In today’s USEA Power Sector Podcast, Erika Diamond, Senior VP and Chief Revenue Officer with grid edge software platform developer EnergyHub, answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about her experience as a woman working in the environmental, energy, and business sectors and about the transformation right now in the value of distributed energy resources on the power system.

The U.S. electric grid is entering a new era of rapid demand growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, electrification, and reshoring domestic manufacturing. After years of relatively flat electricity demand, utilities and grid operators are forecasting significant load growth that is placing increasing pressure on generation capacity, transmission systems, and resource adequacy.

At the same time, coal-fired power plants continue to provide critical reliability services—including dispatchable generation, fuel security through on-site fuel storage, voltage support, and system resilience during extreme weather events. As new generation and transmission infrastructure are developed, stakeholders are reassessing the role of existing coal assets in maintaining a reliable and affordable electric grid.

This webinar will bring together experts from EPRI, NETL, Energy Exemplar, and grid reliability to examine how rising electricity demand is reshaping reliability planning and the role coal generation can play in meeting future grid needs.

In today’s USEA Power Sector Podcast, Meghan Nutting, the new VP of Regulatory Reform at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about what she is planning to take on at IREC, what she learned in her extensive work with rooftop solar in Puerto Rico, and her view of the value of clean and distributed energy to the power system.

In this episode of the USEA Power Sector Podcast, Gretchen Kershaw, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Strategy with power system consultant Grid Strategies, answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about the key features, the politics, and what’s next for the just announced Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act.

In today’s USEA Power Sector Podcast, Hannah Bascom, General Manager of energy management and demand flexibility/ power system software provider Uplight answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about how virtual power plants, or VPPs, are meeting the challenge of scale by addressing the electricity system’s need to improve affordability and reliability.

In today’s USEA Power Sector Podcast, Jessie Stolark, Executive Director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about the progress toward the economic and safe storage of emissions from the spiking growth of natural gas generation to serve AI data centers and other new electricity demand.

In today’s USEA Power Sector Podcast, Jeff Willert, Head of AI and Data Science with multinational hardware and software systems designer Schneider Electric’s SE Advisory Services, answered questions by journalist Herman K. Trabish about a new efficient approach to the use of AI called Frugal AI that can maximize its benefits and minimize its impacts.