31 episodes

The Power Trends Podcast produced by the New York Independent System Operator where we discuss energy planning, public policy, and other issues affecting New York’s power grid.

Power Trends: New York ISO Podcast New York ISO

    • Technology
    • 4.9 • 11 Ratings

The Power Trends Podcast produced by the New York Independent System Operator where we discuss energy planning, public policy, and other issues affecting New York’s power grid.

    Ep. 31: Columbia Climate School’s Daniel Zarrilli on New York’s Decarbonization Progress

    Ep. 31: Columbia Climate School’s Daniel Zarrilli on New York’s Decarbonization Progress

    Columbia University’s Daniel Zarrilli knows a thing or two about New York City and the effects of climate change.
    For almost a decade prior to Hurricane Sandy, he worked on the city’s waterfront, managing maintenance and construction of the city’s piers and bulkheads, overseeing cruise terminals and other maritime assets, and working with coastal communities on a variety of local projects. That experience along the city’s 520-mile shoreline, plus his training as an engineer, put him in view of Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he was standing up his initiative to rebuild New York following Hurricane Sandy and make it more resilient.
    Bloomberg appointed Zarrilli as the city’s first resilience director. He then became Chief Climate Policy Advisor under Mayor Bill de Blasio, helping usher landmark energy policy through the city council, which mandates emissions reductions produced by the city's largest buildings of 40 percent by 2030.
    Now Zarrilli serves as Special Advisor for Climate and Sustainability at Columbia University, helping to create a new world-leading climate school and advising on pathways to achieve the university’s deep decarbonization goals. 
    This wealth of deep experience and expertise makes him a valuable addition to the NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council, a group of outside experts that informs NYISO leadership on evolving state and federal climate policy and environmental justice considerations.
    Local Law 97, New York City’s building decarbonization law passed in 2019, requires most buildings over 25,000 square feet to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits, with even stricter limits coming into effect in 2030.
    There are already indications that the policy is working, Zarrilli said. 
     “New Yorkers have so much to be proud of for the progress that has been made,” Zarrilli said. “There were $20 billion in climate adaptation investments made after Hurricane Sandy, everything from flood protection to grid upgrades to new elevated hospitals in our coastal communities.”  
    “I think the much more exciting thing about Local Law 97 is how it has catalyzed this marketplace in New York City around clean energy technology, innovation, and investment that is all now centered in New York City,” he said. 
    “So much of our infrastructure was built for a world and a climate that doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
    He pointed to concerns about global economic conditions and supply chain challenges that can make electrification projects difficult. In the offshore wind space, he noted that some coastal communities have zoning concerns and questions that must be addressed and answered.
    Zarrilli credits the NYISO’s forward-thinking approach to the wholesale electric market, which he says will drive incentives to speed up the clean energy transition. 
    “The role that the NYISO plays to help provide that stimulus and incentive is really important, and not a fully appreciated role,” Zarrilli said, “but it's a critical one that I think the state and other ISOs are going to continue to learn from.
    Additional Resources and Information
    The New York ISO Environmental Advisory Council
    Columbia Climate School
    Learn More
    Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

    • 28 min
    Ep. 30: Nicole Bouchez, PhD, on her unique role as NYISO’s Consumer Interest Liaison

    Ep. 30: Nicole Bouchez, PhD, on her unique role as NYISO’s Consumer Interest Liaison

    You might say Nicole Bouchez’s role as the NYISO’s Consumer Interest Liaison and Senior Principal Economist combines deep data analytics with good, old-fashioned customer service. 

    She has an especially important responsibility evaluating the impacts of major market design changes for stakeholders, policymakers, and market participants. That’s where her PhD in International Economics comes in handy. 

    But a large part of her job also includes working directly with some of the largest energy consumers in the state so they understand those studies and how changes to electric system planning, operations, and decarbonization policies might impact their bottom line. 

    “Consumers are always concerned about costs,” Bouchez said. “They're also concerned about the technology switch that's happening and how smooth that's going to be. They're concerned about reliability, as we all are.”

    In addition to performing consumer impact analyses, her office also responds to consumer questions about the markets and provides important training and information sessions. Her knowledge of the New York energy markets and her time as Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Royal Holloway, University of London, make her especially suited for that responsibility.

    Bouchez’s role is unique even among ISOs and other research entities. She says one of the things she likes most about her job is how outward-facing it is – interacting with a diverse cross-section of market participants and stakeholders invested in the future of how the electric system will perform.

    Her office accesses “real-world” electric systems data in its presentations and materials for stakeholders, providing a deep but comprehensive look into how the energy industry and the grid is changing.  “We’re able to leverage that information in our analyses, which is quite exciting,” she said.

    Bouchez, who co-chaired a task force in 2017 designing a carbon pricing proposal, is optimistic about the role that markets can play in supporting the grid of the future.
    “We learned a great deal about how we can incorporate carbon dioxide emissions costs into our markets to support clean energy policy goals without jeopardizing reliability,” Bouchez noted.

    She explains that if competitive wholesale electric markets can integrate the cost of carbon dioxide emissions, there’s more incentive to efficiently invest in cleaner resources.

    As New York State studies its options to meet the goals of the CLCPA, Bouchez thinks the task force’s efforts are important and especially timely.

    “I think that there is a desire to lower our carbon emissions as a country and as a state. It's taking us down a future that I could have never anticipated in 2017 when we started this. This is a really exciting time for [the industry],” she said.

    Additional Resources and Information:
    At the NYISO, "Independent" is (Literally) our Middle NameEnergy vs. Capacity: How Teamwork Between Markets Supports a Least-Cost Approach to Grid ReliabilityLearn More
    Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

    • 20 min
    Ep. 29: Julie Tighe on Leading the NY League of Conservation Voters and Joining the NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council

    Ep. 29: Julie Tighe on Leading the NY League of Conservation Voters and Joining the NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council

    In this episode of our Power Trends podcast, Julie Tighe discusses her role leading the New York League of Conservation Voters, and her recent addition to the NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). The EAC, which was formed in 2005, provides information and analysis on state and federal environmental policies relative to NYISO’s mission of grid reliability.

    “No one is going to be happy if the air conditioning goes out in a heat wave. So, we need to be strategic about that,” she said.

    NYLCV’s efforts range from advocating for clean air and water to working with the real estate industry on constructing greener buildings. 

    “[The League is] the political arm of the environmental movement here in New York, where we really hold elected officials accountable for their actions on environmental policy,” she explained.

    In the interview, Julie discusses new grid-level technology being developed, including thermal energy networks, that could address growing consumer electric demand. Tighe said it’s crucial to avoid “pie in the sky policy” and work on practical solutions that address decarbonization goals while maintaining system reliability.

    Julie also speaks to the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, arguably the nation’s most ambitious set of state decarbonization policies.  “On the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act…the state went through a robust planning process with a significant amount of public input, lots of stakeholders who were involved in the conversation, really setting out the roadmap for how we are going to achieve these big, bold, ambitious goals of getting to an economy that is 85% emissions reduction by 2050,” she said.
    “We need to have big stretch goals…but I also think we need to make sure that they are, in fact, technically achievable in a manner that's affordable,” she said. 


    Read the announcement of Julie Tighe’s addition to the New York ISO’s Environmental Advisory Council

    Additional Resources and Information
    Environmental Advisory Council
    New York League of Conservation Voters 


    Learn More
    Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

    • 16 min
    Ep.28: How NY's Grid Stayed Reliable Through This Summer's Late Heatwave with VP of Operations, Aaron Markham

    Ep.28: How NY's Grid Stayed Reliable Through This Summer's Late Heatwave with VP of Operations, Aaron Markham

    New York’s recent peak day for electricity consumption came during a heatwave, as millions of people relied on their air conditioners to keep cool. That’s not unusual. However, some of the circumstances leading up to that day still provided a challenge.
    On our latest Power Trends podcast, NYISO’s Vice President of Operations Aaron Markham discusses what goes into maintaining a reliable grid during a late-season heatwave. 
    The peak load on Sept. 6 was just over 30,200 megawatts. New York’s historic peak demand is 33,956 megawatts, recorded in July 2013.
    Markham pointed out that there have been several system changes since then, like generator retirements.  
    It’s unusual to see a peak day in September. The high-demand days usually come in July or August when hot, humid conditions drive up the desire for air conditioning. Besides the peak coming later in the season than expected, there were other unusual factors that came up.
    “We had some generation that became forced out of service,” Markham said.
    When something like that happens, the operators in the control room activate contingency plans.
    “That resulted in us committing some additional generation to make sure we had sufficient supply,” he explained.
    On a peak day like this, very close coordination with utility companies is also essential.
    “The expectation is that we've talked through all the potential contingencies that could occur,” Markham said. “What is a system going to look like? What is the set of resources that we're going to use to resolve that and make sure that everybody is on board, from the neighbors to the utilities in the state, to the NYISO operators in the room.”
    Challenging situations aren’t limited to warmer months. Markham’s team of operators had to deal with a different set of conditions brought on by sudden extreme cold in December 2022.  
    With high demand for natural gas to heat people’s homes, meant less gas available for generating electricity.
    “We have a survey process where we actually reach out to the generators to look at…what is their fuel supply situation? Do they have alternate oil backup in the tanks? Are they expecting deliveries of that?” Markham explained. “So that's another aspect that comes into winter operations, all of which we did leading up to this event.”
    Events like this demonstrate New York’s system is reliable, Markham said.
    “We were able to maintain flows within limits, all the various parameters on the power system within limits. And we still did have, through the event, some surplus capability,” he said.
    To learn more about our Operations Team and how they manage the grid, listen to the podcast.
    Additional Resources and Information
    Real-Time Dashboard
    Shaving Peaks with the Sun
    Staying Cool in the Deep Freeze: How NYISO’s Forecasters Performed During Winter Storm Elliott
    Learn More
    Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

    • 32 min
    Ep.27: Master Class in Electricity Markets with Rana Mukerji

    Ep.27: Master Class in Electricity Markets with Rana Mukerji

    In our latest podcast, we sat down with Rana Mukerji, NYISO’s SVP of Market Structures, to learn about his journey from growing up in Calcutta, India to becoming widely regarded as one of the ­­industry's leading designers of electricity markets. We ask Rana about his past career experience working for General Electric and ABB, and how the markets must evolve to accommodate a new set of renewable resources while keeping the grid reliable.
    Wholesale competitive electricity markets are an essential component of grid reliability in New York. Markets play a critical role in reconciling supply with demand which must be in perfect balance at all times. 


    As decarbonization policies drive an increase in intermittent, weather-dependent energy such as wind and solar, it has never been more important to understand markets’ contribution to reliability. There are few people more qualified to explain this evolution than NYISO Senior Vice President of Market Structures Rana Mukerji. Rana was instrumental in the early research and data simulation that informed the structure of markets in New York. This edition of our Power Trends podcast is a master class on the wholesale electricity markets that the New York ISO administers and how the energy, capacity, and ancillary markets work together.


    Mukerji identifies two primary shifts affecting the market. First, new renewable resources coming onto the grid are driving down energy prices because of their low variable costs – particularly because they have essentially no fuel costs. At the same time, the system is becoming more volatile because that supply is weather dependent. To maintain reliability, the market assigns a premium to ancillary services that can balance: “The premium value of the future energy supply is flexibility,” he explains. “We are repricing reserves to make it more attractive to perform when needed and rewarding that flexibility.” 
    “It’s going to be a vastly more complex grid, but it is going to really drive our transition to a decarbonized and sustainable future,” he adds. 


    Rana’s path to the NYISO began decades ago with his first plane ride from Calcutta, India to New York City. From there he boarded a bus to Troy, New York where he began his graduate studies in electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on a full scholarship and later worked as an energy consultant with GE. Today, he uses his deep knowledge and experience in economics and engineering to prepare markets for the grid of the future. 


    In this podcast, Rana explains how the markets are changing, and how to make sure the grid stays reliable as we get closer to a 2040 goal of a zero-emissions grid.


    Learn More
    Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

    • 41 min
    Podcast Ep. 26: Running Down a Dream with Market Mitigation Economist Michelle Merlis

    Podcast Ep. 26: Running Down a Dream with Market Mitigation Economist Michelle Merlis

    Episode 26 of the Power Trends podcast delivers a change of pace for our listeners. In this episode, NYISO market mitigation economist Michelle Merlis discusses her long and challenging path to becoming a world-class trail runner. 
    While Michelle's early years found her on the basketball court, she discovered her passion for competitive running while earning a master’s degree in agricultural economics at Purdue University. After graduating from Purdue in 2012, she moved to the Capital Region and joined the Albany Running Exchange. After completing more than two dozen races and covering hundreds of trail miles, she accomplished something she never thought was possible.

    “How I found myself here is both simple and wildly complex… 
    it was the culmination of years of hard work and consistent progress…” 


    In April 2022, Michelle ran and won the women’s division of the Breakneck Point Trail Marathon which secured her a spot on the U.S. National Team at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships in Thailand.  


    Keep pace with Michelle's remarkable journey by listening to the latest episode of the Power Trends podcast.
    Learn More
    Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
11 Ratings

11 Ratings

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