Power Plays

As Amazon has set consumers’ expectations and COVID changed workers’ expectations, running an electric co-op demands nimble leadership and innovation. In this episode of Power Plays, two authors of a new Rural Electric Management Development Council white paper share how they’ve taken charge of their co-ops’ destinies. 

We’ve all seen scary headlines portraying an overwhelmed electric grid on the brink of collapse. But there is optimism and opportunity. Offering up specific solutions, Larry Bekkedahl with Portland General Electric and Jeff Smith with EPRI explain in this episode of Power Plays how to the industry can meet the challenge.

Consumers in different regions of the U.S. are paying vastly different prices for natural gas — the consequence of notoriously slow pipeline projects. In this episode of Power Plays, Bethel King and Dr. Robert Brooks, principal researchers at RBAC, explain the primary regional drivers that will influence the price you’ll pay for natural gas. 

When the largest commercial real estate company in the world says power is the No. 1 priority for data center operators — and they’re coming to rural America — we’re all ears. Pat Lynch, CBRE’s global head of data center solutions, joins CoBank’s Chris Shaffner and Jackie Bove on this episode of Power Plays to discuss planning, financing, credit, and the related balancing act for electric distribution cooperatives.

Where are utilities finding the greatest value for their AI investments? Using concrete examples from their own co-ops, Jason Bowling of Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative in Arizona and Chris VanLokeren of North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives share how they are making better decisions, faster.

A decade ago, rampant predictions assumed solar and battery storage would render the century-old electric utility business model obsolete and trigger a “utility death spiral.” But the reality is just the opposite. In this episode of Power Plays, leaders of Middle Tennessee Electric and Tennessee Valley Authority explain how they are using DER to transform their regional grid. 

After demonstrating clean energy projects can succeed in rural areas, NRECA is putting more partnerships into practice. Its CARED project is creating a consortium of seven rural co-ops ops — including Minnesota Valley Electric — to deploy microgrids. In this episode of Power Plays, NRECA’s Tolu Omotoso explains how the DOE-funded project will create solutions hundreds of co-ops can scale and replicate.

Artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionize the power utility space, enhancing efficiency, reliability, and environmental impact. In this episode, power utility AI experts from NVIDIA, EPRI and Utilidata explore emerging opportunities, from predictive maintenance and optimized energy generation to boosting grid management and developing smart grids.

Climbing electricity demand is forcing utilities to make weighty investment decisions – at the same time interest rates and inflation have hit 50-year highs. In this episode of Power Plays, CoBank thought leaders JT Parker, Matt Hale and Justin Merkowitz give their 2024 outlook, from balancing new demand to the changing nature of assets and new approaches to managing interest rate risk. 

Winter storms and cyber attacks are commonly thought of as the risks to electric reliability. But now joining that list is energy policy. In this episode of Power Plays, Jim Matheson, the CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, delves into how the aggressive timeline for EPA’s proposed rules to reduce power plant emissions threatens electric system reliability, especially for co-ops.