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Listen in as Bryce Yonker, executive director of Grid Forward, talks with regional and national leaders who are working to modernize the electric grid. In about half an hour, Grid Forward Chats will give you candid insights, new observations and a feel for how our utilities, grid operators, government offices and technology providers think, feel and grapple with the fast evolving energy landscape.
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Season III of Grid Forward Chats kicks off with Energy Impact Partners' (EIP) Managing Partner and Founder Hans Kobler. 2021 was a banner year for grid and energy venture investments. Hans shares perspectives about the landscape for fund raising by grid innovation companies which seem poised for strong continued activity after reaching record levels. EIP recently raised a $1B fund which in just a few months has already committed to about 70% of its investments. Our series sponsor for Grid Forward Chats is Itron. To learn more about about building tomorrow’s active grid visit them at www.itron.com.
Major corporate entitles, in particular the big tech companies, are rapidly accelerating their positions in expanding clean energy and supporting the energy transition. Microsoft ramped up its commitment earlier this year to 100% clean energy for the entire reach of its company, 100% of the time, by 2030. That is certainly an ambitious target and meeting it will bring a diversity of lessons for the industry along the way. Listen is as we talk with Brian Janous, General Manager of Energy and Renewables at Microsoft on the role of their partners (including utilities), what they are learning along the way, and how they believe they can meet their significant commitments.
For this session we talk with Jay Brister of General Fusion and one of their early investors and Board members Wal Van Lierop about the future of fusion energy. We hear about their recent demonstration plant in the UK, how they see the tech advancing, the difference in regulation vs fission nuclear energy, and much more. Can the future of a deeply decarbonized grid happen without fusion? Is the tech still far in the future? listen into the discussion for the latest and judge for yourself.
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What if you could ask the author of 2020 book Power After Carbon, 'OK, what’s next'? Listen in as Scott Harden of Microsoft interviews Peter Fox Penner about energy policy, measuring impact and foundational clean energy technology. Want to dive in deeper on the aspects of business models in the energy transition and how they will impact each link in the system? Get a copy of Peter’s book Power After Carbon here. Produced by Grid Forward.
How does the US Department of Energy Loan Office actually work to finance clean energy? Audrey Lee of Microsoft asked the source, the new director Jigar Shah. The conversation highlights a number of breakthroughs in the energy sector and how senior debt from the federal government helps accelerate them. Hear how Jigar describes the role of the loan office, how they plan to put their billions of dollars of funds to use, and how you can get involved.
To go deeper on the topic of his recent article, “Beyond solar and wind: 10 steps to meet President Biden's clean electricity target,” Bryce Yonker chats with Michael Pesin, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Jennifer Potter, Hawaii PUC Commissioner; and Bill Ritter, former Colorado Governor and Director, Center for New Energy Economy. The conversation ranges from distributed energy ("In Hawaii, DERs are our one choice.") to R&D ("That's what we need to get to 100%.") to investments ("We know: hardware is hard.") and more. Don’t miss this live recording featuring three expert viewpoints in one lively discussion. Produced by Grid Forward.
Representative Joe Fitzgibbon leads the the Washington State House Energy & Environment Committee and has made fighting climate change a priority for his more than 10 years in service in the state congress. The 2021 legislative session has been an especially busy one with the narrow passage of two major pieces of policy: a low carbon fuel standard as well as a carbon tax. Added to the clean energy legislation from 2019, the state has one of the most aggressive packages to set a path for decarbonization not only of the energy system but the overall state economy. Our discussion covers lessons and insights from the state's historic legislative actions with Rep Fitzgibbon guiding at the helm. Produced by Grid Forward.
We got the chance to sit down with the new CEO of GridWise Alliance Karen Wayland. She shared her perspectives on the priorities for grid modernization from the new administration, as well as the possibility of significant funding for expanded capabilities for the grid through infrastructure investment via the America Jobs Plan. You'll find a lot to learn from her broad experience and perspectives in this episode. For more details see the $50B policy framework for modernization funding prepared GridWise Alliance. This podcast produced by Grid Forward.
In part two of our two-part discussion with Elliot Mainzer, the President and CEO of CAISO, we discuss how the organization and region are taking lessons from the last year into plans going forward. Hear insights on the importance of resource diversity, priorities for decarbonization pathways, how the region is collaborating and preparing for future stresses to the system, efforts to consider resource adequacy, and other topics. Produced by Grid Forward.
In the first episode of our two-part series, we hear from new President and CEO of the California ISO Elliot Mainzer. After a longer career at Bonneville Power Administration, including the last seven years as Administrator, Elliot moved over to head up CAISO in October of 2020. Tune in to hear his thoughts on the roles of regional markets and the plans CAISO has for upcoming summer and beyond. Produced by Grid Forward.
From their start as an Italian utility to becoming a multinational energy solutions provider targeting 67 GW of capacity with clean energy resources, Enel and Enel X are leading the way in the deployment of new energy opportunities. Listen to our conversation with Surya Panditi, CEO of Enel X North America, as we explore the various leading-edge capabilities that they are bringing across the globe to help grid operators and other energy stakeholders. Produced by Grid Forward.
Our new Grid Forward Chats podcast goes deep with Commissioner Neil Chatterjee of the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee. During his tenure, FERC issued significant rulings about the opportunity for aggregated DERs to access markets, interconnection for storage and related resources, expanding the potential of cloud investments, and other key topics. Listen into our discussion about the role that markets and the federal regulator plays among the rapid dynamics unfolding in the electric sector. Produced by Grid Forward.
Dr. Ryan Wartena grew Geli to be the leading software and storage optimization solution provider over the last decade. Now Geli is part of solar leader Q CELLS where Ryan is now VP of Strategy. Listen into this fascinating discussion on the evolution of the organization as it drives open a wider space in the industry. We also dive deep on how market dynamics need to evolve to unlock big advances of the FERC Order 2222. Will storage and integrated edge solutions be entering a new frontier and bring the flexibility and resiliency our energy systems are requiring? Ryan thinks so. Listen to see if you agree. Produced by Grid Forward.
Season two of Grid Forward Chats kicks off with special guest host and a former guest Debra Smith, general manager and CEO of Seattle City Light, in discussion with Paula Gold Williams the President & CEO of CPS Energy in San Antonio Texas. As these two municipal power leaders talk, they cover various topics around the acceleration of innovation on our grid, including as Paula puts it how to "blend the tried and the true with the new.” We hope you are inspired by the authentic leadership both Paula and Debra bring to their organizations and the practical ideas they share for how we can progress our energy systems to meet rapidly evolving changes. Produced by Grid Forward.
During the closing session of our GridFWD 2020 virtual event, Hunter Lovins (President, Natural Capitalism Solutions) led a discussion with Ralph Cavanagh of NRDC and Elliot Mainzer, the new CEO and president of the California ISO. This lively discussion covers future of distribution utilities, the role of regional markets, the impact of distributed resources, solutions for resilient systems and much more. If you haven’t heard these folks talk before (or even if you have many times) do yourself a favor and listen into this deeply thought-provoking, but also very applied, discussion. Produced by Grid Forward.
Grid Forward hosted Alice Jackson, President of Xcel Energy Colorado during the opening session of our virtual GridFWD 2020 event. Listen in as she walks through what it takes for a major utility to create a roadmap to a fully clean energy future. From system modernization and electrification to transmission and regional market access, this discussion covers all the elements needed to achieve such an ambitious milestone. As one of the first major utilities to make this commitment, Xcel is poised to be a leading force for grid modernization and clean energy across the Rocky Mountain and Midwest states. Produced by Grid Forward.
Bryce chats with Lisa Grow, President and CEO of IDACORP, Inc. and Idaho Power, the largest electric provider in the state, about their commitment to a fully clean energy mix. In the path to a clean energy future they are looking to expand transmission capacity, optimize participation in regional markets, develop modern grid capabilities and more. Hear about what Lisa thinks around the role of Idaho Power, and utilities more broadly, in the future of the electric grid. Produced by Grid Forward.
In this lively discussion with Colorado PUC Chair Jeffrey Ackermann we explore how well-established plans from 2019 are relevant going into 2021. Colorado is deep into energy transition areas with, for example, Xcel Energy driving for a fully decarbonized energy mix, the expansion of electrified transportation, and a modern infrastructure that can accommodate both. This chat spans many current topics around distribution system planning, allocating risk and rewards, funding innovation, empowering customers, distributed-vs-large scale solutions, and much more. And find out which one of us is a dog person vs which is a cat person — both of our companions crash the conversation! Produced by Grid Forward.
After spearing the REV proceedings in New York, Audrey Zibelman headed down under to lead the Australian Energy Market Operator which recently issued its Integrated Systems Plan for the national power market in Australia. We talk with Audrey across a wide diversity of topics: from trends in market structure and integration of deep levels of distributed assets, to how energy markets with deep renewables near zero marginal cost deal with familiar issues like minimum load and voltage regulation. If you have not heard Audrey before, buckle up for profuse insights that cut right into the most dynamic aspects of electric industry. Recorded at the Grid Forward virtual Annual Member Meeting August 20, 2020.
Listen into our in-depth conversation with Carl Imhoff who beyond his role with Pacific Northwest National Labs (PNNL) leads the Grid Modernization Lab Consortium, a partnership of the U.S. national labs. PNNL and other national labs are doing both basic and applied research to make the power grid more resilient, flexible and secure. Don't know much about dynamic contingency analysis or remedial action schemes for grid operational continuity? This is a great chance to get up to speed. Working on networked phasor measurement units, future grid architectures or grid scale storage? Get a sense for how our national resources are working to move them ahead. Listen into what PNNL and the national labs are doing to support industry. Produced by Grid Forward.
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