Podcasts

Can we collaborate? Utilities and developers work to mend fences

Can we collaborate? Utilities and developers work to mend fences
(GridTECH Connect Forum)

Episode 82 of the Factor This! podcast previews the upcoming GridTECH Connect Forum – Northeast interconnection event in Newport, Rhode Island, where utilities, developers, and regulators will explore solutions to one of the greatest challenges of the energy transition. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

There was no avoiding it— the energy transition was always going to produce some form of tension. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise and isn’t altogether negative. Friction keeps a speeding train on the tracks, and balance can often be found somewhere between two opposing forces. In the energy industry, it’s electric utilities and clean energy developers who most often collide, one positioned as the gatekeeper of the grid and the other a disrupter.

But there’s growing recognition that the power grid, centrally designed more than a century ago, has failed to keep pace with the evolving needs of the energy transition. Animosity between key stakeholders, meanwhile, only hinders progress.

Plenty of challenges face the energy transition, but one underpins nearly all of them: interconnection. Utilities and developers, meanwhile, are beginning to recognize the importance of collaboration, and that fences must be mended to reach our goals.

Episode 82 of the Factor This! podcast features Carrie Gill, the head of electric regulatory strategy at Rhode Island Energy, and Ed Brolin, the vice president of policy and distributed government relations at RWE. Both will be featured speakers at the interconnection event GridTECH Connect Forum – Northeast, which will be held in Newport, Rhode Island in October.

Gill and Brolin break down the challenges and solutions to interconnection in the Northeast and preview what you can expect at GridTECH Connect Forum. Register today using the promo code PODCAST to receive 10% off your admission.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

The conversation focused on electrification, clean energy, and interconnection in the Northeast. Gill and Brolin discussed the importance of collaboration between utilities, developers, and regulators to address the challenges of the clean energy transition. They emphasize the need for transparency, open communication, and shared decision-making to ensure affordability, reliability, and efficiency on the grid. The conversation also highlights the role of market reforms and procedural changes in facilitating collaboration and driving the energy transformation. Low-hanging fruits for collaboration include clarifying energy storage regulations and establishing partnerships to manage grid extremes.