Energy Capital Podcast

My guest for this week is Megan Kimble. Megan is an extremely talented writer and her new book entitled City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways is a must read for anyone interested in climate change, transportation, or just how cities came to be the way the are: How did we end up with massive, noisy, smelly, dirty highways right in the middle of every major city? Kimble unpacks an extremely complicated history in a page-turner of a book. She tells the stories of those impacted by highway construction and expansion in the past and in present times, as active expansions in Texas will claim thousands of homes and businesses, and even schools and churches. And she brilliantly explains how none of these expansions will solve traffic problems. In fact, and this has been proven over and over again as we discussed on this podcast, they’ll make traffic problems worse. Megan is Austin-based journalist, author, and editor and the former the executive editor at the Texas Observer and has written about housing, transportation, and urban development for The New York Times, Texas Monthly, The Guardian, and Bloomberg’s CityLab. Her new book covers the battle over the future of highways in Austin, Dallas, and Houston but could describe the battles happening all over the country. She also examines successful highway removals in places like Rochester, New York and successful efforts to stop highways including in Texas. We dove into all of that in the interview. We discussed the history of the interstate highway system, including original research Megan did at the Eisenhower Library that showed highways were never meant to go through cities, why the US has such meager public transit infrastructure, the impact of cars and highways on climate change and emissions, and much more. Kirkus Reviews called the book “a convincing case for removing highways and shaping cities meant for people, not cars.” Whether you think you agree with that or not, I highly recommend you read the book. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Timestamps4:21 - Megan’s historical approach in City Limits; the Futurama Highways and Horizons exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York7:11 - Understanding the connection between highways and the energy system10:12 - Highway expansion, carbon emissions, and air pollution 12:08 - How and why highway expansion doesn’t work; induced demand16:32 - History of the interstate highway system22:35 - Funding for highways versus public transit27:05 - Inequality and highways 31:33 - Repeating mistakes of the past and North Houston Highway Improvement Project (aka the I-45 expansion)34:22 - How the negative effects of highways impact all of us39:30 - Example of highways being defeated and removed46:03 - A new vision for cities48:25 - Groups working to stop and/or remove highways in Texas51:35 - Book excerpt55:13 - Electric vehiclesShow NotesCity Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways by Megan KimbleMegan’s other work and writingsThe Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee Texas could spend federal funds meant to cut carbon emissions on highway projectsThe Top Ten Biggest Global Warming Polluters in Texas from Environment TexasStop TxDOT I-45Rethink35Coalition for a New Dallas Urban Austin Reads Book Club event with Megan at First Light Books in Austin on 5/17Megan’s Twitter FeedTranscriptDoug LewinMegan Kimble, welcome to the Energy Capital Podcast. Thanks for being with us.Megan KimbleThank you for having me.Doug LewinSo I love this book, your book is City Limits, Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. I really enjoyed reading it and learned a ton from it. I think where I wanna start is just with the kind of very complicated relationship Americans have with highways. And I love the way you unpack that and go into the depth of that in this. This is not, as might be suggested by the title, like this, you… you don't simplify this, right? You explore it in all its complexity and Americans, while we hate being on highways, we resent traffic… at the same time, if somebody suggests, I think to somebody who's not sort of read into this and following this in any great depth, if somebody says we should not expand the highway, people get pretty upset about that. They kind of, they, they want their highways. So it's this, it's very much this kind of a love-hate relationship, I think. So you obviously spent a lot of time thinking about highways and our relationships with them and wrote what again, I think it's really a masterful book. What do you think now kind of on the other side of this book and all of this research and all of these discussions about hi

Before you listen: I will be hosting a mailbag episode in the next couple of weeks and am asking listeners to submit questions. Please send an email to [email protected] or leave your questions in the comments for this episode. Following Winter Storm Uri, the Texas legislature worked to identify proposals that can increase the reliability of the ERCOT grid. In this week’s episode, State Senator Nathan Johnson, representing Senate District 16 in Dallas and a member of the Business and Commerce Committee overseeing ERCOT and the PUC, shares insights into the proposals that are reshaping Texas energy policy.Central to Senator Johnson's efforts is the establishment of a fund aimed at creating microgrids at crucial facilities such as hospitals and police stations. This initiative, now part of the Texas Energy Fund via Senate Bill 2627, secured nearly $2 billion to bolster microgrid infrastructure after receiving approval from Texas voters in a constitutional amendment. Moreover, Senate Bill 1699, spearheaded by Senator Johnson, formalizes the collaboration between the Public Utility Commission and various stakeholders to implement virtual power plants and aggregated distributed energy resources programs, while also mandating the commission to enact measures for reducing residential energy consumption.Beyond legislative achievements, the conversation delves into pressing topics such as transmission policy, the evolving dynamics between fossil fuels and renewables, the imperative for innovative regulatory frameworks and incentives for utilities, and the pivotal role of energy efficiency in shaping Texas' energy landscape.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Timestamps03:33 - Short and medium term predictions for the TX grid7:45 - Texas Power Promise, microgrids, and load management to avoid prolonged outages10:29 - Circuit segmentation15:36 - Distributed Energy Resources, Senate Bill 1699, Virtual Power Plant pilot18:20 - Conservation29:07 - Texas’s explosive load growth and importance of load management32:26 - Emerging technologies34:04 - Relationship between oil and gas and renewables36:53 - Transmission44:33 - Interconnecting ERCOT and FERC jurisdiction in Texas48:31 - Geothermal50:17 - Incentivizing TDU’s to spend on energy efficiency, not just steel in the ground59:39 - Markets1:05:15 - Scapegoating renewables1:08:47 - Texas Energy Fund and natural gas investmentShow Notes"The Name of the Game is Flexibility," a Conversation with ERCOT's Pablo VegasText establishing the Texas Energy Fund - SJR93 / Proposition 7Text of SB 1699 - “An Act relating to the Participation of Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources in the ERCOT Market” Text of HB 1500 - includes language for the Circuit Segmentation StudyText of SB 415 - “An Act relating to use of electric energy storage facilities in the ERCOT power region”TranscriptDoug Lewin Senator Nathan Johnson, thanks so much for being with us on the Energy Capital Podcast.Nathan JohnsonThank you for having me on. I'm excited to have this conversation.Doug LewinAll right, well, I wanna start from a high level. I did this with ERCOT CEO, Pablo Vegas, and I kinda like the way it kinda sets the tone for the conversation. I'm gonna ask you the same question. Where do you think the grid is gonna be? Can you kinda describe your vision for what the electric grid in Texas, specifically the ERCOT grid, will look like in a five to 10 year timeframe? And I'm not, we're not talking 20 years where it's super futuristic and sci-fi and not you know, next legislative session.Nathan JohnsonWhich is fun, which is more fun.Doug LewinAnd we can do that. I'm looking forward to talking some of the sci-fi stuff too. I know you're a big thinker and a visionary, but let's keep to that kind of five to 10 years. What's your vision? Where do you think all this is headed?Nathan JohnsonThe first thing I'd like to say out the gate is I am very optimistic about the five to ten year timeline. It's the one to five that we're going to spend some time talking about today that I think is much more dicey. As to what it looks like, it's partly contingent on what we do in these next one to five years. It's going to be partly intentional, and there's going to be an unintentional factor. What we do know is that we are having, we are experiencing explosive load growth. And that is, I believe, going to continue. And I don't know anyone who disagrees, who has a different expectation. We have an aging infrastructure, and we have an infrastructure that at the moment can work okay for today. A lot of the stuff we did in response to Uri, I think, has stabili

During Winter Storm Uri, electric demand spiked to a record level. We don’t know exactly how high demand went, but ERCOT now estimates that next winter, in Uri-like conditions, demand would hit a whopping 92 gigawatts.One of the best ways to reduce risk of outages, and one of the only ways to save money while increasing reliability is to replace inefficient heating units with high efficiency heat pumps.That is just one of the reasons why I wanted to feature an entire episode on this amazing technology and what led me to invite Eric Wilson, a senior research engineer in the Buildings and Thermal Sciences Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory or NREL, to join me for this week’s episode. With a wealth of experience and expertise, Eric co-authored a recently released article “Heat pumps for all? Distributions of the costs and benefits of residential air-source heat pumps in the United States” in Joule.During the interview, Eric provides in-depth insights into the world of heat pumps – what they are, how they work, and dispels common misconceptions surrounding them. But our dialogue went deeper. We discussed the impact of heat pumps on the Texas grid, a critical topic given our continuously rising demand and the pervasiveness of inefficient resistant heat in homes, which, in part, caused the Winter Storm Uri outages. We also discussed electric rates and the impact of rate design on consumer savings, workforce challenges and opportunities, and the gas heating to electric heating transition. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Timestamps3:15 - What is a heat pump?4:15 - Common misconceptions about heat pumps (they work in the cold!!)6:06 - The benefits of having a heat pump from a consumers’ perspective10:59 - Grid impacts of inefficient heat and poorly insulated homes11:12 - How much can we reduce energy consumption by replacing resistance heat with heat pumps in TX13:43 - Do we need to get rid of resistance heat entirely?23:51 - Workforce challenges 28:14 - Heat pump efficiency ratings, explained39:07 - Scenarios for savings43:25 - Heat pumps plus demand response47:03 - Natural gas to electric transition51:11 - Electric rate structures Show NotesHeat pumps for all? Distributions of the costs and benefits of residential air-source heat pumps in the United StatesQuantifying the impact of residential space heating electrification on the Texas electric gridNational Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) ResStockEric Wilson, LinkedInNate the House Whisperer Youtube ChannelEnergy SkilledNortheast Energy Efficiency Partnership’s (NEEP) Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pump (ccASHP) Product List and Specifications"The Name of the Game is Flexibility," a Conversation with ERCOT's Pablo VegasTranscriptDoug LewinEric Wilson, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome to the Energy Capital Podcast.Eric Wilson Yeah, thank you Doug. Happy to be here.Doug LewinReally excited about this paper you put out in Joule. It's called Heat pumps for all? Distributions of the costs and benefits of residential air-source heat pumps in the US. We're gonna dive deep into heat pumps and how they could be a core solution for reliability, affordability, and sustainability. But before we get into some of what you found in your research, would you please, just for our audience, start from a very high level. What are heat pumps, you know, how do they work? Why would somebody maybe who doesn't have a heat pump yet or doesn't even know if they have a heat pump, why would they want to look into getting one? What are they good for?Eric WilsonYeah, well, a lot of people might not realize it, but they probably have three or four or five heat pumps already. If you think about any air conditioner or refrigerator is already a heat pump system in that it uses a vapor compression cycle to move heat from one place to another. So if you think about a refrigerator that is taking heat from within the refrigerator section or the freezer section and moving that to your kitchen.And a heat pump for space heating is not too different. You can also think of it as an air conditioner that works in reverse. And it just has an additional small part reversing valve that can make it move heat instead of from the inside of the house to the outside of the house, can move it from the outside of the house to the inside. Even if it's really cold outside, there's been a lot of technology breakthroughs in recent years about and is making heat pumps that performing cold climates better and better at performing down to low outdoor temperatures.Doug LewinYeah, I think this is one of the most confusing things for people

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.comFor this week's episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andy Bowman. Andy has been developing renewable energy projects around the US for 25 years, which puts him back to the 1990s and some of the earliest wind projects in Texas. And while he's developed all over the US, he says ERCOT and Texas are his favorite place to develop. And we got into why.Andy was the founder of Pioneer Green Energy and Renewable Generation Inc. and worked for E.ON, now RWE, and Entricity in executive roles. He's currently the CEO of Jupiter Power, an energy storage company backed by BlackRock, which currently operates 1,300 megawatt hours of grid scale battery projects and is developing another 11,000 megawatts worth of new projects from California to Maine and including in Texas. Andy also teaches a class at the University of Texas Law School called Climate Change and Entrepreneurialism. In his book, Andy notes that the potential for clean energy today is equal to that of coal and oil in the 1700s. We're at the start of a new age of energy, and Andy and I talked about what that will mean for Texas. We covered the economics of solar, and concerns on whether or not Texas solar will cannibalize itself and mitigate future growth in the industry. We also talked about rising demand in the form of data centers, carbon capture machines, electric vehicles, and lots of other large loads coming onto the system, which is currently having a transformative effect on the grid. And finally, we discussed whether or not capitalism is up to the task of dealing with climate change, an important conversation that is subject to endless debate.This podcast is for paid subscribers only and will not be listed publicly on podcast apps. For details on how to listen to this podcast in your favorite podcast app, please refer to this information from Substack. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Timestamps3:10 - About Andy and Jupiter Power5:38 - Why Andy prefers the ERCOT market structure compared to other grids in the US7:51 - Solar as a market dominant technology12:16 - Financing and economics of solar; Power Purchase Agreements25:01 - Scale of the energy transition and load growth28:04 - Large flexible loads and AI32:28 - Capitalism’s role in addressing climate change37:18 - Central planning vs market solutions 42:16 - Lessons from history that can help us tackle the climate crisis; carbon budgets and pricing47:43 - The Inflation Reduction Act51:45 - Next generation solar and storage54:31 - Current direction of the ERCOT grid; where it will be in 5-7 yearsShow NotesThe West Texas Power Plant That Saved the World by Andy BowmanJupiter PowerI’m in Texas to see the future by Bill GatesThe Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan HolidayNet Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector from the International Energy AgencyFreedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II by Arthur Herman

Electrons and molecules don't usually mix. Power grid people and gas supply people don't talk to each other much, nor do they much understand each other's worlds, languages, or businesses. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cited this lack of gas and electric coordination as one of the causes of the Winter Storm Uri outages.However, it's not just a problem for reliability and energy security. People who work in the power and gas industries need to communicate because their worlds are becoming increasingly and inextricably intertwined. As just one example of this, more and more, hydrogen will be made by clean electricity. In a previous Energy Capital podcast, I spoke with Michael Webber and we delved briefly into the basics of hydrogen and its role in the energy transition. However, with Texas securing one of the seven Department of Energy Hydrogen Hub awards, the passage of two hydrogen-related bills by the state legislature last session, and the unveiling of numerous high-profile green hydrogen projects on a gigawatt scale by various companies, I recognized the need to dedicate an entire episode to this subject.There’s no one better to talk with about hydrogen in Texas than Dr. Emily Beagle, a research associate with the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin. She works on energy policy and pathways to decarbonization of the global energy system with a particular focus on the and use of hydrogen to reduce emissions and the hardest-to-abate sectors. In this episode, Dr. Beagle breaks down why hydrogen isn't a cure-all in the energy transition and explains the importance of targeting hydrogen use at hard-to-abate sectors. She also spoke about the current uses of hydrogen and how they’re likely to change, hydrogen incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, how some of the unique aspects of the Texas electric market are ideal for hydrogen producers, the potential of hydrogen for long duration energy storage, the water requirements for green hydrogen and how they compare to oil and gas water use, where demand for hydrogen will come from, and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Timestamps3:23 - About Dr. Beagle5:06 - Hydrogen in context. How much is produced today?7:33 - What is the future of hydrogen and potential growth for hydrogen in the next 5-10 years?10:16 - What are the priority uses for hydrogen?15:30 - A fully decarbonized system will still require molecules19:46 - How hydrogen is produced and the various hydrogen colors24:00 - Hydrogen as a Large Flexible Load27:43 - How the IRA tax credit and recent Treasury Dept guidance will impact hydrogen33:15 - Comparison of water needs for green hydrogen to other forms of energy35:55 - Potential to use brackish water or produced water for hydrogen production40:09 - Concept of hydrogen hubs and explanation of HyVelocity Hub in Houston45:18 -Is there enough demand for hydrogen?46:21 - Difficulties of transporting hydrogen, usefulness of hubs where transportation need is limited50:56 - The Gulf Coast has three of the six existing salt dome storage caverns in the U.S.54:18 - Need for policies that deal with regulation and standards for hydrogen56:09 - Natural and other forms of hydrogen; issues with using color classifications for hydrogenShow NotesWebber Energy Group at the University of Texas at AustinThe HyVelocity HubHyVelocity Selected by U.S. Department of Energy to Develop Gulf Coast Hydrogen HubIEA Path to Net ZeroRenewable Electrolysis in Texas: Pipelines versus Power LinesClean energy experts break down hydrogen hype and hope from Canary MediaSeparating Hype from Hydrogen – Part One: The Supply Side from Cleaning Up PodcastTranscriptDoug LewinDr. Emily Beagle, thanks so much for taking time to be on the Energy Capital Podcast.Emily BeagleThanks for having me here, Doug.Doug LewinIt's my pleasure. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Obviously a lot of discussion, a lot of excitement around hydrogen these days, really excited to go deep on that. There are a lot of great podcasts and articles out there on hydrogen in different parts of the world. We're gonna really focus in on Texas today. Why don't you go ahead and tell folks a little about yourself, your work at UT, and how you got to be there?Emily BeaglePerfect. Sounds great. Happy to. As you mentioned, I'm Emily Beagle. I'm currently a research associate with the Webber Energy Group out of the mechanical engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin. I'm originally from Wyoming, born and raised, proud graduate of the University of Wyoming, where I got my PhD and a number o

In this episode of the Energy Capital Podcast, I had the opportunity to speak with Pablo Vegas, the President and CEO of ERCOT. There was a time when very few Texans knew what ERCOT was or what it did. Those days are long gone. Texans pay close attention to the grid following Winter Storm Uri and the ensuing outages. And the 13 conservation calls over the last nine months or so have kept ERCOT very top of mind.Vegas joined ERCOT in October 2022. Previously, he worked with NiSource, an electric and gas utility in Ohio, before returning back to Texas. From 2008 to 2010, Vegas headed AEP Texas, a regulated poles and wires utility serving Corpus Christi, Laredo, and large swaths of South and West Texas. There are likely few jobs as complex and as difficult as leading ERCOT. The problems facing ERCOT are enormous and incredibly complicated. We dived into many of them. Without a doubt, Pablo is thoughtful and open-minded, two of the most important qualities in any leader. He shared his thoughts on a wide range of topics, the need for more flexible resources, the need for more transmission, the challenges and the benefits of renewable energy, and the role of storage, which he called one of the most innovative changes to energy since the invention of the electric grid. Vegas sees a lot of distributed resources — sources of power located at homes and buildings — as one of the defining features of the grid of the future. He was particularly engaged and animated on the issue of the demand side, the need for energy efficiency and demand response, as well as distributed solar and storage. Vegas talked about the need to address inefficient heat and also the potential of what he calls “active energy efficiency,” the ability to “flex up and flex down” to use more power when there's an abundance and less when there's scarcity.This podcast is free but about half of our podcasts and some of the posts are for paid subscribers only. Please become a paid subscriber today, if you’re not already.If you like the episode, please don’t forget to like, share, and leave a review. Time stamps and a transcript are below. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the episode in the comments section.Timestamps03:12 – How Vegas thinks distributed energy resources (DERs) will define and transform the grid of the future7:46 – What will ERCOT’s role be in managing DERs?10:48 – The role of a Distribution System Operator (DSO)14:02 – Energy efficiency: tackling traditional the “low-hanging fruit” in Texas15:03 – Expanding from passive energy efficiency to active energy efficiency21:28 – Conservation calls vs demand response26:46 – Ways to align retail market incentives with grid needs, including time-of-use rates30:44 – The potential need to change four coincident peak (4CP) pricing34:07 – How the environment, market, and economy determines energy supply and demand41:20 – The need for more transmission, including discussion of the transmission issues on September 6, 2023?46:45 – What are the solutions to transmission issues and how does system planning need to change given massive new loads like data centers?52:11 – Is the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) necessary?59:26 – The value of flexibility; achieving emissions reductions while maintaining reliability1:02:44 – Would “firming” requirements potentially backfire by pulling resources out of the market and raise consumer costs?1:06:55 – Should Texas interconnect ERCOT with other grids?Show NotesThe Future is DistributedTexas Grid Roundup, February 16, 2024Why is the Smart Grid So Dumb? by Travis KavullaTranscriptDoug LewinPablo Vegas, thank you so much for being on the Energy Capital Podcast. Really appreciate it.Pablo VegasGreat to be here with you, Doug. Doug LewinWhy don't we start with something just kind of high level here? I'd like to just ask you, what is your vision for the grid? Not like in one year, two years, but a little long and then not, you know, a generation out, but let's say like a five to ten year window. And how do we increase both reliability and affordability kind of in that timeframe.Pablo Vegas Yeah, I love that question because it's really where I try to spend as much time as I can keeping my horizon view on that five to ten year outlook. And I think most CEOs and companies are trying to make sure that while the business of the day is in hand, that they're guiding the business in a direction that makes sense for the organization and for the grid. And I think ERCOT, and you know, I don't know, ERCOT is very different from a lot of grids in the United States, but I think a lot of grid operators are seeing kind of similar opportunities on that five, ten year horizon. And it's a much more interactive electric grid than I think what people have been used to before. I think that there's a couple of characteristics of that grid of the future. One is I think that there's a lot more participants in the day-to-day operations of it.And what I mean by that is not only do I thin

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.comAt a winter preparedness workshop at the PUC held in October of last year, Commissioners asked several presenters if they could bring more resources online by Christmas. Of course, you can't build a big power plant that fast, but small distributed energy resources (DERs) — batteries, demand response, solar, etc. — can be added quite quickly. Still, most presenters said there simply wasn't enough time.John Padalino of Bandera Electric Co-op, a member of the PUC's Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) Task Force, said he thought it might be possible. This was a pleasant surprise for the Commission. What was even more surprising was that five days before Christmas, Bandera Electric Cooperative submitted a one-page filing with the Commission announcing the launch of a battery lease program. Here's a snippet from that filing: Operating under the energy-as-a-service model, cooperative members can now subscribe to a service where Bandera Electric provides a comprehensive battery energy storage system capable of sustaining homes during outages. The first subscriptions are now fully energized and able to support the grid and members of the cooperative.After reading this filing and hearing John speak, I invited him to be on this podcast where we talked about the details of Bandera Electric Co-op's innovative work, including this battery lease program. John discussed Bandera's high impact energy efficiency and demand response programs and how Bandera helps their members afford critical efficiency upgrades. We discussed why Bandera is a leader in the energy efficiency space, how this is reducing costs for their members, and what is stopping other co-ops from adopting similar programs. We also chatted about the future of the grid, Bandera’s role in managing DERs, and the potential of a more interconnected grid in Texas.This podcast is for paid subscribers only and will not be listed publicly on podcast apps. For details on how to listen to this podcast in your favorite podcast app, please refer to this information from Substack. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Timestamps3:17 - Background on Bandera Electric Co-op and role of electric co-ops11:02 - How Uri changed the electricity service landscape; Texas as a winter peaking state; addressing the demand side and energy efficiency21:22 - How Bandera’s energy efficiency programs work and what they prioritize on the demand side25:26 - Member engagement and co-operative financing for heat pumps27:42 - Bandera’s demand response filing and getting these types programs off the ground at larger scale38:38 - Why more co-ops don’t (yet) have programs like Bandera’s45:14 - Potential of future connections among co-ops and investor owned utilities49:13 - The distribution system operator (DSO) model and how providing electricity service is evolving and will evolve at Bandera. 51:21 - Evolution of battery storage and how Bandera’s battery lease program works1:02:02 - The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and their role in reducing costs / improving reliability1:05:42 - Importance of collaboration and Texans showing up for one another

One of the areas where we see the biggest injustices and the clearest manifestations of modern day racism is with pollution. Ports, refineries, fossil-fuel power plants, chemical manufacturing, landfills and more are, to this day, disproportionately cited in communities comprised mostly of Black, Latino, and/or Indigenous people. One of the very first researchers in the world on this topic is right here in Texas, Dr. Robert Bullard of Texas Southern University and the eponymous Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. His groundbreaking research in the 1970s showed that over 80% of landfills in Houston were sited in Black communities, even though the population of Houston at the time was only 25% of the total population. He extended his analysis to Dallas, to Cancer Alley in Louisiana, and beyond, and found the same pattern. Dr. Bullard and I talked about his efforts to address historical injustices and environmental racism. We discussed the importance of multigenerational movements, and his hope to not only pass the baton to the next generations, but also be their cheerleader. He shared his thoughts on ways to approach the subject of environmental justice that broadens the tent, and brings people in instead of putting them on the defensive, including focusing on the benefits to everyone that occur when environmental injustice is addressed. We also discussed the incredible work Dr. Bullard and his team are doing at the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas State University. Dr. Bullard detailed the exciting opportunities that a recently awarded Thriving Communities Grant has opened up for the Bullard Center, and how they plan to build capacity and support on-the ground organizations fighting for environmental justice in Houston and throughout the Gulf Coast. He also gave a thoughtful overview of how and why justice must be centered in all aspects of the energy transition. I learned a lot from this conversation and hope you do, too. This podcast is free but about half of our podcasts and some of the posts are for paid subscribers only. Please become a paid subscriber today, if you’re not already.If you like the episode, and I think you will, please don’t forget to like, share, and leave a review. Time stamps and a transcript are below. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the episode in the comments section!Timestamps3:36 - About Dr. Bullard5:37 - Growing up in Alabama during segregation8:36 - How growing up in Jim Crow shaped his path and career 16:30 - Dr. Bullard’s initial research on landfills and toxic waste facilities in Black neighborhoods22:24 - Writing and getting published the first book on environmental racism27:05 - How has the field and conversation on environmental racism changed25:55 - Recent landfill win in Carverdale, Houston, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)32:16 - Concept of the “communiversity” and how HBCU’s have been on the frontlines in understanding and combating environmental racism36:29 - Recent Thriving Communities Grant program award received by the Bullard Center. How this program is enabling the Bullard Center to help smaller organizations build capacity, deepen their work, and access more funding. 43:50 - Scope of community needs that need to be addressed48:32 - Importance of centering environmental justice in the energy transition and opportunities for Microgrids and community-based solutions55:22 - How lifting up the most marginalized benefits everyone 59:21 - Growing and expanding the movement for racial and environmental justice; importance of “passing the baton”1:03:27 - The need to keep fighting and to save our democracy and right to voteShow NotesBullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern UniversityDumping In Dixie: Race, Class, And Environmental Quality by Robert D. BullardHow the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint SmithThe Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGheeThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel WilkersonWhere Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS)Texas’ environmental agency says Sunset Review recommendations would create a burden for the agency, Lucio Vasquez, Houston Public MediaSouth Central Environmental and Energy Justice Resource Center, New Mexico State UniversityDeep South Center for Environmental JusticeTranscriptDoug LewinDr. Bullard, welcome to the Energy Capital Podcast. It's a privilege and honor to have you here. Thank you so much.Robert D. BullardThanks for having me.Doug LewinLet's start just by, if you could just explain to the audience your work, your purpose, your mission, what do you do and what have you done throughout your career?Robert D. BullardWell, I am a sociologist by training, and I'm an environmental sociologist. And my appointment at

When Texas lawmakers restructured the electric markets in the late 1990s, they left one part of the business fully regulated: the poles and wires companies. In Texas, CenterPoint is the second largest of these entities and serves Houston and most of the surrounding area. They serve about one-fourth of the total peak demand even though they cover only 3% of Texas’ landmass. It’s been a theme on this podcast and will continue to be: who’s going to be the orchestrator of all the small sources of power on the distribution grid — who will be the distribution system operator, or DSO. My guest this week, Jason Ryan, is Executive Vice-President of CenterPoint and he makes the argument that the operator of the distribution grid is already and should continue to be the utility. Jason is forward thinking. He chairs the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) Task Force established by the Public Utility Commission and has helped the PUC and ERCOT launch a successful virtual power plant pilot (VPP) program. He has been vocal about the need for an “all-of-the-above” strategy which includes distributed resources and energy efficiency particularly as transportation and industrial sectors are electrified. Jason talked about research showing that CenterPoint will double — or even triple — its load in the next few years. To put that into context, Houston, covering only 3% of Texas, will add a New York worth of power (not New York City, New York state) in the next two decades or so, as vehicles, the massive Port Houston, and the industrial consumers along the Ship Channel electrify. The pace of change is staggering and we’re struggling to keep up. CenterPoint is also a gas utility in multiple states and Jason also talked about the evolution of the gas system as the energy transition picks up speed. I learned a lot as I always do when I talk to Jason. I hope you do, as well. This podcast is free but about half of our podcasts and some of the posts are for paid subscribers only. Please become a paid subscriber today, if you’re not already.If you like the episode, and I think you will, please don’t forget to like, share, and leave a review. Time stamps and a transcript are below. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the episode in the comments section!Timestamps3:30 What the grid will look like in the near and long term future and how that will be different for consumers6:30 The Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) Task Force and the virtual power plant (VPP) pilot, and why Jason chairs the Task Force10:00 Why does CenterPoint want to see DERs and VPPs in their service territory? Why are many other utilities less enthusiastic?16:30 Utility concerns about losing investment opportunities from DERs and CenterPoint’s stance 19:00 Impact of electrification on load growth, including industrial loads in Houston.25:00 The challenges of managing load growth31:00 The need to increase energy efficiency using data to maximize opportunities and compare demand side solutions with supply side solutions39:00 The need for distribution resource plans (DRPs) created by utilities and ERCOT42:30 Finding the balance between planning and markets45:30 Distribution system operator (DSO) model50:00 How has resilience improved since Uri/Harvey and where and how can we can continue to improve55:45 The future of natural gas utilities in the energy transition, CenterPoint’s experience in Minnesota59:00 Are we doing enough to build transmission? Can we build more transmission based on economic criteria and not only reliability criteria1:07:30 The most important policy to increase reliability, lower costs, and lower emissions in Jason’s viewShow NotesPodcast with Former PUC Commissioner Will McAdamsCommissioner Cobos quote on transmission cost tests: "Today's economic problem is tomorrow's reliability problem."TranscriptDoug LewinJason Ryan, welcome to the Energy Capital Podcast.Jason M. RyanDoug. It's great to see you again. Happy New Year.Doug LewinYes, to you as well. So glad we're having this conversation. Really been looking forward to this for a while. Let's just start. Can you just let the people know who you are, what you do, and tell us a little bit about CenterPoint Energy.Jason M. RyanSure, so I grew up on the legal side of our gas and electric utility business, started working for the company about 23 years ago, and currently lead our regulatory and government affairs group. At CenterPoint, we own and operate gas and electric utilities throughout the Mid-Continent. I think we'll spend most of our time today talking about our Houston area electric utility, where we're the transmission and distribution system operator.Doug LewinYes, and a gas utility in Houston as well, right?Jason M. RyanWe have the privilege to serve almost 2 million homes and businesses with natural gas service around Texas, yes.Doug LewinYep. All right, great. So I want to start with a general and wide ranging question that can let you go in lots of different

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.comThere are massive changes happening to electric grids around the world, including here in Texas. Millions of devices, appliances, and increasingly vehicles are grid connected and could, with the proper systems in place to receive price signals, make grids more reliable, bring down energy costs for consumers, and make electric markets more competitive. But it's early days and there's a long way to go. We need practical examples of distributed energy resources and efforts to reduce energy waste. And we can find them at Pecan Street. Pecan Street is a research organization that collects billions of data points on heat pumps, solar panels, electric vehicles, connected appliances, thermostats, and much more every single day. Pecan Street also conducts groundbreaking research on energy, water, transportation, and agriculture, which we reference throughout the episode and you can find more information about in the show notes.For this episode, I had the pleasure of talking with Anissa Rodriguez -Dickerman, the CEO of Pecan Street, and Scott Hinson, the Chief Technology Officer at Pecan Street. Anissa has more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership and is in charge of leading Pecan Street's efforts in partnership development, strategy development, and ensuring program delivery.Scott Hinson, as the Chief Technology Officer, directs the research efforts of the labs, which are focused on integrating renewable energy, electric vehicles, connected devices, distributed energy resources, and the software that enables it all. Both of them are a wealth of knowledge and we're a joy to talk to. We talked a lot about electrification and heat pumps. We talked about the need to mainstream smart technologies and how all of these technologies will be managed. We got into workforce development and the implications there. We talked about Pecan Street's recent award of a grid resilience innovation grant from the Department of Energy. We talked about multi -point charging of electric vehicles, the integration of big data, the need for change in energy policy, and much, much more. This was a great discussion and a deep dive. Thank you for listening and have a great day.I really enjoyed this discussion and hope you do too. This podcast is for paid subscribers only and thus won’t be listed publicly on podcast apps. For details on how to listen to this podcast in your favorite podcast app, please refer to this information from Substack.If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Show NotesFor more information on Pecan Street and to view all White Papers visit: PecanStreet.orgSmart Cooling: Leveraging Technology and Behavior to Stay Cool and Reduce Energy Demand, published by Pecan StreetIn Nation’s Energy Capital, 45% of Texans Cut Spending on Basics to Pay for Energy Bills, Dallas Morning NewsThe Energy Capital Podcast, Episode 1 with Former PUC Commissioner Will McAdamsTIMESTAMPS3:06 - About Anissa5:55 - About Scott8:26 - About Pecan’s data collection and what that teaches us about EVs and grid management12:38 - What Pecan has done and is doing, including information on the data port they invented to measure residential energy use and optimization17:00 - Major learnings about electrification, heat pumps, and smart technologies in homes21:28 - What we need to mainstream smart technologies and who will be managing these devices and their communication with the grid25:26 - Reaching and addressing communities disproportionately impacted and low-income folks/ making programs for energy optimization and DERs accessible. 27:14 - Workforce Development 29:40 - Increased emphasis on community benefits plans in federal grants 33:08 - Addressing needs of rural communities so they can access benefits related to DERs, EVs etc.37:08 - Future projects and areas of research including multipoint charging, hydrogen, and water 42:45 - Efficient heating and cooling, energy efficiency, and how EE is different from demand response. Discussion of reg up reg down and what it is.48:17 - Newer inverter compressors in heat pumps52:22 - Big data: how Pecan Street uses it and hopes to in the future to understand and find solutions to major problems, such as heat islands55:35 - Future of the grid59:55 - Most important energy policies for the future

Dr. Michael Webber is one of the best known energy experts in Texas. He’s the John J. McKetta Centennial Energy Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, an author of multiple books on energy, and the Chief Technology Officer of Energy Impact Partners, a cleantech venture fund. Michael has a way of explaining and breaking down even the most complex energy concepts and topics into terms that are understandable and engaging to novices and experts alike. We started the conversation with Michael’s views on common misconceptions about energy and what Michael sees as the future of the grid in Texas. We explored the role of fossil fuels and oil and gas companies in the energy transition; talked through the history of energy transitions (there have been several) and what we can learn from the past; and went over the steps to achieve decarbonization. Michael also went into some detail on energy efficiency, demand response, baseload power, hydrogen, heat pumps, electric vehicles, and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you like the episode, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.I look forward to hearing your thoughts; don’t hesitate to share them with me and fellow listeners in the comments. Thank you for listening and for being a subscriber! Transcript, show notes, and timestamps are below.Show NotesPowering Humanity: Essays on Energy and Society by Michael WebberPower Trip: The Story of Energy by Michael WebberPower Trip: The Story of Energy documentary seriesThe Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas AustinYou Should Be Getting Paid to Prevent Heat Wave Power Outages, New York Times Op-Ed by Michael WebberThe Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton ChristensenThe Obstacle is the Way by Ryan HolidayHow ExxonMobil Is Planning For A Future Of EVs: Interview with CEO Darren WoodsMore about Michael:https://twitter.com/MichaelEWebberhttps://michaelwebber.com/https://www.energy101.com/ Timestamps3:39 Michael’s roles at UT and Energy Impact Partners4:37 History of energy, PBS series, and books6:12 Conventional wisdom regarding the energy system that is wrong and/or misunderstood. 8:11 Where the Texas grid will be in 10 years and what he hopes will happen11:27 Carbon pricing 14:34 Why oil and gas companies should not be worried about the energy transition, what role they can play, and political dynamics in Texas17:45 The Four Steps to Decarbonization19:30 What role oil and gas companies will play in the energy transition future and political dynamics in Texas26:40 History of energy transitions and sources in the US31:51 Environmental, labor, and national security benefits and challenges of renewables, including precious metals36:18 Unpacking baseload power42:51 Energy efficiency and building codes, challenges for investing in energy efficiency and need for policy51:41 Heat pumps and resistance heat: market signals, effectiveness, challenges, and benefits. 1:03:47 Residential Demand Response and the need for market innovation1:08:16 Hydrogen explainer 1:13:40 Interconnecting ERCOTDoug LewinMichael Webber, welcome to the Energy Capital Podcast.Michael Webber Thank you so much for having me. It's good to be in a conversation with you in this format after all our conversations in person over the years.Doug LewinYeah, I mean, one of the reasons I so wanted to do this podcast just to have conversations like this, I always enjoy talking to you, but I'm not, I'm not sure we've ever just had an hour to talk. So this is, this is great. I've been really looking forward to this. And just before we jump in, you know, just want to acknowledge the influence you've had on me and so many people around the state and around the country. I think it was your, was it Energy Policy and Technology short course back in like 2000? Michael WebberYeah, energy. The energy technology policy, which you took like in 2008 or something? It was a while ago, so yeah.Doug Lewin I think that's right. That's right. And that was one of the first times that I really felt like I could really understand this stuff. Your ability to kind of translate really difficult concepts into plain language and help dumb people like me understand it is so appreciated. So thanks, and thanks for being on the podcast.Michael WebberOh, my pleasure. And thanks for the kind words. It's exciting to be a collaborator with you after all these years.Doug LewinLet's start just with, if you would, just kind of describing in your own words, who you are and what you do.Michael WebberSo that’s great. So I'm a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. So I do research and teaching on energy and the environment, really at the convergence of commercialization, technology and policy. I'm really an engineer. But I say the words describe me are engineer, entrepreneurship and energy, the three E's, so to speak, and ma

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.comFor the second episode of the Energy Capital Podcast, I spoke with Beth Garza the former Independent Market Monitor (IMM) for ERCOT and current Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute.Throughout the episode, Beth did a great job breaking down complex concepts to make them more easy to understand. We talked about the challenges of the changing supply and demand mix, and how the societal trauma Texans experienced during Uri complicates these problems even more.Beth emphasized the need to increase ERCOT’s interconnections to other grids, the legal challenges to doing so, and how increased interconnection could have helped mitigate past outages. We also talked about who will need to help with the integration of demand side resources and how it can be done. Beth also provided listeners with a helpful explanation of real-time co-optimization, an incredibly important ERCOT initiative that’s necessary for a well functioning electric market. Beth and I delved into the dangers of an unwinterized, barely regulated gas system in Texas and how its current set-up undercuts market competition and shortchanges consumers. Of course, given her background as the IMM, we talked about market design and some of the controversial proposals to alter it, including the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) and ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS). We wrapped up our conversation with a discussion of ways the energy industry needs to shift its approach to communicating with the public.I really enjoyed this discussion and hope you do too. This podcast is for paid subscribers only and thus won’t be listed publicly on podcast apps. For details on how to listen to this podcast in your favorite podcast app, please refer to this information from Substack.If you like the episode, and I think you will, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.I look forward to your feedback on the episode. Thank you for listening and for being a paid subscriber! Transcript and timestamps are below. TIMESTAMPS1:58 - About Beth 3:32 - The role and responsibilities of the Independent Market Monitor5:57 - Understanding and managing the challenge of a changing supply mix combined with increasing demand13:54 - Real time co-optimization: what it is and why it’s important19:13 - ERCOT and interconnection with other grids24:00 - How increased interconnection could have changed the outcomes during Winter Storm Uri28:45 - Natural gas system36:20 - The role and potential of smaller distributed energy resources as a competitive force in the market42:30 - Do we need a new entity to be a distribution system operator (DSO), or could utilities or ERCOT play that role?46:00 - Texas’s market design and ideas for improvement, including discussion of PCM53:10 - Discussion of the ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS) and the IMM’s analysis of its costs59:52 - Conservation calls and shifting public communications strategies

For the inaugural episode of the Energy Capital Podcast, I spoke to Will McAdams, the former Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) who left the Commission just a few weeks ago.We spoke about his appointment to the PUC in the immediate aftermath of Winter Storm Uri and the challenges he faced during that tumultuous period. He told me what he was proudest of from his time on the Commission, including his efforts to wintererize power plants and “hold the line” to ensure a stringent standard was adopted, a stance that likely paid big dividends over the last few days during Winter Storm Heather. We had a great conversation about distributed energy resources (DERs) and how they are likely a major part of the future of the grid. Commissioner McAdams led the effort to create a Virtual Power Plant pilot, allowing small customers to get paid for injecting storage to the grid and, eventually, for reducing their use.He talked about the difficulties in the first few months on the job, after all three commissioners had resigned following Uri. He also reflected on his own possible responsibility for Uri, something I’ve rarely heard in the last three years.We went in-depth into the evolution of energy markets and how they might need to change to provide higher reliability at lower cost. That discussion included his views on the energy-only market, the large volume of ancillary services in recent years, and the controversial Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM). We also talked, of course, about energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery storage, demand response, and much, much more. (We discussed IRA incentives, if you’re interested in learning about which incentives you can access to upgrade your home, see this calculator. If you don’t qualify for tax credits, see this article for information on when additional incentives may become available, hopefully later this year.)Time stamps and a transcript are below. Thank you for being a subscriber. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I’ll have a subscriber-only chat during the upcoming PUC meeting this Thursday and you’ll have full access to the archives as well as subscriber-only events. And some podcast episodes will be for paid subscribers only.If you like the episode, and I think you will, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter.I look forward to your feedback on the episode.Time stamps:2:30: McAdams’ background and path to being a Commissioner6:00: The first days and months at the Commission after Winter Storm Uri10:38: Diagnosing why Uri happened14:50: What McAdams is most proud of from his time at the Commission: strong winterization standards for power plants18:00: What he wishes he had more time to work on: cost allocation for distribution infrastructure costs23:10: The need for distribution resource planning and the potential for a Distribution System Operator (DSO) model; discussion of the PUC’s award-winning virtual power plant (VPP) pilot30:25 Deeper dive into the VPP pilot and the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) Task Force, and the potential for Texans to earn revenue for their DERs36:00: Potential of demand reductions to contribute to VPPs40:25: Are conservation calls inevitable?45:15: The challenge of winter reliability and how energy efficiency can help51:15: The potential of energy efficiency funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, and the need for better education and incentives for HVAC equipment58:15 McAdams’ views on the evolution of energy markets1:02:01: Are capacity markets the answer, and McAdams’ view on the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM)1:05:30: Do we need all the ancillary services we have? Will we need them if the PCM is implemented?1:08:00 Comparison of PCM with McAdams’ idea for Dispatchable Energy Credits (DECs)1:14:30: The criticality of load forecasting and how bad load forecasts were for Winter Storm Elliott1:17:15: Is Texas a good destination for clean energy investors?1:21:54: What are the 2-3 energy policies McAdams thinks will have the biggest impact on increasing reliability1:25:20: What will the grid of the future look like for consumers?TranscriptDoug LewinWill McAdams, welcome to Energy Capital.Will McAdamsHey, thanks, Doug. Glad to be here.Doug LewinSo excited to talk to you, obviously a whole lot to talk about, but let's just start with your background. What was your path to being a Public Utility Commissioner?Will McAdamsYeah, no, so I landed in Austin around 2009. I was fresh out of the U.S. Army, and I went to work as a sort of jack-of-all-trades legislative aid staffer, policy analyst to a state senator, and that senator happened to be Troy Frazier. And Troy Frazier was a pallet manufacturer from West Texas who was a long-serving legislator. And as a part of being a manufacturer, his number one cost of doing business was electricity. And so he always had a passion for energy, electricity, industrial policy, and was actually one of the

For the inaugural episode of the Energy Capital Podcast, I spoke to Will McAdams, the former Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) who left the Commission just a few weeks ago.We spoke about his appointment to the PUC in the immediate aftermath of Winter Storm Uri and the challenges he faced during that tumultuous period. He told me what he was proudest of from his time on the Commission, including his efforts to wintererize power plants and “hold the line” to ensure a stringent standard was adopted, a stance that likely paid big dividends over the last few days during Winter Storm Heather. We had a great conversation about distributed energy resources (DERs) and how they are likely a major part of the future of the grid. Commissioner McAdams led the effort to create a Virtual Power Plant pilot, allowing small customers to get paid for injecting storage to the grid and, eventually, for reducing their use.He talked about the difficulties in the first few months on the job, after all three commissioners had resigned following Uri. He also reflected on his own possible responsibility for Uri, something I’ve rarely heard in the last three years.We went in-depth into the evolution of energy markets and how they might need to change to provide higher reliability at lower cost. That discussion included his views on the energy-only market, the large volume of ancillary services in recent years, and the controversial Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM). We also talked, of course, about energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery storage, demand response, and much, much more. (We discussed IRA incentives, if you’re interested in learning about which incentives you can access to upgrade your home, see this calculator. If you don’t qualify for tax credits, see this article for information on when additional incentives may become available, hopefully later this year.)Time stamps and a transcript are below. Thank you for being a subscriber. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I’ll have a subscriber-only chat during the upcoming PUC meeting this Thursday and you’ll have full access to the archives as well as subscriber-only events. And some podcast episodes will be for paid subscribers only.If you like the episode, and I think you will, please don’t forget to recommend, like, and share the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter.I look forward to your feedback on the episode.Time stamps:2:30: McAdams’ background and path to being a Commissioner6:00: The first days and months at the Commission after Winter Storm Uri10:38: Diagnosing why Uri happened14:50: What McAdams is most proud of from his time at the Commission: strong winterization standards for power plants18:00: What he wishes he had more time to work on: cost allocation for distribution infrastructure costs23:10: The need for distribution resource planning and the potential for a Distribution System Operator (DSO) model; discussion of the PUC’s award-winning virtual power plant (VPP) pilot30:25 Deeper dive into the VPP pilot and the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) Task Force, and the potential for Texans to earn revenue for their DERs36:00: Potential of demand reductions to contribute to VPPs40:25: Are conservation calls inevitable?45:15: The challenge of winter reliability and how energy efficiency can help51:15: The potential of energy efficiency funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, and the need for better education and incentives for HVAC equipment58:15 McAdams’ views on the evolution of energy markets1:02:01: Are capacity markets the answer, and McAdams’ view on the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM)1:05:30: Do we need all the ancillary services we have? Will we need them if PCM is implemented?1:08:00 Comparison of PCM with McAdams’ idea for Dispatchable Energy Credits (DECs)1:14:30: The criticality of load forecasting, and how bad load forecasts were for Winter Storm Elliott1:17:15: Is Texas a good destination for clean energy investors?1:21:54: What are the 2-3 energy policies McAdams thinks will have the biggest impact on increasing reliability1:25:20: What will the grid of the future look like for consumers?TranscriptDoug LewinWill McAdams, welcome to Energy Capital.Will McAdamsHey, thanks, Doug. Glad to be here.Doug LewinSo excited to talk to you, obviously a whole lot to talk about, but let's just start with your background. What was your path to being a Public Utility Commissioner?Will McAdamsYeah, no, so I landed in Austin around 2009. I was fresh out of the U.S. Army, and I went to work as a sort of jack-of-all-trades legislative aid staffer, policy analyst to a state senator, and that senator happened to be Troy Frazier. And Troy Frazier was a pallet manufacturer from West Texas who was a long-serving legislator. And as a part of being a manufacturer, his number one cost of doing business was electricity. And so he always had a passion for energy, electricity, industrial policy, and was actually one of the co