Why can't utilities innovate?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribeWhen it comes to innovative new grid technologies, every utility wants to be the third in line to try them. None of them want to be the first to take risks and iron out new processes. That's one reason grid-enhancing technologies, better software, and smarter internal procedures stay stuck in pilot purgatory, even as the industry faces the biggest buildout since rural electrification. PG&E's Quinn Nakayama and Microsoft's Hanna Grene discuss what's actually blocking utility innovation — and Quinn offers a novel proposal for paying someone to go first.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction03:44 – Why grid-enhancing technologies stall in the US07:54 – Selling grid software into utilities: what goes wrong11:08 – From a pipes-and-wires company to a technology company12:38 – Pilot program hell and the last 30 percent15:04 – Innovation as a bolt-on, and the three muscles17:47 – The digital spine, data quality, and smart meters23:56 – Org chart versus work chart25:09 – Strategy, structure, people, process, technology29:24 – Build, buy, and the ecosystem skill set36:15 – Data leakage, shadow AI, and paying twice41:12 – Why utility product cycles run five to seven years46:27 – Human in the loop, and EPRI's SAFERai.power49:06 – Advanced market commitments and the kingmaker problem53:22 – EPIC, and whether software counts as infrastructure01:00:05 – The CapEx incentive problem and final advice1:04:34 – Digital Infrastructure as Capital Spend1:06:53 – Final Advice