The Power Up Podcast

Utilities are facing growing pressure to modernize the grid, manage affordability, and meet rising customer expectations, all while building and maintaining trust.

Tim and Sara sit down with Vincent Davis, Chief Customer Officer and Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at PG&E, to explore what it means to keep customers at the heart of utility decision-making, and how technology, partnerships, and transparency can help utilities prepare for what’s next.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: How utilities can keep customers at the heart of decisions as the energy system changes.

Overview: Vincent shares how PG&E is working to build customer trust through transparency, accountability, and consistent action while balancing affordability with the need to invest in and modernize the grid. The conversation also explores the role of AI in wildfire resilience and customer service, the potential impact of data center growth, changing customer expectations, and why human support remains essential.

Highlights:

• Why customer trust depends on transparency, accountability, and follow-through

• How PG&E is approaching affordability while investing in and modernizing the grid

• How data centers could make use of existing capacity and spread grid costs across more customers

• Where PG&E is using AI, from wildfire detection to customer service

• How customer expectations for visibility, control, and personalized service are changing

• Why human support remains essential as utilities adopt new technologies

• How public and private partnerships can help modernize the grid and address wildfire risk

  
  

Featuring insights from Vincent Davis of PG&E, this conversation explores how utilities can strengthen customer trust, embrace new technologies, and modernize the grid while keeping affordability and the customer experience at the center.

Water utilities are navigating a new era of climate risk, aging infrastructure, cybersecurity threats, and rising affordability pressures. Tim and Sara sit down with Michael Luu, Senior Vice President of Corporate Services and Chief Risk Officer at California Water Service Group, to explore what it takes to keep safe, reliable water flowing—and how technology can help utilities prepare for what’s next.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: How water utilities can strengthen resilience, protect critical infrastructure, and use technology responsibly while keeping customers at the center.

Overview: Michael shares an inside look at the work behind every turn of the tap, from water-quality testing and infrastructure investment to emergency preparedness and digital security. The conversation also examines the role of smart meters, AI, data centers, and cross-sector partnerships in shaping the future of water.

Highlights:

• What it takes behind the scenes to deliver reliable, safe water every day

• How utilities prioritize risks including drought, wildfires, cyberattacks, aging infrastructure, and affordability

• Why cybersecurity begins with procurement, supply-chain integrity, and secure system design

• How smart meters and machine learning can help customers manage water use and avoid unexpected bills

• The balance between conservation, infrastructure investment, grants, and keeping rates affordable

• What resilience looks like when water, energy, telecommunications, transportation, and other critical sectors must respond together

• How Cal Water is approaching AI governance, pilots, and workforce adoption—with AI as a job enhancer, not a replacement

• Why tap water can be a safer, more affordable, and more sustainable choice than bottled water

  
  

Featuring insights from Michael Luu of California Water Service Group, this conversation explores the essential systems, people, and long-term thinking required to protect one of our most vital resources.

As AI adoption accelerates across the enterprise, utilities face a new challenge: Understanding where AI is being used, what it costs, and what risks it may introduce. Tim and Sara explore the rise of shadow AI, the importance of governance, and why visibility is the foundation for responsible innovation. Featuring insights from Arti Raman, CEO of Portal26, and Joe Boggio, Head of Partnerships.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: How utilities can adopt AI responsibly while protecting critical infrastructure, managing cost, and turning experimentation into measurable value.

Overview: Utilities cannot simply lock AI down, but they also cannot manage what they cannot see. In this episode, Tim and Sara are joined by Portal26’s Arti Raman and Joe Boggio to discuss how organizations can uncover AI activity across the enterprise, strengthen governance, manage runaway token costs, and identify where AI is creating real business value.

Highlights:

• Why shadow AI and shadow agents are becoming major enterprise risks

• How AI visibility supports security, compliance, cost control, and adoption

• Why utilities face unique AI challenges as critical infrastructure providers

• How leaders can move from defensive governance to value realization

• The role of human judgment, industry expertise, and trusted advice in the AI era

• How Slalom and Portal26 are partnering to help utilities innovate responsibly

Featuring insights from Arti Raman and Joe Boggio of Portal26, this conversation explores how utilities can balance innovation and control as AI becomes part of everyday work.

As utilities navigate unprecedented change driven by electrification, AI, aging infrastructure, renewable energy, and rising customer expectations, public power utilities face a unique challenge: how do they modernize while keeping energy affordable and staying deeply connected to the communities they serve?

In this episode, Tim sits down with Vanessa Barbarisi, incoming CEO & General Manager of the Springfield Utility Board (SUB), to explore the evolving role of municipal utilities in the energy transition. Drawing on leadership experience across investor-owned utilities, public power, and electric cooperatives, Vanessa shares why returning home to lead her hometown utility is both a personal and professional milestone, and why community remains the industry's greatest strength.

Hosts Tim and Sara also have some fun exploring Springfield, Oregon's connection to The Simpsons, discuss what makes utility careers so rewarding, and wrap up with leadership lessons, AI, and a little Springfield trivia.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: How can municipal utilities balance affordability, reliability, customer expectations, and technological innovation while leading their communities through the energy transition?

Overview:

The future of utilities isn't one-size-fits-all. Every community has different energy needs, infrastructure challenges, customer expectations, and growth opportunities. Municipal utilities are uniquely positioned to respond quickly, build stronger community relationships, and tailor investments to local priorities. From grid modernization and AI to workforce development and water management, this conversation explores how utility leaders can navigate one of the most transformative periods in the industry's history while keeping customers at the center of every decision.

Highlights:

• The differences between investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and electric cooperatives

• Why affordability has become the defining challenge of the modern energy transition

• How smaller utilities can leverage local knowledge to make smarter technology investments

• The growing relationship between electricity, water, AI, and data center development

• Why workforce development and skilled trades are critical to the future of utilities

• How AI can improve utility operations while maintaining strong governance and customer trust

• Leadership lessons on navigating complexity, building resilient teams, and creating cultures where people thrive

  
  

Featuring insights from Springfield Utility Board CEO & General Manager Vanessa Barbarisi, this conversation explores how community-focused leadership, thoughtful innovation, and long-term planning will shape the next generation of public power utilities.

As electricity demand accelerates driven by AI, data centers, electrification, and economic growth, battery storage is moving from a niche technology to critical infrastructure.

In this episode, Tim sits down with Jeff Monday, Chief Growth Officer at Fluence Energy, to explore why energy storage is becoming one of the most important tools for building a more reliable, affordable, and flexible grid. Drawing on his unique background leading growth at Apple and Qualcomm before entering the energy industry, Jeff shares an outsider's perspective on one of the fastest-changing sectors in the world.

Hosts Tim and Sara also have some fun with battery trivia, explore the surprising history of energy storage, and discuss whether the famous "duck curve" could someday become a "snake curve" as utilities learn to better orchestrate distributed energy resources.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic:

What role will battery storage play in meeting the explosive growth in electricity demand while balancing reliability, affordability, and sustainability?

Overview:

Battery storage is no longer just a backup power source. It is becoming an active grid asset capable of responding in milliseconds, supporting renewable integration, reducing peak demand, improving resilience, and helping power the AI revolution. As utilities, policymakers, and technology companies race to meet unprecedented energy needs, storage is emerging as a critical piece of the future energy ecosystem.

Highlights:

• Why AI and data center growth are creating a new energy race

• How battery storage supports reliability, affordability, and grid flexibility

• Why flexibility, not just more generation, may be the key to the future grid

• How utilities are evolving from operators to orchestrators of distributed energy resources

• The impact of battery technology, supply chains, and domestic manufacturing on energy security

• Lessons from global energy markets, including Australia, Europe, and the United States

• What policymakers should understand about storage as critical infrastructure

Featuring insights from Fluence Chief Growth Officer Jeff Monday, this conversation explores how batteries are reshaping the future of power and why the next chapter of the energy transition may depend as much on flexibility as generation.

What if the biggest challenge facing the power industry isn’t technology, but trust?

In this episode, Tim sits down with Michael Lee to explore “Retail 2.0,” the rise of distributed energy, and why the future grid depends on flexibility, customer engagement, and smarter orchestration, not just more infrastructure.

From AI-driven demand to shifting incentives, this conversation challenges how we think about building the grid of the future.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: What happens when the grid shifts from a one-way system to a dynamic, customer-driven platform?

Overview: As the energy landscape evolves, the path forward may not be about building more, but using what we have more intelligently. This episode explores how flexibility, coordination, and trust could redefine the future of power.

Highlights:

• The rise of “Retail 2.0” and why customer flexibility is the new competitive edge

• How distributed energy resources (DERs) can reshape grid economics

• Why trust, not technology, may be the industry’s biggest barrier

• The impact of AI, data centers, and electrification on demand growth

• Rethinking utility business models: from infrastructure builders to platform orchestrators

In this special Earth Day episode, Tim and Sara take a step back from the headlines to explore one of the biggest levers we have to impact the planet: electricity.

Because while Earth Day often brings to mind recycling, planting trees, or driving less, the reality is that nearly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity and heat production making the power sector central to any meaningful progress on sustainability.

So, what’s actually moving the needle?

Featuring insights from industry expert Mike Grable, this episode dives into the real-world challenges behind building a more sustainable grid from integrating renewables and scaling storage to managing explosive demand growth driven by AI and data centers.

Along the way, Tim and Sara keep things grounded with a mix of optimism, hard truths, and a few reality checks, unpacking what’s working, what’s not, and where the industry still has work to do.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: What does sustainability really look like for the grid and can we achieve it without compromising reliability and affordability?

Overview:As the push for cleaner energy accelerates, utilities are navigating a complex balancing act. Sustainability today isn’t just about reducing carbon — it’s about delivering resilient, reliable, and affordable power in a world of growing demand and increasing uncertainty.

Highlights:

• Why electricity is one of the biggest drivers of global emissions and opportunity 

• How sustainability and reliability are becoming fundamentally linked 

• The realities of integrating renewables, storage, and new technologies 

• What extreme weather events have taught us about grid resilience 

• The growing impact of AI, electrification, and data center demand 

• Why the energy transition is a mix of technologies, trade-offs, and timing

What if the moment that changed your life also defined your life’s work?

In this episode, Sara sits down with emergency management leader Mona Freels, whose career began at just nine years old after surviving a house fire that trapped her family inside. That experience led her to the Red Cross and ultimately to more than three decades of leadership across nonprofit, public, and utility sectors.

Mona shares how emergency management has evolved into a formal profession, what it takes to lead during high-stakes crises, and why the most effective leaders aren’t chasing titles; they’re focused on mastering their craft.

Hosts Sara and Tim also explore how utilities are adapting to increasingly complex emergencies, from wildfires to cascading infrastructure impacts, and why communication and coordination matter more than ever.

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Hosts: Sara Tupac & Tim Stafford

Topic: How purpose-driven leadership, strong communication, and cross-sector coordination shape effective emergency management in an era of increasing risk.

Overview: Emergency management isn’t just about responding to disasters. It’s about preparation, partnerships, and making critical decisions with incomplete information. This episode explores how utilities and emergency leaders can better support communities when it matters most.

Highlights:

• How a childhood house fire led Mona to a lifelong career in emergency management

• Why leadership starts with self-awareness, not job titles
• The unique strengths women bring to crisis leadership
• How utilities prepare for complex, high-impact emergencies
• Why “one voice” communication can make or break a response
• The role of partnerships and interdependencies across critical infrastructure
• How to stay calm, make decisions quickly, and support teams under pressure

Wildfires are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more complex to manage — especially as communities expand deeper into the wildland-urban interface. In this episode, Tim sits down with firefighter and EMT Dave Uhler for a candid conversation about what really happens in the critical moments after a wildfire ignition.

Drawing on his experience responding to emergencies across the Pacific Northwest, Dave shares how fire seasons are changing, why timing and situational awareness are everything on the front lines, and what utilities and first responders must do to work together more effectively.

Hosts Tim and Sara also bring their usual mix of energy trivia and industry insights — from wildfire prevention myths to the surprising role humans play in starting most fires.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: Why communication and coordination between utilities and first responders can determine whether a wildfire stays small — or becomes catastrophic.

Overview: Wildfire mitigation isn’t just about infrastructure — it’s about relationships, communication, and the speed of information when every minute matters.

Highlights:

• How wildfire seasons are changing and why fires are burning longer and hotter

• What firefighters need most from utilities during active incidents

• Why detection speed and de-energization timing can change the outcome of a fire

• The operational challenges of responding around energized infrastructure

• The critical role of communication between utilities, emergency services, and communities

As the energy industry turns the page to 2026, Tim and Sara look ahead at what’s coming next for the grid — from rising demand and renewable integration to the growing role of AI. This episode blends forward-looking insights with a little fun, including surprising home energy facts, a lightning round, and a few spirited debates about duck curves, elephant bellies, and “negawatts.”

The conversation features Remi Raphael, Chief AI Officer at EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute), who shares how artificial intelligence is shaping the future of power systems and what utilities should be preparing for now.

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Hosts: Tim Stafford & Sara Tupac

Topic: What will it take to power a more electric, data-driven, and AI-enabled world in 2026 and beyond?

Overview:
For the first time in decades, electricity demand is accelerating — driven by data centers, electrification, and emerging technologies. Utilities must strengthen grid resilience, integrate diverse energy resources, and adopt new tools to operate faster and smarter. This episode explores the trends, myths, and technologies that will define the next phase of the energy transition.

Highlights:

o Why the grid’s “New Year’s resolution” should be resilience and flexibility
o The biggest myths about renewable energy — and why reliability is achievable
o How flexible demand, storage, and forecasting can reshape the duck curve
o Why nuclear remains a critical source of carbon-free generation
o What “negawatts” really mean for capacity and reliability markets
o How AI-powered agents could help utilities respond faster than humans ever could

Featuring insights from EPRI Chief AI Officer Remi Raphael, this episode offers a thoughtful — and entertaining — look at where power, technology, and innovation are headed as we move into 2026.