Roiling Uncharted Waters of the Economy
Are We Ready?
The public now expects stagflation, both increased inflation and increased unemployment. Will demand for electricity continue to surge when the economy weakens?
Fortnightly Magazine - May 2025
Three Pacific Northwest Leaders on the Wildfire Challenge
Wildfires
Conversations with Puget Sound Energy CEO Mary Kipp, Rocky Mountain Power President Dick Garlish, and Wyoming PSC Commissioner Mary Throne with PUF Senior Advisor Paul Kjellander, and featuring Paul’s paintings.
Wildfire Challenge: Mary Kipp
Puget Sound Energy
“Our capital allocation toward wildfire prevention is growing remarkably fast. This year in Washington State, as part of our rate case, the WUTC approved a tracker that will enable us to invest over a hundred million dollars in wildfire mitigation over the next two years.”
Wildfire Challenge: Dick Garlish
Rocky Mountain Power
“Communities rely on a healthy utility to keep the lights on and power economic growth, and wildfire puts our ability to do that at risk. Ensuring that our financial health is strong isn’t just about protecting the business. It’s about protecting the affordability and reliability of electricity for millions of our customers.”
Wildfire Challenge: Mary Throne
Wyoming PSC
“The wildfire season we had this year perhaps spurred legislative action. The legislation requires utilities to file wildfire plans, which the Commission must approve. A company in compliance with its approved plan has limited liability protection in any civil action.”
Technosylva's Lessons from Wildfires
What to Keep in Mind
“While many utilities start with a well-researched Wildfire Management Plan, these changing conditions require dynamic and continuous management, informed by investments in ongoing situational awareness.“
Points of View, at Distributech
Events
Conversations with Ericsson Global Head of Mission Critical Networks – Utilities Koustuv Ghoshal. IBM General Manager – Energy and Utilities Casey Werth, Eaton Utility Marketing Manager Jason Plane, with PUF’s Steve Mitnick and Joe Paparello on the conference floor.
Distributech: Ericsson
Innovations
“IOUs and some non-IOUs have dropped over half a billion dollars to acquire private spectrum or get access. One of the key drivers is to make grid control more predictive, by leveraging wireless infrastructure to extract real-time intelligence from sensors at remote sites.”
Distributech: IBM
Innovations
“One of our recent CEO studies showed that out of all 20 industry segments, the energy segment had the highest positive potential expectation of value from AI, and the lowest in terms of progress of implementation.”
Distributech: Eaton
“We developed an AI-powered innovation called HiZ Protect, which has shown highly accurate and fast high-impedance fault detection. These faults can lead to ignition on utility distribution systems. We believe we’ve got a novel approach that can help utilities mitigate faults.”