State Activity

The GT Power Hour: Episode 33 (All Eyez on Md.: MD PSC Chair Jason Stanek’s big task)

May 20, 2022 |

MOPRs, ROFRs and NOPRs, oy vey! In which we welcome back Jason Stanek, who chairs Maryland’s Public Service Commission, to discuss the tensions and challenges presented by Maryland’s Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022. Becoming effective on June 1 this year, the legislation is considered arguably the most ambitious climate-change law adopted by any state in the country, and Stanek’s commission will be tasked with getting the state on the right path to accomplish it — all without hiring any additional staff. It’s probably fair to think of Maryland over the next nine years as a bellwether for how feasible, given local objections to the necessary infrastructure development, rapid decarbonization in the power industry is. They’re the “canary in the coal mine,” as Chair Stanek notes, so “keep an eye on Maryland…”
Other topics include PJM’s recently released Grid of the Future study, the FERC/NARUC Joint Federal-State Task Force on Transmission, FERC’s NOPR on transmission, New Jersey’s evaluation agreement with PJM on offshore wind, food recommendations at the diner by the Buffalo airport, hot takes on college mascots, criticizing the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to not purchase EVs for its fleet, New Jersey officials for subsidizing nuclear plants and every overly-confident clean-energy activist on the Internet, thoughts about Maryland politics, its capital city and that big horse race it holds each year.

The GT Power Hour: Episode 31 (Workers Wanted: ICC Chair Carrie Zalewski talks CEJA implementation)

Mar 18, 2022 |

In which we ask Illinois Commerce Commission Chair Carrie Zalewski to summarize Illinois’ new Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), and it still takes more than an hour — though, in fairness, we do also shoot a lot of hardball Illinois-related Rapid Fire questions at her. Listen for discussions on grid reliability, performance-based rates, integration plans for the state’s electricity-distribution utilities, lessons learned from the reliability issues in Texas and much more!

The GT Power Hour: Episode 29 (The Politics of Energy Generation, w. FERC Cmmsr. Mark Christie)

Jan 17, 2022 |

In which we receive several history lessons from FERC Commissioner Mark Christie on what has caused capacity markets to (so far) fail to live up to their full promise and threatens to tear regional markets apart, as well as what choices states have. From there, we consider the impact to the industry of the shale-gas revolution, get to the bottom of the tension regarding the minimum offer-price rule (MOPR), make a plea for Robert Caro to finish his LBJ biography series and the Steelers to draft Heisman-finalist Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett to replace Roethlisberger, reminisce about the heroes of the golden age of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball and the antiheroes of the current Golden Age of Television, pay tribute to former Virginia SCC Judge Preston Shannon, discuss new year’s resolutions and Glen’s apparent love of coffee, plus much more.

Episode 26 (How to Engage with Regulatory Commissioners, the Right Way)

Oct 21, 2021 |

In which we discuss state and federal energy regulation with Paul Kjellander, president of both the Idaho PUC and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Beyond cooperative federalism and the interface between FERC and state commissions, we dive into the problems with joining CAISO, what the future of the power grid will look like, generator-interconnection advice, the national political pastime of bashing the federal government, NARUC’s upcoming annual meeting in Louisville, Rory’s resemblance to folk-grass musician Tyler Childers, arcana of ancient Roman calendars, predictions for the winner NARUC-president Jeopardy, how energy professionals can best engage with utility commissioners and why Idaho is called the Gem State and the marketing ploy behind Boise State University’s blue football field.

Episode 23 (Line in the Sand: A Garden State-ment)

Jul 30, 2021 |

In which we submit New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Joe Fiordaliso to our line of questioning on resource adequacy, capacity markets, offshore wind, PJM, NIMBYism, state relations with PJM and FERC, New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan and its aggressive goals and the state of thermal generation in the Garden State.
Later, we force the president to engage in a little political Catch-22 and pick favorites between beloved New Jersey icons. After that, he doles out some advice to another president whose tenure his own has far exceeded and finally urges everyone to follow his state’s bold lead in addressing climate change.

Episode 22 (Morgan You Bargained For)

Jul 7, 2021 |

In which we sit down with Curt Morgan, the president and CEO of Vistra Corp., to discuss his investment philosophy in the power-generation business, the current investment status of generation technologies, how financial markets are disciplining the industry and leading the ESG revolution, the “terminal value” issue with gas-fired generation and why you never want to be the first owner of such a facility, gas pipelines’ dirty little secret, the reality of climate change, putting the power-industry transition into historical perspective, how PJM’s markets have performed, why power markets need to ditch some terminology as they add emissions to their list of must-haves, why carbon pricing and PJM’s MOPR are DOA and ERCOT turning gun-shy.

Episode 20 (Glick 2: A Change Is Gonna Come… No Really, Like Now)

Apr 13, 2021 |

In which we take a second crack at recently appointed FERC Chairman Rich Glick as he settles into his new role, and he is very clear in setting his agenda: changes are coming – and some are already here. Less than three months into his leadership, Glick’s FERC has already announced more than a dozen major changes and initiatives, some of which touch on hot-button issues – like system reliability and resource adequacy in relation to climate change – and others that focus squarely on them, such as creating a new senior-level commission position to address environmental justice and opening an Office of Public Participation.

From PJM’s minimum offer-price rule (MOPR) to the standards for evaluating proposals for natural-gas pipelines to how power generators are compensated and whether capacity markets are essential, the chairman goes on to lay out his vision and plans going forward, as well as expected timelines. We also discuss his beloved New York Mets, his abysmal record in picking this year’s March Madness winners and his expectations on energy-related legislation coming out of Congress this session. Shorter than many of our episodes, let’s just call this one “highly concentrated” and well worth the time!

Episode 17 (The Right Manu for the Job)

Jan 20, 2021 |

In which we probe deep into the mind of Manu Asthana one year into his tenure as PJM’s president and CEO, and he proves to be up to the task – both in the interview and the job. Ranging from the MOPR, the ORDC, the NJBPU’s state-agreement approach on analyzing offshore wind and a word salad of other industry jargon to the pandemic and social-justice movements, we explore our guest’s perspectives on a wide variety of topics – and consistently return to themes of unity and equality that might be exactly the kind of leadership PJM needs right now.

Episode 12 (How to Handle a Scandal: A Utility Commissioner’s Guide)

Aug 14, 2020 |

In which we task Todd Snitchler, President/CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), with leveraging his experiences as both a state legislator and utility-commission chairman in Ohio to help us break down the FirstEnergy and ComEd nuclear-subsidy legislation scandals, offer unsolicited advice to state officials across the board and ponder whether the way things are will ever change. The responses may surprise you… We go on to discuss EPSA’s role as the vanguard of competition in electricity markets, Todd’s roots in the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York, a comparison of dive bars in capital cities and the best golf course for somewhat-middling skills.

Episode 2

Nov 18, 2019 |