The POWER Podcast
POWER
The POWER Podcast provides listeners with insight into the latest news and technology that is poised to affect the power industry. POWER’s Executive Editor Aaron Larson conducts interviews with leading industry experts and gets updates from insiders at power-related conferences and events held around the world.
Categories: Technology
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In mid-January, scientists who maintain the world’s temperature records announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record. NASA researchers say extreme weather across the planet, including heat extremes, wildfires, droughts, tropical cyclones, heavy precipitation, floods, high-tide flooding, and marine heat waves, will become more common and severe as the planet warms. That’s a big problem for power grids, because extreme weather often causes outages and damage to grid assets. Michael Levy, U.S. Networks lead and Global Head of Asset Resilience at Baringa Partners, a global management consulting firm, is highly focused on extreme weather risks and developing plans to help mitigate the threats. He suggested accurately forecasting dollars of risk at the asset level from extreme weather events is very important to his clients. “Every facility all across the U.S. is having a heightened awareness of some of these extreme weather events, and more importantly, how they can protect themselves and their customers against those in the future,” Levy said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “Utilities have always been really good, generally, at keeping the lights on and maintaining a fair level of reliability,” said Levy. “In general, they’re making the right investments—they have the right ambitions—but what’s challenging about these extreme weather events is that because they’re so infrequent at individual locations, and the impacts are so severe, what we find is that utility clients often are really challenged to estimate those high-impact, low-frequency events, and integrate them into their investment plans.” However, Levy said advances in attribution climate science are helping utilities overcome some of the challenges. “Scientists are now able to associate, with reasonable level of accuracy, what increasing warming means physically for the rest of the world in terms of how the frequency and severity of these extreme weather events may change,” he explained. “One of the big things that we focus on with our utility clients is converting those climate forecasts into dollars of risk, and that way, it gives them an adjustable baseline that they can substantiate spend against,” said Levy. “If you’re undergrounding lines to protect them against wildfire, elevating substations to protect them against flooding, all of those things cost money, and we’re increasingly seeing regulators—they want to see the benefits, they want to see that the money is being spent prudently. So, that’s what we’re talking to our clients about today,” he said. And utilities have proven that sound planning does pay off. Levy pointed to actions taken in Florida following particularly active and intense hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005. Soon thereafter, the Florida Public Service Commission adopted extensive storm hardening initiatives. Wooden pole inspection and replacement programs were adopted, and vegetative remediation solutions were implemented, vastly improving grid reliability. Additionally, investor-owned electric utilities were ordered to file updated storm hardening plans for the commission to review every three years. However, the proof is in the pudding, and for Florida, grid hardening has tasted very good. Levy compared the effects experienced from Hurricane Michael in 2018 to those of Hurricane Ian in 2022. “When Ian came, despite being a bigger and stronger hurricane, they had no transmission lines down, which, of course, are very costly and time intensive to replace, and they were able to restore customers three times as fast, despite having more customers out. So, they’re experiencing what we like to call at Baringa ‘the rewards of resilience,’ because investing in resilience is a fraction of restoration costs,” said Levy.
Previous episodes
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159 - 157. How Utilities Are Planning for Extreme Weather Events and Mitigating Risks Wed, 13 Mar 2024
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158 - 156. Community Solar Projects Bring Renewable Energy to the Masses Thu, 07 Mar 2024
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157 - 155. Improving Nuclear Plant Construction Processes: How to Build Projects More Efficiently Thu, 15 Feb 2024
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156 - 154. Hydrogen: ‘The Swiss Army Knife of Decarbonization’ Thu, 01 Feb 2024
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155 - 153. PGE Leans into an All-of-the-Above Strategy to Decarbonize Its Power System Tue, 23 Jan 2024
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154 - 152. A Boiler for Any Occasion Thu, 28 Dec 2023
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153 - 151. Microgrids a Win for Both Owners and Grid Operators Thu, 14 Dec 2023
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152 - 150. How Coal Fly Ash Is Reducing CO2 Emissions and Improving Concrete Thu, 30 Nov 2023
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151 - 149. DOE Competition Helps College Students Prepare for Cyber Jobs in the Energy Industry Tue, 21 Nov 2023
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150 - 148. Advanced Nuclear Fuel Approved for Installation at Plant Vogtle Tue, 31 Oct 2023
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149 - 147. Five Key Transformations Required to Achieve Net-Zero in the U.S. Fri, 13 Oct 2023
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148 - 146. Reducing Carbon Intensity with Renewable Propane Wed, 04 Oct 2023
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147 - 145. How Power Companies Benefit from Accurate Weather Forecasts Tue, 26 Sep 2023
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146 - 144. Environmental Justice: What It Is and Why It’s Important to Power Projects Thu, 07 Sep 2023
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145 - 143. Power Grid Investments Improve Reliability and Make Blackouts Less Likely Wed, 30 Aug 2023
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144 - 142. Nuclear Power, Electrification, and Carbon-Free Fuel Are Key to INL Achieving Net-Zero by 2031 Wed, 23 Aug 2023
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143 - 141. CTOTF Conference: ‘Best One-Stop Shop to Hit It All’ Wed, 09 Aug 2023
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142 - 140. Hydrogen Offers a ‘Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity’ This Decade for Innovative Companies Thu, 27 Jul 2023
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141 - 139. How to Achieve a Thriving Nuclear Power Industry in the U.S. Thu, 20 Jul 2023
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140 - 138. How Renewable Propane–Fueled EV Charging Solutions Can Significantly Cut Carbon Emissions Thu, 13 Jul 2023
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139 - 137. POWER’s 2023 Plant of the Year: Estrella del Mar III Thu, 06 Jul 2023
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138 - 136. Subsequent License Renewal: Extending Nuclear Power Reactors to 80 Years of Operation Thu, 15 Jun 2023
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137 - 135. TVA Head Wants Nothing to Do with Building One Reactor Unless He Can Build 20 Wed, 17 May 2023
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136 - 134. New Technology Offers Options for Offshore Wind and Power-to-X Projects Thu, 04 May 2023
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135 - 133. How Propane Can Help Decarbonize the Power Grid Wed, 19 Apr 2023
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134 - 132. How an EMP or GMD Could Destroy the Power Grid and Create Chaos Thu, 13 Apr 2023
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133 - 131. Offshore Wind and Green Hydrogen Offer Great Opportunities for Gulf Coast States Thu, 30 Mar 2023
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132 - 130. Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and FDR: Big Players in U.S. Hydropower History Thu, 23 Mar 2023
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131 - 129. Microgrids Provide Reliable Power During Emergencies and Help Decarbonize the Grid Thu, 16 Mar 2023
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130 - 128. Help Wanted: Retirements and the Energy Transition Lead to Job Openings in the Power Industry Wed, 08 Mar 2023
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129 - 127. Cutting Costs with Technology-Driven Improvements Tue, 07 Feb 2023
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128 - 126. Is Delivering 100% Renewable Energy on an Hourly Basis at Cost-Competitive Rates Achievable? Mon, 30 Jan 2023
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127 - 125. Fish Friendly Hydro: Natel Energy Is Proving It's Possible Thu, 17 Nov 2022
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126 - 124. How Rural Communities Can Benefit from the Energy Transition Thu, 03 Nov 2022
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125 - 123. A Pillar in the Community and Collaborator Around the World: DLC Lights Pittsburgh Tue, 25 Oct 2022
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124 - 122. How Bitcoin Mining Can Help Power Companies Optimize Generation Assets Thu, 06 Oct 2022
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123 - 121. Four Important Ways Aero-Derivative Gas Turbines Are Being Utilized in Power Systems Wed, 28 Sep 2022
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122 - 120. Decarbonizing the Power Supply While Maintaining Reliable and Affordable Electricity Wed, 21 Sep 2022
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121 - 119. How to Overcome Challenges to the U.S.’s Offshore Wind Energy Goals Thu, 11 Aug 2022
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120 - 118. Community Choice Aggregation Provides Renewable Energy at Reduced Costs Thu, 21 Jul 2022
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119 - 117. Hydrogen Poised to Play Prominent Role in the World’s Energy Transition Thu, 16 Jun 2022
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118 - 116. Keeping Coal Relevant: University of Wyoming Leads the Way Thu, 05 May 2022
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117 - 115. Four Questions You Must Ace to Ensure Sound Cybersecurity in OT Systems Thu, 21 Apr 2022
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116 - 114. How a UPS Can Provide a Return on Investment as an Energy Storage System Thu, 14 Apr 2022
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115 - 113. How Ammonia Could Help the World Transition to Clean Energy Wed, 23 Mar 2022
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114 - 112. Women Are an Important Piece of UAE Nuclear Power Program Thu, 10 Mar 2022
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113 - 111. Power Industry People: Finding Top Talent in the Military Mon, 28 Feb 2022
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112 - 110. Decarbonizing the World: Hydrogen Technology Is the Next Big Thing Thu, 24 Feb 2022
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111 - 109. Former FERC Commissioner Says ‘Market Design Problem’ a Cause of 2021 Texas Power Crisis Thu, 03 Feb 2022
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110 - 108. How Power Plants Can Reduce Asset Integrity Risks with Digital Technology Tue, 25 Jan 2022