Energy Central
by Energy Central
Latest episode
Voters vs. Data Centers: Who Actually Won?
Voters vs. Data Centers: Who Actually Won?
About this podcast
Welcome to the Energy Central Podcast Network—your ultimate resource for the biggest ideas, boldest perspectives, and best insights from across the electric power industry.
We publish…
Power Perspectives. From CEOs of major utilities to founders of energy tech startups pushing the envelope, Power Perspectives curates the news, thought leaders, and big picture conversations most important to modern power professionals—every week on Tuesdays.
The Watt & Why. Dive deep into utility business strategies, straight from the minds of the leaders deciding what comes next. Host Mike Smith leverages his own decades of power utility industry experience and leadership to get to the bottom of what inspires, drives, and challenges utility decision makers.
And there’s even more to come.
Energy Central is a community where 250K electric power professionals share, learn, and connect in a collaborative environment. Want to join in? Visit www.EnergyCentral.com to register for free.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 331 episodes
- Voters vs. Data Centers: Who Actually Won? · 29 minThe midterms are over, and energy may have been the issue that defined them. Democrats now control Congress, voters pushed back on data centers, and even utility commission races…
- The Power Grid Has a People Problem · 17 minLink to the full workforce survey: https://news.energycentral.com/workforce-report?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=workforce-report Electricity demand is…
- Robot Dogs Are Coming to the Power Grid · 29 minRobot dogs are coming to America's power grid, and they're doing more than just looking futuristic. At Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), three robot dogs named Astro…
- The Real Risks Behind the Data Center Boom · 20 minThe data center boom is creating enormous opportunities for utilities, but what happens when the grid can't keep up? In this episode, Chris Sturgill, Partner at ScottMadden…
- What The Rise of Plug-In Solar Means for Your Utility · 26 minPlug-in solar, also known as balcony solar, is gaining popularity as homeowners look for affordable ways to generate their own electricity. But could this growing technology pose…
- What political candidates are getting wrong about the climate conversation · 23 minEnergy costs, AI data centers, and grid reliability are becoming major issues in the 2026 midterm elections. But some of the most consequential decisions about America's energy…
- Should your utility be using AI agents? · 25 minWhat could AI agents actually do for a utility today? Power Perspectives host Matt Chester talks to AI strategist Jeff Wilser about the work beyond the buzzword. They explore…
- Why Utilities Are Turning to DERs as Power Demand Surges · 27 minElectricity demand is rising fast, and utilities are looking for new ways to add capacity without waiting years for traditional grid upgrades. Distributed energy resources (DERs)…
- How Clean Energy Became a Republican Issue, Too · 35 minHeather Reams spent about a decade working to bring more Republicans into the conversation around climate and clean energy policy. In this episode of Power Perspectives, she…
- The Clean Energy Transition, Explained Through Football · 23 minin this episode of Power Perspectives, Ahmed Moussa, founder of Electric Bridge Consulting, uses football to break down the path toward 100% clean energy. He explains why…
- What Alaska Can Teach Us About the Future of the Grid · 23 minWhat can a remote Alaskan town teach the rest of the power industry about building the grid of the future? In this episode, book editor Peter Asmus takes us inside Cordova…
- Google’s Energy Head Says We’re Thinking About AI All Wrong · 33 minAI is transforming the utility industry rapidly, but does that mean it’s going to eliminate all utility jobs? Google’s Global Head of Power and Energy for Cloud, Raiford Smith…
- Utilities Have More Data Than Ever. Now What? · 41 minUtilities are being asked to manage more assets, respond to more extreme weather, maintain reliability, and keep costs under control—all while facing workforce pressures and…
- Harvard Law Expert Explains How AI Data Centers Could Change Your Electricity Bill · 36 minAI data centers are driving unprecedented electricity demand—but who should pay for it all? Energy Central’s Matt Chester sits down with Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity…
- How Utilities Are Putting Agentic AI to Work | IBM · 38 minAI is quickly moving from pilot projects to real-world applications across the utility industry. But what does it take to make these tools work at scale? In this episode of Power…
- The truth about nuclear's comeback · 28 minNuclear energy is making headlines declaring its comeback. But did nuclear ever really go away? In this episode, Matt Chester unpacks what’s behind nuclear’s renewed moment in…
- This Tiny Nuclear Battery Could Unlock the Next Era of Space Exploration · 38 minWhat if a nuclear battery the size of a grain of rice could power critical sensors for decades—or help build the infrastructure needed to explore the Moon and Mars? In this…
- Inside the Heated AI Data Center Debate · 15 minToday’s episode of Power Perspectives tackles one of the most contentious issues in the energy industry today: should states slow or even pause the rapid expansion of AI data…
- Can Data Centers Actually Lower Your Electric Bill? · 34 minAs electricity demand surges and customer bills come under increasing pressure, utilities are being challenged to balance affordability, reliability, and economic growth. But can…
- The Engineering Debate Shaping the Future Power Grid · 35 minAs 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…
- Why Keeping The Lights On Is Getting Harder · 40 minThe North American grid remains one of the most reliable in the world—but is that changing? As electricity demand surges from AI data centers, electrification, and new…
- Why This Utility Shut Off Power Before Disaster Hit · 44 minWildfire 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…
- The New Market That Could Make Power Cheaper · 33 minAs electricity demand grows and the grid becomes more complex, utilities are looking for smarter ways to deliver reliable, affordable power. I n this episode of Power…
- From wildfires to the Olympics: Inside one utility's resilience overhaul · 33 minIn 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…
- Can DERs save the power grid? · 37 minOver 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…
- How to build a smarter grid on a tighter budget · 49 minUtilities have more data than ever before—AMI readings, drone footage, transformer sensors, SCADA signals. The question is no longer whether to collect it. It's how to actually…
- Why data centers should run on solar—not gas · 40 minRenewables 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…
- Inside the biggest utility corruption scandal in decades · 41 minOhio’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…
- Why utility vegetation management needs a new playbook · 34 minVegetation 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…
- Utilities are getting their messaging all wrong...here's how to fix it · 42 minCalifornia has long been the proving ground for America’s energy transition, and it’s also where the politics, culture, and storytelling around that transition are being tested…
- Can this tech fix the data center interconnection dilemma? · 32 minData 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…
- Why are utility customers so angry? Here's the $7B answer · 25 minA new Pew survey suggests the public is drawing some sharp conclusions about why electricity bills are rising, and not all of them are flattering to utilities. But does public…
- Leadership lessons from transforming a 100-year-old utility · 43 minCentral 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…
- China is outbuilding the US power grid—and it’s not close · 38 minChina’s energy buildout has become one of the defining stories of the global energy transition. And the impacts aren’t constrained just to what happens in China, but the impacts…
- The modeling breakthrough changing emergency preparedness · 44 minHydroelectric utilities face a different kind of risk than most other power operators: when a dam is involved, the consequences of failure are not just operational, but they are…
- Inside ComEd’s $15B plan to modernize the power grid, with CEO Gil Quiniones · 42 min · Season 1How does a major utility plan for an energy future that is growing more complex by the day? From data centers to an aging grid to an affordability crisis and more, utility…
- How utilities get field data when GNSS fails · 29 minUtilities depend on accurate field data to keep maps current, manage vegetation, and respond quickly when the grid is under stress, but that gets much harder when the global…
- Debunking the red vs. blue energy myth · 28 minEnergy has become one of the most politically charged topics in the country, but is the red-vs-blue framing actually helping us understand what is happening in the power sector?…
- Inside PSE&G's $30B plan to storm-proof the power grid · 32 minSuperstorm Sandy was a turning point for utilities in New Jersey. And for PSE&G, it became the catalyst for one of the most ambitious resilience and hardening efforts in the…
- When AI finally popped at Southern Company · 39 minUtilities everywhere are experimenting with what AI can do in one-off tools and pilot programs, but very few are actually scaling it across the enterprise. But when it comes to…
- The utility's new tools to fight an old foe: wildfires · 39 minWildfires are no longer a once-in-a-while risk for utilities. These days, they are a growing operational, financial, and human crisis. And power companies can’t wait and react…
- Is geothermal finally happening? A DOE leader weighs in · 33 minGeothermal has been part of the energy conversation for decades, but it is still too often stymied by a reputation of being too niche or small-scale to make a grid-wide…
- Inside a live-fire test of grid security · 27 minWhat happens when you fire military-grade weapons at substation infrastructure? We don’t have to ask in theory, because today’s guest has put that question to the test. In this…
- Nuclear’s role in the grid of the future, according to Robert Bryce · 45 minThe nuclear conversation is back in a big way, but the question is whether the excitement is outrunning reality. In this episode, host Kinsey Grant Baker sits down with author…
- How drones are becoming critical infrastructure for utilities · 46 minWhat does the pathway look like from shiny new toy to core operational tool? That’s the trajectory drones have seemingly taken in many utility operations, highlighting that the…
- The politics behind coal’s comeback · 41 minCoal has been making headlines recently, highlighting everything from plant closure delays to retirements extended and the political rhetoric suggesting a coal comeback. But are…
- The energy affordability problem: policy, costs, and tradeoffs (ft. the Energy Bad Boys) · 54 minElectricity prices are rising faster than wages, and everyday customers are demanding answers. What’s causing it? What has worked to moderate prices? And where is the messaging…
- The hidden crisis slowing the grid buildout? Energy's workforce shortage · 30 minAs the future of energy accelerates towards a cleaner, more automated system, the talking points tend to focus on the technologies themselves: AI, EVs, batteries, renewables, and…
- We asked hundreds of utility pros about the endangerment finding. Here's what they really think · 28 minA major shift in U.S. energy and climate policy has reignited debate across the utility industry. When the Trump administration’s EPA moved to roll back the 2009 Endangerment…
- EVs aren't a grid problem—they're a grid solution · 35 minFor years, EVs were treated as a looming grid problem that would lead to an epidemic of transformer overloads, unpredictable peaks, and expensive distribution upgrades. But what…
