People in Power – A NewsData Podcast

Travis Kavulla, the new CEO and administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, talks with Steve Ernst and Abigail Sawyer about regional market-choice considerations as he recently laid out in a letter to the Regional Organization for Western Energy; his plans for accelerating the expansion of BPA transmission; load and resource pairing; his preparation and philosophy for leading the federal power-marketing agency; and, of course, salmon and tribal relations.

In this episode of People in Power, California Energy Markets Managing Editor Jason Fordney interviews Ziad Alaywan, founder and CEO of ZGlobal Inc. Ziad details what his firm does and also provides a fascinating history of his experiences helping stand up the California Independent System Operator and witnessing the California energy crisis of the early 2000s. Ziad, who had a front-row seat to the market manipulation of Enron and others, describes the incredible stress and complexities of managing a brand-new wholesale market and all the fallout of this interesting yet dark period in California energy history. 

Crystal Ball tells all about her background at the Bonneville Power Administration, PNUCC’s Northwest Regional Forecast, gas-electric coordination, and how power is all about people.

Chair Tawney discusses her path to being a regulator, the challenges and opportunities of meeting rising demand in Oregon, and how it relates to knitting!

This episode of People in Power features Danielle Hughes, a long-time resident of Lake Tahoe and CEO of Tahoe Spark (Supporting Permanent Affordable Residential Kilowatts). Tahoe Spark is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit regional energy and public policy organization focused on energy affordability, climate resilience, infrastructure transparency, and regulatory oversight in Liberty Utilities’ California service territory. According to Hughes, Liberty residential utility customers lack a say in energy planning and procurement, a situation she says state energy regulators are allowing to happen. She also explores issues around the process by which Liberty is going about securing a new energy supply contract after its previous one was canceled by NV Energy.

Energy and Environmental Economics Partner talks with CEM Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer about the changing shape of resource adequacy in the Desert Southwest as utilities try to thread the needle on reliably meeting a new level of "baseload demand" while striving for affordability and meeting state clean energy goals. 

In this episode of People in Power, California Energy Markets Staff Writer Linda Dailey Paulson dives into Western energy prices, which due to a variety of factors have seen extreme volatility, including negative prices in the triple digits. Along with CEM Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer and CEM Managing Editor Jason Fordney, Linda takes a general look at real-time and 15-minute day-ahead power price trends, exploring topics such as what increased renewables mean, why batteries are not able to take up excess solar, and what's happening with demand.

In this episode of People in Power, Kelly Fukai talks about her new role as CEO of the Northwest Gas Association, the role of natural gas as a firm resource in an era of growing demand, and baseball!

Greg Mason, Associate Editor of Clearing Up, interviews Larry Bekkedahl, senior vice-president of advanced energy delivery at Portland General Electric, about his retirement from the energy industry after 40 years, his perspective on the region’s load projections, and his advice to grid operators on maintaining reliability.

In this episode of People in Power, Abigail Sawyer talks with Peter Ferrell, senior director of government relations for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, about supply chain challenges and how they are affecting the buildout and modernization of the U.S. electric grid. From tariffs, trade and immigration policy to workforce shortages and natural disasters, supply chain concerns are contributing to numerous other challenges facing electric utilities as they work to improve and expand the complicated system that delivers power to a growing number of end users.