On The Grid

This week, Ricky and Erin get ‘On the Grid’ in San Antonio, TX with CPS Energy Interim President & CEO, Rudy Garza, and CPS Energy Board Vice Chair, Janie Gonzalez. Together, we share stories on career trajectory, the importance of getting back INTO the field, how they are building community trust, and their top commitments for 2022.

This week Dylan and Joyce are here to talk about Distributed Intelligence with Itron's Director of Technology, Strategy, and Innovation Tim Driscoll and TECO's Director AMI Strategic Solutions David Lukcic. How is DI poised to improve utility operations and are there benefits to the end user?

This week Joyce interviews Hitachi Energy's Head of Digitalization David Goddard about how utilities are moving to digital spaces and what trends are important to watch as they transform.

We are kicking off a new season of Zpryme on the Grid with the whole crew! Join us as we reflect on January and discuss what’s on the horizon from energy storage, digital inclusion, eletrifiction, and even our favorite socks that are getting us through 2022!

Today we talk with the Head of Sustainability at Italy's enelX about circular economies. While only just blooming as a discussion point in US energy markets, Europe is far enough along that Nicola is able to share some lessons learned for application on sustainability projects globally.

Motive Power CEO and NPUC founder Angel Lance is back to talk about new NPUC data around decarbonization trends. We also talk about how seriously the utility industry is or is not taking climate change, and what they can do to be more proactive. Music by bensound.com

Today's episode features Micatu's EVP of Sales and Marketing Michael Sexton and we're talking renewables. We dive into some key data points from Zpryme and Micatu's recent survey to discuss important issues in the ongoing transformation of the grid. How do renewables play into key power quality issues? How do utilities who are rapidly adding renewables ensure both reliability and safety in the tra...

Today we're highlighting one of our brightest new team members. Laurel Morris has only been with Zpryme for a short time but she's already made waves by hosting our We3 Live discussion series, and curating the spinoff publication, the Cleantech Chronicles. We talk with Laurel about her journey as a young energy professional and what has drawn her to Cleantech. She also shares some of her favorite...

On today's episode we talk with Bethany Ruhe, Director of Programming and Communications at Gridmates about their new relationship with Zpryme as well as how to new ways to make energy efficiency strategies more people-oriented. Music by bensound.com

Today we're speaking with CB Technologies VP of Solution Development Lonnie Ludwig about connecting utility workers to networks that enable them to better perform their jobs. We discuss how this benefits worker safety, operational efficiency, and end customers. Music by bensound.com

Read all about it! Joyce and Jason are here to give their takes on the hottest energy headlines. In this episode we go over Zpryme's slow emergence from virtual-only, they KeystoneXL pipeline, the Texas grid, offshore wind, and more! Headline links: The Keystone XL pipeline project has been terminated. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/business/keystone-xl-pipeline-canceled.html? Texas lawmakers...

Karl Popham from Austin Energy is back to talk about electric vehicles in 2021 and beyond. Karl, Dylan and Joyce discuss how utilities are looking at EVs and how the discussion on charging infrastructure is developing, but also how the concept of electric cars from a consumer standpoint is changing as the 'lifestyle' of ownership is being marketed differently. Music by bensound.com

Today we have Ion Associates' FAE Mexico Marvin Govinden and Manufacturer Sales Representative Marcus Jenkins on about how technology is changing utility markets and models right under our feet. This episode was sponsored by Ion Associates Music by bensound.com

Today's episode talks about the myriad of ways that utility decisions on technology and internal culture affect not just operations and digital transformation plans, but critically customer experience, customer service, and customer journeys. Avertra's CEO and CTO Bashir Bseirani joins the show alongside Chief Customer Officer Giancarlo Reyes to talk about approaching utility culture and and techn...

Returning to the show this week is Motive Power CEO Angel Lance to talk about the National Public Utility Council, a new effort by Motive and Zpryme to provide information about utility decarbonization efforts as well as forums for utilities to share their experiences for the sake of better strategizing going forward. We also talk about the human factor behind decarbonization and how the industry...

The winter storms in Texas have caused a critical eye to be drawn toward the state's grid and how it can be upgraded in some areas and reformed in others. Technology is at the heart of these transformations as well as the digital evolution of utilities worldwide. To discuss the changing technological environment of the Texas grid, we talked to Octopus Energy US CEO Michael Lee to determine the kin...

Digital transformation is underway in utilities across the country, but there are many challenges still to overcome. Transformation is happening slow in some areas, failing to execute in others, and not delivering on ambition in many ways. How can utilities and those who run them change the way they strategize to allow for more successful digital transformation? Salesforce's Frank Palase joins the...

Texas is still dealing with the fallout from the widespread power and water failure during a cold snap late last month. As most of Zpryme's staff is located in Texas, we were personally and professionally affected by this event in a myriad of ways and now CEO Jason Rodriguez is sitting down to discuss the event and the response from his perspective as a resident, father, boss, and energy professio...

In this episode, we sit down with Black and Veatch sustainability experts Denise Nelson, who is the Climate Lead at the environmental services business unit, and Executive Leader for Consulting Strategic Advisory Practice Deepa Poduval to explore how changing business models on both the utility and consulting sides are leading to a more adaptive, responsible, and sustainable grid. We will discuss...

Today on the show Joyce and Dylan discuss innovation in the Transmission and Distribution space with Distran's President Brad Fontenot and Director of Business Development John Halle. The discussion includes innovations in substations, where digitally-minded strategies can lack in consideration for physical demands of assets, and where trends are headed. This episode was sponsored by Distran Music...

Today on the show Dylan speaks with Ian Berdie, Vice President of Innovation and Development at Quantum Spatial about disaster response. With climate change affecting the frequency, types, and severity of disasters, how are utilities and the analytics that power their operations adjusting their responses to keep outages and outage times to a minimum? This episode is sponsored by NV5 Geospatial pow...

Ashkan Kian of IEMS, and Douglas Shannon of SageWerks Energy join Dylan and Joyce to discuss vehicle-to-grid technologies, changing roles of data management, as well as key technologies and strategies for a modernizing utility. Music by bensound.com

Today on the show Joyce and Dylan talk with Robert Miggins and Jason Pittman from Go Smart Solar in San Antonio. Creating opportunities for homeowners to access solar power will become more important as demand and sustainability concerns increase, so Robert and Jason discuss how community solar programs can address equity issues, how technology can help solar evolve, and how utilities and communit...

On the Grid is heading to San Antonio (virtually) to discuss CPS Energy’s Flexible Path as a long-term strategy for transformation. We will chat with the highest levels of CPS Energy leadership about the results of their FlexPower Bundle RFI and how CPS Energy will utilize its key findings to create a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient San Antonio moving forward. As of 12/9/20 - CPS Energy...

New Faces in Familiar Spaces w/ Jennie Yoshimoto Joining an industry can be very touch-and-go. Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of hands-on learning and learning from mistakes. Today podcast newcomer Joyce Deuley talks with recent winner of the American Made Solar Prize and founder of Terra Solar Jennie Yoshimoto about how to find your own way in the energy industry and how you can turn good i...