Grid Geeks is on hiatus for while...but, check out this new podcast: Electrify This! with host Sara Baldwin. This podcast explores the burgeoning movement to electrify everything as a core strategy to decarbonize all sectors of our economy. Three experts highlight the most important policy, regulatory, and market issues surrounding electrification of transportation and buildings. What are leading states are doing right? How will the new Biden-Harris Administration tackle clean energy? What can decision-makers can do to ensure the movement to electrify is equitable for all? Subscribe to Electri ..read more

Introduction Electrify This! - a new podcast devoted to the theme of electrification for decarbonization. Electrify This! features electrification experts from around the world who are advancing the transition of all sectors of our economy to 100 percent clean electricity. Hosted by Sara Baldwin, Energy Innovation's Electrification Policy Director (and former Grid Geeks podcast host), the show will explore the policy, regulatory, and market issues surrounding electrification of transportation, buildings, and industry, and demystifies complex issues to better understand the challenges and ident ..read more

Distributed energy resources (or DERs) – such as distributed solar or wind, demand response, and energy storage – have long been touted as part of the solution to create a more flexible, resilient and clean electric grid. These DERs are growing in popularity and the demand for consumer-sited resources is surging, as prices drop and people seek greater energy security. Yet, despite their fanfare, DERs still remain a relatively small percentage of the electricity grid and an underutilized resource when it comes to utility distribution system operations and planning. DERs have the potential to yi ..read more

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, utilities and system operators have continued to manage and operate the electric grid, while dealing with a number of challenges, including: keeping utility employees safe, responding to abrupt changes to electricity demand, protecting customers and preserving reliability. In this episode of Grid Geeks, I discuss the challenges and experiences brought by COVID-19 with two electrical energy industry experts: Dean Sharafi, who heads System Management for the South-West Interconnected System in Australia and Senior Member of IEEE and Member of the IEEE Power Ener ..read more

Applicable across nearly every sector, energy efficiency is a pervasive and untapped resource capable of transforming our economy. Not only a key climate change solution and the most cost-effective energy resource available, energy efficiency also helps reduce harmful pollution, creates jobs and saves consumers and businesses money. Yet, despite its fanfare among energy nerds, energy efficiency is an often overlooked resource. In this episode of Grid Geeks, I speak with Rachel Gold, Director of the Utilities Program for the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and Christin ..read more

In this episode of Grid Geeks, we investigate the efforts underway to reform the traditional regulated utility business model, as a means to remove the underlying economic disincentives for utilities to enable and/or support more aggressive clean energy policy goals (including increased deployment of distributed energy resources and energy efficiency). I speak with Hannah Polikov, Managing Director of Advanced Energy Economy, and Dan Cross-Call, a Principle with the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Electricity Practice to learn more about the drivers for these efforts, how different states are appro ..read more

Connecting renewable energy resources to the electric grid in most places requires access to new or existing transmission. However, the current pace of transmission expansion plus policy, regulatory and permitting challenges all pose substantial barriers to transmission and renewable energy project development. In this episode of Grid Geeks, I speak with Nina Plaushin, Vice President, Regulatory and Federal Affairs for ITC Holdings Corp and Amy Farrell, the Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), to dig into the key trends and iss ..read more

As we mark the two-year anniversary of Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, Irma, and Jose, and with Hurricane Dorian having just ravaged the Caribbean and now impacting the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard, the resilience of the electric grid is still a front-and-center conversation. Yet, in spite of the growing number of more severe natural disasters and man-made events impacting the electric grid, efforts to place a value on resilience are still relatively nascent. In this episode of Grid Geeks, I talk with two experts on the topic of resilience, Wilson Rickerson, Principal with Converge Strategies, and ..read more

The growing movement to electrify our transportation sector is beginning to reshape our economy, the environment and public health. The transportation sector now exceeds the electricity sector in terms of its overall contribution to greenhouse gas pollution, and the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) can reduce tailpipe emissions and clean up the air we breathe. But as we move to electrify vehicles, how do you get help people get over their range anxiety and make EVs more mainstream? What are states doing to lead the charge for EVs? How are federal actions impacting EV market growt ..read more

It has been a little over two months since the November 2018 midterm elections and the 116th United States Congress has commenced – with new members in both the Senate and House and a new majority in the House. Across the States and U.S. Territories, there are 20+ new Governors taking office, which means new cabinet appointments and new policy priorities. In addition, numerous new state legislators are taking office and state legislative sessions are getting underway. On today’s episode of Grid Geeks, I talk with three federal and state policy experts about the impacts of the 2018 elections on ..read more