In a LIVE! recording at GridLiance ’s 2024 Transmission Symposium, Crystal Ball hosts a competition between Mark Nelson and Emeka Anyanwu to determine the most creative prognosticator of energy headlines for 2025. The episode is un-edited and available on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. A video recording is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ABUXJsdjbBc It’s a special “afterparty” edition, since it was recorded after the party of special significance commemo...
Dec 20, 2024•48 min
[recorded August 28, 2024] Tony Reames and Salma Elmallah discuss their work and research on energy justice in a special episode recorded after the season and series finale. In a much anticipated episode recorded on August 28, 2024, Dr. Tony Reames and Dr. Salma Elmallah join Paul Dockery and Dr. Ahlmahz Negash to discuss their paper on frontlining energy justice. Elmallah, S., Reames, T.G. and Spurlock, C.A., 2022. Frontlining energy justice: Visioning principles for energy transitions from com...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 8 min
A party of special significance to celebrate the eleventy-first and final episode with an energy system analogy world cup championship tournament, celebrity guests, and stump speeches Friends-of-the-Underground participated in a special, in-person recording of the eleventy-first and final episode of Public Power Underground celebrating our community of electric utility enthusiasts. The episode includes a live performance of Roll On, Enthusiasts with special musical guest Daryl Wayne Dasher joini...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 31 min
A discussion of the building blocks of a just energy transition with Professor Erin Baker, the Faculty Director of the Energy Transition Institute at UMass Amherst. Professor Erin Baker visited with Ahlmahz Negash and Paul Dockery in-person at the office of the Pacific Northwest Utility Conference Committee (PNUCC) about energy justice, meaningful metrics, and the Holyoke Community Energy Project . The discussion is wrapped by insightful commentary on energy justice from hosts Conleigh Byers , F...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 39 min
The electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift; at least that's the hypothesis that Commissioner Ann Rendahl and Gen-Z-Swiftie Scholar, Sherry Zuo, consider in a special episode. Commissioner Ann Rendahl and Sherry Zuo join hosts Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball to consider how the electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift . Paul and Crystal joined Commissioner Rendahl at the offices of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and Sherry joined remotely ...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 27 min
a special, bonus episode recorded at the Western Power Pool with celebrity guests Sarah Edmonds, Bob Rowe and Debra Smith Crystal Ball and Matthew Schroettnig host a conversation with Sarah Edmonds, Bob Rowe and Debra Smith about their “Theory of Change” for expanding high voltage, long distance transmission in the West. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us! Western Transmission Expansion ...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min
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 fal...
Aug 30, 2024•1 hr 38 min
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 Podc...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 36 min
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 f...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 50 min
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 Far...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 39 min
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 y...
Jun 21, 2024•1 hr 26 min
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 wit...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 14 min
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 By...
May 29, 2024•1 hr 35 min
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 whe...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 20 min
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 P aul 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 F...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 30 min
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 ...
Apr 19, 2024•43 min
exploration of approaches to distribution systems from microcontrollers and software to MOAR HARDWARE Distribution infrastructure, microcontrollers in everything, hardware vs software solutions, and prices-to-devices get covered in a distribution systems episode with Ahlmahz Negash , Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , and Paul Dockery featuring an interview with the enthusiastic Francis Sammy! A discussion that manages to navigate the nuances of MOAR HARDWARE as an actionable energy transition...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 26 min
John Hairston returns to discuss what BPA is doing to navigate an era of transmission expansion for the grid. John Hairston , the CEO and Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, shares his enthusiasm for transmission and people in an interview with Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball . The interview is wrapped in informative discussion on energy industry news, research, and reflection by Ahlmahz Negash , Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , and Paul Dockery. You can find the podcast on A...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul start season six with a discussion of ways to understand the energy system and analogies that can be used to explore its complications Conleigh Byers , Farhad Billimoria , Ahlmahz Negash , and Paul Dockery discuss various ways of understanding the energy system in the Season 6 Premiere of Public Power Underground. The episode starts with “Short-to-Ground,” a TL;DR segment where the hosts run through summaries of topical news from around the world and then have...
Mar 01, 2024•1 hr 19 min
The next season of Public Power Underground is coming soon with a new format and new regular hosts. Subscribe to make sure you don't miss the season premiere! After a short break, Public Power Underground is coming back for its sixth season of energy enthusiasm! This season Paul Dockery and Ahlmahz Negash will be joined by world-renowned energy researchers Conleigh Byers and Farhad Billimoria to investigate energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics by bringing together expert insights ...
Feb 12, 2024•4 min
“This paper argues for the centrality of real-time markets, which are cleared sequentially with a single binding interval.” Prof. Dr. Jacob Mays and Paul Dockery have an in-depth discussion in Hollister Hall at Cornell University about Prof. Mays recently released working paper on Sequential Pricing of Electricity. The discussion is only available as a podcast and is published uninterrupted and unedited. Mays, J. (2023). Sequential Pricing of Electricity. Working Paper, School of Civil and Envir...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 26 min
Inspired by the YouTube series *Hot Ones*, Whitney Muse (Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation), Mark Lauby (Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer at North American Electric Reliability Corporation), and Jordan White (Executive Director, Development at GridLiance) join co-hosts Paul and Crystal to discuss increasingly controversial topics while eating a series of increasingly spicy wings. The conversation triangulates hot topics in the e...
Nov 06, 2023•55 min
Steve Pantano from Rewiring America and Danielle Walker from the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a discussion of electrification. The crews discuss the Inflation Reduction Act’s Home Energy Rebates, Rewiring America’s IRA Savings Calculator, best practices in building electrification, and the newly announced American Climate Corp! You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast...
Oct 06, 2023•1 hr 16 min
three energy historians join public power underground for an infotaining and slightly irreverent discussion of the major milestones for the electric industry in the northwest -------------------- Mark Ohrenschall , Shauna McReynolds and Crystal Ball join and Paul Dockery to discuss the history of the electric industry in the Northwest from acronyms to statutes and a myriad of institutions along the way. There were three primary texts used for the conversation. NewsData’s list of Western Energy A...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 25 min
Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling join Ahlmahz and Paul to talk about maximizing the deployment of distributed energy resources but first we make them say something nice about electric utilities Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a discussion of FERC 2222, maximizing the distribution-level customer value of distributed energy resources, international examples of unbundling the functions of distribution utilities, and 80/20 advice on how to make the most...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Ric O’Connell and Anna Sommers join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a deep dive into power planning best practices including planning for extremes, open source models, and best in class computational techniques. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us! 09:41 - how to explain power planning to a five year old 19:00 - best practices in power planning 58:10 - Ahlmahz’s unfair ...
Aug 17, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Transmission experts talk about horror stories from permitting Idaho Power's Boardman to Hemmingway transmission line and react to a regional planning organization scorecard -------------------- Adam Richins , Christina Hayes , and Pam Sporborg join Paul Dockery at Paddy’s Bar & Grill for an after-hour conversation about transmission in the West. The recording starts with another edition of Energy Enthusiasm, Distilled where the experts distill complicated topics in infotaining ways while on...
Aug 07, 2023•1 hr 15 min
Prof. Dr. Destenie Nock joins Dr. Ahlmahz Negash and Paul Dockery for a conversation about what the grid of the future *should* look like. The discussion dives deep into (1) the energy equity gap, (2) a methodology for finding the optimal expansion of a power system under the objective of maximizing social benefit, (3) the Gini coefficient, and (4) how to use the Strategic Objective Hierarchy combined with the expertise of social scientists to translate community input into rigorously measurable...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 29 min
Debra Smith, Randy Hardy, Bill Drummond, and Steve Wright recorded an info-taining conversation live on-stage at NWPPA’s 83rd Annual Conference and Membership Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Debra hosts the three former Administrators of the Bonneville Power Administration who continue to engage in energy policy. The discussion ranges from greatest regrets to reasons for optimism, and proudest moments. At the end Paul Dockery joins to facilitate an energy inspired game called Energy Enthusiasm Dis...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 8 min
We discuss how utility risk management is a lot like dungeons and dragons: creatively managing risk by leveraging strengths to maximize the likelihood of beneficial outcomes when solving problems. Kevin Nordt , Paul Dietz , Ahlmahz Negash, PhD , and Paul Dockery talk about managing market risk from utility risk managers perspectives. Including (1) putting uncertainty in perspective, (2) organizational and customer risk tolerance, (3) translating risk tolerance strategies for risk management, and...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 30 min
