Energy Solutions: A Podcast From EPSA

Joining us for this episode is Christina Hayes, executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG), a nonprofit coalition of labor and environmental groups, clean energy buyers, renewable developers, transmission developers, and utilities. ACEG focuses on deploying high capacity transmission, which it says is the most cost effective and reliable way of decarbonizing the grid.  

Hayes shares just how early she started working in public policy (the answer will surprise you), some of the top focus areas for ACEG, how she sees the energy “trilemma” working out — and just why transmission permitting is ACEG’s #1 priority.  

Plus, don’t miss her joint op ed written with EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler on energy policy needs that transcend partisan divides. 

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Pipefitters, pipeliners, and welders install and maintain the essential building blocks of the nation’s energy grid.  A labor union leader representing these essential workers, Derrick Kualapai joins us for this episode of Energy Solutions. He shares how manufacturing is changing through a shifting energy landscape and how those changes impact workers, why his industry is so essential to the nation’s energy expansion, and exactly how much power – and how many human beings – go into manufacturing the intricate parts of our infrastructure which most of us take for granted. Derrick paints a picture of what union laborers in construction and manufacturing do, how they see a “just transition” playing out, and what he wants policymakers to prioritize.

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To meet the nation’s rising demand for electricity, we need to build a lot of power generation, and fast, and keep what we have. What’s the best way to get there? What policies and market foundations can best incentivize the investment and enable the buildout needed while mitigating costs and keeping the grid reliable? 

In part 2 of the final episode of our four-part series exploring the challenge and opportunity presented by rising power demand, we interview competitive power experts and executives from Alpha Generation, Calpine Corporation, and LS Power.

See Calpine's press release on expansion of generation development efforts in the PJM region.

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To meet the nation’s rising demand for electricity, we need to build a lot of power generation, and fast, and keep what we have. What’s the best way to get there? What policies and market foundations can best incentivize the investment and enable the buildout needed while mitigating costs and keeping the grid reliable? 

In part 1 of the final episode of our four-part series exploring the challenge and opportunity presented by rising power demand, we interview state and national policy leaders Texas Representative August Pfluger and Arizona Commissioner Lea Marquez Peterson.

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Meeting the rapid growth in electric demand posed by AI and data centers, manufacturing, electrification, and other factors requires a significant buildout of electric power resources on a tight timeline. Solving for decarbonization and reliability adds to the challenge – requiring not just existing generation resources, but new technologies and innovative approaches. For competitive power suppliers, the challenge is also an opportunity. Independent power producers are at the forefront of both providing existing dispatchable generation and connecting critical new resources to the grid – including battery storage, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, more efficient gas generation, and more. We hear from Competitive Power Ventures, Invenergy, and Vistra Corp. on the solutions they’re currently providing and what they’re eyeing for the future.  

This is the third episode in a four-part series from Energy Solutions, exploring the challenge and opportunity presented by rising power demand, policy and market design considerations, and ways to meet the moment. 

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Rapidly rising electric power demand driven by data centers and AI, manufacturing growth, the push to electrify the economy, and other factors means we’re going to be asking a lot of America’s energy infrastructure. What is the current state of the power grid? With reliability concerns already on the horizon, how will the need to connect and run not just new megawatts or gigawatts – but terawatts – of power impact the system? What kinds of power generation will be needed to keep the lights on, and how are system planners keeping pace? Reliability watchdog Jim Robb of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, analyst Christi Tezak, and Aftab Khan, who leads operations, planning, and security for the nation’s largest grid operator, PJM Interconnection, weigh in. 

This is the second episode in a four-part series from Energy Solutions, exploring the challenge and opportunity presented by rising power demand, policy and market design considerations, and ways to meet the moment.

Episode Guests: 

• Jim Robb, president and CEO, North American Electric Reliability Corporation
• Aftab Khan, executive vice president of operations, planning, & security, PJM Interconnection
• Christi Tezak, senior director, ClearView Energy Partners LLC

The opinions and analysis presented in this episode represent the viewpoints of the speakers, not necessarily those of the Electric Power Supply Association.

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Electric power demand has been estimated to skyrocket over the next decade, with some saying growth could double from projections made just two years ago. AI and the rush to build large energy-intensive data centers, a domestic manufacturing resurgence, and electrification trends are some of the key factors driving this thirst for electricity. In this episode, guests including Wall Street Journal reporter Jennifer Hiller, stock market analyst Anthony Crowdell, and Karen Onaran, the head of the national trade group for large industrial energy consumers, weigh in on the numbers and key drivers of load growth. 

This is the first episode in a four-part series from Energy Solutions, exploring the challenge and opportunity presented by rising power demand, policy and market design considerations, and ways to meet the moment. 

Episode Guests: 

• Anthony Crowdell, managing director, Mizhuo 
• Jennifer Hiller, energy reporter, The Wall Street Journal 
• Karen Onaran, president and CEO, Electricity Consumers Resources Council  

The opinions and analysis presented in this episode represent the viewpoints of the speakers, not necessarily those of the Electric Power Supply Association.

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Washington, D.C. may be the nation's capital, but it sources nearly all of its power generation from other states – presenting unique considerations for the head of its Public Service Commission. In this episode, DCPSC Chairman Emile Thompson shares how the district’s position gives both a local and national perspective on energy priorities. How is the Chairman thinking about the energy expansion – and how to support the three-legged stool of reliability, cost-savings, and decarbonization? What does Thompson want policymakers and regulators to keep in mind about energy and innovation?

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Amid rapid decarbonization and skyrocketing demand, America’s power grid is straining to continue providing homes and businesses with reliable electricity. What technologies are innovators investing in to combat these challenges? Covarrubia Energy Chairman and CEO Russell Covarrubia joined us for this episode to break down what exactly pyrolysis means – and why it’s opened a door for reducing plastic waste while adding much needed power to the grid.  

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What does a previous federal energy regulator have to say about markets, reliability, and the current state of the energy grid today? We got the scoop from Joseph T. Kelliher, former chairman and commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and former NextEra energy executive. Joe helped shape how competitive power markets function today, establishing structures that guard against market manipulation, encourage reliability, and protect consumers. He also oversaw the implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Listen as Joe sits down with EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler and highlights some of the key moments in his career at the Commission – and how they inform today’s challenges. 

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