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Public Power Underground
by Paul Dockery
Public Power Underground is more than a discussion about public ownership of electric infrastructure, the infotaining episodes cover the energy enthusiast trifecta of electrification, markets, and people. The hosts interview industry experts on a broad range of energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics at the nexus of electric utilities and the energy transition. The podcast doesn’t take itself too seriously and frequently plays energy inspired games like “energy enthusiasm distilled,” “draw an analogy,” and “say something nice about electric utilities." publicpowerunderground.substack.com
Episodes
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Headliners: Crystal Ball, Mark Nelson, and Emeka Anyanwu @ Gridliance Transmission Symposium
In a LIVE! recording at GridLiance’s 2024 Transmission Symposium, Crystal Ball hosts a competition between Mark Nelson and Emeka Anyanwu to determine the most creative prognosticator of energy headlines for 2025. The episode is un-edited and available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you…
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Afterparty: Frontlining Energy Justice
[recorded August 28, 2024] Tony Reames and Salma Elmallah discuss their work and research on energy justice in a special episode recorded after the season and series finale. In a much anticipated episode recorded on August 28, 2024, Dr. Tony Reames and Dr. Salma Elmallah join Paul Dockery and Dr....
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Eleventy-first episode & Energy System Analogy World Cup Championship
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...
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Energy Justice with Prof. Erin Baker
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…
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Commissioner Ann Rendahl & the Eras of the Electric Sector
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...
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BONUS: Unprecedented Partnerships for Expanding Electricity Transmission in the West
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...
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Big Synchronous Generators, Popular Fallacies, and Unpopular Opinions
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...
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Ben Serrurier & the Lighting Design Lab
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...
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Lynne Kiesling, Congestible Public Goods, and Common Pool Resources
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...
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Ari Peskoe Ranks Governance, Footprint, and Market Design
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…
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Rich Glick on FERC Order 1920
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 -------------------- Paul Dockery and Crystal Ball bring their curiosity to an in-depth discussion of...
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Resource Adequacy, Tail Risk, and Institutional Capability
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...
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Apoorv Bhargava on the Grid
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…
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What it means for America's power grid w/ Katherine Blunt
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...
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Dr. Kyri Baker on AI & OPF
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…
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BONUS: Eras of the Electric Sector (Taylor's Version)
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…
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Distribution Hardware
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…
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The Transmission Expansion Era w/ John Hairston
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...
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Grand Analogies of the Energy System
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...
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Season 6 Preview & Sisterhood Merch!
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…
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Office Hours w/ Professor Jacob Mays
“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...
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Season Finale: Hot Takes on Transmission
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,...
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Electrification is Happening w/ Steve Pantano and Danielle Walker
Steve Pantano from Rewiring America and Danielle Walker from the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a discussion of electrification. The crews discuss the Inflation Reduction Act’s Home Energy Rebates, Rewiring...
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*buzzed history* with Mark Ohrenschall, Shauna McReynolds and Crystal Ball
three energy historians join public power underground for an infotaining and slightly irreverent discussion of the major milestones for the electric industry in the northwest -------------------- Mark Ohrenschall, Shauna McReynolds and Crystal Ball join and Paul Dockery to discuss the history of...
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Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling on Maximizing DER Deployment
Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling join Ahlmahz and Paul to talk about maximizing the deployment of distributed energy resources but first we make them say something nice about electric utilities Lorenzo Kristov and Josh Keeling join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a discussion of FERC…
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Best Practices in Power Planning w/ Ric O'Connell and Anna Sommer
Ric O’Connell and Anna Sommers join Ahlmahz Negash, PhD and Paul Dockery for a deep dive into power planning best practices including planning for extremes, open source models, and best in class computational techniques. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your...
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BONUS: 3Ps of transmission in the West
Transmission experts talk about horror stories from permitting Idaho Power's Boardman to Hemmingway transmission line and react to a regional planning organization scorecard -------------------- Adam Richins, Christina Hayes, and Pam Sporborg join Paul Dockery at Paddy’s Bar & Grill for an...
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Utility Maximization, Community Input, and Solarpunk Stories with Prof. Dr. Destenie Nock
Prof. Dr. Destenie Nock joins Dr. Ahlmahz Negash and Paul Dockery for a conversation about what the grid of the future *should* look like. The discussion dives deep into (1) the energy equity gap, (2) a methodology for finding the optimal expansion of a power system under the objective of...
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Debra Smith hosts Randy Hardy, Bill Drummond and Steve Wright
Debra Smith, Randy Hardy, Bill Drummond, and Steve Wright recorded an info-taining conversation live on-stage at NWPPA’s 83rd Annual Conference and Membership Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Debra hosts the three former Administrators of the Bonneville Power Administration who continue to engage in...
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Risk perspectives; from strategy to execution with Kevin Nordt and Paul Dietz
We discuss how utility risk management is a lot like dungeons and dragons: creatively managing risk by leveraging strengths to maximize the likelihood of beneficial outcomes when solving problems. Kevin Nordt, Paul Dietz, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery talk about managing market risk from...
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BONUS: Windowless Conference Room Edition
Ben Serrurier, Lea Fisher, Matt Schroettnig, and Paul Dockery share some energy themed maybe-good-maybe-bad-brainstorming ideas during a special windowless conference room in-person recording. Ben Serrurier, Lea Fisher, Matthew Schroettnig, and Paul Dockery were all in Anchorage, Alaska for…
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Debriefing from a Markets+ Leadership Forum
Pam Sporborg, Spencer Gray, Joe Taylor and Paul Dockery debrief and synthesize the discussion from an SPP Markets+ Leadership Forum hosted by Tacoma Power, NV Energy, and the Bonneville Power Administration on May 12th, 2023. 05:04 - Benefits, Opportunities and Barriers to Market Expansion 18:18…
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Market Design, Slinkies, and Synchronous Condensers with Farhad Billimoria and Conleigh Byers, PhD
learning lessons about deeply decarbonized electricity markets from around the world including optimal prices in non-convex markets, reliability insurance, and system security Farhad Billimoria, Conleigh Byers, PhD, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss adaptation of market design for the...
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A conversation about a just mid-transition w/ Dr. Emily Grubert and Dr. Frank Incropera
Emily Grubert, PhD, Frank Incropera, PhD, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss natural gas distribution system obsolescence, energy security during the transition away from fossil fuels, the magic of heat pumps, increased reliance on electric utility reliability, and the wickedness of…
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BONUS EPISODE: Power Contracts in Transition
Laura Trolese, Tyler Wolford, Matt Johnson, and Paul Dockery recorded an episode at a spas about how power contracts could change during a transition from bilateral to centrally dispatched markets. In a special, bonus episode recorded at the One Ocean Resort & Spas in Atlantic Beach, Florida…
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A conversation about transmission w/ Rob Gramlich and Kathleen Staks
Rob, Kathleen, Ahlmahz, and Paul discuss the transmission expansion: it's importance, it's barriers, and it's path forward. Rob Gramlich, Kathleen Staks, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss transmission policy, planning, and funding in light of the increased need for an interconnected...
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Debriefing from a Regional Expansion Summit
With quotes from the hit comedy “Shrinking”, Paul navigates the vibes after a Regional Expansion Summit hosted by Seattle City Light, Portland General Electric, and the Bonneville Power Administration Jan Smutny-Jones, Mary Wiencke, Jim Shetler, and Chris Robinson join Paul Dockery to debrief and...
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A Conversation About Representative Workforce w/ Jackie Flowers and Humaira Falkenberg
Jackie Flowers, PE, Humaira Falkenberg, Karen Heim, and Ahlmahz Negash, PhD discuss pathways to workforces that are representative of our communities in an all-female-cast episode of Public Power Underground. 05:07 - Introduction of Diverse Workforce of the Future article by Jackie Flowers, PE…
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Market Disruptors - LIVE from the Main Stage
LIVE! from the main stage at The Energy Authority's 2023 Energy Symposium, Paul and Laura moderate a panel on market disruptors with energy executives and leaders Paul Dockery and Laura Trolese moderate a panel on disruptors to resource adequacy, day-ahead, and real-time markets at The Energy...
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Sarah Edmonds on Grid Integration Services
Sarah Edmonds, Crystal Ball, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery discuss a how resource adequacy design theory applies to resource adequacy program design, why FERC asked questions about market based rate authority, what it means for a program to be interoperable, and where inter-regional...
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Prof. Jacob Mays on Electric Markets & Resource Adequacy
Jacob 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…
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Distribution Systems w/ Prof. Kyri Baker
Kyri Baker, PhD, Karen Heim, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery address topical energy issues and share stories in the latest episode of Public Power Underground. 06:36 - hot takes and lessons to be learned from Winter Storm Elliott oral history of the winter storm elliott takes on...
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LIVE from the Lounge!!
LIVE from the Lounge at NWPPA’s Power Supply Conference hosts Paul Dockery, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Dan Catchpole play an energy-themed analogy game; Arne Olson and Laura Trolese make sports analogies to electric markets in a continuation of Season 4’s Electric Market Enthusiasm Series; and…
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Snowtel w/ Nicole Hughes
Nicole Hughes, Karen Heim, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, and Paul Dockery address topical energy issues and share stories in the latest episode of Public Power Underground. 06:43 - debrief from The NY Times article on the opportunities awaiting electric utilities How utilities can maximize IIJA and IRA...
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BONUS EPISODE: Original Cast, Nostalgia Pod
Goodbyes are hard and tend to be cringeworthy. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A SPECIAL EPISODE!!! The original cast of Public Power Underground gets together for a nostalgic recording with a throwback script to celebrate Ian Bledsoe's promotion to Senior Power Analyst, and acknowledge Paul Dockery's…
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Programs and Markets w/ Lea Fisher
Lea Fisher, Ahlmahz Negash, PhD, Dan Catchpole, and Paul Dockery cover electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news in Season 5, Episode 3. 06:32 - introduce Ahlmahz Negash, PhD as new co-host for Public Power Underground Ahlmahz has been a recurring guest on Public Power Underground and...
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Politics and Policy w/ Travis Kavulla
Travis Kavulla, Abigail Sawyer, Dan Catchpole, and Paul Dockery cover electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news in Season 5, Episode 2. 05:51 - energy angles to election coverage Abigail Sawyer coverage of elections in the Southwest in California Energy Markets Anne Ernst coverage of...
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Clean Dispatchable Resource Enthusiasm w/ Kieran Connolly
Kieran Connolly, Dan Catchpole, Abigail Sawyer, and Paul Dockery kick off the Season 5 premier of Public Power Underground. 06:11 - what evolution into a centrally dispatched market means for a hydro-centric region SPP Sees Markets+ as Potential Path to Full RTO in the West Carrie Simpson to…
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Electric Market Enthusiasm, pt. 5: an Expert Panel on where Sports! and Markets! combine.
In the fifth installment of Public Power Underground’s Electric Market Enthusiasm series, an expert panel including Laura Trolese (Senior Market Design & Policy Analyst, The Energy Authority), Carrie Simpson (Director - Western Markets, Xcel Energy), and Jeff Spires (Director - Power, PowerEx)...
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FERC Chair Richard Glick! featured in part 4 of our Electric Market Enthusiasm series
Richard Glick, the Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), joined Crystal Ball, Matt Schroettnig, and Paul Dockery for the fourth installation of our Electric Market Enthusiasm series. We try to keep it light while discussing transmission, batteries, price formation, the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Public Power Underground is more than a discussion about public ownership of electric infrastructure, the infotaining episodes cover the energy enthusiast trifecta of electrification, markets, and people. The hosts interview industry experts on a broad range of energy industry and energy-industry-adjacent topics at the nexus of electric utilities and the energy transition. The podcast doesn’t take itself too seriously and frequently plays energy inspired games like “energy enthusiasm distilled,” “draw an analogy,” and “say something nice about electric utilities."
publicpowerunderground.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Paul Dockery
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Public Power Underground have?
Public Power Underground currently has 116 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Public Power Underground about?
Public Power Underground is more than a discussion about public ownership of electric infrastructure, the infotaining episodes cover the energy enthusiast trifecta of electrification, markets, and people. The hosts interview industry experts on a broad range of energy industry and...
How often does Public Power Underground release new episodes?
Public Power Underground publishes regularly with 116 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Public Power Underground?
You can listen to Public Power Underground on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Public Power Underground?
Public Power Underground is created and hosted by Paul Dockery.
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