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
How Europe Is Preparing AI for Real World Grid Operations
Host: Samantha Gilman
Guests: Elissaios Sarmas, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA); Adrian Kelly, EPRI Europe; Sotiris Pelekis, Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS).
Europe is accelerating the use of artificial intelligence across the energy sector – but how can utilities adopt AI safely, securely, and at scale? In this episode of EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman continues the AI-EFFECT series with a discussion exploring three of the European Union’s Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEF) projects: AI-EFFECT, EnergyGuard, and EnerTEF.
Guests Adrian Kelly from EPRI Europe, Sotiris Pelekis from the Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS), and Elissaios Sarmas from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) discuss how these cross-country facilities help utilities validate, de risk, and operationalize AI through shared infrastructure, standardized testing, and regulatory alignment. The conversation highlights real-world utility use cases, cross-sector collaboration, and how Europe’s TEF model could inform global efforts to enable trustworthy AI in the power sector.
To learn more about Europe’s Testing and Experimentation Facilities and their role in enabling reliable AI, visit: https://ai-effect.eu/ai-effect-enertef-and-energyguard-join-forces-to-advance-ai-in-energy-sector/.
Explore more episodes from the AI‑EFFECT series:
- Episode 65: https://epricurrent.podbean.com/e/65-exploring-the-ai-effect-on-europe-s-energy-future/
- Episode 52: https://epricurrent.podbean.com/e/52-what-is-the-ai-effect-on-europe-s-power-industry/
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Grid Talk Series on the EPRI Current: Grid Growth in the Age of Data Centers and Electrification
Host: Samantha Gilman
Guests: Maria Pope, PGE; David Porter, EPRI
In the final episode of the Grid Talk Series on the EPRI Current, Maria Pope, President and CEO of Portland General Electric, joins Marty Rosenberg for a wide ranging conversation on how utilities are responding to historic demand growth without compromising reliability or affordability. Maria shares how PGE is using advanced analytics, grid-enhancing technologies, and large-scale battery storage to unlock new capacity from existing infrastructure and accommodate rapidly growing loads. The discussion dives into PGE’s “growth pays for growth” approach, innovative rate structures, and the role customers play in funding grid expansion, while also exploring regional market coordination, renewable integration in the Pacific Northwest, and what today’s surge in data centers signals for long term grid planning.
In EPRI’s Take, host Samantha Gilman meets with David Porter, VP for Electrification & Sustainable Energy Strategy and executive lead for EPRI’s DCFlex initiative, about how data centers and other large loads can support grid reliability. David highlights three key flexibility opportunities at data centers – shifting compute workloads, optimizing auxiliary systems, and using backup generation and energy storage to manage peaks. The conversation also looks ahead, emphasizing the flexibility of demand across all electrified loads and the growing role of transportation electrification as a shared grid resource.
Learn more about DCFlex: https://dcflex.epri.com/
In It for the Long Haul: Nuclear LTO in a High-Demand Era
Host: Samantha Gilman
Guests: Rounette Nader, Duke Energy; Rob Austin, EPRI.
The long-term operation (LTO) of existing nuclear plants is emerging as a critical strategy for delivering reliable, carbon-free power as electricity demand accelerates across the economy. In this episode of EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman is joined by Rounette Nader, VP of New Nuclear Generation and License Renewal at Duke Energy, and EPRI’s Rob Austin, Senior Program Manager for Nuclear, to explore how LTO supports a resilient energy future.
The discussion unpacks what it really takes to extend plant lifetimes to 60 years, 80 years, and possibly beyond – and why continued investment, modernization, and rigorous regulatory oversight keep plants safe and increasingly reliable. The experts tackle common misconceptions about aging plants, explain how modernization and digital upgrades support round-the-clock power, and highlight LTO’s role in meeting rapidly growing load while maintaining a skilled workforce. Together, they spotlight why long-term nuclear operation remains one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to deliver dependable, carbon-free energy at scale
To learn more about Nuclear Power Plant Long-Term Operations, visit: https://lto.epri.com/LTO.
To learn more about Duke Energy's nuclear fleet, visit: https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-nuclear-fleet-sets-new-all-time-reliability-record-delivers-value-for-customers.
