Empathy and Nuance

special celebrity guest host, Kurt Miller, brings empathy and nuance to the recording where we talk salmon recovery, electric markets, and a whole lot more

Show Notes

Kurt Miller, Dan Catchpole, KC Mehaffey, and Paul Dockery get together for a regularly formatted episode to talk about electric utility and electric-utility-adjacent news from a Power Department’s perspective. The crew covers the Murray-Inslee draft report, Australia’s electric market getting suspended, natural gas price slump after a fire, transfer of management of a fish hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, and Falconry at the Dalles Dam.

19:10 - A draft report developed for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray to examine the impacts of breaching the four lower snake river dams

• Coverage by KC Mehaffey in Clearing Up on the report and reactions to the report
• A study commissioned by NWRP and prepared by Energy GPS Consulting LLC on the full power cost replacement analysis for the lower Snake River dams

33:12 - Australian Energy Market Operator suspended their national electric market

• Coverage by the Guardian
• Discussion and analysis on The Conversation
• The Professor Jacob Mays Interview
• The Professor Frank Wolak Interview

43:53 - Freeport’s Liquified Natural Gas had an unplanned outaged, and it impacted national natural gas markets

• Grubert, E., & Hastings-Simon, S. (2022). Designing the mid-transition: A review of medium-term challenges for coordinated decarbonization in the United States. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, e768. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.768

48:25 - Transfer of management of the Dwarshak National Fish Hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, also known as the Nimiipuu

• Coverage by The Spokesman

56:51 - The ancient art of falconry used to help reduce salmon predation

1:03:49 - TL;DR segment known as “Energy West …. Lite”

• Water, Weather Conditions Ripe for Boost in Sales for BPA
• PGE Considers Accelerating Renewables Acquisitions
• Idaho Regulators Approve Faster Bridger Depreciation for Idaho Power
• CPUC Approves Resource-Adequacy Plans
• CAISO DMM Suggests Clarifications to Extended Day-Ahead Market Proposal
• NRU Hires Matt Schroettnig
• Clatskanie PUD Case Study on Wildfire Risk Assessment
• Energy News Roundup

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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."