The Future of Grid Energy Innovation

Jon Wellinghoff, CEO of GridPolicy and former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), interviewed by futurist Trond Arne Undheim. 

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In this conversation, they talk about The transdisciplinary mindset needed to understand energy innovation, The policy/regulation impasse. The downside of monopolistic utilities (at the distribution, transmission, and generation levels). Sustainable energy systems, Distributed energy resource (DER) systems. Disruptive forces--particularly policy barriers (and opportunities). The regulatory tools available in the US and abroad (FERC, State regulators), the Texas case of free utility competition, exciting startups in the space (Smartwires, Whisker Labs, etc), the impact of innovation on the policy mix and outcome. Lastly, we discuss the next decade. 

The takeaway is that Grid Energy Innovation seems to finally be underway, and with that, we can see transformation across the grid and consumers can finally get involved. However, energy still consists of a myriad of separate markets, both nationally and regionally, and that total picture is not likely to change any time soon. Once it does, we are looking at opportunities that are very hard to fathom, and implications for how we live and how our planet responds.   

Having listened to this episode, check out Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), GridPolicy and Jon Wellinghoff's online profile:

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (@FERC) https://www.ferc.gov/ 
• Grid Policy http://gridpolicy.com/
• Jon Wellinghoff (@jbwellinghoff) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonwellinghoff/ 

The show is hosted by Podbean and can be found at Futurized.co. Additional context about the show, the topics, and our guests, including show notes and a full list of podcast players that syndicate the show can be found at https://trondundheim.com/podcast/. Music: Electricity by Ian Post from the album Magnetism. 

For more about the host, including media coverage, books and more, see Trond Arne Undheim's personal website (https://trondundheim.com/) as well as the Yegii Insights blog (https://yegii.wpcomstaging.com/). Undheim has published two books this year, Pandemic Aftermath and Disruption Games. To advertise or become a guest on the show, contact the podcast host here.

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Futurized.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you like this topic, you may enjoy other episodes of Futurized, such as episode 70 on The Future of Cleantech, episode 12 Future of nuclear waste or episode 15 The future of pre-seed investing, episode 20 Future of engines, episode 21 What's next in Energy storage, episode 63 Hunting for Emerging Tech, episode 76 Risk and Resilience, or episode 38 Disaster risk management. Futurized—preparing YOU to deal with disruption.