Public Power Underground is more than a discussion about public ownership of electric infrastructure, the infotaining episodes cover the energy enthusiast trifecta of electrification, markets, and people. The hosts interview industry experts on a broad range of energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics at the nexus of electric utilities and the energy transition. The podcast doesn’t take itself too seriously and frequently plays energy inspired games like “energy enthusiasm distilled,” “draw an analogy,” and “say something nice about electric utilities."
Site
RSS
Apple
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
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
Resource Adequacy week!
Season 1 · Episode 2
Thursday, January 14, 2021 • Duration 41:30
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
Friends and Neighbors Week
Season 1 · Episode 11
Friday, March 12, 2021 • Duration 45:08
It’s Friends and NeighborsWeek 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.
BONUS: Eras of the Electric Sector (Taylor's Version)
Season 6 · Episode 4
Friday, April 19, 2024 • Duration 42:53
Katherine Blunt, author of California Burning, joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss the eras of the electric sector (Taylor's Version).
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.
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
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
Resource Adequacy, Tail Risk, and Institutional Capability
Season 6 · Episode 8
Monday, June 10, 2024 • Duration 01:14:01
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!
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."
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.
Rich Glick on FERC Order 1920
Season 6 · Episode 9
Friday, June 21, 2024 • Duration 01:25:37
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
Ari Peskoe Ranks Governance, Footprint, and Market Design
Season 6 · Episode 10
Thursday, July 11, 2024 • Duration 01:39:05
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
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
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!
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
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!
1:28:20 - ESA World Cup Standings
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
Requirement to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning to anticipate future needs.
Requirement to consider a broad set of benefits when planning new facilities.
Requirement to identify opportunities to modify in-kind replacement of existing transmission facilities to increase their transfer capability, known as “right-sizing.”
Customers pay only for projects from which they benefit.
Expands states’ pivotal role throughout the process of planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission facilities.
“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
1:15:48 - 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!
11/01/2023 - CleanLaw Podcast - Electricity Law Initiative
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!
Apple Podcasts
🇬🇧 Great Britain - businessNews
04/06/2025
#87
🇬🇧 Great Britain - businessNews
03/06/2025
#59
🇩🇪 Germany - businessNews
10/01/2025
#99
🇩🇪 Germany - businessNews
09/01/2025
#77
🇩🇪 Germany - businessNews
08/01/2025
#50
🇨🇦 Canada - businessNews
13/12/2024
#100
🇨🇦 Canada - businessNews
12/12/2024
#75
🇨🇦 Canada - businessNews
11/12/2024
#42
🇺🇸 USA - businessNews
08/10/2024
#79
🇺🇸 USA - businessNews
23/09/2024
#61
Spotify
No recent rankings available
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
Discover shows related to Public Power Underground, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
