With Great Power

Matt Ross feels at home in the ocean, on his surfboard. Strong currents, choppy conditions, and the occasional thrashing are all part of the experience — and the joy of a good, long wave makes it all worth it.

So when a job pulled him too far from his favorite surf spots in San Francisco, he wasn’t happy. He knew he needed to find his next work challenge closer to home. He found that at GridX, where for the past seven years he’s brought his interest in data analytics and design to product roles, working toward his current role as vice president of delivery. 

This week on With Great Power, Matt dives into the economics behind rising rates – and why he thinks that without affordable energy, the clean energy transition will stall. He shares some of his recent projects, designing and implementing time-varying rates with utilities. And he describes the ways that data centers could actually turn load growth into an opportunity to drive rates down. 

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

Alice Yake’s parents’ taught her and her brother the importance of fairness and discipline, but also how to overcome obstacles and tackle big problems. 

Those life skills have served Alice throughout her career in the power sector, from a false start at Enron — just months before it declared bankruptcy — to a long, successful career at Xcel Energy. Last year, she left her role as the utility’s chief planning officer to become VP of GRIDS at Breakthrough Energy, the organization founded by Bill Gates to accelerate clean energy using philanthropy and investment funding.

This week on With Great Power, Alice shares how she’s now helping energy planners across the world improve electric grids through open-source planning and modeling software. She also discusses the challenge of building a better workforce to modernize the grid, as well as the opportunities to integrate more distributed energy resources into infrastructure that can help meet growing demand for clean energy over the coming decades. 

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

Building a cleaner, resilient grid is no small task — especially today, as energy demand surges, electricity prices rise, and political headwinds strengthen. But over and over again, across six seasons of With Great Power, we've talked to people who keep charging ahead — turning obstacles into opportunity. 

Right now, we're gearing up for another season. We’re talking to utility leaders who are tackling affordability and load growth. We’re exploring the frontiers of technology, markets, and the shifting policy landscape. We’re connecting with some of the leading innovators in the power sector.

Season 7 of With Great Power starts soon. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

Brian Kurtz doesn’t shy away from a tough climb. He’s always loved the mountains, and in college he spent an entire semester “abroad” in the Western Rockies, learning about ecology while also trudging up and down mountains. 

That experience taught him a framework called expedition behavior — a methodical approach to planning and executing a mission. Years later, Brian and his team at PSEG Long Island took on a different kind of mission, but one that still required a thoughtful, patient approach. 

This week on With Great Power, Brian tells the story of how PSEG Long Island rose from the bottom of the 2014 J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey among large electric utility business customers in the East to the top in 2025. They talk about the key steps along the way — including a rate modernization program and improved customer communications.

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

Ellen Zuckerman followed her nose, literally, into her first career as an energy auditor in New York City. She had an uncanny ability to sniff out dangerous gas leaks in apartment buildings. 

That led to energy efficiency work in states across the country – everything from helping utilities, regulators, and businesses advance efficiency projects to helping ratepayers lower their bills through weatherization programs

In 2022, Google took notice and offered her a position with its community energy program – a program designed to fund energy efficiency programs in communities where the company is building data centers.

This week on With Great Power, Ellen describes how this program works. She also outlines how Google has worked with regulators and utilities in Nevada, Minnesota, and other states to develop large load tariffs in support of bringing hundreds of megawatts of clean energy and storage to the grid.

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.