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 Billimoria, and Paul Dockery for the rest of the episode to cover utility risks, load growth, and the current landscape of America’s power grid.

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03:13 - Short-to-Ground; a segment where we blow a fuse covering the news

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a suite of standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as toxic air pollution, water pollution, and land contamination from fossil fuel plants
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM) updated regulations on Broadband Authorization, Cost Recovery, and Vegetation Management for Fire Risk Management
• Letter from twenty-six entities from across the West to the Southwest Power Pool expressing interest in continuing the development of Markets+
• Portland General Electric is seeking approval for a new, 7.4 mile, 115 KV transmission line
• Spot market power in the U.S.
• Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)
• Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Weekly Update
• Hedging and Tail Risk in Electricity Markets

18:39 - 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

• California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid
• Wildfires Make Utilities a Tricky Investment. Just Ask Warren Buffett.
• Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

49:13 - Katherine Blunt’s analogy; the grid is like a network of roads and highways

51:08 - Updating our Priors

1:07:20 - ESA (Energy System Analogies) World Cup Standings

1:08:11 - Matt Schroettnig’s analogy; electricity is like water in a biome

Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it’s work to watch!

What is Public Power Underground?

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."