Episode 08: In Our Lifetime: Tribal Energy Sovereignty and Equity
The Energy Optimist
Clean energy projects offer a crucial path for Native American tribes to achieve energy sovereignty (control over their energy resources) and address a long history of energy inequity. Energy inequity for Tribes takes a variety of forms including higher utility rates, older grid infrastructure, more frequent outages, and, still today, 14% of Native Americans living on tribal lands lacking electricity altogether. Our guest, Chéri Smith, is the founder, President, and CEO of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, which supports the self-determined efforts of Tribes to develop clean...
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Episode 07: Interconnection Policies—The Electric Grid’s “Rules of the Road”
The Energy Optimist
This episode of The Energy Optimist explores a topic that is a central focus of much of IREC’s regulatory work: interconnection. Interconnection policies can be thought of as the “rules of the road” for the electric grid. They govern how systems that produce electricity are permitted to connect to the grid. These policies are a critical factor in how efficiently and affordably clean energy can be developed, though they remain relatively behind the scenes in terms of public awareness of them. We dig into what happens in the interconnection process, some of the common pitfalls, and what...
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Episode 06: Career Reflections & Reasons for Hope from an Incoming Utility Regulator
The Energy Optimist
When this podcast launched last year, it was led by my former colleague Radina Valova, IREC’s Regulatory Vice President. A couple of months ago, Radina got some very exciting career news which is part of why this podcast has been on a bit of a hiatus. In June, Radina was appointed as a Commissioner on the New York Public Service Commission, the utility regulatory body for New York. In this role, she will work to deliver on the Commission's mandate of ensuring electricity safety, reliability, affordability, and achieving New York's energy and climate goals. Her last day at IREC was June...
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Episode 05: A Tale of Two Grids (Distribution vs. Transmission System)
The Energy Optimist
Today’s guest, Lorraine Akiba, is President/CEO of LHA Ventures. Lorraine is a recognized thought leader with technical expertise and knowledge in the development of Hawaii’s renewable and clean energy policy and regulatory framework. Previously, she was Commissioner at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, which presides over all regulated public utility matters in the state. Prior to this appointment, she was a partner at McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP and at Cades Schutte LLP, and led the environmental practice teams at both firms. Lorraine co-chairs the Low Income Consumer...
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Episode 04: Teaching an Old Grid New Tricks
The Energy Optimist
Today’s guest, Dr. Julieta Giraldez, is Director of Grid Planning at , where she focuses on solving integrated grid planning challenges and the way distributed energy resources (DERs) interact with the grid. Prior to joining Kevala, Dr. Giraldez worked for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where she led DER grid integration related projects. She brings a holistic view of grid integration related issues, acknowledging the importance of including multiple perspectives in the evaluation of new emerging technologies, from developers and customers to technology providers, regulators...
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Episode 03: Centering Energy Equity in Utility Regulation
The Energy Optimist
Today’s guest, Melanie Santiago-Mosier, is an attorney whose career has centered on clean energy policy and regulation. Over the past seven years, she has focused on the field of energy equity and justice. She enjoys working with teams to embed equity principles into their work, with the goal of advancing a just transition to a clean energy future. Currently, she fills that role as the Equitable Energy Transition Advisor for The Nature Conservancy. She has led similar work at organizations like Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Vote Solar, and others. The episode walks through: What is...
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Episode 02: Out With the Old, In With the New: The Future of Energy
The Energy Optimist
Today’s guest, , is a thought leader in the clean energy transition, from DER integration with the electric grid, to resource adequacy and power system modeling. Priya holds a PhD and MS in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she developed “data science” (Bayesian statistics and optimization) techniques for environmental sensing and energy efficiency diagnostics applications. She brings her insights on electric sector transformation to today’s episode. The episode walks through: Why we regulate the energy sector the way we do, starting with...
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Episode 01: What Is Energy Regulation, and Why Should I Care?
The Energy Optimist
Today’s guest, , is a leading innovator and expert in the clean energy field with more than 30 years of experience that spans all sides of energy regulation, from serving as commissioner on the Texas Public Utilities Commission, to Vice President of the utility Austin Energy; Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Energy; and expert consultant in support of nonprofit and public interest organizations advocating for an equitable clean energy transition. The episode walks through: What is energy regulation, and why it’s important to our daily lives; Who regulates the...
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Introducing The Energy Optimist by IREC
The Energy Optimist
Welcome to The Energy Optimist, a monthly podcast highlighting solutions to energy policy challenges through bite-sized interviews with leading experts, brought to you by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Each episode, we’ll explore a challenge with how we regulate the electric distribution system that powers our homes, devices, and, increasingly, our cars. And, we’ll end with solutions and reasons for optimism. Tune in to this trailer episode to get to know your host, Radina Valova, IREC Regulatory Vice President, and learn what to expect from The Energy Optimist.
info_outlineToday’s guest, Dr. Julieta Giraldez, is Director of Grid Planning at Kevala, where she focuses on solving integrated grid planning challenges and the way distributed energy resources (DERs) interact with the grid. Prior to joining Kevala, Dr. Giraldez worked for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where she led DER grid integration related projects. She brings a holistic view of grid integration related issues, acknowledging the importance of including multiple perspectives in the evaluation of new emerging technologies, from developers and customers to technology providers, regulators and utilities.
Dr. Giraldez holds a P.h.D. in Systems Engineering from Colorado State University, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and a B.S in Technical Mining and Energy Resources from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain.
The episode walks through:
- How large-scale renewables and DERs intersect to manage the energy system;
- What regulators and utilities need to be aware of to effectively manage large-scale and distributed resources;
- How DERs can help shape electrical demand and make the energy system more efficient.
Highlights:
- Distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar and battery storage, are changing the way we think about electricity demand and managing the electric grid. Historically, power has always been generated at large-scale power plants and delivered one-directionally to consumers. Now, individuals and businesses who adopt solar, for example, can export power back to the grid, and we are moving toward more complex grid management, involving more control points and the need to balance more intermittent resources. We can shape electricity demand in a way that maximizes both large-scale and distributed energy resources and allows us to tap into renewables when they are available.
- We are making major strides in the level of granularity with which we can conduct distribution system planning (see, for example, the California Electrification Impacts Study referenced below).
- We don’t have to make an “either-or” choice between large-scale and distributed energy resources—we need an all of the above approach to support energy sector decarbonization.
Resources and Further Readings:
- Kevala, on behalf of the California Public Utilities Commission, completed the California Electrification Impacts Study in 2023, in order to “determine the distribution grid requirements of state transportation electrification targets. Kevala analyzed over 100 terabytes of data from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to explain when, where, and how much utilities will need to invest in grid upgrades.”
- A 2021 report by Vibrant Clean Energy showed that deploying optimized DERs can save $515 billion by 2050 compared to using utility-scale only resources, and that a mix of DERs and utility-scale energy (rather than utility-scale alone) can provide greater greenhouse gas reductions.