People in Power – A NewsData Podcast

In this episode of People in Power, we hear from Mark Groves, vice-president of program development and innovations at the Northwest Lineman College. Mark, also a member of the International Lineman Hall of Fame, discusses with California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney his background as a lineman; what he looks for in lineman candidates; the rewards and challenges of this work, including its physicality and effects on family life; what it’s like working storms; what you can learn from the old-timers; and nearly sinking a boat while on the job, while grizzled fisherman watch and place bets.

The latest episode of People in Power features a conversation with Arne Olson, a principal at Energy and Environmental Economics, or E3. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience on Aug. 22 at NewsData's 2025 Western Energy Summit in Boise, Idaho. CEM Managing Editor Jason Fordney and Associate and Southwest Editor Abigail Sawyer discussed a broad range of topics with Arne, including resource-adequacy concerns in the West; future loss of load; generation adequacy in the Northwest; Western markets versus Eastern RTOs; lithium-ion batteries; and other interesting items.

California Energy Markets Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer and Dan O'Brien, senior modeling analyst for Energy Innovation, discuss the implications of the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act and other federal policy shifts on the Western energy landscape. Will the earlier end of tax credits for renewable energy make a difference, or have renewables already won in the marketplace? How will new demands around sourcing solar panels and raw materials from China affect development and costs for U.S. energy consumers? Will the nation be able to meet the increasing demand for power or be stymied by these shifts in policy? Dan brings his knowledge about these questions. He offers insight about how the legislation will affect energy costs in different states and how some states might push back against new policies as  the nation's energy future transforms.

The latest episode of People in Power provides an up-to-the-minute update on the extended day-ahead market with Kathleen Staks, chair of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative Launch Committee. Staks and California Energy Market’s Jason Fordney and Abigail Sawyer discuss new governance structure for EDAM with the official joining of the market by Public Service Company of New Mexico; the status of legislation in California that would enable a new regional organization to govern the market; jitters among California lawmakers about influence by President Donald Trump if California gives up any decision-making power; and worries about the break-up of the Western Energy Imbalance Market. At stake is billions of dollars in market transactions, regional grid reliability and the ability to integrate renewables across the region.

On this episode of People in Power, California Energy Markets Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer talks with Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, about California's unprecedented rate increases over the past several years, the factors driving those increases and what can be done to keep power bills from continuing to rise. Toney doesn't hold back in offering his opinions on reasonable wildfire safety measures, who should pay for them, and whether the California Public Utilities Commission is doing its job.  He also discusses legislation currently before California lawmakers that TURN believes could slow the upward advance of utility rates.

New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Gabriel Aguilera discusses how his 15 years at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission prepared him for his role as a state utility regulator with California Energy Markets' Southwest Editor, Abigail Sawyer.  Aguilera also offers his take on the emergence of competing day-ahead markets and regional transmission organizations in the Western U.S., the implications of market competition for the New Mexico PRC, and the importance of green chile in attracting energy investment to the state. 

On this edition of People in Power California Energy Markets Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer discusses the role of community choice aggregation in California with Beth Vaughan, CEO of CalCCA. In their 15-year history in California, CCAs have presented a model for innovation and contributed to the radical reshaping of California’s electricity generation, delivery and consumption. With affordability, uncertainty and flexibility currently on everyone’s minds, CCAs seem poised to continue innovating, with novel approaches to transmission development, new generation resources and substantial growth. The CCA model is also becoming appealing to other states, which are considering how to enable choice for electricity consumers.

Transmission in the West is a huge topic nowadays, with many more lines and additional infrastructure needed to meet renewable-energy goals and maintain grid reliability in the face of significant load growth. This episode of People in Power features Neil Millar, vice president of transmission planning and infrastructure development at the California Independent System Operator, the man who guides CAISO’s multibillion-dollar annual planning process. Neil is also responsible for managing new generation interconnections across CAISO’s territory—a lot of responsibility, indeed. Check out this insightful interview on People in Power.

Hear from the nation's top reliability official as he and California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney explore the topic of grid reliability. Generation retirements, load growth through data centers and electrification, and more frequent extreme weather are among the challenges facing grid planners and reliability officials. This episode digs deep into the issues, including the challenges of more inverter-based resources on the grid, gas-electric coordination, and how New York City almost lost its natural gas supply in what would have been a catastrophic event. Don't miss this one-on-one with an official who is on the front lines of the reliability situation!

People in Power Episode 8: NewsData Reporter Roundtable! Looking to update your knowledge of emerging Western wholesale energy markets? This episode of People in Power features three experts on the topic, California Energy Markets Managing Editor Jason Fordney, Clearing Up Editor Steve Ernst and California Energy Markets Associate Editor and Southwest Editor Abigail Sawyer. They discuss both the California Independent System Operator’s extended day-ahead market and the competing proposal from the Southwest Power Pool, Markets+. You can hear about the latest dynamics around the markets, from solving the thorny governance issue to the effectiveness of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative to where the Bonneville Power Administration will land. This is a critical listen for anyone involved in Western energy markets! 

In the latest episode of NewsData's People in Power, upstream natural gas drilling executive Jason Sandel, chair of the Western States and Tribal Nations Energy Initiative, sits down with Abigail Sawyer to discuss the value of Rocky Mountain-sourced natural gas for providing electric reliability and heat in the West. Sandel, who runs a family-owned drilling and well-servicing business in the San Juan Basin, also discusses how natural gas producers can pivot to drilling geothermal and advanced-geothermal wells to provide emissions-free baseload power with little to no investment in new equipment or retraining.

In this episode of People in Power, Chatterjee, former energy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, discusses what to expect from the new federal administration in terms of energy. Some of his thoughts are surprising, such as Trump’s embrace of clean energy, and how Trump is concerned about his legacy. First nominated to FERC by Trump in 2017. Chatterjee describes how Trump isn’t doing anything he didn’t say he was going to do, and offers some personal insights into the president. Other topics include winning the artificial intelligence war against China and bringing down the cost of electricity.

In the latest episode of People in Power, Abigail Sawyer and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association CEO Duane Highley discuss  threading the needle to satisfy diverse interests across a multi-state territory and the G&T cooperative’s decision to join the Southwest Power Pool’s RTO West expansion. 

For this episode of People in Power, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney speaks with Will Abrams, a leading wildfire survivor advocate who discusses some disturbing developments around compensation for wildfire victims in California—a situation stretching back years and tied to the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric in 2020. These developments include wildfire victims not getting paid; Wall Street hedge funds, attorneys and others profiteering off the proceedings; and state legislation that is designed more to benefit utility shareholders than wildfire survivors. Abrams, who is a participant in legal proceedings related to wildfire survivor compensation, takes us through a series of observations that provide great insight into the plight of wildfire survivors. Abrams is a tireless advocate for wildfire victims who has taken his message to the state Legislature in Sacramento.

Antoine Lucas, Southwest Power Pool's VP of markets, talks with California Energy Markets Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer about waiting for federal approval of Markets+, SPP’s day-ahead market offering for load-serving entities in the West. Further regulatory delays could have implications for Markets+, which is in direct competition with the California Independent System Operator's extended day-ahead market. That competition, Lucas says, is good for everyone. Listen to the conversation on the latest episode of NewsData's People in Power.

Jason Hunter, a former employee of Riverside Public Utilities, is still looking for answers regarding contracting activity he witnessed at the organization years ago. Bolstering his claims of wrongdoing is the fact that some of the individuals involved in the alleged activity are now serving prison sentences for later activities at Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. It’s a wild story complete with employee harassment; police harassment; Federal Bureau of Information raids on LADWP offices; and conflicts of interest, as well as shell companies, luxury cars and beachfront condos.Hunter alleges that after years of seeking the truth and seeking an audit of the contracting activities he witnessed more than a decade ago, the alleged crimes were never punished. He is still waiting for the City of Riverside to perform the audit, which nobody can seem to complete.Check out the latest episode of People in Power to hear the whole story.

The effort to create a regional wholesale energy market in the West moved forward in 2023 when a group of state regulators from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington advanced a proposal “for ensuring that the benefits of wholesale electricity markets are maximized for customers across the entire Western U.S.” This led to the creation of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, driven by stakeholders across the West who realize the reliability and cost benefits that could be created with a wider wholesale market that includes California. In the inaugural episode of People in Power, NewsData’s Jason Fordney speaks with Kathleen Staks, director of Western Freedom and a member of the WWGPI Launch Committee, about the effort. This interview was conducted just prior to the issuance of WWGPI’s Step 2 proposal, which would create a new regional organization to oversee the market. NewsData's Abigail Sawyer also shares her thoughts about observing the demolition of the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico.

Virtual power plants are an old idea being revolutionized by new technology. VPPs bundle distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar, demand response, energy storage and electric-vehicle chargers, into a single grid-scale resource. Proponents say they are essential to decarbonizing and meeting growing demand. The U.S. Department of Energy says VPPs could provide as much as 20 percent of demand in 2030. John Manetti and Aaron August come on Energy West to talk about Puget Sound Energy's VPP, which launched in November. It is about 30 MW now. The company plans to expand it to at least 86 MW by the end of 2025 and could provide 10 percent or more of the company's demand in just a few years. 

In the latest episode of NewsData’s Energy West podcast, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney interviews Kyri Baker, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, about her research into the locational marginal pricing methods currently used by most independent system operators. During her research, Baker noticed that LMPs mimic the behavior of direct-current circuits, leading to her research paper published in late March. Tune in to Energy West for details on this entirely new way to understand wholesale energy pricing in ISOs!

Demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning is booming—and so is AI’s energy demand. AI requires massive amounts of computing power, which means huge data centers need to be built to enable AI’s widespread adoption.AI’s energy demand is expected to grow faster than new generation comes on line. Solving that will be hard enough, but differences between the tech industry and the electric power industry make it even more difficult in some ways. The tech industry evolved with a move-fast-and-break-things ethos, while the electric power industry is one of the most heavily regulated and conservative industries in the country. Developing a new data center takes 12, 18, maybe 24 months, whereas adding new generation and transmission takes years.Tech and power are odd bedfellows, and while they are getting to know each other better, they still have plenty more to learn.Ben Lee, a computer scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the handful of people in the country who works in the space between the electric power industry and big tech. He says there are opportunities for the two to work more productively together. There are also some things that likely will not make much of a difference to accommodating AI demand in the near future, such as time-of-use rates.