T&D World Live

Peter Hubbard joins the T&D World Live podcast to discuss the challenges of keeping electricity affordable and reliable as Georgia experiences significant growth in electricity demand. 

As electricity demand accelerates from AI data centers, electrification and other large loads, utilities are facing a difficult question: How can they invest in the infrastructure needed for future growth while keeping electricity affordable for customers? In this episode of T&D World Live, we speak with Stephanie Cutter, EY Global and Americas Power and Utilities Leader, and Greg Guthridge, EY Global Power and Utilities Customer Experience Transformation Leader, about the growing tension between grid investment, reliability, affordability and customer expectations.

In this episode of the T&D World Live Podcast, we speak with Suresh Kotha, chief information officer for Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). We explore how SMUD is connecting digital technology, grid operations, AI and increasingly granular data to address a range of challenges facing utilities — from growing electricity demand and distributed energy resources to wildfire mitigation, cybersecurity, reliability and decarbonization.

In this episode, Ted Gardner, Application Engineer for Overhead Solutions at Marmon Utility, joins David Ketchen, Assistant General Manager of Littleton Electric Light & Water Departments, for a practical conversation about how covered conductor and aerial cable systems can help utilities address real-world reliability challenges.

This episode is sponsored by Marmon Utility LLC.

In this episode of the T&D World Live podcast, Chris Campbell, senior director of OT services for Salt River Project, talks about how the Arizona utility is adapting its operations and technology to a rapidly changing grid.

U.S. electricity demand is accelerating — driven by AI, hyperscale data centers, industrial growth, transportation electrification and changing consumer needs. But can the grid expand fast enough to keep pace?

In this T&D World Live episode, Editorial Director Nikki Chandler talks with Bridget Bartol, Executive Director for Grid, Industry & Regulatory for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), about the organization's Grid Reliability Study, which projects a 55% increase in electricity demand by 2050. They discuss why the challenge isn't simply about generating more power, but also about moving existing generation to where it is needed.

The conversation covers grid-enhancing technologies, advanced transmission, reconductoring, dynamic line ratings, demand response, storage, vehicle-to-grid technologies, data center interconnection, supply chains, permitting reform and the growing workforce gap.

Bartol also shares NEMA's priorities for policymakers and offers an optimistic view of what the U.S. grid could look like if the industry accelerates investment, innovation and workforce development.

As utilities confront an unprecedented wave of retirements, accelerating grid modernization and rapidly growing electricity demand, workforce readiness has become one of the industry's most pressing priorities. In this episode, T&D World Editorial Director Nikki Chandler speaks with Dr. James Merlo of the North American Generator Forum and Scott Summers of Index AR Solutions about why traditional training approaches are no longer enough — and how multimodal, immersive learning is helping utilities prepare the next generation of skilled workers.

The conversation explores the intersection of human performance, engineering psychology, digital learning technologies and operational excellence. Together, the guests discuss how utilities can shorten training timelines, preserve critical institutional knowledge, improve safety, and strengthen grid reliability while adapting to a rapidly changing workforce.

As wildfire risk continues to reshape electric utility operations, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is rethinking how technology, data and engineering can dramatically reduce risk while minimizing customer disruption. In this episode, T&D World's Jeff Postelwait sits down with Andy Abranches, Vice President of Wildfire Mitigation at PG&E, to explore how one of North America's largest utilities has transformed its wildfire strategy over the past several years.

The conversation covers PG&E's efforts to reduce the need for Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), deploy AI-enabled continuous grid monitoring, expand weather intelligence, prioritize undergrounding, refine enhanced power line safety settings (EPSS) and collaborate with utilities across the industry. Andy explains how advances in predictive analytics, machine learning, remote sensing and new field technologies are helping utilities detect problems earlier, respond more precisely and build a safer, more resilient electric grid while carefully balancing affordability and reliability.