The Electric Wire

We are bringing you event audio from CFC's Power Breakfast in Madison on April 13, 2023, titled "The Role of Nuclear Power in Wisconsin's Energy Mix." This podcast episode, "2023 Power Breakfast, Part 2," covers the second half of the event, featuring remarks from: -Panel Moderator: Ellen Nowak, Former Commissioner, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Panelists -Tom...

We are bringing you event audio from CFC's Power Breakfast in Madison on April 13, 2023, titled "The Role of Nuclear Power in Wisconsin's Energy Mix." This podcast episode, "2023 Power Breakfast, Part 1," covers the first half of the event, featuring remarks from: - Senator Melissa Agard, Minority Leader, Wisconsin State Senate - Representative Kevin Petersen, Speaker P...

Consumer advocates are statutorily-designated organizations that represent the interests of customers before public utility commissions. David Springe, Executive Director, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, and Tom Content, Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, join the Electric Wire to discuss more about the role and function of consumer advocate organiza...

Commissioner Ellen Nowak joined the Electric Wire podcast to reflect back on her 11 years at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, as her term comes to a close on March 1, 2023. Nowak joined episode co-hosts Sen. Julian Bradley (R-Franklin), Chair of Wisconsin's Senate Committee on Utilities and Technology, and CFC Executive Director Kristin Gilkes to recall memories from the past decade at...

All about the Inflation Reduction Act! Our panel breaks down some of the major energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), federal legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16, 2022, which included sweeping changes to existing renewable energy production and investment tax credits, game-changing incentives for electric vehicles and electrification, and a host of reba...

The Year-in-Review crew is back to discuss all things energy in 2022. Our panel answers questions about their top energy stories, ideas, projects, and podcast episodes of the year!  Topics this year include: the Inflation Reduction Act, energy reliability, nuclear fusion, the Inflation Reduction Act, Miss Wisconsin (and now, Miss America!) Grace Stanke and her clean energy platform, electric...

Rob Richard of the Wisconsin Electric Cooperatives Association joins Kristin Gilkes as co-host of the latest episode of the Electric Wire, which is all about electric cooperatives. We’ll meet representatives from four electric cooperatives from across the state, including: · Robert Cornell , Manager, Washington Island Electric Cooperative · Monica Obrycki , President and CEO, Eau Claire Energy Coo...

In this episode, we will learn more about the 81 cities, towns and villages across Wisconsin that own and operate a municipal electric utility. These municipal utilities are organized together through the Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin (MEUW),  and we brought together a panel of experts to share more about the unique benefits of public power, including: Tim Heinrich, President and...

We take a closer look at the investor-owned utility model with Jeff Keebler, Chairman, President, and CEO of Madison Gas and Electric. Jeff shares more insights on how investor-owned utilities work, how they're regulated, and the new technologies changing the power dynamics in the industry.   According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) electric power sector survey data, al...

Laurel Peltier of the Maryland Energy Supplier Reform Coalition joins to discuss her first-hand experience with retail choice in Maryland. Laurel helps customers decipher their energy bills and has found countless examples of customers who would be saving money if they had stayed with their regulated utility.    Laurel's web site:   https://www.energysupplierhelpdesk.org/  Laur...

[Note: Audio Only Episode] New Ford F150 Lightning owners Nick and Alicia Schmidt join the Electric Wire to share some of their experiences as the first recipients of Ford's F150 Lightning EV. We discuss EV charging, the Lightning's infamous "frunk", and their experience towing an Airstream behind the Lightning.    Link to NPR story on Nick and Alicia from earlier this summer:  http...

Andy Bochman, Senior Grid Strategist, Idaho National Lab and Bob Stone, Business Manager, IBEW 2150, join host Kristin Gilkes to discuss a range of issues including preserving jobs and reliability in the coal to cleaner power transition, and how Andy's coined the term "global weirding." A must-listen episode that serves as a follow up to our recent conversation with Brent Ridge of Dairyland Power...

Brent Ridge, President and CEO, Dairyland Power Cooperative, and Phil Montgomery, former Wisconsin legislator and PSCW Chairperson, join host Kristin Gilkes, Executive Director, Customers First! Coalition, to discuss the future of nuclear power in Wisconsin and how new small modular reactor (SMR) technology may help facilitate the clean energy transition.

Matthew Spencer of Madison Gas & Electric joins host Kristin Gilkes for a short conversation previewing an upcoming event hosted by the Customers First! Coalition to discuss state policies impacting electric vehicle adoption.    The event is titled "CFC Power Dialogue: A Candid Conversation about Electric Vehicle Policies" and will be held from 2 pm - 6 pm on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at...

Rebecca Ryan and Lauren Azar join the Electric Wire for a conversation about change in the energy industry and in our world. Rebecca, one of the nation’s leading futurists, discusses local and global trends that everyone should be preparing for. Lauren, one of America’s most respected utility attorneys, leads the conversation about change in the energy industry, as they answer the following questi...

On February 23, 2022, several legislators invited representatives from Wisconsin’s investor-owned utilities to provide information to legislative offices at the Wisconsin State Capitol about the higher-than-average costs of natural gas heating bills this winter. On this episode of the Electric Wire podcast, we share a recording of the briefing, including information provided by Bill Skewes , Execu...

Episode 21 of the Electric Wire podcast features a conversation about wind turbine blade recycling with Nicholas Killen, Director, Head of Manufacturing Lifecycle Services, Regional Manufacturing AME, Vestas Blades. Commissioner Tyler Huebner of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin joins Kristin Gilkes, Executive Director of the Customers First! Coalition, as a co-host. The interview address...

The Year-in-Review Crew is back to break down the top energy stories and ideas of 2021! Carrie Templeton, Heather Allen, Chris Hubbuch, and Matthew Spencer join to share their picks for top energy story, idea, and shock of the year, along with their predictions for 2022 and, of course, what they'd do with "all the power." We also ask the Crew to share their favorite Electric Wire episodes of the y...

How closely have you been tracking the energy provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) that recently passed Congress? Denise Bode , Partner at Michael Best Strategies , and Senior Partner, Michael Best & Friedrich LLC , helps us deconstruct the BIF and the Build Back Better plan that is still working its way through Congress. Denise leads the federal policy practice at Micha...

Is there a second life for retired power plants? We joined Dan Schooff, currently the Chief of Staff and Secretary at Beloit College, and a former Beloit-area legislator and WI Department of Administration Secretary, to tour the Beloit College Powerhouse on the banks of the Rock River to see the transformation that has taken place there. The Beloit College Powerhouse was originally a coal plant bu...

Sit back, crack open a PBR, and enjoy the latest episode of the Electric Wire podcast featuring an interview with Joe Fontaine, the case coordinator for the Public Service of Wisconsin’s current open docket on the Roadmap to Zero Carbon (5-EI-158). Joe helps navigate the Commission’s recent order in this docket, and we discuss upcoming items relating to Performance Based Regulation (PBR), the Focu...

Daniel Witt, Head of State and Local Public Policy at Lucid Motors, joins the podcast to discuss more about Lucid, the benefits of electric vehicles, EV battery reuse and recycling, making supply chains local, and policies impacting the electric vehicle industry. Links mentioned in the episode: Lucid Motors https://www.lucidmotors.com/ TechCrunch: Lucid Motors sees a second life for its EV batteri...

Not only is the energy produced by solar panels clean, but cutting-edge recycling technology makes them fully sustainable as well. On this episode of The Electric Wire, Kristin Gilkes is joined by Chris Stearns, National Sales Director at Cascade Eco Minerals, to discuss solar module recycling and the policies and costs impacting the demand for this process.

We’ve been bringing you the Electric Wire podcast as a way to stay informed on Wisconsin energy and utility news since February of 2020, and we thought it was time to take a look back on some of our favorite moments from the Electric Wire. Matt Spencer from Madison Gas and Electric joins Kristin Gilkes to co-host a countdown of Ten Powerful Moments (and one honorable mention) from the Electric Wir...

The latest episode of the Electric Wire is a “hot take” episode, where we’ve conducted four separate mini-interviews, about 5-6 minutes each, to talk about community solar in Wisconsin. Back in 2017, the Customers First! Coalition put together a whitepaper about the community solar projects and models that fit within the regulatory structure here in Wisconsin. In this podcast episode, we’ll follow...