Energy Central

In January 2025, the LA wildfires became one of the most destructive weather events in American history—and LADWP, the largest municipally-owned utility in the United States, had to respond in real time…while simultaneously planning for the World Cup, the Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympics. This is how they did it. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Zoraya Oliver-Griffin, LADWP...

Over 80% of installed DER capacity isn't enrolled in a virtual power plant. The technology is ready. The economics are increasingly compelling. What's missing is the regulatory alignment and system-wide planning to bring it all together. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Audrey Zibelman—former CEO of the Australian Energy Market Operator, former Chair of the New York Public S...

Utilities have more data than ever before—AMI readings, drone footage, transformer sensors, SCADA signals. The question is no longer whether to collect it. It's how to actually turn it into decisions that keep the lights on. In this roundtable, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Christina Park of Skydio, Mark Gabriel of United Power, Trevor Stiles of ATC, and Sean Vanslyke of SEMO Electric to...

Renewables are now the cheapest source of electricity in history—cheaper than gas, cheaper than coal, and with prices still dropping fast. So why are utilities still planning like the economics haven't changed? In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker speaks with Ramez Naam, climate tech investor and one of the most rigorous trackers of clean energy cost curves, about how solar and batteries won o...

Ohio’s House Bill 6 scandal has become one of the most consequential utility corruption cases in US history, and its fallout is still shaping politics, regulation, and public trust in the energy sector. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker speaks with investigative journalist Kathiann Kowalski about how a bill that was designed to support nuclear plants became the center of a $60 million bribe...

Vegetation management is often treated like routine maintenance, but for utilities it is really about keeping the grid safe under real operating conditions. And on the modern grid, clearance planning has become more complex than ever, while utilities can no longer rely on “blue sky” assumptions when assessing vegetation risk. To dive deeper into the topic, host Kinsey Grant Baker is joined by Otto...

California has long been the proving ground for America’s energy transition, and it’s also where the politics, culture, and storytelling around that transition are being tested in real time. Messaging comes from all corners of the public landscape, including movies, sports, and video games, in addition to the institutions like utilities. Where is there potential to do more with that storytelling?...

Data centers are arriving faster than the grid can be built to serve them, creating real risk for developers, utilities, and customers alike. This won’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention, but one potential solution that isn’t making the headlines is worth a deeper dive: bridge power. In this episode, Kinsey Grant Baker chats with Jim Smith, President of PowerSecure, to explore how bridge...

A new Pew survey suggests the public is drawing some sharp conclusions about why electricity bills are rising, and not all of them are flattering to utilities. But does public perception match reality, and how much does it actually matter when trust is broken either way? To dive into that survey and a subsequent poll of the Energy Central audience, this episode brings together the Energy Central t...

Central Hudson Gas & Electric is in the middle of a major five-year transformation aimed at becoming what CEO Stephanie Raymond calls a “premium utility” — one that leads on performance, reliability, trust, customer focus, and innovation. But what exactly does that mean? In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker chats with Stephanie Raymond of Central Hudson and Josh Eife, Managing Director at Gree...

China’s energy buildout has become one of the defining stories of the global energy transition. And the impacts aren’t constrained just to what happens in China, but the impacts are felt globally and are critical for U.S. utilities and policymakers to understand. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Henry Sanderson, journalist, author, and founder of the Volt Insight newsletter,...

Hydroelectric utilities face a different kind of risk than most other power operators: when a dam is involved, the consequences of failure are not just operational, but they are deeply tied to emergency planning, evacuation, and public safety. That means planning is even more important, and the statistical methods behind that planning must be regularly examined. To get into this critical topic, Ki...

How does a major utility plan for an energy future that is growing more complex by the day? From data centers to an aging grid to an affordability crisis and more, utility leaders are staring down challenges that are more intertwined and urgent than ever, and managing them all is no small feat. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker chats with Gil Quiniones, CEO of ComEd, to unpack the utility’s...

Utilities depend on accurate field data to keep maps current, manage vegetation, and respond quickly when the grid is under stress, but that gets much harder when the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) isn’t reliable, access is restricted, or conditions make it unsafe for crews to get close. In this episode of Power Perspectives, host Kinsey Grant Baker chats with Laser Tech’s Derrick Reish...

Energy has become one of the most politically charged topics in the country, but is the red-vs-blue framing actually helping us understand what is happening in the power sector? Or is it a shorthand that creates assumptions that don’t hold up to scrutiny? In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Energy Central’s Community Manager Matt Chester to dig into a recent piece he published...

Superstorm Sandy was a turning point for utilities in New Jersey. And for PSE&G, it became the catalyst for one of the most ambitious resilience and hardening efforts in the country. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Paul Toscarelli, VP of Electric Operations at PSE&G to revisit the storm’s impact, the operational realities of recovery, and how the company turned that experie...

Utilities everywhere are experimenting with what AI can do in one-off tools and pilot programs, but very few are actually scaling it across the enterprise. But when it comes to truly looking at the big picture of how AI can be a force multiplier, Southern Company is leading the way. To learn how and why the utility is taking a more comprehensive approach, host Kinsey Grant Baker chats with Souther...

Wildfires are no longer a once-in-a-while risk for utilities. These days, they are a growing operational, financial, and human crisis. And power companies can’t wait and react anymore, they need to be proactive. In this episode, podcast host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Skye Perry, VP of Utilities at Fire Neural Network (FNN), to discuss how the scale of wildfire damage has surged, why utilit...

Geothermal has been part of the energy conversation for decades, but it is still too often stymied by a reputation of being too niche or small-scale to make a grid-wide difference. That perception, however, is beginning to change. As utilities face growing pressure to deliver firm, clean, and affordable power, geothermal is getting fresh attention as a resource that could play a much bigger role i...

What happens when you fire military-grade weapons at substation infrastructure? We don’t have to ask in theory, because today’s guest has put that question to the test. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with Brent Warzocha of 3B Protection following a live-fire demonstration outside Las Vegas where Brent and his team tested ballistic substation walls against everything from World...

The nuclear conversation is back in a big way, but the question is whether the excitement is outrunning reality. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with author and energy commentator Robert Bryce to separate the news from the noise around what many are calling a nuclear renaissance. From bipartisan support in Washington to executive orders, plant restarts, and a wave of new interes...

What does the pathway look like from shiny new toy to core operational tool? That’s the trajectory drones have seemingly taken in many utility operations, highlighting that the hype was real and the future is now. On this episode of Power Perspectives, host Matt Chester goes behind the scenes with three members of Skydio's utility team to show why drones have graduated from novelty to mission-crit...

Coal has been making headlines recently, highlighting everything from plant closure delays to retirements extended and the political rhetoric suggesting a coal comeback. But are the headlines telling the real story? In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with experts from Energy Innovation Technology & Policy, Silvio Marcacci (Senior Director of Communications) and Michelle Soloman (Ma...

Electricity prices are rising faster than wages, and everyday customers are demanding answers. What’s causing it? What has worked to moderate prices? And where is the messaging behind power decisions and rates confused? On this episode of Power Perspectives, host Kinsey Grant Baker is joined by two veteran energy modelers, Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling of Always On Energy Research and authors of the...

As the future of energy accelerates towards a cleaner, more automated system, the talking points tend to focus on the technologies themselves: AI, EVs, batteries, renewables, and the T&D meant to connect them all. But behind every new technology deployed is an entire workforce to design, manufacture, install, and maintain it. As these technologies expand and new ones come into the fold, a critical...