Energy Central

When looking to the goal of a net zero future, the power sector has seen an impressive variety and range of technologies seen as the lynchpin innovation. But the reality is that to truly solve our global emissions crisis and to decarbonize the utility industry, we'll need to adopt as many of these solutions as we can in the optimal environment, sector, and region. That said, some of the key techno...

The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has come quite a long way since episode 1 was published in December 2019. Now three years and over 100 episodes in, and we continue to bring the leading voices of the energy and utility sector to our listeners who are working in the industry as well. As a way to celebrate the completion of another wildly successful year of podcasts and to recap the fun...

Innovation is a state of ongoing action for any company, including utilities. That is to say, innovation is not about achieving some hypothetical level or process, but it's about continuous improvement and working towards the next possibility driven by innovative culture and ways of thinking. In today's utility sector which is undoubtedly changing more than ever before, the importance of understan...

As utilities grow in profile in the eyes of customers and in urgency in the eyes of politicians, the leaders who are steering these major companies and community pillars are being recognized for the critical role they play in society. Tough decisions have to be made, forward-looking views have to be considered, and any missteps of wrong decisions are subject to scrutiny and criticism in the media,...

A main focus on note in the utility industry that's been gaining headlines more and more has been grid reliability and ensuring that no matter where and when energy is needed that the power sector is able to provide it. While some of the challenges in this arena come from unexpected events like extreme weather or equipment failure, another source that must not be overlooked is from planned mainten...

Recent advancements and modernizations in the utility industry have hinged on the availability of data. Data from across the grid can come in massive quantities, in real time, and require immense plans and assets necessary to analyze and make the best use of it. But those efforts are undoubtedly worthwhile, as they bring about new operational efficiencies, improve options to boost reliability, and...

These days, utilities seem to have more potential threats to worry about than ever before: cyber attacks to equipment failure to big storms knocking down portions of the grid. But certain power companies, particularly those on the West Coast, must stay ever vigilant to a less common but higher priority potential disaster: earthquakes. Ensuring the grid infrastructure is prepared to handle the 'big...

The utility sector has a reputation over its history for being somewhat insular: common ways of thinking persist and radical changes to the status quo are met with resistance and take some amount of time to be embraced. Fortunately, that reputation is finally falling as the various revolutions across the power industry are being embraced: digitalization, clean energy, and more. Today's guest on th...

Since the advent of the power sector over a century ago, the business model has seen incremental evolution over time but for most of that time has remained pretty consistent. Centralized power plants, long distances of transmission, and embedded utility companies being the sole provider for a given region. But the past decade or two have seen some landscape-shifting progress: new digital technolog...

Recent years have seen the critical topic of equity in opportunities in utilities finally elevated to the top of the priority list across the sector. Ensuring that potential advancements and transformations are accessible to wider portions of the population, eliminating the risk that any negative impacts are borne only by disadvantage communities, and raising the playing field for all have rightfu...

The utility industry is amidst a revolution of the types, complexity, and scale of advanced technologies that are transforming the sector. Building on the foundation of successful smart grid deployments over the past decade, we are now in the golden age where operational data, new ways of working and emerging applications are converging to help the sector achieve ambitious decarbonization targets....

Virtual power plants (VPPs) have been making waves in the utility sector in recent years, truly disrupting what the status quo for power generation and delivery could look like. As the industry moves forward towards goals that cannot be missed, namely the reliable and affordable delivery of a cleaner energy mix, shifting away from the centralized power plant paradigm seems inevitable. Simultaneous...

In today's modern world, everything has data behind it that can be tracked, monitored, reported, and analyzed. Nowhere across the economy is that truer than in the utility sector, where investments in infrastructure are major sources of public spending, where anything going wrong and interrupting energy supplies can be dangerous for customers, and where the rapidly advancing concept of the digital...

The evolution of transportation systems to be electrified has been a rising story in the power sector for years, and thanks to advancing technologies and progressing electric vehicle (EV) policies it is also poised to be the defining story for utilities over the next decade or two. EVs bring the electric power sector and the transportation industry together like never before, and because the chang...

As the key technologies used by utilities across the country evolve, so too must the institutional knowledge and protocols to be able to handle that new technology. A key technological area where utilities are becoming more and more accustomed with each passing years is with batteries, whether that's large grid-tied batteries, residential energy storage installations, or even electric vehicle batt...

Episode 93: ‘The Invaluable Role of Advanced Nuclear Today and Tomorrow' with Christine King of Idaho National Lab's GAIN While nuclear energy has been a mainstay of U.S. and global power grids for many decades, recent months have seen a renewed focus on the importance of this dispatchable and carbon-free power source. Rising and volatile fossil fuel prices, variable renewable energy sources, and...

The utility industry is one of the more tightly regulated sectors of the economy, given the local monopoly that most power providers naturally have and the essential nature of the end product: electricity to run our daily lives. As such, the interplay between the utility business side and the public policy taking place on the federal, state, and local level is a key area of focus in every utility...

With the recent passage of recent legislation and the continued stream of public funds going towards enabling cleaner forms of generation, an area that must not be overlooked is the infrastructure needed to transmit energy across the country. The grid and its physical transmission and distribution equipment is an area that utilities are paying more attention to in order to stay ahead of the rapid...

Every so often, we hear about breakthroughs taking place in the laboratory setting or academic papers that highlight the type of program that has the power to transform the utility sector, and they get touted and shared in headlines, social media, and elsewhere. Too often, though, it seems the story ends there: the practical application falls apart when put up to scrutiny, the economics of putting...

Energy Efficiency is a key component of every utility across the country, but efficiency programs and departments have been in the power sector for so long that it may be easy to overlook their importance. However, the impact that energy efficiency can have for utilities today is in fact more critical than ever, serving as a key driver toward a myriad of top-level utility goals: decarbonization, g...

Fair or not, the eyes of the utility industry have been on Texas in recent months. After Winter Storm Uri in early 2021 nearly brought the grid down completely, state lawmakers, utility leaders, and innovators have been seeking ways to ensure grid resilience is at the top of the agenda. And leading into the summer season, those new strategies appeared poised to be put to the test thanks to record...

In the increasingly digital world in which we operate, cybersecurity has become a core focus for leaders across the economy. In the utility industry in particular, ensuring systems are secured against potential cyber attack is a top priority, and the state of cybersecurity protections must continue to evolve as new technologies continue to get introduced to the ecosystem. For any utility big or sm...

Americans are hurting economically in recent months, with prices for everything in the monthly budget rising more than previously expected. Utilities have not been immune to the tough financial situation, as fuel prices continue to rise and show unpredictable volatility, but for most households and businesses they are unable to reasonably do anything about their energy budget beyond typical energy...

Energy efficiency has been a part of the utility toolbox for many years, providing support to customers in finding ways to reduce power bills through the basics like upgrading their appliances, turning off or swapping out their light bulbs, and the other basics. Today's power customer, though, tends to be smarter about these energy efficiency basics, and at the same time improving efficiency acros...

The landscape of the traditional legacy utility continues to be challenged by new technologies, public policies, and customer demands. Among the latest developments that are creating change in the power sector is the rise of Community Energy organizations. Community energy, such as community choice aggregators, enables customers to take an unprecedented level of control over their power services b...