In the latest episode of NewsData’s Energy West podcast, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney interviews Kyri Baker, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, about her research into the locational marginal pricing methods currently used by most independent system operators. During her research, Baker noticed that LMP…

Demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning is booming—and so is AI’s energy demand. AI requires massive amounts of computing power, which means huge data centers need to be built to enable AI’s widespread adoption. AI’s energy demand is expected to grow faster than new generation comes on line. Solving that will be hard enough, but dif…

NewsData’s Clearing Up reporter K. C. Mehaffey stops by Energy West with updates on Columbia River Treaty negotiations between the United States and Canada, the low snowpack in the Northwest and efforts to save salmon in the Columbia River Basin.Af NewsData

In Part 2 of a wide-ranging interview with California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney, California Independent System Operator President and CEO Elliot Mainzer dives into his current priorities, including increased connectivity across the West, transmission planning that looks out 20 years, CAISO's pause of new interconnections to reduce queue c…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney speaks with Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of the California Independent System Operator, in Part 1 of a wide-ranging interview about the California electricity grid, a wider Western day-ahead market, managing the huge influx of energy storage coming…

Join us in Part 2 of the latest episode of Energy West, where NewsData's Dan Catchpole and Grid Strategies' Rob Gramlich continue to discuss the design and development of transmission projects throughout the West. Gramlich also discusses new technologies that may benefit the electric grid in the future.…

If the West is going to electrify cars and buildings, decarbonize the grid and keep the lights on, it needs more high-voltage transmission, a lot more. One of the nation’s top transmission experts, Rob Gramlich, talks with NewsData reporter Dan Catchpole about how the West can build more and bigger transmission projects. Rob is founder of GridStrat…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about efforts to jumpstart transmission construction in the West, how the upcoming solar eclipse likely could effect the Western grid and how battery inverter faults could cause big problems for the grid. Read more about w…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about the California Independent System Operator’s decision to delay the launch of its extended day-ahead market from 2025 to 2026, Xcel’s plans to invest $15 billion in its energy transition in Colorado and the need for m…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about an 11th hour push to form a day-ahead market in the West that includes California AND is independently governed. The initiative drew widespread support from potential participants–and lots of questions about legal fe…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about the western United States’ second comprehensive energy market, the future of offshore wind in the West, long-duration battery storage’s arrival, and more. Read more about what’s happening in the power industry in the…

The West is getting a second RTO (or regional transmission organization). The Southwest Power Pool is launching a western branch of its existing RTO, which covers much of the Midwest. Nine Rocky Mountain utilities and power marketers have committed to launching the western branch in 2026. An RTO manages the transmission grid and wholesale electrici…

In the latest Energy West podcast, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney speaks with CEM Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer about the emerging Western wholesale energy market, a push by Western state regulators to move forward with a regional transmission organization, and a recent forum held in Las Vegas by the California Independent System …

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole discusses this week's top stories from the energy industry in the West, including the California Independent System Operator asking federal regulators to approve a Westwide day-ahead energy market, PacifiCorp's plans to convert coal-fired power plants to burn natural gas,…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole looks at the hot temperatures that recently scorched the West, including Arizona’s heat emergency, a new record high peak demand in the Northwest, new research that says climate-driven droughts will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, offshore wind of Oregon, and more.…

After more than 30 years at NewsData, publisher Mark Ohrenschall is retiring. Before he leaves, he talks with Jason Fordney, Abigail Sawyer and Dan Catchpole about his time at the company, journalism and the energy industry.Af NewsData

In this week's episode of Energy West, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney discusses a proposal by state regulators to increase storage levels at the controversial Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in southern California; an update on how the California grid is holding up this summer; and a plan by the California Department of Wa…

In this episode of Energy West, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney gives a rundown of the latest energy news in the Golden State and beyond, including how wholesale cost to serve load in the California Independent System Operator doubled between 2020 and 2022; a request for rehearing from the California Community Choice Association of a…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about concerns that CAISO’s extended day-ahead market could short-circuit the Western Resource Adequacy Program, Energy Northwest and X-Energy’s plans to build 12 small modular nuclear reactors, CAISO’s new subscriber-fund…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about about the state of transmission planning in the West, California’s (good) battery boom, Bonneville Power Administration’s announcement of $2 billion in transmission system upgrades, fewer public safety power shut-off…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about Western transmission’s problem of the commons, zero-emission trucking in California, limits to offshore wind’s economic benefits, and more. Read more about what’s happening in the power industry in the West at Newsda…

In the latest Energy West podcast, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney discusses how the workforce needed to implement California's clean-energy policies does not yet exist; new heavy-duty electric-truck charging infrastructure being built in the state; a California Public Advocates Office report drastically cutting estimates for electri…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about state regulators talking utilities to task for vague decarbonization planning, worries about where California will get enough energy to meet its clean energy goals, high prices in Washington’s carbon emissions cap-an…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about the largest hydropower dam removal in history getting underway, Shasta County’s dismissing criminal charges against Pacific Gas & Electric after reaching a settlement, truckers’ concerns that California’s zero-emissi…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about obstacles to building offshore wind off California, interconnection delays across the country, Washington delaying new building codes in the wake of the 9th Circuit Court’s Berkeley decision, PacifiCorp booking a $12…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about growing summer reliability risks for the Western power grid, the latest push to make the California Independent System Operator into an independent organized market, a developer’s proposal to pair pumped storage with…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about expanding access to zero-emission vehicles beyond affluent drivers, sea lions decimating salmon populations, wildfires disrupting Canadian natural gas exports to the U.S., utilities’ balancing wildfire mitigation and…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about soaring demand forecast for the Northwest, California’s fights over net metering, Portland General Electric’s warning that it can’t meet Oregon’s 2040 zero-emission mandate, $10.5 billion of investments in California…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about California’s proposed zero-emission trucking mandate, anger over service connection delays, Washington state lawmakers want utilities to plan more for the future, and more. Read more about what’s happening in the pow…

Listen in as Dan Catchpole and Jason Fordney discuss highlights from the energy industry on the northwest and west coast. This episode was recorded on April 24.Af NewsData

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about California utilities’ push for flat rates, a federal greenlight for the TransWest Express transmission line from Wyoming to Nevada, doing more with less in the Northwest, a lawsuit to shut down Diablo Canyon nuclear …

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about record high curtailments in California, utilities’ roadmaps for acquiring huge amounts of renewables, storage and even nuclear generation, renewable hydrogen developments, and more. Read more about what’s happening i…

In this week's episode of Energy West, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney breaks down the latest energy news in the region, including concerns among analysts about natural gas storage levels in the West, especially on the Pacific Gas & Electric system; daunting challenges facing the Western Interconnection as described by the Western El…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about PacifiCorp’s new proposal for a 500-kV, 143-mile transmission line in Wyoming, why there isn’t more geothermal generation in the West, plans for new natural gas peaking plants in Nevada, state lawmakers’ efforts to s…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about a second organized comprehensive energy market in the West, California’s investigation into high natural gas prices, opposition to a proposed natural gas pipeline expansion in the Northwest and more. Read more about …

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about the California Independent System Operator’s latest look at expanding its footprint, Southwest Power Pool’s announcement that Markets+ is moving into development early, big rate increase requests from two SoCal utili…

In the latest episode of the Energy West podcast, Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole talks about California's reliance on the nuclear-powered Diablo Canyon generation plant, challenges for expanding the California Independent System Operator's organized market, and allegations that PacifiCorp withheld key documents in a lawsuit stemming from the Labor Day…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about transportation electrification challenges facing the West, the California Public Utilities Commission’s call to add 15 GW of new generation by 2027, a fight over a natural gas ban in Eugene, Ore., and more. Read more about what’s happening in the power industry in t…

In the latest Energy West podcast, California Energy Markets Editor Jason Fordney shares more details about the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Winter Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., and his conversation with fellow attendee and former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Glick. Jason also discusses FER…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole talks with California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter 2023 policy summit, where Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm extolled renewable energy’s role in energy security. Dan and Jason also discuss the evolving role of energy efficiency, California’s soaring n…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about the risk that solar inverters can trip generation offline, potential news laws in Oregon to spur transportation electrification, new rules for California’s extended day-ahead market, a new partner for a proposed new intertie between the America’s eastern and western…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about the latest twist in the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant saga, PacifiCorp delaying its exit from the Colstrip coal power plant, $124 million for electrification in California, what keeps PacifiCorp’s sustainability director up at night, and more. Read more about wh…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about California’s call for thousands of megawatts of new generation, the coal-fired Colstrip power plant’s new lease on life, what it is going to take to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open and the latest legal challenge to Washington’s new carbon emission ca…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole goes over the top 10 stories for the Northwest energy industry in 2022. Read more about what’s happening in the power industry in the West at Newsdata’s Clearing Up and California Energy Markets. Follow us on Twitter: @CUnewsdata, @CEMnewsdata, @dcatchpole and @fordneyenergy.…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about NorthWestern Energy buying more coal-fired generation, customers responding to time-of-use rates in California, PacifiCorp and Idaho Power converting a power plant from coal to natural gas, California slashing funding for decarbonization programs, and more. Read mor…

Jason Fordney, editor of California Energy Markets, runs through the top 10 energy stories from California and and the Southwest in 2022. He is joined by a very special co-host, Marielle Fordney.Af NewsData

NewsData’s Energy West is taking off for the holidays. Dan Catchpole and Jason Fordney will be back in the New Year to fill you in on the latest in the energy industry in the West. Until then, stay up to date with the latest reporting from Clearing Up and California Energy Markets at Newsdata.com. And this Friday, Dec. 23, make sure to check out Ne…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about a flurry of news about creating organized energy markets in the West: PacifiCorp joins CAISO’s extended day-ahead market, CAISO releases its final day-ahead market proposal and 11 utilities join the Western Resource Adequacy Program. Read more about what’s happening…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about what’s going on in the energy industry in the West. Read more about what’s happening in the power industry in the West at NewsData’s Clearing Up and California Energy Markets. Follow us on Twitter: @CUnewsdata, @CEMnewsdata, @dcatchpole and @fordneyenergy.…

Clearing Up's Dan Catchpole and California Energy Markets' Jason Fordney talk about what’s going on in the energy industry in the West. Read more about what’s happening in the power industry in the West at NewsData’s Clearing Up and California Energy Markets. Follow us on Twitter: @CUnewsdata, @CEMnewsdata, @dcatchpole and @fordneyenergy.…