Paul Gerke

We talk White Sox baseball if we get him.

I'm factored in this content director, Paul Gerke, joined as always by Cleantech commentator, Mike Casey of TigerCom.

Mike, what's new?

Hey, first, I want to apologize to the audience for the two-week hiatus.

But a fun fact, she started listening to us when she was riding with your predecessor, John Engel, working for Clarion.

Yeah, man.

The fact that she didn't run screaming for the hills outside Austin, where she lives and works, when she was free of John, says a lot about our star power, wouldn't you say, Paul Gerke?

I just want to ask her which one of us she prefers because our styles are slightly different.

This episode of the Factor This Policycast, presented as always in partnership with National Business Association Advanced Energy United, explores the future of the DSGS program.

I'm Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined by two special guests, Brandon Garcia, Advanced Energy United's California director, and Lauren Nevitt, Senior Director of California Policy and Energy Markets at Sunrun.

They'll address some critical questions as DSGS lingers in the lurch, including can California's policymakers establish a durable, long-term market pathway to support the nation's leading VPP? What role do DERs play in the state's energy future? And what can California's next governor do to buoy DSGS before it can't pay its participants? Plus, we'll get into some very timely news items further demonstrating the scale and impact of VPPs, but we'll begin with some warmer introductions.

Brandon, welcome to the PolicyCast, making your debut.

Neither is Brandon or Lauren.

Go give them a follow on LinkedIn and support all their efforts out in California.

That's it for me, Factor This content director, Paul Gerke.

Be good, everybody.

Whether you're a utility executive, an engineer, operations professional, or public power leader, this episode promises practical insights into strengthening distribution system reliability and building a more resilient electric grid.

If you don't know my name and face by now, I'm Paul Gerke, content director over at Factor This.

The other names in your program you might be more familiar with.

So let's start the show with some introductions.

And keep it right here on Factor This for more conversations just like this in the future.

We love shedding light into the little cracks and crevices of the energy ecosphere and learning about what it takes to make the system that we all take for granted every single day.

So that said, once more, I'm Paul Gerke with Factor This.

Thank you for listening to the Factor This podcast.

He'll be joining us shortly.

I am Factor This Content Director Paul Gerke, joined once again by Clean Tech commentator Mike Casey of Tigercomm, and my dog Theo, who is waiting patiently next to me at my desk for me to finish this podcast so we can go on a walk.

It's a lovely day out here, Mike.

[laughs]

Story five.

[laughs]

We're, we're cruising to a very prompt ending, Paul Gerke, and I have enough time to tell you one, uh, listeners should turn on the YouTube channel and see Paul Gerke trying to catch up to Brian Mendez, who he secretly, uh, admires for they're in the beard race, so that's good.

Yeah.

But how should that even work? We're going to dive into all of that and more on this episode of the Factor This Policycast, presented in partnership with Advanced Energy United, as we tackle the PJM energy emergency.

How can the nation's largest grid operator modernize its operations in time to avoid a capacity cliff while simultaneously satisfying a diverse group of stakeholders clamoring for affordability? If you don't know me, I'm Factor This content director Paul Gerke, Adam Stern of clean energy developer Clearway Energy, and Kimaya Abreu, a virtual power plant operator at Voltus, will be joining the podcast shortly to share their perspectives on how we can get more electrons online fast while mitigating the impacts of large load growth.

Thank you so much for having me.

But let's start with what sounds like the devil at PJM's doorstep, John, that looming capacity shortfall.

If you made it this far, I humbly request that you like and subscribe for more meaty episodes just like this.

We put out a new policycast every other Thursday, so keep your ears and eyes tuned for the next one.

Until then, you can find all sorts of other interesting energy industry stuff where this podcast lives on factorthis.com. Until next time, I'm Paul Gerke.

Be good, people.

It's Jillian Goodman from Heatmap joining us shortly to talk about a big story this week.

If you don't know my voice by now, I'm Factor, this content director, Paul Gerke, joined on the program once again by Cleantech commentator Mike Casey of TigerCom.

Mike, I missed you last week.

Great to be reunited.