurring bit with the Kool Aid Man 44:51 - Robert Cromwell asks a bunch of questions about transmission MISO board approves $10.3B transmission plan to support 53 GW of renewables , coverage by Utility Dive 57:04 - Intermission Game - energy industry Bluey Scholars on character parallels 1:20:40 - TL;DR segment called “Just a Text” Mike Bloomberg from Groundwork Data Bryce Johanneck of Quanta Technology Therese Hampton proposes a conundrum Bill Drummond poses a question Simon Mahan wants to talk about squirrels</a
Thu, July 21, 2022
Bear Prairie , the General Manager of Idaho Falls Power, is the last interview in our Electric Utility Recruiting series! In this 8th and final episode Bear reminds Humaira, Brian , and Paul that public power is a movement, and encourages all of us to spread the message throughout or communities. Idaho Falls Power is a municipal electric utility that has served the city of Idaho Falls, Idaho since 1900. The utility owns and operates five hydropower plants that deliver about one-third of the city’s electricity needs. In addition to the electric utility they offer high-speed, affordable, internet capability for homes and businesses. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . We hope you found value in our video series and got some insights into messages that can work to recruit new professionals to the electric utility workforce. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends yo
Tue, July 19, 2022
Crystal Ball is bringing the power of good ideas to Public Power Underground with her appearance in our Electric Utility Recruiting series. The entertaining conversation with Crystal Ball, Humaira Falkenberg, Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery includes Crystal’s recruiting pitch that “Electric utilities are sexy again.” Public Power Underground is an origin story for the Humaira Falkenberg → Crystal Ball friendship and the duo talk about the way community brought them together. PNUCC is a not-for-profit trade association of consumer-owned and investor-owned electric utilities and other power industry partners that share a common interest in the efficacy and reliability of the Northwest Power system. This forum facilitates a unique function in the Northwest where complex and divisive industry issues are brought to the table and discussed in an environment where members put aside competitive differences to chart a mutually beneficial course forward. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on <a h
Wed, July 13, 2022
Marc Farmer , Clatskanie PUD’s General Manager, joins Humaira Falkenberg, Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery on Public Power Underground to participate in our Electric Utility Recruiting video series. Marc also gives a great pitch for joining Clatskanie PUD. Clatskanie PUD is an Oregon electric utility serving the communities and surrounding areas of Clatskanie, Rainier, and Westport. With Marc’s support, Clatskanie PUD’s Power Department started Public Power Underground while finding ways to cope with remote work during the pandemic. Marc’s enthusiasm and support for the program continues. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusias
Wed, July 06, 2022
Sarah Edmonds , the Western Power Pool ’s President and Chief Executive Officer, join Humaira Falkenberg, Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery on Public Power Underground to participate in our Electric Utility Recruiting video series. Before kicking off the interview she encouraged us to broaden our approach to include all electric utilities in our target audience. We capture some of that conversation as well. The NWPP Corporation, doing business as the Western Power Pool, is based in Portland, Oregon. Having evolved from its informal origins of three engineers on loan from member utilities in 1941 to the existing staff today, the WPP strives to help its customer organizations achieve maximum benefits of coordinated operations. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share thi
Fri, July 01, 2022
Kurt Miller , Dan Catchpole , KC Mehaffey , and Paul Dockery get together for a regularly formatted episode to talk about electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news from a Power Department’s perspective. The crew covers the Murray-Inslee draft report, Australia’s electric market getting suspended, natural gas price slump after a fire, transfer of management of a fish hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, and Falconry at the Dalles Dam. 19:10 - A draft report developed for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray to examine the impacts of breaching the four lower snake river dams Coverage by KC Mehaffey in Clearing Up on the report and reactions to the report A study commissioned by NWRP and prepared by Energy GPS Consulting LLC on the full power cost replacement analysis for the lower Snake River dams 33:12 - Australian Energy Market Operator suspended their national electric market Coverage by the Guardian Discussion and analysis on The Conversation The Professor Jacob Mays Interview The Professor Frank Wolak Interview 43:53 - Freeport’s Liquified Natural Gas had an unplanned outaged, and it impacted national natural gas markets Grubert, E., & Hastings-Simon, S. (2022). Designing the mid-transition: A review of m
Wed, June 29, 2022
Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Rhees and Scott Coe joined Humaira Falkenberg , Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery on Public Power Underground to participate in our Electric Utility Recruiting video series. Scott Corwin is the Executive Director of NWPPA . Scott Simms is the Executive Director of Public Power Council . Scott Rhees is the General Manager and CEO for Franklin Public Utility District . Scott Coe received a lifetime achievement award at the 2022 NWPPA Annual Meeting . Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple
Tue, June 21, 2022
Sarah Giomi recruits college students for Energy Northwest’s Public Power Internship program . Thankfully, she agreed to join Humaira Falkenberg, Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery on Public Power Underground to participate in our Electric Utility Recruiting video series. Energy Northwest is a joint operating agency formed by the Washington state legislature in 1957, representing the convergence of small and big public power. Their consortium of 27 public utility districts and municipalities across Washington takes advantage of economies of scale and shared services that help utilities run their operations more efficiently and at lower cost, to the benefit of more than 1.5 million customers. The agency further improves quality of life throughout the Northwest through the generation of clean, reliable electricity from nuclear, wind, hydro and solar projects. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find
Thu, June 16, 2022
Professor Frank Wolak , the Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in the Department of Economics at Stanford University who also works as the Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, joins Paul Dockery for the third installation of our Electric Market Enthusiasm series. 04:13 - my lede for Professor Wolak’s working paper Wolak, Frank A. " Long-term resource adequacy in wholesale electricity markets with significant intermittent renewables. " Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy 3.1 (2022): 155-220. 10:22 - the Reliability Externality and it’s relation to the Missing Money problem 16:48 - suspending exports in scarcity events 20:27 - Standardized Fixed Price Forward Contract market auctions 34:50 - the Energy Market Game 48:28 - The Future of Electricity Retailing and How We Get There 52:43 - developing market depth on the demand side You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, June 14, 2022
Mark Johnson , the General Manager of Flathead Electric Cooperative, joins Humaira Falkenberg , Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery on Public Power Underground to participate in our Electric Utility Recruiting video series. Flathead Electric Cooperative serves over 56,000 members in and around the area of Kalispell and Libby, Montana. It has grown from 82 miles of line serving 117 farm homes in December of 1938 to what is now the second largest electric utility in Montana. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch!
Thu, June 09, 2022
John Hairston , CEO and Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, joins Humaira Falkenberg , Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery on Public Power Underground to participate in our Electric Utility Recruiting video series. Before John’s recruiting pitch, Humaira Falkenberg opens with a message of change, a message of hope, and a message of inclusion in her cold open as the episodes celebrity guest host. Electric Utility Recruiting video series Attracting a new workforce into electric utility professions is going to be one of the key challenges of the next 20 years, and electric utility enthusiasts need to build up recruiting skills to meet the challenge. So Public Power Underground took the opportunity, while it was recording on location at the opening reception for NWPPA ’s Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to pull aside executives from across the region and quiz them on their best recruiting pitches to attract new folks to electric utility professions. We were honored to be joined by John Hairston , Mark Johnson , Sarah Giomi , Scott Corwin , Scott Simms , Scott Coe , Scott Rhees , Sarah Edmonds , Marc Farmer , Crystal Ball , and Bear Prairie . The interviews will be released individually over the coming weeks as special, bonus episodes. You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonu
Thu, June 02, 2022
Elliot Mainzer , the President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Independent System Operator (ISO), joined Crystal Ball , Matt Schroettnig , and Paul Dockery for the second installation of our Electric Market Enthusiasm series. We try to keep it light while discussing governance, transmission, price formation, stakeholder engagement, and CAISO’s new five year strategic plan. To break up the heavy topics we play an intermission game! 05:16 - newly released 5 year Strategic Plan 14:27 - Governance, legislative change, and Concurrent Resolution 188 introduced by Assembly member Chris Holden, also, Elliot’s TEDx 1 27:27 - an Intermission Game called “ better know an RTO CEO by getting them to reveal a preference of competing energy-interpreted gifs in a championship bracket ” 40:36 - Transmission Planning and Elliot’s “WEIM Transfer Paths” infographic 51:27 - High beams on market evolution and price formation 2 1:06:14 - the Duke Silver of Western Power Markets You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! ---------------------- 1 TEDxPortland 2011 - Elliot Mainzer - The Power Grid 2 Mays, Jacob and Jenkins, Jesse, Electricity Markets under Deep Decarbonization (April 19, 2022). USAEE Working Paper No. 22-550, Available at SSRN: <
Tue, May 24, 2022
Using the Zach Lowe podcasting technique, Crystal Ball, Humaira Falkenberg, Matthew Schroettnig, and Paul Dockery review their top-5 most interesting energy news stories from so far in 2022 . . . . at a pub . . . together . . . in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on the eve of NWPPA’s Annual Meeting. The stories they covered are listed in a google sheet they used to talk from. Rather than translate the google sheet into bullet points, we’re just including a hyperlink to the working doc . If you have an interesting story from 2022 you’d like to contribute, just add it to the sheet under “Friends of the Underground”. 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
Thu, May 19, 2022
Jacob Mays , Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, answers Paul ’s remedial questions on how electric markets function and what the Pacific Northwest should be considering when approaching market expansion incrementally in a wide ranging and engaging conversation. Since Professor Mays is an academic, it feels fitting to include citations for the materials referenced. Please excuse any errors in citation. Mays et al., Private risk and social resilience in liberalized electricity markets, Joule (2022), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.01.004 Mays, Jacob and Jenkins, Jesse, Electricity Markets under Deep Decarbonization (April 19, 2022). USAEE Working Paper No. 22-550, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4087528 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4087528 Mays, J., Morton, D.P. & O’Neill, R.P. Asymmetric risk and fuel neutrality in electricity capacity markets. Nat Energy 4, 948–956 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0476-1 F. A. Wolak, Economic and political constraints on the demand-side of electricity industry re-structuring processes, Review of Economics and Institutions 4 (1) (Feb. 2013). doi:10.5202/rei.v4i1.101. URL https://doi.org/10.5202/rei.v4i1.101 Grubert, E., & Hastings-Simon, S. (2022). Designing the mid-transition: A review of medium-term challenges for coordinated decarbonization in the United States. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change , e768. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.768 Mays, J., A mini-thread on my and @JesseJenkins working paper, Electricity Markets under Deep Decarbonization. (April 28, 2022). Twitter.com . Jenkins, J., Texas's grid is straining again, as a spring heat wave finds ERCOT with about 1/3 of thermal power plants down, some for scheduled outages (prep for summer), others forced outages due to equipment failures, including 1 coal and 6 gas units. A few threads on the situation... (May 14, 2022). Twitter.com . You can find our merch on shopify . You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcas
Thu, May 12, 2022
Ben Serrurier , Jason Fordney , Arin Guillory , and Paul Dockery talk about the latest in public power, public-power-adjacent news and exciting acronyms, including BPA in the EIM, CREPC-WIRAB, all-things Tx, NuScale IPO, and another WSJ article! 04:07 - a new merch idea coming from the FDR speech Ben quotes in the cold open 08:19 - Arin Reports 14:21 - BPA joined the EIM on May 3rd BPA press release CAISO press release 20:28 - Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation // Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body (CREPC-WIRAB) Ben’s live tweet of the event CREPC WIRAB agenda Jason Fordney’s article 34:53 - Ari Peskoe’s Utility Dive guest article Jim DiPeso’s coverage of FERC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Keegan Moyer’s (Energy Strategies, Partner) presentation on Transmission Planning from CREPC-WIRAB 43:13 - NuScale starts trading on the NYSE<
Thu, April 28, 2022
Bill Drummond , Dan Catchpole , Karen Heim , and Paul Dockery talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, including Lineworker Appreciation Day, solar developers betting on RTO development, what’s going on with the battery supply chain, and jumpstarting interregional transmission! 08:45 - Arin Reports with Karen Reporting 14:10 - Lineworker Appreciation Day 21:11 - solar developers betting on RTO development 31:08 - a bunch of battery stories CAISO is developing a new participation model for energy storage resources a Southern California Edison’s energy storage project is facing delays Rivian Chief Executive Officer, RJ Scaringe has a warning Supply chain issues facing batteries 41:21 - DOE’s $2.5 billion Transmission Jump Start Program 50:01 - TL;DR the rest of the news in “Energy West, lite” K.C. Mehaffey Rick Adair <a href="https://www.newsdata.com/california_energy_markets/regulation_status/cpuc-approves-energy-storage-contracts-underscoring-importance-of-reliability-access/article_6fe47d2a-c280-11ec-98d0-730d0d1f11
Thu, April 21, 2022
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<
Fri, April 15, 2022
Robert Trinnear , Abigail Sawyer , Brian Fawcett , and Paul Dockery talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, including IPCC’s working group 3 report, the nationalization of National Grid, a $4.7 million fine by FERC, electrifying heavy duty trucks, and public power whitepapers! 08:02 - Arin Reports with Brian Reporting 16:28 - IPCC’s Working Group 3 Report The Guardian article on Working Group 3 conclusions The Guardian article on IPCC reports and what they address 29:29 - UK government buys ESO from National Grid 37:32 - Constellation NewEnergy pays fine for violating CAISO market rules 42:25 - Nevada joins EV MOU 47:57 - Preference customers publish papers on Provider of Choice PPC’s “PUBLIC POWER POST-2028 CONCEPT PAPER” PNGC’s “ Post-2028 BPA Contract Framework and Concept Paper ” 52:37 - TL;DR the rest of the news in “Energy West, lite” Wholesale electric prices in CAISO Colstrip operator Talen Energy reportedly preparing for bankruptcy <a href="https://www.newsdata.com/california_energy_markets/potomac/biden-invokes-defense-
Thu, April 07, 2022
Matt and Paul have a meandering conversation with Chris Kroeker from NW Natural about H2’s role in the energy transition. 04:01 - all the colors of hydrogen 17:32 - difference between hydrogen (H2) and renewable natural gas (CH4) 21:23 - How much H2 can go in CH4 transmission and distribution lines? 26:58 - How much H2 can be used in natural gas power plants? 29:35 - H2’s role in industrial decarbonization (include paper mills) 31:50 - Infrastructure necessary to get H2 to industrial loads (and money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that may go toward it ) 36:50 - How much hydrogen infrastructure does a billion dollars get ya!? 39:15 - Is there an inverse heat rate for the electricity to H2 conversion? 55kWh/kg-H2, 1kg-H2 = 135,000 btu 55kWh/135,000btu or 2,454 btu/kWh Inverse heat rate (a.k.a. the Cold Hart Rate) = 1 / 2.454 MMBTU/MWh = 0.4075 MWh/MMBTU Break even price for electrolysis at $30/MWh = 0.4075 MWh/MMBTU * $30/MWh = $12.22/MMBTU I decided to check my concepts against known efficiencies of Proton exchange membrane electrolysis cells 3.4121 MMBTU = 1 MWh Efficiency of electrolysis conversion from MWh to H2, η = ~ 70% η*3.4121MMBTU/MWh = 2.38847 MMBTU/MWh Inverse heat rate (a.k.a. the Cold Hart Rate) = 1/2.38847 MMBTU/MWh = 0.4187 MWh/MMBTU Break even price for electrolysis at $30/MWh = 0.4187 MWh/MMBTU * $30/MWh = $12.56/MMBTU Special thanks to Chris Kroeker and Jonathan Hart for finding mistakes in my initial math. In exchange for Jon’s help resolving my error, I will forever refer to this conversion as the “Cold Hart Rate”. I don’t know if that was useful, if you have thoughts about the usefulness of an inverse heat rate or better math, let me know. 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
Thu, March 31, 2022
Therese Hampton , Jason Fordney , Crystal Ball , and Paul Dockery talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, including Blue Wolf Capital, minimum pool elevation for power generation at Glen Canyon Dam, FERC’s take on ROE, innovation at Douglas County PUD, a new President and CEO at WPP, and two new members of WMEG! 06:45 - Arin Reports with Crystal Reporting 13:29 - Blue Wolf Capital is pursuing the restart of the Intalco aluminum smelter Larry Brown opinion piece in The Seattle Times Scott Simms rebuttal in The Seattle Times 18:47 - Glen Canyon Dam approaching minimum pool elevation Coverage by Jake Bittle at Grist AP coverage in October of 2021 US Bureau of Reclamation Reservoir Storage Dashboard US Drought Monitor map 24:20 - FERC Lowers PG&E Transmission ROE , related coverage in Utility Dive 34:16 - Douglas County PUD is innovating with renewable hydrogen ( and maybe, possibly, someday expanding ) 40:21 - The Western Power Pool announces the selection of <a href="https://www.newsdata.com/clearing_up/briefs/edmonds-named-president-ce
Thu, March 24, 2022
In a wide ranging, engaging, and entertaining conversation, Humaira , Matt and Paul interview Jesse Jenkins . Jesse is an assistant professor at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment. He is also an affiliated faculty with the Center for Policy Research in Energy and Environment at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and an associated faculty at the High Meadows Environment Institute. He leads the Princeton ZERO Lab - the Zero carbon Energy systems Research and Optimization Laboratory -- which conducts research to improve decision-making to accelerate rapid, affordable, and effective transitions to net-zero carbon energy systems. 05:26 - Public Power's role in the energy transition 17:13 - Intermission Game: “Parametric Uncertainty or Structural Error” 28:46 - How much are we gonna electrify ? and is a Northwest RTO necessary for our region to do it? 40:59 - Nuanced approached to the energy transition 52:52 - Hope for the kids 58:40 - The Demand Balance Constraint, on merch One area of conversation we didn’t get to because we ran out of time isthe Power Genome project and GenX model which Jesse has been involved in developing. Hopefully he’ll come back again to dive into open source models, and how electric utilities can utilize them in public processes. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. 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
Thu, March 17, 2022
Ahlmahz Negash , Dan Catchpole , Karen Heim , and Paul Dockery talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, plus a preview of an upcoming interview with Northwest Natural’s Chris Kroeker about the future of hydrogen! 06:48 - Arin Reports with Karen Reporting 12:13 - Ukraine and the European Union to urgently link electric grids ( which successfully occurred after recording ) 19:13 - Columbia REA let’s employees bring dogs to work 22:44 - Spring 2022 Energy Justice Speaker Serie s 26:50 - Jason Fordney’s article debriefing Arne Olson’s presentation at the February 25th NewsData and CJB Energy Economics video conference on Western Electric System Transformation 29:53 - Ahlmahz talks about her paper on Allocating the Cost of Demand Response Compensation in Wholesale Energy Markets 37:29 - Matt and Paul talk to Northwest Natural’s Chris Kroeker 42:03 - TL;DR the rest of the news in “Short to Ground” other sources of energy news related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mentioned in the episode Germany may speed up renewables (Reuters) No taboos for Germany’s energy future (Reuters) Another energy podcast tackles macro energy impacts (The Carbon Copy) You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Re
Wed, March 16, 2022
We assembled an ad-hoc crew to record an emergency podcast. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to @DrEricDing for breaking the news into @aPowerManager’s feed. 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
Thu, March 03, 2022
In this bonus episode Matt and Paul have a conversation with the Executive Director of PGP and former Vice President of Transmission Regulation and Market Policy for PacifiCorp: Mary Wiencke ! Reference Materials: PGP’s Market Retrospective Western States’ Market Study prepared by Energy Strategies Handbook on Electricity Markets FERC Landmark Orders 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
Thu, February 24, 2022
Russ Mantifel, Jason Fordney , Paul Dockery , and Ludgie Gelin talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, plus a preview of an upcoming interview with PGP’s Mary Wiencke ! 08:08 - Arin Reports with Paul Reporting 14:20 - Roundtable on rural broadband at Mason PUD #3 plus other broadband news 21:38 - CAISO adopts Phase 1 of Resource Sufficiency test rule changes 30:24 - The Wall Street Journal’s long-form article on the grid’s reliability 44:30 - the cost of going underground 51:05 - 2021 Power Plan in pre-publication, final form 58:50 - Matt and Paul talk to PGP’s Mary Wiencke 1:09:49 - TL;DR the rest of the news in “Sound Bites” 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
Thu, February 10, 2022
Rebecca Sexton , Crystal Ball , Dan Catchpole , and Paul Dockery run through the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news. There are a few instances where we go off the rails - - - as it often does when discussing public-power-adjacent news. 1:12 - Rebecca breaks news in her opening, Celebrity Guest, monologue 11:46 - Arin Reports with Rebecca Reporting 15:20 - follow up on Arin Reports with discussion on Northeast natural gas prices 21:10 - CAISO issued a 20-year draft transmission outlook plan (coverage by NewsData and Utility Dive ) 29:40 - Hydropower’s Contributions to Grid Reliability and Resilience (coverage by Utility Dive ) 36:36 - we go off the rails (calling on BPA people who have access to THE teletype, we need a sound sample!) 40:02 - Maersk is launching an offshore vessel-charging venture 44:45 - 2022 Pan-Pacific Winter High Seas Expedition 48:00 - Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Controlled EV-Charging Pilot 53:36 - TL;DR the rest of the news You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public P
Thu, February 03, 2022
In this bonus episode Matt and Paul have a conversation with the Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of Bonneville Power Administration: John Hairston ! 4:50 - One-Year Anniversary Celebration and presentation of an honorary fry-weight Anadromous Championship 15:25 - Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) news 20:34 - New content begins here! 21:43 - A new, public power underground game: seen // heard // nothing 25:45 - Fish risk (on hydro operations) 37:03 - Organizational re-alignment 45:52 - what electrification might mean for BPA’s transmission business unit 50:25 - a promo for BPA’s Science Bowl 51:05 - Administrator’s choice of topics 59:52 - parenting advice (maybe the first “Parent Corner” segment on the underground?) 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
Thu, January 27, 2022
4:39 - Arin Reports 8:16 - B2H news 13:58 - Advanced nuclear fission projects in the news and <a href="https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkMuOhSAMhp_msDSAHMAFi9nMaxCEqswoGKhjfPvBY9K0aXr9P-8Q5lwus-eK5HYWrx1MgrOugAiFHBWKjcFIKqVirCfBiMD0W5NY7VQANhdXg-UAsh_jGr3DmNM9wRXXmpLFSD1pqqQD1vtpgLeQno8MJqq9UpOgz2F3hAjJg4E_KFdOQFazIO711X-9-HczPOP9Uufz1rJoaw55B0ui4ZRzyrhiohdCdrzzioNgzsthmLhWupM_80iXDV6CbjPv6jFWdP733kWKqa64pTtzbvtTazlzCTUfuHzqTZdtcTtSxMtCcuMK4ZGMD7kPBDtDgtKIBu
Thu, January 13, 2022
Karen Heim, Dan Catchpole, Ian Bledsoe, and Paul Dockery get up to speed on public power and public-power-adjacent news! 04:05 - Arin Reports with Ian Reporting! 08:20 - Northwest winter storm 14:36 - BPA's land acquisition program 20:23 - Another electric truck 25:21 - EDAM stakeholder process update 30:13 - PG&E Building ‘Remote Grids’ in Fire-prone Areas, and containerized microgrid systems 38:20 - Where Does Santa Go When the Arctic's Summer Ice Is Gone? You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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
Wed, December 22, 2021
It’s the finale for Season 3 and our Holiday Special! We welcomed special celebrity guests Crystal Ball, Emeka Anyanwu, Russ Mantifel, and NewsData’s Mark Ohrenschall to do a 2021 Energy News Countdown and 2022 prognostication. The episode is interspersed with Energy Carols! 08:06 Careful ‘cause it’s time change 46:04 Silver Generators 1:08:54 Simply forming a wonderful western market 1:18:52 O Power Plan 1:24:52 Ridiculous Things [a Daryl Wayne Dasher original and fitting tribute to public power underground] The 2021 Energy News Countdown includes a discussion of each of the celebrity guests’ top 5 energy news stories. Each of us had our own list with our own reasons, it’s a great conversation. My top 10 is included here for your enjoyment! Spoiler alert, my list wasn’t the best list! #10 WRAP Phase 3A #9 BPA Rate Decrease #8 Ted Lasso/Dolly Parton/Energy Twitter cross-over #7 The Power Grid makes John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” #6 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act #5 Heat Dome event #4 Texas blackout #3 European energy crisis driven by Natural gas ^$ #2 Iron Air, Long Duration Batteries #1 F150 EV Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, December 09, 2021
Michelle Manary, Bonneville Power Administration’s Chief Financial Officer who is on assignment to the Department of Energy as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Electric Delivery, joins Matthew Scroettnig (EWEB’s Power Planning Supervisor & Staff Counsel) and Paul Dockery (Clatskanie PUD’s Director of Energy Resources) to go deep into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, electrification’s impact on long-term planning, how to prepare for grant funding, SEASONAL TIME CHANGE, and how much she misses all our wonderful workshops in the Pacific Northwest. If you watched s3e10, Infrastructure Week!, you have already heard the first part of the interview. The conversation picks back up in this video at 13:54. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! 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
Thu, December 02, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 10 - Infrastructure Week! for Public Power Underground. Michelle Manary joins us to chat about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act! Also joining is Juergen Pilot from the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium and returning champion Kurt Miller. 07:28 - Arin Reports with (the newest Honorary Member of the Power Department) Crystal Ball Reporting! 13:39 - FERC, States Kick Off New Task Force Focused on Transmission Buildout 16:15 - Juergen Pilot, the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium's Program Manager, answers a series of questions about offshore wind as quickly and entertainingly as possible 27:41 - Agrivoltaic Farming! 31:05 - Microgrid powering buses in LADWP's service territory 32:23 - Kurt Miller is championing hydropower’s inclusion in the Build Back Better Act 38:16 - Combined Geothermal power production and Lithium extraction 41:59 - Dispatches from #EnergyTwitter: @JesseJenkins did an outstanding, google sheets, summary of all the energy-related provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 47:24 - Michelle Manary joins to chat about DOE, BPA, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 1:04:37 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, November 23, 2021
Scott Coe, a public power leader who started under the Greatest Generation, rose to leadership amongst boomers, and has led organizations with Boomers, Millenials, and, maybe even, zoomers, joins Matthew Scroettnig (EWEB’s Power Planning & Staff Counsel) and Paul Dockery (Clatskanie PUD’s Power Manager) to talk about all things public power and public-power-leadership. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, November 18, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 9 - Leading Innovation Week! for Public Power Underground. Underground regulars (Karen Heim, Brian Fawcett, Ludgie Gelin, and Ian Bledsoe) are joined by our returning Podcast Ambassador from Clearing Up, Dan Catchpole. The episode includes conversations about blockchain technologies with NRU’s Resource Analyst, Ellyn Groves, and a preview of a longer interview by Special Correspondent Matt Schroettnig of Emerald PUD’s General Manager, Scott Coe. The full interview of Scott Coe will be in a follow-up BONUS episode, next week. 02:54 - Arin Reports with Ian Reporting 06:29 - Cooking, Hot Water Grew Residential Demand During Pandemic 11:27 - Ellyn Groves joins as a Special Research Specialist to talk about Blockchain and Paul unpacks some NFTs 20:22 - BPA Study May Be 'Early Warning' of Trouble for Clean Energy Goals 22:43 - NMPRC Hearing Examiner Recommends Against $8-Billion PNM-Avangrid Merger 24:43 - Nuclear Power is having a moment 30:21 - Preview of blockbuster Scott Coe interview w/ Special Correspondent, Matt Schroettnig 40:37 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Thu, November 11, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 8 - Distributed Demand Resource Response Week! for Public Power Underground. Underground regulars (Karen Heim, Arin Guillory, Ludgie Gelin, and Paul Dockery) are joined by our Podcast Ambassador from California Energy Markets, Jason Fordney this week. The episode includes conversations with Tacoma Power’s Ahlmahz Negash grant funding for microgrids and distributed resources, and PNUCC’s Shauna McReynolds and Tomás Morrisey about Demand Response and Distributed Generation in the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s draft 2021 Power Plan. 05:18 - Arin Reports 08:46 - The Arizona Corporation Commission is clashing with Arizona Public Service 13:13 - Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, talks Clean Energy Fund awards for grid modernization projects 21:45 - Southern California Edison transitioning residential customers to Time-of-Use rate plans 22:49 - The Diesel-Fired California Dream 30:15 - Shauna McReynolds and Tomás Morrissey talk about Distributed Generation and Demand Response in NWPCC’s draft 2021 Power Plan 48:30 - Avista and Puget Sound Energy file final clean energy implementation plans 51:07 - A Bipartisan Infrastructure Package makes it through Congress 53:19 - Dispatches from #EnergyTwitter: Maine Voters reject transmission and John Oliver talks Power Grid 58:17 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, October 29, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 7 - Markets Week! for Public Power Underground. Underground regulars (Brian Fawcett, Arin Guillory, Ian Bledsoe, and Paul Dockery) are joined by our Podcast Ambassador from Clearing Up, Dan Catchpole, to get our listeners up to speed on public-power and public-power-adjacent news. The episode includes special, feature conversations with The Energy Authority’s (TEA) Chris Lewis and John Raiford to talk about the state of Natural Gas Markets, and Public Generation Pool’s Therese Hampton and Steve Kerns about PGP’s Market Retrospective. 03:49 - Arin Reports 06:16 - TEA’s Chris Lewis and John Raiford explain what’s going on with Natural Gas Markets 23:08 - Global supply chain issues are hitting California’s energy industry 24:07 - Some more Colstrip action in Federal Court 25:13 - Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea leads to surprising findings about southern resident orcas 26:42 - Therese Hampton (Executive Director) and Steve Kerns (Senior Technical Advisor) talk about PGP’s Organized Market Retrospective 39:53 - Our friends from Cowlitz PUD made the news 42:18 - Market expansion is in the news and on people’s minds 43:56 - PJM released study on transmission build out to handle offshore wind 50:20 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to all the newest Friends of the Underground who have joined us since last week. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, October 22, 2021
Your friends at the Power Department are excited to announce that we’re teaming up with NewsData to make Public Power Underground better, bigger, and more sustainable. In a special, bonus episode the friends you’ve come to know as the voices of the Underground ( Karen Heim , Brian Fawcett , Arin Guillory , Ian Bledsoe , Ludgie Gelin , and Paul Dockery ) reminisce a little about what we’ve enjoyed so far, we talk with NewsData’s Editor-in-Chief, Mark Ohrenschall, about the collaboration, and get insights from Mike Shepard, the CEO of NewsData’s parent company, Pioneer Utility Resources, and Marc Farmer, the General Manager of Clatskanie PUD, about listeners should look forward to from the Underground going forward. 03:37 - Mark Ohrenschall talks about the collaboration 10:31 - lightning round questions with the Voices of the Underground 15:22 - Mike Shepard and Marc Farmer join Paul to talk about what listeners should expect 26:44 - more lightning round questions and we discuss the future of the Anadromous Championship Belt You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to all the newest Friends of the Underground who have joined us since last week. 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, it’s work to watch! 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
Tue, October 12, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 5 - Live from the Benson! week for Public Power Underground. In an upbeat, LIVE, recording we get communication celebrities from across the region to come read some news for us on this week’s episode. The episode also includes a couple of wonderful interviews with industry experts. We talk with BPA’s Industry Economist, Daniel Fisher, about product development philosophies, and with Electric Vehicle enthusiast, Loren McDonald, about Level 1 charging infrastructure. 04:05 - Arin Reports with the City of Roseville ’s Erin Frye Reporting 11:16 - WMEG (Western Markets Exploratory Group) was announced! 13:00 - Clearwater Power Company ’s Jeff Marshall talks SCL’s Renewable Hydrogen Research Project 18:48 - The WRAP (Western Resource Adequacy Program) moves to its implementation phase 20:07 - Daniel Fisher talks about post-2028 (Provider of Choice) product development philosophies 40:50 - Clallam County PUD ’s Nicole Hartman joins to talk about a proposal for carbon sequestration, energy plant in Port Angeles 45:10 - Loren McDonald of EVAdoption.com and @EVAdoptionTweet joins to talk about Level 1 charging 1:00:50 - Best-Friend-of-the-Underground Kurt Miller joins to talk about the joy of pregnant Southern Resident orcas , and CLAIM THE ANADROMOUS CHAMPIONSHIP BELT This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://publicpowerunderground.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_camp
Thu, September 30, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 4 - Fish Risk! week for Public Power Underground. We cover everything from permafrost to Dolly Parton on this week’s episode hosted a combination of new stars ( Ludgie Gelin and Betsy Bridge ), returning star ( Arin Guillory ), and regular co-host (Paul Dockery). The highlight is a wonderful interview with the Director of BPA’s Fish & Wildlife Program, Crystal Ball , where we try to better understand fish risk for preference customer considering a post-2028 contract with BPA. We also get a visit from Special Correspondent, and star of the Underground, Matt Schroettnig . The whole thing is wonderful. 04:05 - Arin Reports 07:38 - Three news releases from BPA 10:42 - safe, small, TRANSPORTABLE nuclear reactor 12:24 - Oregon Solar Program update 17:52 - Matt Schroettnig appears as Special Guest Correspondent to talk about submarine supergrids 27:34 - Portland General Electric topic that is very-accountant-nerdy 29:18 - The Cold Climate Housing Research Center is designing Alaskan housing for a future of changing climate 33:40 - Crystal Ball , the Director of BPA's Fish & Wildlife Program , helps clarify fish risk for preference customers considering a post-2028 contract with BPA 56:42 - Dispa
Thu, September 23, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 3 - Into the Metaverse! week for Public Power Underground. We covered a BROAD range of news this week, and caught up with some celebrities including THE Vice President of Origination for Avangrid, Holly Carias, a BLUE CHECK mark, Dan Catchpole, and the curator of #energytwitter, Simon Mahan. 04:20 - Arin Reports 09:13 - Summary of wildfire impacts on BPA transmission lines 11:29 - PPC’s Mike Linn joins to chat about CAISO’s recently announced Extended Day-Ahead Market forum 18:21 - Northwest Coming Up Short of Regional Energy Savings Goal 19:29 - Dispatches from #EnergyTwitter w/ @dcatchpole & @SimonMahan 35:03 - A perfect storm hits UK's natural gas market 37:26 - Holly Carias , Avangrid’s VP of Origination, joins to chat about all things renewables including the U.S.'s first offshore wind project securing funding 51:06 - Fusion and some powerful magnets 52:46 - Oregon didn't meet it's target of 50,000 Zero Emission Vehicles by 2020 53:59 - Direct carbon air capture - a vacuum got installed Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
Thu, September 16, 2021
It’s season 3, episode 2 - Into the Metaverse! - week for Public Power Underground. We caught up with a couple special guests, and got back into the regular format covering public-power and public-power-adjacent news. 02:17 - Arin Reports 07:16 - Temporary Gas Plants in California 10:02 - Tu Phan talks Power Markets and Metaverse 20:04 - PNNL’s Research on Heat Pump Water Heaters 22:16 - Roger Gray talks about BPA post-2028 product design concepts 37:37 - Broadband expansion to rural areas 39:02 - Northwest Power and Conservation Council releases draft 2021 Power Plan 40:09 - High Columbia Temperatures Worry Steelhead Watchers Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! 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
Fri, September 10, 2021
Public Power Underground successfully pulled off its first-ever-livestream as our Season 3 Premiere! We broadcasted LIVE from across the region, simultaneously. Karen Heim and Humaira Falkenberg joined from remote locations to provide color commentary, insights, and questions. Joining the Underground on-location at the NWPPA Annual Conference were a series of very special guests who became the newest Friends of the Underground and summarize 3 days of conference content in one hour! We also covered some news stories we missed during our summer break in between guests. It was action-packed! 08:01 - Arin Reports with Karen Reporting 11:18 - Plug-Pass Promo 12:37 - Scott Corwin , Executive Director of NWPPA 19:49 - BPA rate case 22:09 - Scott Peters , CEO of Columbia Rural Electric Association 27:42 - Heat Dome 30:10 - Michelle Bertolino - Electric Utility Director for the City of Roseville & NWPPA Board President 36:50 - Mutual Aid help for Hurricane Ida 38:05 - Brad Janorschke , General Manager of Homer Electric Association 46:13 - The WRAP 47:27 - Bear Prairie , General Manager of Idaho Falls Power 54:28 - The Legislative Path to Increasing BPA Borrowing Authority 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
Mon, August 30, 2021
Season 3 is the season to ROLL ON ENTHUSTIASTS, ROLL ON! Public Power Underground took the summer off, but with kids headed back to school it's time for the fall season to kick off. We've got some plans. The plans are bound to change. The Underground's own Arin Guillory, CPA and Ian Bledsoe combined their talents to make this special Season 3 theme song inspired by Woody Guthrie's Roll On Columbia, but re-imagined for electric utility enthusiasts. We hope you enjoy, and are ready for the next adventure. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. 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
Fri, May 28, 2021
It’s the SEASON FINALE , and to celebrate the conclusion of another wonderful season of Public Power Underground we invited a special guest of honor, Susan Ackerman , to join us for an after dark, mailbag episode. Susan recently announced her retirement from her role as Eugene Water and Electric Board’s (EWEB) Chief Energy Officer. To celebrate her career and ask her deeply personal and occasionally inappropriate questions the Underground invited a cast of extraordinary characters from around the region to join the underground for the happy-hour-ish episode. Joining us for the episode were: Karen Heim , PPC’s Office Administrator and Public Power Underground’s Editor-at-Large Therese Hampton , PGP’s Executive Director who is making a debut appearance on Public Power Underground Megan Capper , EWEB’s Energy Resources Manager and Hero of the Underground Matt Schroettnig , EWEB’s Power Resources Counsel and member of the Anadromous Championship circle Humaira Falkenberg , Pacific Count PUD’s Power Resource Manager and enthusiastic public power advocate Betsy Bridge , NRU’s General Counsel emeritus and newly recruited Executive Producer for Public Power Underground Crystal Ball , BPA’s Fish & Wildlife Program Director and newly recruited Brand Manager for Public Power Underground Megan Stratman , NRU’s Rates & Policy Director and Special -all-the-topics-she’s-willing-to-talk-about-Correspondent We’re not sure when we’ll be back for Season 3, so hit the subscribe button so you’re notified of the Season Premiere! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Fri, May 21, 2021
It’s Harquahala Hypothesis! week on Public Power Underground! Northwest power markets are a topic of interest for the Underground, and we dive into a forward market theory on to start the news. After the market hypothesis, we talk to EWEB’s Jon Hart about his philosophy of market fundaments, check-in on transportation electrification with Clark Public Utilities’ Matt Babbitts, learn about public power recruiting from Energy Northwest’s Sarah Giomi, and revisit one of our recurring topics (Resource Adequacy) with PGP’s Lea Fisher. 01:48 - Arin Reports 04:10 - [an unplanned fishing update from celebrity angler, Brian Fawcett] 05:49 - Harquahala Hypothesis 06:47 - a Philosophy of Market Fundamentals w/ EWEB’s Jon Hart 14:49 - Debrief from BPA’s 2nd Quarter QBR Technical Workshop 15:38 - Clark Public Utilities’ Matt Babbitts on Transportation Electrification & APPA’s EV Toolkit 26:46 - CoBank Launched a Power Podcast 28:20 - Talk to Sarah Giomi about Energy Northwest’s public power utility internship program that was highlighted in February’s NWPPA Bulletin (page 16) 34:57 - Lamborghini announces an all-electric-car (and the F-150 Lightning was revealed) 44:28 - PGP ’s Lea Fisher talks NWPP’s RA program PUBLIC (POWER) SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re recording a special after-dark, mailbag episode with Best Friend of the Underground Susan Ackerman on May 26th. It will serve as Public Power Underground’s Season 2 finale. Don’t miss the sappy conclusion to the season, subscribe on YouTube, apple podcast, spotify, and here on substack to make sure you don’t miss the Season 2 finale or the Season 3 premier! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to
Thu, May 13, 2021
We’re Catching up on all-the-news! this week on Public Power Underground! After a restful week hiatus we’re back catching up on all we missed. Joining to get us up to speed were Clearing Up’s Steve Ernst, Forth’s Erin Galiger, and NRU’s Megan Stratman! 01:22 - Arin Reports 06:49 - Colonial Pipeline begins restart of operations after a cyberattack 09:15 - Clearing Up 's Steve Ernst joins to catch me up litigation and arbitration surrounding Colstrip 15:12 - Fitch Ratings issues Rating Action Commentary on Energy Northwest and BPA 16:29 - Debrief from BPA’s Q2 Quarterly Business Review 18:51 - Forth’s Erin Galiger joins the Underground to talk about electric tractors ! 26:25 - Ford F-150 Lightning is getting unveiled on a livestream May 19th at 6:30pm 28:59 - NRU ’s Megan Stratman joins to talk about the proposed BP-22 Rate Settlement and BPA’s Provider of Choice process 44:28 - Public Power Underground original reporting of our very own news story about Emerald PUD’s pandemic pet policy: An Ian Bledsoe Special Report PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re recording a special after-dark, mailbag episode with retiring Best Friend of the Underground Susan Ackerman on May 26th. Send us your mailbag questions by May 20th for us to talk about after-hours in a happy-hour-ish version of Public Power Underground! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at <a href="http://publicpowerunderground.substack.com" class="linkified" target
Fri, April 30, 2021
It’s Return Counts are Up! week on Public Power Underground! Some great guest news and insight from returning Friends of the Underground this week. There’s a lot going on in the region and we’re just trying to keep up. We also talk a lot about EVs, because we really find electric vehicle public charging interesting. 01:52 - Arin Reports 05:45 - Guest News : PNUCC’s Tomás Morrisey talks about the NRF 14:31 - Guest News : PNGC’s Greg Mendonca records a promo for an open position 19:47 - PPC’s Executive Director, Scott Simms, gives an update on their Blue Sky initiative 31:36 - Pole-Mounted Electric Vehicle Public Chargers 35:21 - PGE and Daimler Trucks North America build the first vehicle charging site specifically for heavy-duty trucks 38:50 - Steller sea lion removal news is back as the number of Chinook climbing Bonneville Dam fish ladders is on the rise 40:16 - Debrief from BPA’s April 27th Energy Imbalance Market Implementation Workshop PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re recording a special after-dark, mailbag episode on May 26th. Send us your mailbag questions for us to talk about after-hours in a happy-hour-ish version of Public Power Underground! We’ll be joined by MANY SPECIAL GUESTS AND ONE SUPER-SPECIAL CELEBRITY GUEST!!!! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Wed, April 21, 2021
It’s Resource Adequacy double-feature! week on Public Power Underground! We talk about the Northwest Power Pool’s Resource Adequacy program in back-to-back interviews. First with NWPP’s Chief Operating Officer, Gregg Carrington, and the second interview with Chair of WSPP’s Operating Committee, Matthew Schroettnig. And to get caught up on the BP-22/TC-22 rate cases we talk to PPC’s Mike Deen about what’s going on! 01:31 - Arin Reports 05:11 - Celebration of ClearingUp’s 2000th edition 07:22 - PPC’s Mike Deen joins to talk BP-22/TC-22 rate process 15:06 - PG&E’s Community Microgrid Enablement Program 18:01 - “ Agro-voltaic ” solar projects 21:11 - PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ; Ted Lasso, Season 2 is coming 22:17 - NWPP’s Gregg Carrington gives advice on approach to the RA program for those that aren’t power pool members 34:42 - Chair of WSPP’s Operating Committee, Matt Schroettnig, talks about how a RA product might go through the process to develop a standard product exhibit/rider 43:30 - Anadromous Championship Belt return counts w/ Karen Heim and Lauren Tenney Denison Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Thu, April 15, 2021
It’s Cluster of Symbiotic Markets! week on Public Power Underground! Naming for this week’s episode came from a wonderful interview of The Energy Authority’s (TEA) Director of Power Trading - West, Tu Phan. We also got a double-feature interview with Kurt and Austin from Northwest River Partners, and continued our series of interviews by Public Power Underground’s Special Salmon War Correspondent, Matthew Schroettnig, this time touching base with Northern Wasco County PUD’s Roger Kline about the future of the federal system and Public Power Council’s Blue Sky initiative. 01:43 - Arin Reports; 04:40 - TEA ’s Tu Phan joins to talk markets (and also talk NFT s and NBA Top Shots ); 17:05 - More about NFT s (definitely too much about NFTs); 18:41 - Seattle City Light’s microgrid test bed ; 19:22 - Northwest River Partners double - feature where we talk to Kurt Miller and Austin Rohr; 30:02 - Distribution Systems increasingly at risk for cyber attacks; 32:16 - Updated Genesis Forecast for Federal Hydro-generation; 33:56 - A shareable article about snow’s impact on the region that is accessible and fun even for people outside our industry; 34:58 - Matt Schroettnig interviews Roger Kline about the future of the federal system and PPC’s Blue Sky initiative; 52:13 - Correcting the record from last week, w/ some Charging Speed Fee promo Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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<
Thu, April 08, 2021
It’s Bring Your Ideas! week on Public Power Underground! A lot of guests and guest news this week. Arin Reports (01:16), Tacoma Power’s Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, talks about demand response (04:21), Puget Sound Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan identifies biodiesel peakers (19:30), Guest News from Oregon Department of Energy ’s Blake Shelide (20:46), Brian Johnson introduces Holly Dohrman’s interview on the post-2028 Provider of Choice process (26:24), Financial Times article on the next step in battery development (41:30), Debrief from April 7th Technical Management Team discussion (47:18), Guest News from NewsData’s Mark Ohrenschall on the upcoming Grid Resilience webinar (50:00), NewsData’s News Bulletin on Power & Transmission Customers call for BP-22 Comprehensive Settlement (54:46). Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Fri, April 02, 2021
It’s Be Curious! not judgmental week! on Public Power Underground! We had a great conversation with Energy Northwest’s Greg Cullen about all their non-CGS, got a special guest interview by EWEB’s Matt Schroettnig of BPA’s Crystal Ball, and covered a bunch of other fun public-power and public-power adjacent topics. Arin Reports (01:55), Energy Northwest news with their Vice President for Energy Services and Development, Greg Cullen (05:15), Checking on the California Duck Curve (23:20), EWEB sponsored content in Eugene Weekly about Electric Vehicles (25:50), Clark’s Lena Wittler and Seattle’s Debra Smith profiles in Public Power Current (26:37), Special, crossover podcast w/ APPA’s Public Power Now promo trailer (27:31), Biden administration’s infrastructure plan to bring broadband to all Americans (29:09), Special Salmon War Correspondent, Matt Schroettnig, interviews BPA’s Director of Fish & Wildlife, Crystal Ball (30:08), Debrief of Northwest River Forecast Center’s water supply briefing (45:13), BREAKING NEWS: The Power Department is hiring!!! (46:47) Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Wed, March 31, 2021
In a special, crossover podcast the host of APPA's Public Power Now, Paul Ciampoli, and Public Power Underground's Paul Dockery interview APPA's Vice President of Strategic Member Engagement & Education, Ursula Schryver, about APPA's upcoming National Conference. https://www.publicpower.org/public-power-now https://www.publicpower.org/event/national-conference Public Power Underground, it's work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. https://publicpowerunderground.substack.com/ 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
Thu, March 25, 2021
It’s Best and Brightest Week! on Public Power Underground! We have two guest co-hosts (NRU’s Megan Stratman and Clatskanie PUD’s own Sarah Johnson) and a special celebrity guest star (Libby Calnon) participate in the show where we debut a brand new public-power-adjacent show on Slummin’ w/ the Underground. I force the guest co-hosts to read ad copy I’ve written to recruit to public power. Don’t miss the great ad copy, great content, and great conversation about hiring, jobs, and recruiting for jobs in public power. Arin Reports (03:49), Electric rate design news from Tacoma Power (06:35), Guest News from NWPCC’s John Ollis on the 2021 Power Plan (08:42), Status update on BPA’s BP-22 Rate Case (13:51), Hydro-generation update (16:56), 30 second summary of our SPP Market+ episode (18:34), Slummin’ w/ the Underground: Best and Brightest Edition with Hood River Electric Cooperative’s Libby Calnon where we talk about recruiting new people to public power jobs (20:44) Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Tue, March 23, 2021
SPP agreed to sit down for an interview to talk about the Market+ concept they unveiled at the March 4th Members Forum. It’s the centerpiece of this, bonus, episode of Public Power Underground – Premium!. Bookending the discussion with SPP’s Steve Johnson are conversations with public power professionals from the region to provide context. PPC’s Mike Linn sets the stage for why markets matter to Northwest public power (01:32), SPP’s Steve Johnson joins Public Power Underground as a refresher on the Market+ concept (21:47), Humaira Falkenberg (Pacific County PUD), Lauren Tenney Denison (PPC), and Robert Cromwell (Seattle City Light) join to debrief and digest the concept from a Northwest public power perspective (50:31), UPSET ALERT: The Public Power Underground Anadromous Championship Belt for the Best Friend of the Underground, Because they Keep Coming Back HAS BEEN CLAIMED (01:31:24). Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Fri, March 19, 2021
It’s One Year! on Public Power Underground! We don’t do any run downs of what happened a year ago, instead we have a Ted Lasso inspired pep talk to start the episode (01:14). There is a visual bit at the end of the pep talk, so you might check out that portion on youtube. Then we got to work! We have an interview with Tacoma’s Clay Norris about CAISO’s EDAM process (16:55), talk electrification with EWEB’s Megan Capper (34:56), and cover lots of other public power and public-power-adjacent news. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Fri, March 12, 2021
It’s Friends and Neighbors Week on Public Power Underground! The crew was VERY LOOSE this week with a lot of spring sunshine vibes going on. I think you’ll really enjoy the banter, and the content. We got a guest lede from Clearing Up’s KC Mehaffey about an article she wrote (23:03), got to talk to PPC’s Executive Director, Scott Simms, about virtual events and remote work (26:17), and PPC’s Lauren Tenney Denison returned to talk about PPC's Special Meeting Series with BPA on Potential Resource Adequacy Program Participation (38:53). Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Wed, March 10, 2021
In a special, bonus, episode the Underground tackles The Scourge of Seasonal Time Change. Joining the Underground to tackle the issue is the Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC), Shauna McReynolds, the Power Resource Manager for PUD No 2 of Pacific County, Humaira Falkenberg, and the Executive Director of the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA), Scott Corwin. We manage to have great banter while doing a deep-dive into the practice of transitioning between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time twice a year in an even less serious, more-happy-hour-ish version of Public Power Underground we’re calling Public Power Underground - after dark. Public Service Announcement: It is with no pleasure I remind everyone that Daylight Saving Time begins at 2am this Sunday, March 14th, 2021 when clock time will jump from 1:59am to 3:00am skipping an entire hour, costing us an hour of sleep, and screwing up circadian rhythms. Also Public Service Announcement: Scott wants everybody to head over to NWPPA's website to sign up for the E&O conference. Do me a favor and help him out! https://www.nwppa.org/training-and-education/conferences/eo/ Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Thu, March 04, 2021
We’re Breaking News this week on Public Power Underground! Arin Reports (03:04), APPA's profile of women in high-voltage trades (06:06), RMG Financials’ Reid Grossman joins to talk about counterparty credit in the aftermath of the winter freeze event (07:19), Debrief from BPA’s IRP 2 Workshop (23:03), Idaho Power’s Customer Growth (25:52), Guest Lede by PPC’s Aaron Bush on the March 1stPublic Power / BPA Carbon Forum (32:18), Debrief from the NWRFC’s Water Supply Briefing (32:40), Snohomish County PUD’s Brian Booth joins to talk electric rates (34:20), BREAKING NEWS: SPP unveils Markets+ concept at PPC Members Forum w/ special guest lede by PPC’s Lauren Tenney Denison (46:44), BREAKING NEWS: Public Power Underground unveils the Anadromous Championship Belt (49:24). Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Thu, February 25, 2021
It’s Use Your Illusions of Choice week on Public Power Underground! We’re excited to be joined by a slew of celebrities of the region this week to spice things up. Karen Heim joined as a guest co-host, (07:02) Matt Schroettnig interviews Bo Downen about the Simpson Concept, (32:52) Greg Mendonca talks about the NW Power Pool’s Resource Adequacy program, and (43:44) Kurt Miller does a special guest readout about NOAA Fisheries Science Center’s recent report. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com . 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
Fri, February 19, 2021
Power markets are a hot topic this week, and we didn’t shy away from diving into the conversation. It’s Extreme Weather and Extreme Adventurer week on Public Power Underground! On the first half of the episode we’re serious (for us) as we talk about Northwest power markets (02:34), have Ansergy’s Mike Griswold on to talk about next week’s market outlook (05:14), debrief on the current state of the extreme weather events (13:03), and cover some other northwest public power news (16:00). The second half (18:10) we loosen up with NRU’s John Francisco on this month’s edition of “Slummin’ with the Underground”. We'll be back next week on February 25th to talk more about northwest public-power and public-power-adjacent topics. Get on the email list at publicpowerunderground.substack.com 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
Thu, February 11, 2021
It’s EVs and Great Stories week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by D&R International’s Sr. Director Electric Transportation, John Morris to talk about what electric vehicle manufacturers have in store for us(10:24), and we got an Oral History of the Energy News Digest (25:41) from Joel Myer (it’s Publisher) and Sarah Johnson (Clatskanie PUD’s Customer Relations & Services Manager). As always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports (04:02) and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop (08:51). 04:02 - Arin Reports08:51 - Public Power Desktop10:24 – John Morris on EVs25:41 – An Oral History of the Energy News Digest w/ Joel Myer and Sarah Johnson48:56 - Plug-Pass promo We’re on most podcast apps, including apple and spotify .We’re recording the next episode February 18th, 2021, and have a special guest appearance scheduled by, Friend-of-the-Underground, NRU’s John Francisco who has agreed to answer deeply personal and occasionally inappropriate questions knowing full well we’re going to be incredibly judgmental of his answers in a popular segment we like to call “Slummin’ w/ the Underground”. Get on the email list at publicpowerunderground.substack.com 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
Fri, February 05, 2021
It’s It Takes a Process week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by Snohomish County PUD’s Manager of Power Supply, Garrison Marr to talk about IRPs, and returning champion, Friend of the Underground, and Rates and Policy Director for NRU, Megan Stratman to talk about revenue financing in BP-22. And in true Public Power Underground fashion, we’re debuting a brand new innovation in Northwest Public Power infotainment: Zoom Duels! 02:40 - Arin Reports; 07:30 - Public Power Desktop; 10:24 – Garrison Marr on IRPs; 25:41 – Megan Stratman on Revenue Financing; 38:39 – Zoom Duel!: Ranting Power Manager vs. Banjulele Virtuoso; 42:40 - Plug-Pass promo 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
Fri, January 29, 2021
It’s Coalition of the Willing week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by BPA’s Rachel Dibble to talk about Resource Adequacy and PNGC’s Roger Gray to talk about a investigating a Northwest RTO/ISO. As always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop. 05:03 - Arin Reports; 09:35 - Public Power Desktop; 10:46 – Roger Gray on Northwest RTO/ISO; 28:16 – Rachel Dibble on Resource Adequacy; 47:04 - Plug-Pass promo 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
Fri, January 22, 2021
It’s Breach-Ladder-Repower week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by PPC’s Karen Heim on a re-vamped version of Slummin’ w/ the Underground where we had a lot of fun and toned down the overall seriousness we’ve gotten into with Public Power Underground. As always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop. 02:21 - Arin Reports 05:48 - Public Power Desktop 09:23 – Slummin’ w/ the Underground 42:14 - Plug-Pass promo Public Power Underground is as a northwest public power info-tainment series that began as awkward forced fun time for the Power Department 44 weeks ago when we altered our work arrangements at the start of an ongoing pandemic and has evolved into a coping mechanism to stay connected and informed about what’s happening in the industry. 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
Thu, January 14, 2021
It’s Resource Adequacy week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by Susan Ackerman to talk about the Northwest Power Pool’s Resource Adequacy program, Mark Ohrenschall to talk about NewsData’s upcoming webinar on Electric resource Adequacy in California and the West, and lastly by Mike Linn to talk about CAISO’s Summer 2021 readiness initiatives. It was a fun week of banter while covering important topics, as always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop. 02:38 - Arin Reports 06:34 - Public Power Desktop 08:51 - Susan Ackerman joins to talk about NWPP’s RA program 21:52 - Mark Ohrenschall joins to talk about NewsData’s upcoming webinar 30:26 - Mike Linn joins to talk about CAISO’s readiness initiative 39:53 - Plug-Pass promo 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
Thu, January 07, 2021
Public Power Underground is a pandemic diversion written, edited, and published by the Power Department. We cover Northwest public power and public-power-adjacent news with occasional special guest correspondents to talk about regional topics. In this week’s episodes we stuck to the basics: covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and running through public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop. 02:33 - Arin Reports 05:54 - Public Power Desktop 18:58 - Plug-Pass promo 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
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