On this special episode of Alternative Power Plays, lead experts from the Brattle Group: John Tsoukalis, Metin Celebi, and Frank Graves, join the podcast for a panel discussion on recent energy market developments in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), focusing on the extended day-ahead markets (EDAM) and Markets+.

Celebi, Graves, and Tsoukalis are Principals at Brattle with expertise in electricity markets, resource planning, environmental and climate policy analysis, regulatory and financial economics, electric and gas utilities, litigation matters, market modeling, transmission rate design, and more.

During this episode they highlight the benefits, differences, and regional impacts of these regional markets, comparing them to the deregulation seen in the Eastern U.S. The group also address the approach to market development in the West, potential customer savings, and the importance of regional cooperation for efficient energy management.

The Brattle Group, based in Boston, provides consulting services and expert testimony in economics, finance, and regulation to corporations, law firms, and public agencies.

To learn more about the Brattle Group: https://www.brattle.com/

To learn more about Metin Celebi, visit: https://www.brattle.com/experts/metin-celebi/
To learn more about Frank Graves, visit: https://www.brattle.com/experts/frank-c-graves/
To learn more about John Tsoukalis, visit: https://www.brattle.com/experts/john-tsoukalis/

On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, hosts Alan Seltzer and John Povilaitis interview Elliot Anise-Hicks, co-founder and CTO of Oberon Fuels. During their discussion, Elliot discusses Oberon's journey from its start in 2010, initially focusing on biogas, then liquid fuels, and eventually to its current production of renewable dimethyl ether (DME). DME, a clean, non-toxic gas, can significantly reduce CO2 emissions when blended with liquefied petroleum gas.

Later, Elliot highlights the technical and regulatory challenges faced, the advantages of DME in reducing greenhouse gases, and its potential as a hydrogen carrier. The conversation also highlights Oberon's partnerships, particularly with Suburban Propane, and plans for scaling production and expanding internationally.

For more information on Oberon Fuels, visit: https://www.oberonfuels.com/
To learn more about Elliot Anise-Hicks, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ehicks/
To learn more about Alan Seltzer, visit: https://www.bipc.com/alan-seltzer⁠
To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis⁠

On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, John Povilaitis talks with Sarah Minczeski Delisle, VP of Government Affairs & Communications at Swell Energy. In this role, Sarah navigates the evolving policy environments at local, state, and federal levels to maintain the company's adaptive stance and strategic positioning.

During their conversation, John and Sarah talk about virtual power plants, explaining what they are, their capabilities, and their benefits to consumers across diverse markets. She highlights how Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) can address various challenges faced by utilities and customers, including providing backup power, reducing emissions, and improving resilience. The discussion also covers the financial benefits of VPPs for utilities and the importance of data standardization. Finally, Sarah explores policy and regulatory ideas that could enable Swell Energy to better serve their customers.

To learn more about Sarah Minczeski Delisle, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-minczeski-delisle/
To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis⁠

Electric vehicles have long been seen as one of the biggest ways society can fundamentally move towards the fulfillment of clean energy goals—as long as they can truly go mainstream. This organization thinks it knows how to make that happen by 2030.
On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, Alan Seltzer and John Povilatis welcome Britta Gross, Director of Transportation at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). EPRI is an independent, non-profit energy R&D organization that works across government and multiple industries to help the energy sector identify issues and technology gaps, as well as find solutions to the challenges of maintaining the reliability, the resilience, and the sustainability of the electric grid.
Britta breaks down the EVs To Scale initiative and its three pillars: building widespread confidence in EVs, redesigning electric grid systems to support EV loads, and facilitating EV innovation through cross collaboration between industries. She emphasizes the importance of transparency and smart charging in utility planning for electric vehicles. Britta also highlights the success of the EV To Scale 2030 initiative, citing increased confidence in data and utilities embedding the data into forecasting models.

For more information on EPRI, visit: https://www.epri.com.
To learn about EVs2Scale: https://msites.epri.com/evs2scale2030
To read more about Alan Seltzer, visit: https://www.bipc.com/alan-seltzer⁠.
To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis⁠

On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, Alan Seltzer and John Povilaitis are joined by Willett Kempton, Professor at the University of Delaware. Willett is a leading expert in vehicle-to-grid (or V2G) technology, which enables vehicles to absorb excess energy from the grid when demand for power is low and returns some electricity back to the electric grid when the demand for power is high.

Willett discussed the potential of V2G technology to transform renewable energy storage. He then talks about the importance of net metering and what government support and/or subsidies may be needed to boost adoption. The podcast continues as Willett discusses electricity usage and how it relates to solar energy. Later in this episode, Willett makes a prediction about widespread adoption of electric cars with advanced features.

To learn more about Willett Kempton, visit https://www.udel.edu/faculty-staff/experts/willett-kempton/.

To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis⁠

To learn more about Alan Seltzer, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/alan-seltzer

On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, we welcome a very special guest, Dr. Sunita Satyapal, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Office. She manages the DOE Hydrogen Program's activities across multiple offices and oversees $1.6 billion in hydrogen and fuel cell research, development, demonstration, and deployment inside the office. She also manages over $9.5 billion in other hydrogen efforts across the DOE.

Dr. Satyapal joins hosts Alan Selter and John Povilaitis to examine the prospect of hydrogen as a renewable energy source and its significance in meeting decarbonization targets. During the episode, Dr. Satyapal explains hydrogen's versatility and capacity to handle issues in a variety of fields, including heavy-duty transportation and industrial uses. The group highlights how the current commercial availability of hydrogen, combined with developing technology, would indicate an increasing demand for clean hydrogen. The conversation later focuses on the Biden administration's efforts to increase hydrogen use while lowering costs through scaling and innovation.

To learn more about the advancements of hydrogen use in the energy space, visit: www.hydrogen.energy.gov

To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis⁠

To learn more about Alan Seltzer, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/alan-seltzer

Demand for electric vehicles and building electrification keeps on increasing, yet much of America's electric transmission infrastructure is from the 1960s. There is now an attempt underway to improve electric transmission infrastructure by exploiting existing public rights of way, such as highways.

On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, Randy Satterfield, Executive Director of NextGen Highways, sits down with Alan Seltzer and John Povilaitis to discuss not only the goals but the challenges NextGen faces in modernizing U.S. transmission infrastructure.

Satterfield highlights how NextGen Highways is working to facilitate a new wave of electrification by developing national and state-level coalitions advocating for electric transmission infrastructure to be built in existing public rights of way. Randy tells John and Alan that, although NextGen is focused primarily in the state of Minnesota, the organization has plans to expand to as many states as possible.

To learn more about NextGen Highways and Randy Satterfield, visit: https://nextgenhighways.org/our-team/

To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis ⁠

To learn more about Alan Seltzer, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/alan-seltzer

The movement to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, enhance air quality, address energy cost disparities, and transition to clean energy infrastructure is growing by the day. Neighborhood decarbonization has the power to not only deliver health benefits but positive climate implications as well.

On this episode of Alternative Power Plays, Nicole Abene, Senior New York Legislative & Regulatory Manager at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, chats with Alan Seltzer and John Povilaitis about the implementation and benefits of neighborhood building decarbonization in New York. Nicole discusses strategies to achieve the federal goal of zero net emissions by 2050 and working to promote union-led workforce initiatives for building decarbonization.

To learn more about Nicole Abene, visit: https://buildingdecarb.org/about-us/our-team / https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-abene To learn more about John Povilaitis, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/john-povilaitis⁠

To learn more about Alan Seltzer, visit: ⁠https://www.bipc.com/alan-seltzer