GridPulse, a Grid Forward podcast

Energy affordability is a growing problem across the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors. In this episode, Christopher Knittel of MIT and Ryan Hledick of The Brattle Group turn to recent research to unpack the many factors pushing up electricity prices, including infrastructure replacement, climate change impact, fast-growing demand and evolving energy policies. They then lay out potential solutions using grid flexibility and energy pricing to help manage costs while advancing a reliable, capable grid. You won't find a better up-to-date explanation of the dynamic between energy affordability and grid modernization. Listen in! 

The ability to double grid capacity is here today, ready to work in existing transmission corridors. Get grounded in advanced reconductoring options in this episode with Zach Zimmerman from the AMP Coalition and Theodore Paradise, Chief Policy and Grid Strategy Office at CTC Global. They explain how advanced conductors can move more energy using existing poles and corridors or boost capacity of new projects. Utilities and grid operators can reduce grid expansion timelines, lower costs compared with new transmission builds, and even improve affordability. Listen in to this "technology whose time has come." 

Virtual power plants (VPPs) are entering a new phase. Utilities and regulators are moving beyond pilot programs and enrollment metrics toward dispatchable distributed capacity that can reliably support the grid. At the same time, new policy frameworks, funding mechanisms, and technology capabilities are accelerating deployment. In this episode, leaders from Tesla (Kevin Joyce), Virtual Peaker (Jeff Quigley) and Ohm Analytics (Madeline Turner) explore how DERs, and especially storage, are being deployed at scale to provide fast, flexible capacity. They discuss the way these systems are already reducing pressures on costs, improving reliability and helping utilities respond to quickly shifting conditions.