Episodi
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A party of special significance to celebrate the eleventy-first and final episode with an energy system analogy world cup championship tournament, celebrity guests, and stump speeches
Friends-of-the-Underground participated in a special, in-person recording of the eleventy-first and final episode of Public Power Underground celebrating our community of electric utility enthusiasts. The episode includes a live performance of Roll On, Enthusiasts with special musical guest Daryl Wayne Dasher joining Arin Guillory and Ian Bledsoe. It also closes the Season 6 Energy System Analogy World Cup with celebrity judges Debra Smith and Daniel Kirschen picking winners in an 8-analogy, single elimination Championship Tournament. And, just like Bilbo Baggins ended his eleventy-first birthday celebration giving a speech on a stump, the season ends with open-mic stump speeches from electric utility enthusiasts.
07:11 - Short-to-Ground, Analogy Edition
Top 8 seeds for Energy System Analogy World Cup Championship TournamentAll 20 Grand Analogies of the Energy System from Season 615:51 - Energy System Analogy World Cup Championship Tournament
37:01 - Kurt Miller Stump Speech
40:05 - Crystal Ball Stump Speech
42:42 - Debra Smith Stump Speech
44:02 - Pamela Sporborg Stump Speech
45:50 - Robb Davis Stump Speech
48:54 - Sarah Edmonds Stump Speech
50:34 - Megan Capper Stump Speech
52:16 - Scott Corwin Stump Speech
54:01 - Farhad Billimoria Stump Speech
55:48 - Eric Hiaasen Stump Speech
59:07 - Matt Schroettnig Stump Speech
1:01:44 - Kieran Connelly Stump Speech
1:03:21 - Mary Wiencke Stump Speech
1:05:42 - Doug Marker Stump Speech
1:09:08 - Nicole Hughes Stump Speech
1:10:29 - Conleigh Byers Stump Speech
1:12:00 - Chris Roden Stump Speech
1:15:02 - Ryan Neale Stump Speech
1:16:47 - Humaira Falkenberg Stump Speech
1:20:20 - Closing thoughts from Ian Bledsoe, Arin Guillory, and Ahlmahz Negash
1:24:00 - Closing thoughts from Paul Dockery
If you stay subscribed to Public Power Underground, you may find interesting items in your feed from time to time. Thank you for being a friend of the underground. I hope you have enjoyed the content and feel valued and appreciated.
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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A discussion of the building blocks of a just energy transition with Professor Erin Baker, the Faculty Director of the Energy Transition Institute at UMass Amherst.
Professor Erin Baker visited with Ahlmahz Negash and Paul Dockery in-person at the office of the Pacific Northwest Utility Conference Committee (PNUCC) about energy justice, meaningful metrics, and the Holyoke Community Energy Project. The discussion is wrapped by insightful commentary on energy justice from hosts Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, Paul Dockery, and Ahlmahz Negash.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
2:58 - 30 seconds of theory
What is energy justice?Jenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science, 11, pp.174-182.
3 core tenets of energy justiceJenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science, 11, pp.174-182.
5 categories of energy justice metricsBaker, E., Carley, S., Castellanos, S., Nock, D., Bozeman III, J.F., Konisky, D., Monyei, C.G., Shah, M. and Sovacool, B., 2023. Metrics for decision-making in energy justice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 48(1), pp.737-760.
11:31 - Interview with Prof. Erin Baker
58:22 - Debriefing from interview w/ hosts Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, Paul Dockery, and Ahlmahz Negash
1:33:00 - Closing Thoughts from Conleigh Byers & Farhad Billimoria
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! -
Episodi mancanti?
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The electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift; at least that's the hypothesis that Commissioner Ann Rendahl and Gen-Z-Swiftie Scholar, Sherry Zuo, consider in a special episode.
Commissioner Ann Rendahl and Sherry Zuo join hosts Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball to consider how the electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift. Paul and Crystal joined Commissioner Rendahl at the offices of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and Sherry joined remotely from Cornell University where she is a PhD candidate in the Mays Group.
Agreeing on the eras of the electric sector and how they map to the eras of Taylor Swift is no small task. To facilitate the conversation we put together some reference materials including a summary of the proposed timeline with sector milestones and representative songs.
The discussion considered how the eras of the electric sector fell on a quadrant map that mapped along vectors of structured ←→ chaotic and building ←→ optimizing.
The quadrant mapping was compared to the eras of Taylor Swift mapped along the vectors of career ←→ romantic and confident ←→ pensive.
The conversation also used a 40”x30” histomap of organizing activities across the eras of the electric sector that I presented at the 2024 Macro Energy System workshop.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
For additional reading, Commissioner Rendahl recommends the following:
Prophets of RegulationElectricity Regulation in the U.S.The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of NationsYou can also listen to our eras of the electric sector playlist on Spotify!
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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a special, bonus episode recorded at the Western Power Pool with celebrity guests Sarah Edmonds, Bob Rowe and Debra Smith
Crystal Ball and Matthew Schroettnig host a conversation with Sarah Edmonds, Bob Rowe and Debra Smith about their “Theory of Change” for expanding high voltage, long distance transmission in the West.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
Western Transmission Expansion Coalition (WTEC) is a West-wide effort to develop an actionable transmission plan to support the needs of the future energy grid.
The Western Transmission Consortium aims to support the development of transmission infrastructure in the West through a collaborative process involving infrastructure owners and investors.
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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A trip to the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project to talk about power system inertia with Seattle City Light operators, plus a discussion of popular fallacies and unpopular opinions with the hosts.
To experience the visceral sounds and sights of big synchronous generation, an interview with Mike Haynes, Will Andersen, and Brandt March was recorded in-person at Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. To start the episode Ahlmahz, Paul, Farhad, and Conleigh discuss popular fallacies of the energy system and share some of their own unpopular opinions.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
03:17 - Popular Fallacies & Unpopular Opions
52:08 - Big Synchronous Generation - Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Ben Serrurier returns to Public Power Underground to share some maybe-good-maybe-bad-but-definitely-not-thought-out ideas with Ahlmahz Negash, Paul Dockery, and Farhad Billimoria in a returning segment, Half-Baked Ideas. Then Irina Rasputnis, Madeline Kostic, and Eric Strandberg from the Seattle City Light’s Lighting Design Lab sit down to talk with Paul Dockery about innovation in building electrification.
13:19 - Half-Baked Ideas
Inspiration for the segment comes from the Bill Simmons PodcastBen’s prior appearances on the podcast52:51 - The Lighting Design Lab
1:30:25 - Invitation to the Eleventy-First and Final episode of Public Power Underground
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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A discussion about public goods and what classifying services as common pool resources, congestible public goods, or club goods means for grid planning and market design.
Lynne Kiesling joins Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery to discuss the classification system used in economics to distinguish public goods from private goods and what classifying some services as common pool resources means for grid planning and market design.
Lynne Kiesling is an economist focusing on regulation, market design, and the economics of digitization and smart grid technologies in the electricity industry. She is Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics in the Center on Law, Business, and Economics, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Energy and Sustainability program, both at Northwestern University. She is also a Research Professor at University of Colorado Denver, a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
In addition to her academic research, she is currently a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, has served as a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Smart Grid Advisory Committee, and is an emerita member of the GridWise Architecture Council. Her academic background includes a B.S. in Economics from Miami University (Ohio) and a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
05:07 - 30 seconds of theory
Ahlmahz: Public GoodFarhad: Common Pool ResourceConleigh: Club goodLynne: The pacing problemAhlmahz: The collective action problemFarhad: The tragedy of the commonsConleigh: Induced demandLynne: The Knowledge Problem39:02 - What is and what is not a public good in the electric system
Billimoria, F., Mancarella, P. and Poudineh, R., 2022. Market and regulatory frameworks for operational security in decarbonizing electricity systems: from physics to economics. Oxford Open Energy, 1, p.oiac007.
51:06 - Is transmission a Public Good?
1:16:22 - Implications for planning and market design
1:40:06 - National Treasure, Public Good, or Excludable - a Public Power Underground game
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch! -
Ari Peskoe describes himself as an electric utility critic and has advice for electric utility enthusiasts.
Ari Peskoe is the Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program and a prolific writer about regulation of the U.S. power sector on issues ranging from constitutional challenges to states’ energy laws to interstate transmission development. The interview is wrapped in commentary from co-hosts Paul Dockery, Ahlmahz Negash, and Farhad Billimoria.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
03:11 - 30 seconds of theory
Farhad on Cost of Service vs Incentive based regulationJoskow, P.L., 2024. The Expansion of Incentive (Performance-Based) Regulation of Electricity Distribution and Transmission in the United States. Review of Industrial Organization, pp.1-49.Ahlmahz on Procedural JusticeJenkins, K., McCauley, D., Heffron, R., Stephan, H. and Rehner, R., 2016. Energy justice: A conceptual review. Energy research & social science, 11, pp.174-182.11:01 - Ari Peskoe on Governance
11/01/2023 - CleanLaw Podcast - Electricity Law InitiativeCleanLaw–Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate’s Control, Hannah Dobie interviews Ari Peskoe about his new article in Energy Law JournalPeskoe, A., 2023. Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate's Control. Energy LJ, 44, p.447.Market Configuration Matters; Effects of Market Choices on Consumers in the Northwest US51:10 - Ranking Governance, Configuration, and Market Design
59:37 - Ari Peskoe’s Energy System Analogy
1:04:48 - Debriefing on transmission, governance, and public power with Ahlmahz Negash and Farhad Billimoria
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Rich Glick initiated the proceedings that led to Order 1920 as Chair of FERC, he returns to Public Power Underground with experts Prof. Jacob Mays and Pamela Quinlan to reflect on its adoption
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Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball bring their curiosity to an in-depth discussion of transmission planning, transmission investment, and transmission policy with Rich Glick, Pamela Quinlan, and Prof. Jacob Mays.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
08:48 - Rich, What were you hoping for?
FERC 2022 - 2026 Strategic PlanJoint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission32:33 - Pamela, Does this do what you wanted?
Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost AllocationHigh-Level Summary of FERC Order No. 1920 on Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation published by Troutman Pepper (h/t Adrienne Thompson)“Plan for the future with the best available information, select the best plan for consumers and allocate costs according to benefits" - Rob Gramlich on Volts1:05:15 - Jacob, What is missing?
Shu, H. and Mays, J., 2024. Transmission Benefits and Cost Allocation under Ambiguity. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.14803.1:15:48 - Rich Glick’s Energy System Analogy: The energy transition is like the 1973 Mets.
1:17:55 - Jacob Mays’s Energy System Analogy: The 2005 Royals, never say it can’t get worse.
1:19:09 - Pamela Quinlan’s Energy System Analogy: The energy transition is like Game of Thrones.
BONUS: Ke Xin (Sherry) Zuo, a PhD candidate at Cornell University in the Mays Group, provided her reflections onTaylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, and its application to the Power System. My (Paul’s) favorite: the brilliant insight that “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is actually about how the power grid has to be resilient during forced outages and extreme weather events.
About the guests:
Rich Glick is a Principal with GQ New Energy Strategies – a consulting firm he co-founded with Pamela Quinlan. Rich is a former Chair of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As Chair, Rich initiated several reforms to more efficiently and cost effectively accommodate the evolution of the electric grid. Before being appointed to FERC, Rich was General Counsel for the Democrats on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He has worked for Iberdrola, PPM Energy and PacifiCorp and is also known in the West for his current work with the Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation (CREPC) Western States Transmission Initiative (WSTI) and CREPC Transmission Collaborative (TC). Rich’s prior appearance on Public Power Underground can be found below.
Pamela Quinlan co-founded GQ New Energy Strategies with Rich. She is an expert in energy market regulation and policy. She started at FERC as a Senior Energy Industry Analyst in the Office of Energy Market Regulation. In 2017 Quinlan went to work in then-commissioner Glick’s office as a Technical Advisor and was appointed Chief of Staff in January 2021. As Chief of Staff, she was responsible for developing and implementing the strategy behind the Commission’s policy initiatives. Before leaving FERC in 2023, Quinlan advised Chair Willie Phillips on Energy Markets and Resource Adequacy. She has also worked for Consolidated Edison (ConEd) and Standard and Poor’s.
Prof. Jacob Mays is an Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University where his research focuses on the design and analysis of electricity markets. Jacob holds an AB in chemistry and physics from Harvard University, a MEng in energy systems from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in industrial engineering and management sciences from Northwestern University. His seminal work (Paul is editorializing by describing it as seminal) on the sequential pricing of electricity was the subject of a stand-alone episode on Season 5 of Public Power Underground, and his collaborations with Jesse Jenkins, Farhad Billimoria, and Rahmat Poudineh have informed our listeners perspectives on electric markets under deep decarbonization. Jacob’s prior appearances on Public Power Underground can be found below.Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul debrief on coverage of FERC Order 1920 then discuss resource adequacy, hedging tail risk, and preview business capability models.
Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, and Farhad Billimoria scan news stories after FERC’s release of Order 1920, then Conleigh Byers explains Resource adequacy, and Farhad Billimoria explains Hedging & Tail Risk in Electricity Markets.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
03:17 - Short-to-Ground (FERC Order 1920 Edition)
On May 13th the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a sweeping long-term transmission planning and cost-allocation rule aimed at modernizing the gridIn the Special Transmission Reform Meeting, Chair Willie Phillips said the U.S. faces "an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society."FERC is helping to pave the way for a much-needed investment in our transmission infrastructureThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s fact sheet for Order 1920 states that the grid rule contains five major elements:Requirement to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning to anticipate future needs.Requirement to consider a broad set of benefits when planning new facilities.Requirement to identify opportunities to modify in-kind replacement of existing transmission facilities to increase their transfer capability, known as “right-sizing.”Customers pay only for projects from which they benefit.Expands states’ pivotal role throughout the process of planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission facilities.“Landmark transmission reform could dramatically speed US energy transition”Large Public Power Council’s president, John Di Stasio’s, written statementAmericans for a Clean Energy Grid’s Executive Director, Christina Hayes, applauded FERC for finalizing a, quote, “strong and comprehensive regional planning and cost allocation rule.”Spot market power in the U.S.Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly Update41:03 - Hedging and Tail Risk in Electricity Markets By: Farhad Billimoria , Jacob Mays , Rahmat Poudineh
Abstract: A concern persistent in scarcity-based market designs for electricity over many years has been the illiquidity of markets for long-term contracts to hedge away volatile price exposures between generators and consumers. These missing markets have been attributed to a range of factors including retailer creditworthiness, market structure and the lack of demand side interest from consumers. Using a stochastic equilibrium model and insights from insurance theory, we demonstrate the inherent challenges of hedging a legacy thermal portfolio that is dominated by volatile fat-tailed commodities with significant tail dependence. Under such conditions the price required for generators to provide such hedges can be multiples of the expected value of prices. Our key insight is that when the real-world constraints of credit and financing are considered, the volatility of thermal fuels and their co-dependence under extremes may be a key reason as to why electricity markets have been incomplete in terms of long-term hedging contracts. Counterintuitively, in the context of the energy transition, our results show that, ceteris paribus, increasing the penetration of low carbon resources like wind, solar and energy storage, can add tail-diversity and improve contractability.22:16 - The Future of Resource Adequacy in a Decarbonized Grid w/ Conleigh Byers
Conleigh Byers Resource Adequacy Harvard Energy Policy Seminar 25 4.93MB ∙ PDF file DownloadDownload
1:02:23 - Institutions in the electric sector are evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift, but are their business models evolving with them?Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Apoorv Bhargava discusses his work at WeaveGrid optimizing electric vehicle charging within distribution systems. The interview is wrapped by context and insights from the regular hosts: Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
01:21 - 30 seconds of Theory
Farhad Billimoria on Distribution System Operators (DSOs)Conleigh Byers on Transactive EnergyAhlmahz Negash on the Energy Equity Gap10:28 - Apoorv Bhargava on WeaveGrid and the Grid
53:38 - Apoorv Bhargava’s analogy; the electric grid is like a well stocked bar
1:00:27 - Updating our Priors
Fred Scweppe: Power systems `2000': hierarchical control strategiesPaul Joskow & Richard Schmalensee: Markets for Power1:20:24 - Community Planning as Energy Planning
We Need to Make Cities Less Car-Dependent, Scientific American, 2024Car harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environment, Journal of Transport Geography, 20241:28:20 - ESA World Cup Standings
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Katherine Blunt joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss her reporting at the Wall Street Journal on the energy industry and her book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid.
Matthew Schroettnig joins Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery for the rest of the episode to cover utility risks, load growth, and the current landscape of America’s power grid.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
03:13 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a suite of standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as toxic air pollution, water pollution, and land contamination from fossil fuel plantsBureau of Land Management (BLM) updated regulations on Broadband Authorization, Cost Recovery, and Vegetation Management for Fire Risk ManagementLetter from twenty-six entities from across the West to the Southwest Power Pool expressing interest in continuing the development of Markets+Portland General Electric is seeking approval for a new, 7.4 mile, 115 KV transmission lineSpot market power in the U.S.Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly UpdateHedging and Tail Risk in Electricity Markets18:39 - Katherine Blunt joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss her reporting at the Wall Street Journal on the energy industry and her book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid
California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power GridWildfires Make Utilities a Tricky Investment. Just Ask Warren Buffett.Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy49:13 - Katherine Blunt’s analogy; the grid is like a network of roads and highways
51:08 - Updating our Priors1:07:20 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings
1:08:11 - Matt Schroettnig’s analogy; electricity is like water in a biome
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Dr. Kyri Baker, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Colorado, makes a return visit to discuss the use of artificial intelligence for power grid optimization. Plus, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, Ahlmahz Negash, and Paul Dockery wrap the interview with an explanation of AI and all its acronyms.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
01:19 - 30 second theory
Farhad Billimoria on “What is OPF?”Conleigh Byers on “What’s the difference between artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Deep Learning, Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINN), Large Language Models (LLM), generative AI, and general intelligence?”14:28 - Dr. Kyri Baker: Using AI and Machine Learning for Power Grid Optimization
Using AI and Machine Learning for Power Grid Optimization: How Neural Networks Can Speed Up Optimal Power FlowBaker, Kyri. "Emulating ac opf solvers with neural networks." IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 37.6 (2022): 4950-4953.Baker, Kyri, and Harsha Gangammanavar. "Locational Marginal Prices Obey DC Circuit Laws." arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.19032 (2024).1:06:14 - Updating our Priors
Chatzivasileiadis, Spyros, et al. "Machine learning in power systems: Is it time to trust it?." IEEE Power and Energy Magazine 20.3 (2022): 32-41. APA1:23:26 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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photo credit Carl Bower for The New York Times -
Katherine Blunt, author of California Burning, joins Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery to discuss the eras of the electric sector (Taylor's Version).
To celebrate Taylor Swift’s April 19th release of The Tortured Poets Department (and Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology), Katherine Blunt, Crystal Ball, and Paul Dockery recorded a special, bonus, episode dedicated to the Eras of the Electric Sector.
Katherine Blunt is the author of California Burning; The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid which is the most approachable introduction to the history of the electric sector ever published! The book interprets, unpacks, and conveys the complex history of Pacific Gas & Electric, and, through it, provides an introduction to the history of the electric sector as well. Katherine Blunt joined Crystal Ball and Paul Dockery for an interview that’ll be part of an upcoming, regular, episode of Public Power Underground, but while we were together we took some time to record a discussion of the sector’s history.
In the recording (and attached 20 slide power point) Katherine, Crystal, and Paul explore the history of the electric sector and Pacific Gas & Electric through Taylor Swift’s discography.
The exploration answers the age old question of what electric sector milestone Taylor Swift wrote “You Belong With Me” about. And, because you know it’s what you wanted, there’s an official Eras of the Electric Sector Spotify playlist.
Yes, my wife and I share a Spotify account. And, yes, my whole family contributed to the playlist including the additions, modification, and resorting of songs like “The Last Great American Dynasty” starting the Efficiency Era instead of “Cardigan” and the addition of Jimmy Carter’s sweater speech as an electric sector milestone. But, no, we didn’t get a preview of The Tortured Poets Department to include songs from the new album in the playlist.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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exploration of approaches to distribution systems from microcontrollers and software to MOAR HARDWARE
Distribution infrastructure, microcontrollers in everything, hardware vs software solutions, and prices-to-devices get covered in a distribution systems episode with Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery featuring an interview with the enthusiastic Francis Sammy! A discussion that manages to navigate the nuances of MOAR HARDWARE as an actionable energy transition strategy while articulating the benefit of deploying smart, controllable, and price-responsive devices.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
01:18 - 30 second theory
Schweppe, Fred C., et al. Spot pricing of electricity. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.Schweppe, Fred C. "Power systems2000': hierarchical control strategies." IEEE spectrum 15.7 (1978): 42-47.08:59 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news
The Major Drivers of Long-term Distribution Transformer DemandCybersecurity baselines for both electric distribution systems and distributed energy resources (DER)Portland-based GridStor announced its acquisition of a planned 450-MW/900-MWh lithium-ion battery storage installationThe National Renewable Energy Lab recently released a report studying the economics of building long-distance, high-voltage transmission linesSpot market power in the U.S.Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly Update23:21 - Francis Sammy provides a practitioner perspective on distribution systems and the energy transition
Francis Sammy is a licensed professional engineer that works as the supervisor of the Systems Distribution Engineering workgroup for Seattle City Light. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, studied electrical engineering at Howard University, and works on distribution systems for Seattle. Francis lives in Beacon Hill with his family of 3 and says you can find him riding around town on his bike, vibing out at a concert, laboring up the basketball court, or sliding down a mountain face first.54:06 - Francis Sammy’s analogy; the grid is like an old, reliable car
56:38 - Updating our priors
1:17:55 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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John Hairston returns to discuss what BPA is doing to navigate an era of transmission expansion for the grid.
John Hairston, the CEO and Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, shares his enthusiasm for transmission and people in an interview with Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball. The interview is wrapped in informative discussion on energy industry news, research, and reflection by Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, and Paul Dockery.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
01:36 - How transmission is addressed in seminal texts
Power System Economics: Designing Markets for Electricity by Steven Stoft Imperfect Markets and Imperfect Regulation: An Introduction to the Microeconomics and Political Economy of Power Markets by Thomas-Olivier Léautier05:23 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news.
Wednesday February 28th the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hosted the eighth public meeting of the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric TransmissionRob Gramlich and his team at GridStrategies released a report in February titled “Fostering collaboration would help build needed transmission”Utility Dive published an opinion piece by Will Kenworthy and Boratha Tan titled “Advancing energy justice: A new paradigm in grid equity and reliability analysis”The Bonneville Power Administration identified 14 new transmission projects costing an estimated $3.9 billion in its 2023 TSR Study and Expansion ProcessThe Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC or Commission) has released a draft determination on a 'flexible trading' ruleThe Western Transmission Expansion Coalition announced the members of its Regional Engagement CommitteeSpot market power in the U.S.Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly Update17:17 - John Hairston’s interview with special-correspondent Crystal Ball
41:00 - John Hairston’s analogy; the electric system is like golf
Risanger, Simon, and Jacob Mays. "Congestion risk, transmission rights, and investment equilibria in electricity markets." The Energy Journal 45.1 (2024). Baker, Erin, et al. "Who is marginalized in energy justice? Amplifying community leader perspectives of energy transitions in Ghana." Energy Research & Social Science 73 (2021): 101933.
45:24 - Crystal Ball’s analogy; the electric sector is evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift
1:17:33 - Updating our priors1:15:22 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul start season six with a discussion of ways to understand the energy system and analogies that can be used to explore its complications
Conleigh Byers, Farhad Billimoria, Ahlmahz Negash, and Paul Dockery discuss various ways of understanding the energy system in the Season 6 Premiere of Public Power Underground. The episode starts with “Short-to-Ground,” a TL;DR segment where the hosts run through summaries of topical news from around the world and then have a short discussion of trends in the industry. Paul then introduces the ground rules for a season-spanning Energy System Analogies World Cup tournament. Lastly, the hosts discuss analogies for the energy system for consideration by future guests on Season 6.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!
04:17 - Promotion for Conleigh’s upcoming presentation for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Energy Policy Seminar: “The Future of Resource Adequacy in a Decarbonized Grid" - March 25, 2024 - Register with the link
Increased EV-Charging Demand and Changing Load Profile Underscore Need for Cross-Sector CollaborationUtilities, EV charging companies must collaborate to avoid bulk power system disruptions: NERCAnother tower collapse poses more questions about transmissionPreliminary Thoughts after Preliminary Report: A few early thoughts following the release of the AEMO Preliminary Report into the recent Victorian power system event.Industry to drive tripling of natural gas consumption in India by 2050ISO-NE recommends capacity market reformsISO New England proposes capacity market changes, further 2-year delay for upcoming auctionCAISO Postpones New Interconnection Requests Due to High Volume
06:54 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news.27:57 - 2024 ENERGY SYSTEM ANALOGIES WORLD CUP
33:04 - The electric sector is like the human body
37:00 - The electric sector is like a water catchment and irrigation system
44:30 - The electric sector is like back country skiiing
49:38 - Electric utilities function like a P-I-D controller for the energy system
59:43 - The electric sector is like air
01:01:20 - The electric sector is like the Mumbai dabbawala tiffin service
01:06:03 - The electric sector is like a game of twister
01:08:59 - Ways of understanding the energy system are like moral theories for right action
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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The next season of Public Power Underground is coming soon with a new format and new regular hosts. Subscribe to make sure you don't miss the season premiere!
After a short break, Public Power Underground is coming back for its sixth season of energy enthusiasm! This season Paul Dockery and Ahlmahz Negash will be joined by world-renowned energy researchers Conleigh Byers and Farhad Billimoria to investigate energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics by bringing together expert insights with practitioner perspectives.
The episode format for Public Power Underground has evolved for Season 6, which will include a new, season-spanning energy-inspired game. Tune in for the season premiere for more.
Season 6 Contributors
Paul Dockery is a Senior Manager of Energy Resource Strategy & Planning for Seattle City Light and the Creative Director of Public Power Underground.Ahlmahz Negash is a Principal Data Analyst for Tacoma Power, an energy system researcher, and Executive Producer of Public Power Underground.
Conleigh Byers is an Environmental Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment based at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She uses tools from operations research, electrical engineering, and economics to design decarbonized energy systems, with a focus on power systems operations and planning. Her current research focuses on achieving resource adequacy under deep decarbonization, hosted by Professor William Hogan. She holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zürich and a dual masters in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Technology & Policy from MIT.
Farhad Billimoria is the Director, Electricity Markets for S&P Global and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He has previously served as a Principal in Market Design at the Australian Energy Market Operator and has a background in international infrastructure and energy finance, investment and capital markets.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Electron
During the Season 5 Finale, friend-of-the-underground Jordan White referenced the buildout of transmission infrastructure as a “Sisterhood of the Traveling Electron”. As an enthusiast of both romantic comedies and electric utilities, the cross-over merch idea was too perfect to pass up. After-all, just like the magical pants from the early-aughts classic The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, transmission keeps us connected across distances during tough transitions.Public Power Underground doesn’t have a storefront to sell merch anymore, but there is a feature where I can share a design for others to order from Printful. There’s no revenue coming to Public Power Underground from the sale and I provide no warranty or guaranty for the merch. But I did promise that if I ever translated concept to merch, I’d send it to subscribers of the newsletter. For links to Sisterhood of the Traveling Electron merchandise subscribe on substack at publicpowerunderground.substack.com.
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“This paper argues for the centrality of real-time markets, which are cleared sequentially with a single binding interval.”
Prof. Dr. Jacob Mays and Paul Dockery have an in-depth discussion in Hollister Hall at Cornell University about Prof. Mays recently released working paper on Sequential Pricing of Electricity. The discussion is only available as a podcast and is published uninterrupted and unedited.
Mays, J. (2023). Sequential Pricing of Electricity. Working Paper, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University.You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us!
The conversation explores the paper in 8 parts.
1. The goal of the paper
“The goal of this paper is to promote a shift in the discussion of price formation in wholesale electricity markets from a static to a dynamic modeling framework. While the design and analysis of systems with significant reservoir hydropower have long relied on dynamic models, most other systems have come to rely on simpler static models that have nevertheless been useful in contexts with limited variability, uncertainty, and intertemporal constraints. The entry of large quantities of renewable and battery storage has increased the salience of all these factors, necessitating a richer modeling framework.” p. 40“This paper argues for the centrality of real-time markets, which are cleared sequentially with a single binding interval.” p. 3.2. Framework to assess the effect of price formation proposals on market outcomes
“This paper develops a framework to assess the effect of such proposals on market outcomes, investigating how choices made by wholesale market operators regarding algorithms for commitment, dispatch, and market clearing can affect incentives for operation and investment.” p. 2“Step 1: specifying the model for operations” Section 3.2.1, p. 15“Step 2: specifying a parameterization” Section 3.2.2, p. 15“Step 3: specifying a pricing policy” Section 3.2.3, pp. 15-163. Static vs Dynamic modeling frameworks
“The paper’s conceptual goal is a shift from the static picture of the merit-order curve in thermal-dominant markets to a dynamic understanding of price formation. Electricity prices are often colloquially described as the cost to serve an additional unit of load for a given period. In a static, convex economic dispatch model, prices that maximize efficiency both in short-run operations and long-run investment can be calculated as the dual variables corresponding to power balance constraints equating supply and demand. With no intertemporal operating constraints, dual values are typically determined by the fuel cost of thermal resources. In a dynamic model, an additional unit of load in a given period not only entails a direct cost in the present period, but also places the system in a slightly different state entering the subsequent operating period (e.g., with more or less energy stored in batteries). Dynamic models have been long been understood as necessary to the design and analysis of markets in regions with significant reservoir hydropower (see, e.g., Pereira and Pinto (1991) as well as more recent reviews in Steeger et al. (2014) and Aasg ̊ard et al. (2019)). In other regions, including the U.S. systems that serve as the primary motivation of this paper, markets have evolved in a context where storage was negligible. This state of affairs is set to change rapidly over the coming decade, as models typically find that decarbonized electricity systems will feature substantial quantities of storage (Jenkins et al., 2018; Williams et al., 2021; Frazier et al., 2021).” p. 24. Importance of dynamic models to regions with storage hydro. p. 38
“The broader point of the examples is to establish the need for the proposed framework in evaluating price formation: even with the limited scope of tests included here, the models produce a wide range of price outcomes.” p. 37
5. Section 5. Evaluating price formation policies, pages 36-376. Flexible Ramping Products vs Fast Start Pricing
“We note several differences between the (DLAC − NLB − θ) and (DLAC − RT − θ) policies. First, while we assumed in Section 4.3 that net load biasing would not result in any binding forward financial positions, the (DLAC −RT −θ) policy directly affects the quantity of reserves procured in the binding interval.” p. 307. Policy and parameterization are choices that matter: Section 5.3 Long-run consequences, pages 39-40
“The choice of operating policy can have a significant impact on the total revenue across all resources. [...] In general, resource-specific revenues track the total charges.” however “storage is a notable exception with revenues deviating significantly from that seen by the market as a whole.”“They indicate the potential for substantial misallocation of investment due to inefficiencies in spot price formation.”8. Policy Recommendation: Advocate for high-fidelity simulation tools
“Accordingly, a second policy recommendation is to advocate for high-fidelity simulation tools enabling system operators to compare operational performance and pricing outcomes with alternative algorithmic choices and reserve product specifications, putting them in position to credibly demonstrate the value of new reserve products and parameterize them efficiently.” p. 5.-----
If you haven’t listened to prior discussion with Prof. Mays, you can check out prior conversations:
Prof. Jacob Mays on Electric Markets and Resource Adequacy
Paul Dockery
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January 27, 2023Jacob Mays, PhD, Matt Schroettnig, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss a paper Prof. Mays co-authored on contractual form in electricity reliability obligations, how it applies to the program getting developed in the Northwest, and what perspective he has on electric market development in the Northwest.
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Electric Market Enthusiasm, pt. 1: Professor Jacob Mays on Electric Market Design
Paul Dockery
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May 19, 2022Jacob Mays, Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, answers Paul’s remedial questions on how electric markets function and what the Pacific Northwest should be considering when approaching market expansion incrementally in a wide ranging and engaging conversation.
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Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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Inspired by the YouTube series *Hot Ones*, Whitney Muse (Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation), Mark Lauby (Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer at North American Electric Reliability Corporation), and Jordan White (Executive Director, Development at GridLiance) join co-hosts Paul and Crystal to discuss increasingly controversial topics while eating a series of increasingly spicy wings. The conversation triangulates hot topics in the energy industry from engineering, policy, and business perspectives.
You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are electric utility enthusiasts, like us!
Round 1: Mild Spice - ERO Report / Texas & Utah Inverter caused outages
Round 2: Medium Spice - No Transition without Transmission & Regulatory Frameworks for Change
Round 3: Hot - Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission & Western States Transmission Initiative
Round 4: Spicy
Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!
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