Programs and Markets w/ Lea Fisher

Lea Fisher, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, Dan Catchpole, and Paul Dockery cover electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news in Season 5, Episode 3.

06:32 - introduce Ahlmahz Negash, PhD as new co-host for Public Power Underground

Ahlmahz has been a recurring guest on Public Power Underground and even accepted the designation of a Special Correspondent during earlier seasons. She has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, was recently the Chair of the Pacific Northwest Utility Conference Committee’s System Planning Committee, is a recipient of PNUCC’s “Albert Einstein Award”, and is currently on sabbatical from Tacoma Public Utilities where she is a Senior Power Analyst. [I forgot to do an adequate introduction during the recording because I figured y’all knew Ahlmahz, but then I realized I shouldn’t take knowledge for granted and am hopeful y’all will look here.]

09:18 - a lot going on with WRAP

• BPA’s draft close out letter and workshop materials
• coverage of draft closeout letter by Steve Ernst in Clearing Up
• Dan Catchpole’s coverage in Clearing Up on deficiency letter from FERC
• Comments filed by the Power Pool acknowledging BPA’s unique statutory obligations (WRAP22 0011 - Edmonds/Western Power Pool)

27:05 - tensions/tradeoffs of the incremental approach to markets

• coverage of Markets+ two-day, in-person development session by Tom Kleckner in RTO Insider
• presentation from workshop on implementation cost of Markets+ (slide 14)
• an earlier presentation on RTO West implementation costs

43:22 - reliability assessment: Not Great

• coverage of NERC’s 2022-2023 Winter Reliability Assessment by Rory Sweeney in Clearing Up
• North American electric grid faces ‘unprecedented’ widespread risk this winter: NERC by Robert Walton in Utility Dive
• NERC’s announcement with links to full assessment and infographic

53:55 - Short to Ground; where we TL;DR our way through the rest of the news

• Decade-Long Effort to Remove Klamath Dams Gets Final OK by KC Mehaffey in Clearing Up
• FERC, States Hash Out Independent Transmission Monitor Concept by Jason Fordney in California Energy Markets
• Boardman to Hemingway Power Line Approved by Oregon EFSC by Greg Mason in Clearing Up
• Study: Coal Facility Closures Could Increase Available Western Water by Linda Dailey Paulson in California Energy Markets
• BPA Rate Cases Kick Off; Settlement Calls for Keeping Rates Flat by Steve Ernst in Clearing Up
• Diablo Canyon Selected for $1.1-Billion Federal Boost by Jim DiPeso in California Energy Markets
• Heat-Wave Power Sellers Argue Their High Prices Were Justified by Jason Fordney in Clearing Up
• Spot Market Power
• La Nina
• NOAA Climate Forecasts
• WY2023 Water Supply Forecast

1:04:07 - Paul shares some personal news

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