Public Power Underground is a pandemic diversion written, edited, and published by the Power Department. We cover Northwest public power and public-power-adjacent news with occasional special guest correspondents to talk about regional topics.

In this week’s episodes we stuck to the basics: covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and running through public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop.

02:33 - Arin Reports
05:54 - Public Power Desktop
18:58 - Plug-Pass promo

It’s Resource Adequacy week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by Susan Ackerman to talk about the Northwest Power Pool’s Resource Adequacy program, Mark Ohrenschall to talk about NewsData’s upcoming webinar on Electric resource Adequacy in California and the West, and lastly by Mike Linn to talk about CAISO’s Summer 2021 readiness initiatives.

It was a fun week of banter while covering important topics, as always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop.

02:38 - Arin Reports
06:34 - Public Power Desktop
08:51 - Susan Ackerman joins to talk about NWPP’s RA program
21:52 - Mark Ohrenschall joins to talk about NewsData’s upcoming webinar
30:26 - Mike Linn joins to talk about CAISO’s readiness initiative
39:53 - Plug-Pass promo

It’s Friends and Neighbors Week on Public Power Underground! The crew was VERY LOOSE this week with a lot of spring sunshine vibes going on. I think you’ll really enjoy the banter, and the content. We got a guest lede from Clearing Up’s KC Mehaffey about an article she wrote (23:03), got to talk to PPC’s Executive Director, Scott Simms, about virtual events and remote work (26:17), and PPC’s Lauren Tenney Denison returned to talk about PPC's Special Meeting Series with BPA on Potential Resource Adequacy Program Participation (38:53).

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

Katherine Blunt, author of California Burning, joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss the eras of the electric sector (Taylor's Version).

To celebrate Taylor Swift’s April 19th release of The Tortured Poets Department (and Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology), Katherine Blunt, Crystal Ball, and Paul Dockery recorded a special, bonus, episode dedicated to the Eras of the Electric Sector.

Katherine Blunt is the author of California Burning; The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid which is the most approachable introduction to the history of the electric sector ever published! The book interprets, unpacks, and conveys the complex history of Pacific Gas & Electric, and, through it, provides an introduction to the history of the electric sector as well. Katherine Blunt joined Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery for an interview that’ll be part of an upcoming, regular, episode of Public Power Underground, but while we were together we took some time to record a discussion of the sector’s history.

In the recording (and attached 20 slide power point) Katherine, Crystal, and Paul explore the history of the electric sector and Pacific Gas & Electric through Taylor Swift’s discography.

The exploration answers the age old question of what electric sector milestone Taylor Swift wrote “You Belong With Me” about. And, because you know it’s what you wanted, there’s an official Eras of the Electric Sector Spotify playlist.

Yes, my wife and I share a Spotify account. And, yes, my whole family contributed to the playlist including the additions, modification, and resorting of songs like “The Last Great American Dynasty” starting the Efficiency Era instead of “Cardigan” and the addition of Jimmy Carter’s sweater speech as an electric sector milestone. But, no, we didn’t get a preview of The Tortured Poets Department to include songs from the new album in the playlist. 

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Dr. Kyri Baker, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Colorado, makes a return visit to discuss the use of artificial intelligence for power grid optimization. Plus, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, Ahlmahz Negash, and Paul Dockery wrap the interview with an explanation of AI and all its acronyms.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

01:19 - 30 second theory

• Farhad Billimoria on “What is OPF?”
• Conleigh Byers on “What’s the difference between artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Deep Learning, Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINN), Large Language Models (LLM), generative AI, and general intelligence?”

14:28 - Dr. Kyri Baker: Using AI and Machine Learning for Power Grid Optimization

• Using AI and Machine Learning for Power Grid Optimization: How Neural Networks Can Speed Up Optimal Power Flow
• Baker, Kyri. "Emulating ac opf solvers with neural networks." IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 37.6 (2022): 4950-4953.
• Baker, Kyri, and Harsha Gangammanavar. "Locational Marginal Prices Obey DC Circuit Laws." arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.19032 (2024).

1:06:14 - Updating our Priors

• Chatzivasileiadis, Spyros, et al. "Machine learning in power systems: Is it time to trust it?." IEEE Power and Energy Magazine 20.3 (2022): 32-41. APA

1:23:26 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

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photo credit Carl Bower for The New York Times

Katherine Blunt joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss her reporting at the Wall Street Journal on the energy industry and her book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid.

Matthew Schroettnig joins Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery for the rest of the episode to cover utility risks, load growth, and the current landscape of America’s power grid.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

03:13 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a suite of standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as toxic air pollution, water pollution, and land contamination from fossil fuel plants
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM) updated regulations on Broadband Authorization, Cost Recovery, and Vegetation Management for Fire Risk Management
• Letter from twenty-six entities from across the West to the Southwest Power Pool expressing interest in continuing the development of Markets+
• Portland General Electric is seeking approval for a new, 7.4 mile, 115 KV transmission line
• Spot market power in the U.S.
• Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)
• Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly Update
• Hedging and Tail Risk in Electricity Markets

18:39 - Katherine Blunt joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss her reporting at the Wall Street Journal on the energy industry and her book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid

• California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid
• Wildfires Make Utilities a Tricky Investment. Just Ask Warren Buffett.
• Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

49:13 - Katherine Blunt’s analogy; the grid is like a network of roads and highways

51:08 - Updating our Priors

1:07:20 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings

1:08:11 - Matt Schroettnig’s analogy; electricity is like water in a biome

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Apoorv Bhargava discusses his work at WeaveGrid optimizing electric vehicle charging within distribution systems. The interview is wrapped by context and insights from the regular hosts: Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

01:21 - 30 seconds of Theory

• Farhad Billimoria on Distribution System Operators (DSOs)
• Conleigh Byers on Transactive Energy
• Ahlmahz Negash on the Energy Equity Gap

10:28 - Apoorv Bhargava on WeaveGrid and the Grid

53:38 - Apoorv Bhargava’s analogy; the electric grid is like a well stocked bar

1:00:27 - Updating our Priors

• Fred Scweppe: Power systems `2000': hierarchical control strategies
• Paul Joskow & Richard Schmalensee: Markets for Power

1:20:24 - Community Planning as Energy Planning

• We Need to Make Cities Less Car-Dependent, Scientific American, 2024
• Car harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environment, Journal of Transport Geography, 2024

1:28:20 - ESA World Cup Standings

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul debrief on coverage of FERC Order 1920 then discuss resource adequacy, hedging tail risk, and preview business capability models.

Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, and Farhad Billimoria scan news stories after FERC’s release of Order 1920, then Conleigh Byers explains Resource adequacy, and Farhad Billimoria explains Hedging & Tail Risk in Electricity Markets.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

03:17 - Short-to-Ground (FERC Order 1920 Edition)

• On May 13th the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a sweeping long-term transmission planning and cost-allocation rule aimed at modernizing the grid
• In the Special Transmission Reform Meeting, Chair Willie Phillips said the U.S. faces "an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society."
• FERC is helping to pave the way for a much-needed investment in our transmission infrastructure
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s fact sheet for Order 1920 states that the grid rule contains five major elements:
  1. Requirement to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning to anticipate future needs.
  2. Requirement to consider a broad set of benefits when planning new facilities.
  3. Requirement to identify opportunities to modify in-kind replacement of existing transmission facilities to increase their transfer capability, known as “right-sizing.”
  4. Customers pay only for projects from which they benefit.
  5. Expands states’ pivotal role throughout the process of planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission facilities.
• “Landmark transmission reform could dramatically speed US energy transition”
• Large Public Power Council’s president, John Di Stasio’s, written statement
• Americans for a Clean Energy Grid’s Executive Director, Christina Hayes, applauded FERC for finalizing a, quote, “strong and comprehensive regional planning and cost allocation rule.”
• Spot market power in the U.S.
• Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)
• Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly Update

41:03 - Hedging and Tail Risk in Electricity Markets By: Farhad Billimoria , Jacob Mays , Rahmat Poudineh

Abstract: A concern persistent in scarcity-based market designs for electricity over many years has been the illiquidity of markets for long-term contracts to hedge away volatile price exposures between generators and consumers. These missing markets have been attributed to a range of factors including retailer creditworthiness, market structure and the lack of demand side interest from consumers. Using a stochastic equilibrium model and insights from insurance theory, we demonstrate the inherent challenges of hedging a legacy thermal portfolio that is dominated by volatile fat-tailed commodities with significant tail dependence. Under such conditions the price required for generators to provide such hedges can be multiples of the expected value of prices. Our key insight is that when the real-world constraints of credit and financing are considered, the volatility of thermal fuels and their co-dependence under extremes may be a key reason as to why electricity markets have been incomplete in terms of long-term hedging contracts. Counterintuitively, in the context of the energy transition, our results show that, ceteris paribus, increasing the penetration of low carbon resources like wind, solar and energy storage, can add tail-diversity and improve contractability.

22:16 - The Future of Resource Adequacy in a Decarbonized Grid w/ Conleigh Byers

Conleigh Byers Resource Adequacy Harvard Energy Policy Seminar 25 4.93MB ∙ PDF file DownloadDownload

1:02:23 - Institutions in the electric sector are evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift, but are their business models evolving with them?

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Rich Glick initiated the proceedings that led to Order 1920 as Chair of FERC, he returns to Public Power Underground with experts Prof. Jacob Mays and Pamela Quinlan to reflect on its adoption

--------------------

Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball bring their curiosity to an in-depth discussion of transmission planning, transmission investment, and transmission policy with Rich Glick, Pamela Quinlan, and Prof. Jacob Mays.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

08:48 - Rich, What were you hoping for?

• FERC 2022 - 2026 Strategic Plan
• Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission

32:33 - Pamela, Does this do what you wanted?

• Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation
• High-Level Summary of FERC Order No. 1920 on Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation published by Troutman Pepper (h/t Adrienne Thompson)
• “Plan for the future with the best available information, select the best plan for consumers and allocate costs according to benefits" - Rob Gramlich on Volts

1:05:15 - Jacob, What is missing?

• Shu, H. and Mays, J., 2024. Transmission Benefits and Cost Allocation under Ambiguity. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.14803.

1:15:48 - Rich Glick’s Energy System Analogy: The energy transition is like the 1973 Mets.

1:17:55 - Jacob Mays’s Energy System Analogy: The 2005 Royals, never say it can’t get worse.

1:19:09 - Pamela Quinlan’s Energy System Analogy: The energy transition is like Game of Thrones.

BONUS: Ke Xin (Sherry) Zuo, a PhD candidate at Cornell University in the Mays Group, provided her reflections onTaylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, and its application to the Power System. My (Paul’s) favorite: the brilliant insight that “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is actually about how the power grid has to be resilient during forced outages and extreme weather events. 

About the guests:

Rich Glick is a Principal with GQ New Energy Strategies – a consulting firm he co-founded with Pamela Quinlan. Rich is a former Chair of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As Chair, Rich initiated several reforms to more efficiently and cost effectively accommodate the evolution of the electric grid. Before being appointed to FERC, Rich was General Counsel for the Democrats on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He has worked for Iberdrola, PPM Energy and PacifiCorp and is also known in the West for his current work with the Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation (CREPC) Western States Transmission Initiative (WSTI) and CREPC Transmission Collaborative (TC). Rich’s prior appearance on Public Power Underground can be found below.

Pamela Quinlan co-founded GQ New Energy Strategies with Rich. She is an expert in energy market regulation and policy. She started at FERC as a Senior Energy Industry Analyst in the Office of Energy Market Regulation. In 2017 Quinlan went to work in then-commissioner Glick’s office as a Technical Advisor and was appointed Chief of Staff in January 2021. As Chief of Staff, she was responsible for developing and implementing the strategy behind the Commission’s policy initiatives. Before leaving FERC in 2023, Quinlan advised Chair Willie Phillips on Energy Markets and Resource Adequacy. She has also worked for Consolidated Edison (ConEd) and Standard and Poor’s.

Prof. Jacob Mays is an Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University where his research focuses on the design and analysis of electricity markets. Jacob holds an AB in chemistry and physics from Harvard University, a MEng in energy systems from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in industrial engineering and management sciences from Northwestern University. His seminal work (Paul is editorializing by describing it as seminal) on the sequential pricing of electricity was the subject of a stand-alone episode on Season 5 of Public Power Underground, and his collaborations with Jesse Jenkins, Farhad Billimoria, and Rahmat Poudineh have informed our listeners perspectives on electric markets under deep decarbonization. Jacob’s prior appearances on Public Power Underground can be found below.

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Ari Peskoe describes himself as an electric utility critic and has advice for electric utility enthusiasts.

Ari Peskoe is the Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program and a prolific writer about regulation of the U.S. power sector on issues ranging from constitutional challenges to states’ energy laws to interstate transmission development. The interview is wrapped in commentary from co-hosts Paul Dockery, Ahlmahz Negash, and Farhad Billimoria.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

03:11 - 30 seconds of theory

• Farhad on Cost of Service vs Incentive based regulation
  • Joskow, P.L., 2024. The Expansion of Incentive (Performance-Based) Regulation of Electricity Distribution and Transmission in the United States. Review of Industrial Organization, pp.1-49.
• Ahlmahz on Procedural Justice
  • Jenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science, 11, pp.174-182.

11:01 - Ari Peskoe on Governance

• 11/01/2023 - CleanLaw Podcast - Electricity Law Initiative
• CleanLaw–Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate’s Control, Hannah Dobie interviews Ari Peskoe about his new article in Energy Law Journal
• Peskoe, A., 2023. Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate's Control. Energy LJ, 44, p.447.
• Market Configuration Matters; Effects of Market Choices on Consumers in the Northwest US

51:10 - Ranking Governance, Configuration, and Market Design

59:37 - Ari Peskoe’s Energy System Analogy

1:04:48 - Debriefing on transmission, governance, and public power with Ahlmahz Negash and Farhad Billimoria

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

A discussion about public goods and what classifying services as common pool resources, congestible public goods, or club goods means for grid planning and market design.

Lynne Kiesling joins Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery to discuss the classification system used in economics to distinguish public goods from private goods and what classifying some services as common pool resources means for grid planning and market design.

Lynne Kiesling is an economist focusing on regulation, market design, and the economics of digitization and smart grid technologies in the electricity industry. She is Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics in the Center on Law, Business, and Economics, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Energy and Sustainability program, both at Northwestern University. She is also a Research Professor at University of Colorado Denver, a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

In addition to her academic research, she is currently a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, has served as a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Smart Grid Advisory Committee, and is an emerita member of the GridWise Architecture Council. Her academic background includes a B.S. in Economics from Miami University (Ohio) and a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

05:07 - 30 seconds of theory

• Ahlmahz: Public Good
• Farhad: Common Pool Resource
• Conleigh: Club good
• Lynne: The pacing problem
• Ahlmahz: The collective action problem
• Farhad: The tragedy of the commons
• Conleigh: Induced demand
• Lynne: The Knowledge Problem

39:02 - What is and what is not a public good in the electric system

Billimoria, F., Mancarella, P. and Poudineh, R., 2022. Market and regulatory frameworks for operational security in decarbonizing electricity systems: from physics to economics. Oxford Open Energy, 1, p.oiac007.

51:06 - Is transmission a Public Good?

1:16:22 - Implications for planning and market design

1:40:06 - National Treasure, Public Good, or Excludable - a Public Power Underground game

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Ben Serrurier returns to Public Power Underground to share some maybe-good-maybe-bad-but-definitely-not-thought-out ideas with Ahlmahz Negash, Paul Dockery, and Farhad Billimoria in a returning segment, Half-Baked Ideas. Then Irina Rasputnis, Madeline Kostic, and Eric Strandberg from the Seattle City Light’s Lighting Design Lab sit down to talk with Paul Dockery about innovation in building electrification. 

13:19 - Half-Baked Ideas

• Inspiration for the segment comes from the Bill Simmons Podcast
• Ben’s prior appearances on the podcast

52:51 - The Lighting Design Lab

1:30:25 - Invitation to the Eleventy-First and Final episode of Public Power Underground

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

A trip to the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project to talk about power system inertia with Seattle City Light operators, plus a discussion of popular fallacies and unpopular opinions with the hosts.

To experience the visceral sounds and sights of big synchronous generation, an interview with Mike Haynes, Will Andersen, and Brandt March was recorded in-person at Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. To start the episode Ahlmahz, Paul, Farhad, and Conleigh discuss popular fallacies of the energy system and share some of their own unpopular opinions.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!

03:17 - Popular Fallacies & Unpopular Opions

52:08 - Big Synchronous Generation - Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s One Year! on Public Power Underground! We don’t do any run downs of what happened a year ago, instead we have a Ted Lasso inspired pep talk to start the episode (01:14). There is a visual bit at the end of the pep talk, so you might check out that portion on youtube. Then we got to work! We have an interview with Tacoma’s Clay Norris about CAISO’s EDAM process (16:55), talk electrification with EWEB’s Megan Capper (34:56), and cover lots of other public power and public-power-adjacent news. 

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

SPP agreed to sit down for an interview to talk about the Market+ concept they unveiled at the March 4th Members Forum. It’s the centerpiece of this, bonus, episode of Public Power Underground – Premium!. Bookending the discussion with SPP’s Steve Johnson are conversations with public power professionals from the region to provide context. PPC’s Mike Linn sets the stage for why markets matter to Northwest public power (01:32), SPP’s Steve Johnson joins Public Power Underground as a refresher on the Market+ concept (21:47), Humaira Falkenberg (Pacific County PUD), Lauren Tenney Denison (PPC), and Robert Cromwell (Seattle City Light) join to debrief and digest the concept from a Northwest public power perspective (50:31), UPSET ALERT: The Public Power Underground Anadromous Championship Belt for the Best Friend of the Underground, Because they Keep Coming Back HAS BEEN CLAIMED (01:31:24).

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Best and Brightest Week! on Public Power Underground! We have two guest co-hosts (NRU’s Megan Stratman and Clatskanie PUD’s own Sarah Johnson) and a special celebrity guest star (Libby Calnon) participate in the show where we debut a brand new public-power-adjacent show on Slummin’ w/ the Underground. I force the guest co-hosts to read ad copy I’ve written to recruit to public power. Don’t miss the great ad copy, great content, and great conversation about hiring, jobs, and recruiting for jobs in public power.

Arin Reports (03:49), Electric rate design news from Tacoma Power (06:35), Guest News from NWPCC’s John Ollis on the 2021 Power Plan (08:42), Status update on BPA’s BP-22 Rate Case (13:51), Hydro-generation update (16:56), 30 second summary of our SPP Market+ episode (18:34), Slummin’ w/ the Underground: Best and Brightest Edition with Hood River Electric Cooperative’s Libby Calnon where we talk about recruiting new people to public power jobs (20:44)

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

In a special, crossover podcast the host of APPA's Public Power Now, Paul Ciampoli, and Public Power Underground's Paul Dockery interview APPA's Vice President of Strategic Member Engagement & Education, Ursula Schryver, about APPA's upcoming National Conference.

https://www.publicpower.org/public-power-now 

https://www.publicpower.org/event/national-conference 

Public Power Underground, it's work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.  https://publicpowerunderground.substack.com/

It’s Be Curious! not judgmental week! on Public Power Underground! We had a great conversation with Energy Northwest’s Greg Cullen about all their non-CGS, got a special guest interview by EWEB’s Matt Schroettnig of BPA’s Crystal Ball, and covered a bunch of other fun public-power and public-power adjacent topics.

Arin Reports (01:55), Energy Northwest news with their Vice President for Energy Services and Development, Greg Cullen (05:15), Checking on the California Duck Curve (23:20), EWEB sponsored content in Eugene Weekly about Electric Vehicles (25:50), Clark’s Lena Wittler and Seattle’s Debra Smith profiles in Public Power Current (26:37), Special, crossover podcast w/ APPA’s Public Power Now promo trailer (27:31), Biden administration’s infrastructure plan to bring broadband to all Americans (29:09), Special Salmon War Correspondent, Matt Schroettnig, interviews BPA’s Director of Fish & Wildlife, Crystal Ball (30:08), Debrief of Northwest River Forecast Center’s water supply briefing (45:13), BREAKING NEWS: The Power Department is hiring!!! (46:47)

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Bring Your Ideas! week on Public Power Underground! A lot of guests and guest news this week. Arin Reports (01:16), Tacoma Power’s Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, talks about demand response (04:21), Puget Sound Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan identifies biodiesel peakers (19:30), Guest News from Oregon Department of Energy’s Blake Shelide (20:46), Brian Johnson introduces Holly Dohrman’s interview on the post-2028 Provider of Choice process (26:24), Financial Times article on the next step in battery development (41:30), Debrief from April 7th Technical Management Team discussion (47:18), Guest News from NewsData’s Mark Ohrenschall on the upcoming Grid Resilience webinar (50:00), NewsData’s News Bulletin on Power & Transmission Customers call for BP-22 Comprehensive Settlement (54:46).

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Cluster of Symbiotic Markets! week on Public Power Underground! Naming for this week’s episode came from a wonderful interview of The Energy Authority’s (TEA) Director of Power Trading - West, Tu Phan. We also got a double-feature interview with Kurt and Austin from Northwest River Partners, and continued our series of interviews by Public Power Underground’s Special Salmon War Correspondent, Matthew Schroettnig, this time touching base with Northern Wasco County PUD’s Roger Kline about the future of the federal system and Public Power Council’s Blue Sky initiative.

01:43 - Arin Reports;
04:40 - TEA’s Tu Phan joins to talk markets (and also talk NFTs and NBA Top Shots);
17:05 - More about NFTs (definitely too much about NFTs);
18:41 - Seattle City Light’s microgrid test bed;
19:22 - Northwest River Partners double-feature where we talk to Kurt Miller and Austin Rohr;
30:02 - Distribution Systems increasingly at risk for cyber attacks;
32:16 - Updated Genesis Forecast for Federal Hydro-generation;
33:56 - A shareable article about snow’s impact on the region that is accessible and fun even for people outside our industry;
34:58 - Matt Schroettnig interviews Roger Kline about the future of the federal system and PPC’s Blue Sky initiative;
52:13 - Correcting the record from last week, w/ some Charging Speed Fee promo

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Resource Adequacy double-feature! week on Public Power Underground! We talk about the Northwest Power Pool’s Resource Adequacy program in back-to-back interviews. First with NWPP’s Chief Operating Officer, Gregg Carrington, and the second interview with Chair of WSPP’s Operating Committee, Matthew Schroettnig. And to get caught up on the BP-22/TC-22 rate cases we talk to PPC’s Mike Deen about what’s going on!

01:31 - Arin Reports
05:11 - Celebration of ClearingUp’s 2000th edition
07:22 - PPC’s Mike Deen joins to talk BP-22/TC-22 rate process
15:06 - PG&E’s Community Microgrid Enablement Program
18:01 - “Agro-voltaic” solar projects
21:11 - PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT; Ted Lasso, Season 2 is coming
22:17 - NWPP’s Gregg Carrington gives advice on approach to the RA program for those that aren’t power pool members
34:42 - Chair of WSPP’s Operating Committee, Matt Schroettnig, talks about how a RA product might go through the process to develop a standard product exhibit/rider
43:30 - Anadromous Championship Belt return counts w/ Karen Heim and Lauren Tenney Denison

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Return Counts are Up! week on Public Power Underground! Some great guest news and insight from returning Friends of the Underground this week. There’s a lot going on in the region and we’re just trying to keep up. We also talk a lot about EVs, because we really find electric vehicle public charging interesting.

01:52 - Arin Reports
05:45 - Guest News: PNUCC’s Tomás Morrisey talks about the NRF
14:31 - Guest News: PNGC’s Greg Mendonca records a promo for an open position
19:47 - PPC’s Executive Director, Scott Simms, gives an update on their Blue Sky initiative
31:36 - Pole-Mounted Electric Vehicle Public Chargers
35:21 - PGE and Daimler Trucks North America build the first vehicle charging site specifically for heavy-duty trucks
38:50 - Steller sea lion removal news is back as the number of Chinook climbing Bonneville Dam fish ladders is on the rise
40:16 - Debrief from BPA’s April 27th Energy Imbalance Market Implementation Workshop

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re recording a special after-dark, mailbag episode on May 26th. Send us your mailbag questions for us to talk about after-hours in a happy-hour-ish version of Public Power Underground! We’ll be joined by MANY SPECIAL GUESTS AND ONE SUPER-SPECIAL CELEBRITY GUEST!!!!

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Breach-Ladder-Repower week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by PPC’s Karen Heim on a re-vamped version of Slummin’ w/ the Underground where we had a lot of fun and toned down the overall seriousness we’ve gotten into with Public Power Underground.

As always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop.

02:21 - Arin Reports
05:48 - Public Power Desktop
09:23 – Slummin’ w/ the Underground
42:14 - Plug-Pass promo

Public Power Underground is as a northwest public power info-tainment series that began as awkward forced fun time for the Power Department 44 weeks ago when we altered our work arrangements at the start of an ongoing pandemic and has evolved into a coping mechanism to stay connected and informed about what’s happening in the industry.

We’re Catching up on all-the-news! this week on Public Power Underground! After a restful week hiatus we’re back catching up on all we missed. Joining to get us up to speed were Clearing Up’s Steve Ernst, Forth’s Erin Galiger, and NRU’s Megan Stratman!

01:22 - Arin Reports
06:49 - Colonial Pipeline begins restart of operations after a cyberattack  
09:15 - Clearing Up's Steve Ernst joins to catch me up litigation and arbitration surrounding Colstrip
15:12 - Fitch Ratings issues Rating Action Commentary on Energy Northwest and BPA
16:29 - Debrief from BPA’s Q2 Quarterly Business Review
18:51 - Forth’s Erin Galiger joins the Underground to talk about electric tractors!
26:25 - Ford F-150 Lightning is getting unveiled on a livestream May 19th at 6:30pm  
28:59 - NRU’s Megan Stratman joins to talk about the proposed BP-22 Rate Settlement and BPA’s Provider of Choice process
44:28 - Public Power Underground original reporting of our very own news story about Emerald PUD’s pandemic pet policy: An Ian Bledsoe Special Report

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re recording a special after-dark, mailbag episode with retiring Best Friend of the Underground Susan Ackerman on May 26th. Send us your mailbag questions by May 20th for us to talk about after-hours in a happy-hour-ish version of Public Power Underground!

Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s Harquahala Hypothesis! week on Public Power Underground! Northwest power markets are a topic of interest for the Underground, and we dive into a forward market theory on to start the news. After the market hypothesis, we talk to EWEB’s Jon Hart about his philosophy of market fundaments, check-in on transportation electrification with Clark Public Utilities’ Matt Babbitts, learn about public power recruiting from Energy Northwest’s Sarah Giomi, and revisit one of our recurring topics (Resource Adequacy) with PGP’s Lea Fisher.

01:48 - Arin Reports
04:10 - [an unplanned fishing update from celebrity angler, Brian Fawcett]
05:49 - Harquahala Hypothesis
06:47 - a Philosophy of Market Fundamentals w/ EWEB’s Jon Hart
14:49 - Debrief from BPA’s 2nd Quarter QBR Technical Workshop
15:38 - Clark Public Utilities’ Matt Babbitts on Transportation Electrification & APPA’s EV Toolkit
26:46 - CoBank Launched a Power Podcast
28:20 - Talk to Sarah Giomi about Energy Northwest’s public power utility internship program that was highlighted in February’s NWPPA Bulletin (page 16)
34:57 - Lamborghini announces an all-electric-car (and the F-150 Lightning was revealed)
44:28 - PGP’s Lea Fisher talks NWPP’s RA program

PUBLIC (POWER) SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re recording a special after-dark, mailbag episode with Best Friend of the Underground Susan Ackerman on May 26th. It will serve as Public Power Underground’s Season 2 finale. Don’t miss the sappy conclusion to the season, subscribe on YouTube, apple podcast, spotify, and here on substack to make sure you don’t miss the Season 2 finale or the Season 3 premier!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

It’s the SEASON FINALE, and to celebrate the conclusion of another wonderful season of Public Power Underground we invited a special guest of honor, Susan Ackerman, to join us for an after dark, mailbag episode.

Susan recently announced her retirement from her role as Eugene Water and Electric Board’s (EWEB) Chief Energy Officer. To celebrate her career and ask her deeply personal and occasionally inappropriate questions the Underground invited a cast of extraordinary characters from around the region to join the underground for the happy-hour-ish episode.

Joining us for the episode were:

Karen Heim, PPC’s Office Administrator and Public Power Underground’s Editor-at-Large
Therese Hampton, PGP’s Executive Director who is making a debut appearance on Public Power Underground
Megan Capper, EWEB’s Energy Resources Manager and Hero of the Underground
Matt Schroettnig, EWEB’s Power Resources Counsel and member of the Anadromous Championship circle
Humaira Falkenberg, Pacific Count PUD’s Power Resource Manager and enthusiastic public power advocate
Betsy Bridge, NRU’s General Counsel emeritus and newly recruited Executive Producer for Public Power Underground
Crystal Ball, BPA’s Fish & Wildlife Program Director and newly recruited Brand Manager for Public Power Underground
Megan Stratman, NRU’s Rates & Policy Director and Special -all-the-topics-she’s-willing-to-talk-about-Correspondent

We’re not sure when we’ll be back for Season 3, so hit the subscribe button so you’re notified of the Season Premiere!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch.

to sign up for the newsletter visit our substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.

Season 3 is the season to ROLL ON ENTHUSTIASTS, ROLL ON! Public Power Underground took the summer off, but with kids headed back to school it's time for the fall season to kick off. We've got some plans. The plans are bound to change.   

The Underground's own Arin Guillory, CPA and Ian Bledsoe combined their talents to make this special Season 3 theme song inspired by Woody Guthrie's Roll On Columbia, but re-imagined for electric utility enthusiasts. We hope you enjoy, and are ready for the next adventure.  

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch.

Public Power Underground successfully pulled off its first-ever-livestream as our Season 3 Premiere! We broadcasted LIVE from across the region, simultaneously. Karen Heim and Humaira Falkenberg joined from remote locations to provide color commentary, insights, and questions.

Joining the Underground on-location at the NWPPA Annual Conference were a series of very special guests who became the newest Friends of the Underground and summarize 3 days of conference content in one hour! We also covered some news stories we missed during our summer break in between guests. It was action-packed!

• 08:01 - Arin Reports with Karen Reporting
•  11:18 - Plug-Pass Promo
•  12:37 - Scott Corwin, Executive Director of NWPPA
•  19:49 - BPA rate case
•  22:09 - Scott Peters, CEO of Columbia Rural Electric Association
•  27:42 - Heat Dome
•  30:10 - Michelle Bertolino - Electric Utility Director for the City of Roseville & NWPPA Board President
•  36:50 - Mutual Aid help for Hurricane Ida
•  38:05 - Brad Janorschke, General Manager of Homer Electric Association
•  46:13 - The WRAP
•  47:27 - Bear Prairie, General Manager of Idaho Falls Power
•  54:28 - The Legislative Path to Increasing BPA Borrowing Authority

It’s season 3, episode 2 - Into the Metaverse! - week for Public Power Underground. We caught up with a couple special guests, and got back into the regular format covering public-power and public-power-adjacent news.

• 02:17 - Arin Reports
•  07:16 - Temporary Gas Plants in California
•  10:02 - Tu Phan talks Power Markets and Metaverse
•  20:04 - PNNL’s Research on Heat Pump Water Heaters
•  22:16 - Roger Gray talks about BPA post-2028 product design concepts
•  37:37 - Broadband expansion to rural areas
•  39:02 - Northwest Power and Conservation Council releases draft 2021 Power Plan
•  40:09 - High Columbia Temperatures Worry Steelhead Watchers
• Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s season 3, episode 3 - Into the Metaverse! week for Public Power Underground. We covered a BROAD range of news this week, and caught up with some celebrities including THE Vice President of Origination for Avangrid, Holly Carias, a BLUE CHECK mark, Dan Catchpole, and the curator of #energytwitter, Simon Mahan.

• 04:20 - Arin Reports
•  09:13 - Summary of wildfire impacts on BPA transmission lines
•  11:29 - PPC’s Mike Linn joins to chat about CAISO’s recently announced Extended Day-Ahead Market forum
•  18:21 - Northwest Coming Up Short of Regional Energy Savings Goal
•  19:29 - Dispatches from #EnergyTwitter w/ @dcatchpole & @SimonMahan
•  35:03 - A perfect storm hits UK's natural gas market
•  37:26 - Holly Carias, Avangrid’s VP of Origination, joins to chat about all things renewables including the U.S.'s first offshore wind project securing funding
•  51:06 - Fusion and some powerful magnets
•  52:46 - Oregon didn't meet it's target of 50,000 Zero Emission Vehicles by 2020
•  53:59 - Direct carbon air capture - a vacuum got installed

 Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s season 3, episode 4 - Fish Risk! week for Public Power Underground. We cover everything from permafrost to Dolly Parton on this week’s episode hosted a combination of new stars (Ludgie Gelin and Betsy Bridge), returning star (Arin Guillory), and regular co-host (Paul Dockery). The highlight is a wonderful interview with the Director of BPA’s Fish & Wildlife Program, Crystal Ball, where we try to better understand fish risk for preference customer considering a post-2028 contract with BPA. We also get a visit from Special Correspondent, and star of the Underground, Matt Schroettnig. The whole thing is wonderful.

• 04:05 - Arin Reports
•  07:38 - Three news releases from BPA
•  10:42 - safe, small, TRANSPORTABLE nuclear reactor
•  12:24 - Oregon Solar Program update
•  17:52 - Matt Schroettnig appears as Special Guest Correspondent to talk about submarine supergrids
•  27:34 - Portland General Electric topic that is very-accountant-nerdy 
•  29:18 - The Cold Climate Housing Research Center is designing Alaskan housing for a future of changing climate
•  33:40 - Crystal Ball, the Director of BPA's Fish & Wildlife Program, helps clarify fish risk for preference customers considering a post-2028 contract with BPA
•  56:42 - Dispatches from #energytwitter starring Dolly Parton, Ted Lasso, and #HotFERCSummer
• Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s season 3, episode 5 - Live from the Benson! week for Public Power Underground. In an upbeat, LIVE,  recording we get communication celebrities from across the region to come read some news for us on this week’s episode. 

The episode also includes a couple of wonderful interviews with industry experts. We talk with BPA’s Industry Economist, Daniel Fisher, about product development philosophies, and with Electric Vehicle enthusiast, Loren McDonald, about Level 1 charging infrastructure.

• 04:05 - Arin Reports with the City of Roseville’s Erin Frye Reporting
•  11:16 - WMEG (Western Markets Exploratory Group) was announced!
•  13:00 - Clearwater Power Company’s Jeff Marshall talks SCL’s Renewable Hydrogen Research Project
•  18:48 - The WRAP (Western Resource Adequacy Program) moves to its implementation phase
•  20:07 - Daniel Fisher talks about post-2028 (Provider of Choice) product development philosophies
•  40:50 - Clallam County PUD’s Nicole Hartman joins to talk about a proposal for carbon sequestration, energy plant in Port Angeles
•  45:10 - Loren McDonald of EVAdoption.com and @EVAdoptionTweet joins to talk about Level 1 charging
•  1:00:50 - Best-Friend-of-the-Underground Kurt Miller joins to talk about the joy of pregnant Southern Resident orcas, and CLAIM THE ANADROMOUS CHAMPIONSHIP BELT

Your friends at the Power Department are excited to announce that we’re teaming up with NewsData to make Public Power Underground better, bigger, and more sustainable.

In a special, bonus episode the friends you’ve come to know as the voices of the Underground (Karen Heim, Brian Fawcett, Arin Guillory, Ian Bledsoe, Ludgie Gelin, and Paul Dockery) reminisce a little about what we’ve enjoyed so far, we talk with NewsData’s Editor-in-Chief, Mark Ohrenschall, about the collaboration, and get insights from Mike Shepard, the CEO of NewsData’s parent company, Pioneer Utility Resources, and Marc Farmer, the General Manager of Clatskanie PUD, about listeners should look forward to from the Underground going forward.

03:37 - Mark Ohrenschall talks about the collaboration
10:31 - lightning round questions with the Voices of the Underground
15:22 - Mike Shepard and Marc Farmer join Paul to talk about what listeners should expect
26:44 - more lightning round questions and we discuss the future of the Anadromous Championship Belt

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to all the newest Friends of the Underground who have joined us since last week. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s Coalition of the Willing week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by BPA’s Rachel Dibble to talk about Resource Adequacy and PNGC’s Roger Gray to talk about a investigating a Northwest RTO/ISO.  As always we started by covering northwest market indicators with Arin Reports and cover other public power and public-power-adjacent news on Public Power Desktop.

05:03 - Arin Reports; 09:35 - Public Power Desktop; 10:46 – Roger Gray on Northwest RTO/ISO; 28:16 – Rachel Dibble on Resource Adequacy; 47:04 - Plug-Pass promo

It’s season 3, episode 7 - Markets Week! for Public Power Underground. Underground regulars (Brian Fawcett, Arin Guillory, Ian Bledsoe, and Paul Dockery) are joined by our Podcast Ambassador from Clearing Up, Dan Catchpole, to get our listeners up to speed on public-power and public-power-adjacent news. The episode includes special, feature conversations with The Energy Authority’s (TEA) Chris Lewis and John Raiford to talk about the state of Natural Gas Markets, and Public Generation Pool’s Therese Hampton and Steve Kerns about PGP’s Market Retrospective. 03:49 - Arin Reports 06:16 - TEA’s Chris Lewis and John Raiford explain what’s going on with Natural Gas Markets 23:08 - Global supply chain issues are hitting California’s energy industry 24:07 - Some more Colstrip action in Federal Court 25:13 - Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea leads to surprising findings about southern resident orcas 26:42 - Therese Hampton (Executive Director) and Steve Kerns (Senior Technical Advisor) talk about PGP’s Organized Market Retrospective 39:53 - Our friends from Cowlitz PUD made the news 42:18 - Market expansion is in the news and on people’s minds 43:56 - PJM released study on transmission build out to handle offshore wind 50:20 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to all the newest Friends of the Underground who have joined us since last week. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s season 3, episode 8 - Distributed Demand Resource Response Week! for Public Power Underground. Underground regulars (Karen Heim, Arin Guillory, Ludgie Gelin, and Paul Dockery) are joined by our Podcast Ambassador from California Energy Markets, Jason Fordney this week. The episode includes conversations with Tacoma Power’s Ahlmahz Negash grant funding for microgrids and distributed resources, and PNUCC’s Shauna McReynolds and Tomás Morrisey about Demand Response and Distributed Generation in the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s draft 2021 Power Plan. 05:18 - Arin Reports 08:46 - The Arizona Corporation Commission is clashing with Arizona Public Service 13:13 - Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, talks Clean Energy Fund awards for grid modernization projects 21:45 - Southern California Edison transitioning residential customers to Time-of-Use rate plans 22:49 - The Diesel-Fired California Dream 30:15 - Shauna McReynolds and Tomás Morrissey talk about Distributed Generation and Demand Response in NWPCC’s draft 2021 Power Plan 48:30 - Avista and Puget Sound Energy file final clean energy implementation plans 51:07 - A Bipartisan Infrastructure Package makes it through Congress 53:19 - Dispatches from #EnergyTwitter: Maine Voters reject transmission and John Oliver talks Power Grid 58:17 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s season 3, episode 9 - Leading Innovation Week! for Public Power Underground. Underground regulars (Karen Heim, Brian Fawcett, Ludgie Gelin, and Ian Bledsoe) are joined by our returning Podcast Ambassador from Clearing Up, Dan Catchpole. The episode includes conversations about blockchain technologies with NRU’s Resource Analyst, Ellyn Groves, and a preview of a longer interview by Special Correspondent Matt Schroettnig of Emerald PUD’s General Manager, Scott Coe. The full interview of Scott Coe will be in a follow-up BONUS episode, next week. 02:54 - Arin Reports with Ian Reporting 06:29 - Cooking, Hot Water Grew Residential Demand During Pandemic 11:27 - Ellyn Groves joins as a Special Research Specialist to talk about Blockchain and Paul unpacks some NFTs 20:22 - BPA Study May Be 'Early Warning' of Trouble for Clean Energy Goals 22:43 - NMPRC Hearing Examiner Recommends Against $8-Billion PNM-Avangrid Merger 24:43 - Nuclear Power is having a moment 30:21 - Preview of blockbuster Scott Coe interview w/ Special Correspondent, Matt Schroettnig 40:37 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Scott Coe, a public power leader who started under the Greatest Generation, rose to leadership amongst boomers, and has led organizations with Boomers, Millenials, and, maybe even, zoomers, joins Matthew Scroettnig (EWEB’s Power Planning & Staff Counsel) and Paul Dockery (Clatskanie PUD’s Power Manager) to talk about all things public power and public-power-leadership. Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts. Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

It’s season 3, episode 10 - Infrastructure Week! for Public Power Underground. Michelle Manary joins us to chat about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act! Also joining is Juergen Pilot from the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium and returning champion Kurt Miller. 07:28 - Arin Reports with (the newest Honorary Member of the Power Department) Crystal Ball Reporting! 13:39 - FERC, States Kick Off New Task Force Focused on Transmission Buildout 16:15 - Juergen Pilot, the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium's Program Manager, answers a series of questions about offshore wind as quickly and entertainingly as possible 27:41 - Agrivoltaic Farming! 31:05 - Microgrid powering buses in LADWP's service territory 32:23 - Kurt Miller is championing hydropower’s inclusion in the Build Back Better Act 38:16 - Combined Geothermal power production and Lithium extraction 41:59 - Dispatches from #EnergyTwitter: @JesseJenkins did an outstanding, google sheets, summary of all the energy-related provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 47:24 - Michelle Manary joins to chat about DOE, BPA, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 1:04:37 - TL;DR news stories we ran out of time to discuss You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Michelle Manary, Bonneville Power Administration’s Chief Financial Officer who is on assignment to the Department of Energy as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Electric Delivery, joins Matthew Scroettnig (EWEB’s Power Planning Supervisor & Staff Counsel) and Paul Dockery (Clatskanie PUD’s Director of Energy Resources) to go deep into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, electrification’s impact on long-term planning, how to prepare for grant funding, SEASONAL TIME CHANGE, and how much she misses all our wonderful workshops in the Pacific Northwest. If you watched s3e10, Infrastructure Week!, you have already heard the first part of the interview. The conversation picks back up in this video at 13:54. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

It’s the finale for Season 3 and our Holiday Special! We welcomed special celebrity guests Crystal Ball, Emeka Anyanwu, Russ Mantifel, and NewsData’s Mark Ohrenschall to do a 2021 Energy News Countdown and 2022 prognostication. The episode is interspersed with Energy Carols! 08:06 Careful ‘cause it’s time change 46:04 Silver Generators 1:08:54 Simply forming a wonderful western market 1:18:52 O Power Plan 1:24:52 Ridiculous Things [a Daryl Wayne Dasher original and fitting tribute to public power underground] The 2021 Energy News Countdown includes a discussion of each of the celebrity guests’ top 5 energy news stories. Each of us had our own list with our own reasons, it’s a great conversation. My top 10 is included here for your enjoyment! Spoiler alert, my list wasn’t the best list! #10 WRAP Phase 3A #9 BPA Rate Decrease #8 Ted Lasso/Dolly Parton/Energy Twitter cross-over #7 The Power Grid makes John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” #6 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act #5 Heat Dome event #4 Texas blackout #3 European energy crisis driven by Natural gas ^$  #2 Iron Air, Long Duration Batteries #1 F150 EV Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

Karen Heim, Dan Catchpole, Ian Bledsoe, and Paul Dockery get up to speed on public power and public-power-adjacent news! 04:05 - Arin Reports with Ian Reporting! 08:20 - Northwest winter storm 14:36 - BPA's land acquisition program 20:23 - Another electric truck 25:21 - EDAM stakeholder process update 30:13 - PG&E Building ‘Remote Grids’ in Fire-prone Areas, and containerized microgrid systems 38:20 - Where Does Santa Go When the Arctic's Summer Ice Is Gone? You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us! Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

4:39 - Arin Reports
8:16 - B2H news
13:58 - Advanced nuclear fission projects in the news and fun twitter follows
23:10 - Dispatches from #energytwitter on ev charger siting
32:35 - California Public Utilities Commission takes up NEM 3.0 and Jason has some thoughts
41:20 - Seattle City Light’s newly released electrification study
48:57 - Matt and Paul interview BPA CEO and Administrator, John Hairston and celebrate his one year anniversary as Administrator
1:07:30 - TL;DR the rest of the news

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast,

In this bonus episode Matt and Paul have a conversation with the Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of Bonneville Power Administration: John Hairston!

4:50 - One-Year Anniversary Celebration and presentation of an honorary fry-weight Anadromous Championship
15:25 - Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) news
20:34 - New content begins here!
21:43 - A new, public power underground game: seen // heard // nothing
25:45 - Fish risk (on hydro operations)
37:03 - Organizational re-alignment
45:52 - what electrification might mean for BPA’s transmission business unit
50:25 - a promo for BPA’s Science Bowl
51:05 - Administrator’s choice of topics
59:52 - parenting advice (maybe the first “Parent Corner” segment on the underground?)

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

It’s It Takes a Process week on Public Power Underground! This week we were joined by Snohomish County PUD’s Manager of Power Supply, Garrison Marr to talk about IRPs, and returning champion, Friend of the Underground, and Rates and Policy Director for NRU, Megan Stratman to talk about revenue financing in BP-22. And in true Public Power Underground fashion, we’re debuting a brand new innovation in Northwest Public Power infotainment: Zoom Duels!

02:40 - Arin Reports; 07:30 - Public Power Desktop; 10:24 – Garrison Marr on IRPs; 25:41 – Megan Stratman on Revenue Financing; 38:39 – Zoom Duel!: Ranting Power Manager vs. Banjulele Virtuoso; 42:40 - Plug-Pass promo

Rebecca Sexton, Crystal Ball, Dan Catchpole, and Paul Dockery run through the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news. There are a few instances where we go off the rails - - - as it often does when discussing public-power-adjacent news.

1:12 - Rebecca breaks news in her opening, Celebrity Guest, monologue
11:46 - Arin Reports with Rebecca Reporting
15:20 - follow up on Arin Reports with discussion on Northeast natural gas prices
21:10 - CAISO issued a 20-year draft transmission outlook plan (coverage by NewsData and Utility Dive)
29:40 - Hydropower’s Contributions to Grid Reliability and Resilience (coverage by Utility Dive)
36:36 - we go off the rails (calling on BPA people who have access to THE teletype, we need a sound sample!)
40:02 - Maersk is launching an offshore vessel-charging venture
44:45 - 2022 Pan-Pacific Winter High Seas Expedition
48:00 - Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Controlled EV-Charging Pilot
53:36 - TL;DR the rest of the news

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

Russ Mantifel, Jason Fordney, Paul Dockery, and Ludgie Gelin talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, plus a preview of an upcoming interview with PGP’s Mary Wiencke!

08:08 - Arin Reports with Paul Reporting
14:20 - Roundtable on rural broadband at Mason PUD #3 plus other broadband news
21:38 - CAISO adopts Phase 1 of Resource Sufficiency test rule changes
30:24 - The Wall Street Journal’s long-form article on the grid’s reliability
44:30 - the cost of going underground
51:05 - 2021 Power Plan in pre-publication, final form
58:50 - Matt and Paul talk to PGP’s Mary Wiencke
1:09:49 - TL;DR the rest of the news in “Sound Bites”

Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

In this bonus episode Matt and Paul have a conversation with the Executive Director of PGP and former Vice President of Transmission Regulation and Market Policy for PacifiCorp: Mary Wiencke!

Reference Materials:
PGP’s Market Retrospective
Western States’ Market Study prepared by Energy Strategies
Handbook on Electricity Markets
FERC Landmark Orders

Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

We assembled an ad-hoc crew to record an emergency podcast. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Thanks to @DrEricDing for breaking the news into @aPowerManager’s feed.

Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.

Ahlmahz Negash, Dan Catchpole, Karen Heim, and Paul Dockery talk about the latest in public power and public-power-adjacent news, plus a preview of an upcoming interview with Northwest Natural’s Chris Kroeker about the future of hydrogen!

06:48 - Arin Reports with Karen Reporting
12:13 - Ukraine and the European Union to urgently link electric grids (which successfully occurred after recording)
19:13 - Columbia REA let’s employees bring dogs to work
22:44 - Spring 2022 Energy Justice Speaker Series
26:50 - Jason Fordney’s article debriefing Arne Olson’s presentation at the February 25th NewsData and CJB Energy Economics video conference on Western Electric System Transformation
29:53 - Ahlmahz talks about her paper on Allocating the Cost of Demand Response Compensation in Wholesale Energy Markets
37:29 - Matt and Paul talk to Northwest Natural’s Chris Kroeker
42:03 - TL;DR the rest of the news in “Short to Ground”

other sources of energy news related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mentioned in the episode

• Germany may speed up renewables (Reuters)
• No taboos for Germany’s energy future (Reuters)
• Another energy podcast tackles macro energy impacts (The Carbon Copy)

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to share this with any friends you have that are electric utility enthusiasts like us!

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, where you’re valued and appreciated.