The Engineering Debate Shaping the Future Power Grid
As electricity demand surges, utilities are being forced to rethink how they build the transmission grid. In this episode of Power Perspectives, Burns & McDonnell's Brandon Goodwin and Zach Brinker explain why a decades-old debate—lattice towers versus steel poles—is becoming relevant again. They break down the engineering, cost, construction, and reliability tradeoffs behind each approach, and explain how factors like terrain, outage constraints, supply chains, and project scale all influence the…
Why This Utility Shut Off Power Before Disaster Hit
Wildfire risk is changing—and so is the way utilities respond. In this episode of Power Perspectives, we take an inside look at Arizona Public Service's first-ever Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) and the high-stakes decision-making behind intentionally turning off power to prevent catastrophic wildfires. Host Matt Chester is joined by Wade Ward, Manager of Wildfire Mitigation and Fire Science at Arizona Public Service, and Steve Vanderburgh, Vice President of Weather & Risk Solutions at…
From wildfires to the Olympics: Inside one utility's resilience overhaul
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's Chief Resiliency and Emergency Officer, to talk about what it actually takes to build a utility…
Can DERs save the power grid?
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 Service Commission, and former executive at Alphabet's X moonshot factory—to talk about what it will…
Why data centers should run on solar—not gas
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 on price, what it will take to rewire utility incentives to reflect that reality, and why hyperscale data…
Inside the biggest utility corruption scandal in decades
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 bribery scheme, the conviction and 20-year sentence of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, and the…
Why utility vegetation management needs a new playbook
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 Lynch of Bentley Systems to discuss how myriad factors impact the engineering realities of keeping the…
Can this tech fix the data center interconnection dilemma?
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 power helps data centers come online while they wait for utility service and larger infrastructure…
Leadership lessons from transforming a 100-year-old utility
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 Greencastle, to unpack how Central Hudson 2.0 came together, what sparked the need for a sweeping…