Welcome to EPRI Current – your go-to source for the latest in energy innovation, research, and insights.
Your host, Samantha Gilman, meets with EPRI experts and industry leaders to unpack the energy sector’s most pressing challenges and promising opportunities. Through timely and thought-provoking conversations, the podcast explores critical themes including advanced energy technologies, grid reliability and flexibility, climate adaptation and resilience, the transformative role of artificial intelligence, the evolving economics and policies shaping energy systems, and more.
Whether you're an energy professional, policymaker, or curious listener, the EPRI Current brings you expert perspectives that highlight how innovation and collaboration are powering a more resilient and reliable energy future.
Tune in and be part of the journey as we shape the future of energy—together.
Latest Episodes
Powering Data Center Growth: Flexibility, Grid Connections, and Lessons from Europe
Host: Samantha Gilman
Guests: Chris Kavanagh, Baringa; Eamonn Lannoye, EPRI
Data centers are driving a new wave of electricity demand, adding pressure to power systems already undergoing significant change. In Europe, greater flexibility could help accommodate that growth while making better use of available grid capacity.
In this episode of EPRI Current, EPRI’s Eamonn Lannoye and Chris Kavanagh of Baringa join host Samantha Gilman to discuss what data center flexibility could mean for the power system. They draw on Ireland’s experience, explore ways data centers can adjust when and where they use electricity, and consider how AI workloads could expand those possibilities. They also look at how EPRI’s DCFlex initiative is bringing together stakeholders across the data center and energy industries to advance solutions for integrating large loads, including flexible grid connections and the Flex MOSAIC framework.
Check out resources mentioned in this episode:
- Data Centres Ireland: Taking place November 18–19 in Dublin, Data Centres Ireland brings together data center operators, service providers, innovators, and other industry leaders to discuss the technologies and issues shaping the sector. Learn more about Data Centres Ireland.
- EPRI DCFlex: Learn more about EPRI’s work to explore data center flexibility and grid integration through the DCFlex initiative.
- FLARE: Learn more about EPRI’s Flexibility for Large Assets to Rapidly Energise (FLARE) initiative.
- NESO Feasibility Study: Those interested in participating can contact Chris Kavanagh at chris.kavanagh@baringa.com.
What Will Shape the Grid’s Next Decade?
Host: Samantha Gilman
Guests: Lanny Nickell, SPP; David Porter, EPRI
The next era of electricity growth is already taking shape. Electrification, computational loads, advanced manufacturing, and economic growth are testing traditional approaches to grid planning and raising consequential questions about what comes next.
On the EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman is joined by Lanny Nickell, President and CEO of SPP, and Daniel Brooks, EPRI Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery and Customer Solutions, to discuss how the industry is responding. They explore how today’s large, fast-moving loads are reshaping grid planning and discuss new approaches to load flexibility, interconnection, transmission investment, and regional energy markets. They also look ahead at what it will take to strengthen reliability, expand the grid, and unlock greater connectivity between the Eastern and Western Interconnections.
Tune in for an inside look at the decisions shaping the grid’s next decade.
From Home Appliance to Grid Asset: The Evolution of Heat Pumps
Host: Samantha Gilman
Guests: Ron Domitrovic, EPRI; Timothy Watts, Carrier Energy
Heat pumps have become one of the most widely discussed technologies for home efficiency and electrification, but their next evolution may be even more transformative. In this week’s episode of EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman is joined by EPRI’s Ron Domitrovic and Carrier Energy’s Timothy Watts to discuss the next generation of heat pumps and their potential to support both homeowners and the grid.
The discussion explores how technologies such as inverter-driven systems, integrated battery storage, and virtual power plant participation are expanding the role of heat pumps beyond heating and cooling. Drawing on insights from EPRI's ongoing field demonstration, the guests share what they're learning about turning residential HVAC systems into flexible energy resources while keeping customer comfort front and center, and how those learnings can help inform the broader industry's approach to integrating heat pumps as grid resources.
