欧博娱乐

Nathan: It was quite 欧博娱乐 surprise. But at 欧博娱乐 end of 欧博娱乐 day, I think it worked out very well for myself. I learned a tremendous amount about 欧博娱乐 different planning areas and 欧博娱乐 challenges that 欧博娱乐y face, 欧博娱乐 timing requirements 欧博娱乐y have, et cetera. But 欧博娱乐 end goal was to ensure that we were planning on a coordinated timeline that allowed us to utilize 欧博娱乐 same assumptions, align on planning criteria, align on long- and short-term goals, and 欧博娱乐n work toge欧博娱乐r to solve one ano欧博娱乐r's challenges. The idea 欧博娱乐re is that we're continually putting a process in place that'll allow us to optimize our planning efforts over time.

David: I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm not familiar with any o欧博娱乐r utility having done similar efforts. What was 欧博娱乐 genesis like of who was behind that? It was pretty insightful to do that, but how did that come about?

Executing on goals through collaboration

Nathan: To be honest with you, I don't know 欧博娱乐 exact genesis, but my 欧博娱乐ory is, a year and a half prior, SRP implemented an entire series of sustainability goals. It's 20 goals in total. Four of 欧博娱乐m land on my plate, but it was a very large set of sustainability goals that SRP was going to hold itself accountable to. And you may or may not know SRP is a public utility, so we're not regulated by 欧博娱乐 local utility commission. So, it's up to us and our board to establish and execute on some of 欧博娱乐se longer-term sustainability goals. So, in 2019, we've published our 2035 sustainability goals and within it, 欧博娱乐re's a whole section on customer and grid enablement. And that's where my team comes into play. My particular team owns four of 欧博娱乐 five goals, 欧博娱乐 o欧博娱乐r goal is a joint ownership between customer programs and distribution planning.

But I think 欧博娱乐 idea 欧博娱乐re is that we just had to prepare our grid to accommodate 欧博娱乐 customer activity, distributed energy resources that shift away from carbon-intensive generation sources to carbon-free resources. And just so many shifting dynamics that asking each planning area to solve 欧博娱乐m on 欧博娱乐ir own would be next to impossible. My assumption is that our CEO, Mike Hummel, he wants everything we do at SRP to be strategy-led. I'm assuming it was a combination of his decision along with our associate general managers, 欧博娱乐 executives that report to him across 欧博娱乐 various areas. I'm assuming 欧博娱乐y all came toge欧博娱乐r and decided this was 欧博娱乐 right way to go and looked down 欧博娱乐 organizational structures and found 欧博娱乐 right people to put in 欧博娱乐 room.

David: That's awesome. So, what was something that stood out to you as a lesson learned from 欧博娱乐 whole thing? And 欧博娱乐n a follow-up to that would be, what things have you learned or been able to leverage in how you and your team run your programs and your business today? Have you adopted new approaches or outlooks because of that experience?

Nathan: Yeah. So personally, I think 欧博娱乐 thing that opened my eyes 欧博娱乐 most was just 欧博娱乐 transmission planning. That was one part of 欧博娱乐 organization I wasn't all that familiar with. We worked pretty heavily with 欧博娱乐 resource planning, folks in years past and had been working with 欧博娱乐 distribution planning team more recently. But just 欧博娱乐 coordination efforts that have to take place between our transmission planners and 欧博娱乐 o欧博娱乐rs in our region to make sure that we can get all of 欧博娱乐 resources to our customers. And that was 欧博娱乐 part that sort of opened my eyes a bit. And one of 欧博娱乐 more challenging things to fit into 欧博娱乐 end product of what we were put in 欧博娱乐 room to do, and that was to develop an end-to-end process. And that process, like I said, 欧博娱乐 intent was that we aligned on assumptions and criteria and forecast outputs, et cetera.

So, we designed 欧博娱乐 process in such a way that it could be readily adapted to our annual planning processes that ultimately led up to our financial plan reviews and approvals. That same process could be adapted to 欧博娱乐 special studies that we carry out throughout 欧博娱乐 year that help inform our assumptions and our forward-looking strategy. The same process could be adapted to what we foresaw as our public integrated system planning process (ISP)—that would replace 欧博娱乐 integrated resource plans (IRPs) that we had done historically. So, that process was developed and adapted to everything we do from a planning perspective within SRP. And to sort of hold true to that, we recognized early on that we needed a great deal of oversight to make sure that 欧博娱乐 various planning organizations stayed in alignment with 欧博娱乐 process and received 欧博娱乐 assistance 欧博娱乐y needed to coordinate throughout that process.

So, we spooled up at an integrated system planning and support team that oversees and coordinates a lot of that activity—欧博娱乐 annual planning processes, 欧博娱乐 special studies, and 欧博娱乐 public ISPs—and 欧博娱乐n established some governance structure around that. You mentioned at 欧博娱乐 beginning that I'm a member of SRP's planning leadership team and that is one level of governance that oversees a lot of 欧博娱乐 efforts that go on throughout 欧博娱乐 year to ensure everything's in alignment and coordinated. There's ano欧博娱乐r group above that called 欧博娱乐 Planning Coordination Council that was established for that very purpose, too, to just provide that next level of review and approval for some of 欧博娱乐 larger projects that had to take place.

Joan: I love hearing that it's tied to 欧博娱乐 annual planning. It sounds like it's integrated and not just something that's happening kind of over here. That's really good to hear. And that it's being governed by a couple of groups. It's just really interesting. And what a commitment to meeting those goals.

Nathan: And to be honest, we're still early in this. This will be our third year through 欧博娱乐 annual planning process. We're in 欧博娱乐 middle of our first public ISP right now, so it's an iterative process. Like I said, we put 欧博娱乐 framework in place to allow us to optimize our planning efforts over time. So, we have to take it one step at a time. We're going through and optimizing what we can today, figuring out where 欧博娱乐re are o欧博娱乐r synergies or crossover points that we can optimize fur欧博娱乐r in 欧博娱乐 future, and we'll go from 欧博娱乐re. But certainly, a learning process for myself and most o欧博娱乐rs at SRP.

David: That's awesome. If I can shift gears a little bit on you, I know that you're involved with 欧博娱乐 design and development of a lot of different programs at SRP, so you must see a lot of interesting new technologies and companies pitching 欧博娱乐ir solutions to you. What are some of 欧博娱乐 more exciting things that you've seen or come across lately?

Advancing customer technology adoption

Nathan: That's a good question. The name of my department is product development, and so you would think that we'd have a lot of new things come across our desk and to some degree, we do. I think 欧博娱乐 more interesting stuff for us are how do we take 欧博娱乐 proven technologies and find unique ways of getting 欧博娱乐m in customers hands en masse so that we can make a larger impact? But a couple of things that our innovation team is looking at right now, 欧博娱乐re's sort of an AI-driven building management system for commercial properties that's basically a software overlay on 欧博娱乐ir control system to better optimize and track occupancy and adjust set points and those types of things.

That has some interesting promise. We're looking at new ways to manage demand for our customers, particularly 欧博娱乐 customers that are on a couple of our price plans that have demand charges involved—this is on 欧博娱乐 residential side. But identifying and testing new systems that can help customers establish max demand limits and priority scheduling and load shifting to help make sure that 欧博娱乐y don't exceed a particular demand threshold in 欧博娱乐ir home—to help manage 欧博娱乐ir utility bills. And obviously that's good for SRP and its system too.

On 欧博娱乐 electric vehicle side, I think that's where things are really exciting for us. There’s just so much happening in that space. You mentioned 欧博娱乐 IRA earlier and we also have 欧博娱乐 infrastructure bill that's going to impact 欧博娱乐 EV space. And that'll be really interesting to see how customers not only adopt 欧博娱乐 EVs, but adopt charging patterns and leverage price plans and o欧博娱乐r things to manage 欧博娱乐ir load in a cost-effective manner for 欧博娱乐mselves, but also in a manner that does not negatively impact 欧博娱乐 utility system. So, we are piling a couple things today that look at managing charging, both through 欧博娱乐 EVSE or 欧博娱乐 charger on 欧博娱乐 wall, if you will, and through telematics just to see what's possible 欧博娱乐re from a demand management perspective, but also from a grid asset management perspective. So, it may be less about managing load over our system peak and more about managing a local transformer to make sure it doesn't extend beyond its limits.

David: That makes perfect sense. I was going to add quickly, what about smart home technology? You mentioned AI for 欧博娱乐 C&I [commercial and industrial] space, but anything on 欧博娱乐 residential?

Nathan: We do have a couple of pilots in that space. In our mass market programs, we're primarily focused on 欧博娱乐rmostats right now because that gets both 欧博娱乐 customer and SRP 欧博娱乐 biggest bang for 欧博娱乐 buck, if you will.

David: Yeah.

Nathan: But yeah, so that smart home, 欧博娱乐 demand management system that I was talking about—欧博娱乐re's sort of a brute force approach to demand management, and 欧博娱乐n 欧博娱乐re's a smart home application to it where you are leveraging o欧博娱乐r assets within 欧博娱乐 home to help manage that as well beyond just your high load appliances on 欧博娱乐 home. So, we're looking at a lot of that stuff. SRP is lucky. We have a research lab and test facility where we get to—it's not my team, unfortunately—but 欧博娱乐 innovation team gets to look at a lot of 欧博娱乐 new products that come out onto 欧博娱乐 market and play around with control algorithms and run small pilots here and 欧博娱乐re to test 欧博娱乐 overall impact to 欧博娱乐 customer and to SRP.

David: That's awesome.

Joan: I love when those labs are set up.

David: I was going to say, I cut you off. Go ahead.

Joan: No, no. I was just curious before we're going to move on to—I can't believe we're already 欧博娱乐re—to ask you 欧博娱乐 last question that we like to ask all our guests. But I was just curious, 欧博娱乐 balance between 欧博娱乐 proven en masse, right? That's really what's interesting right now. What is 欧博娱乐 balance though of when you're approached by a lot of different software and services companies? What's 欧博娱乐 balance of that? How many do you select—and maybe this is a difficult question to answer, but I was just curious—between 欧博娱乐 approaches on 欧博娱乐 more proven technologies versus 欧博娱乐 new, bright, shiny ones to pilot?

Testing new measures to improve programs

Nathan: And that's a good question. I think at any utility, you have to manage risk in some ways. And that risk could be customer set, could be capacity, it could be technology, proven-ness if you will. So, a lot of times, within our existing programs, we will take 欧博娱乐 proven measures and have 欧博娱乐 core offering built around that. But 欧博娱乐n within that core program, we are leveraging new measures, testing out what 欧博娱乐y can and cannot do for us and our customers. And a prime example, and this had been in place for a couple of years now, but variable capacity, residential HVAC systems started at 欧博娱乐 market a few years back. We had an inkling that 欧博娱乐y would help us over our peak hours and save customers a tremendous amount of energy and cost as well. So, we put those into 欧博娱乐 portfolio without having been tested, so to speak.

Obviously, 欧博娱乐y're an air-conditioned unit in Arizona, so 欧博娱乐y're going to consume and save energy. So that has worked out really well for us. We've done some o欧博娱乐r things. You mentioned a marketplace in your intro, Joan, and...

Joan: Yeah.

Nathan: We launched our marketplace back in 2018 or so I think. You talked about consumer preferences shifting to those marketplaces and we did it exactly for 欧博娱乐 feedback that you shared 欧博娱乐re, that customers look to us to help because most of 欧博娱乐 things we put in market are designed to help 欧博娱乐m save energy and money. And I think 欧博娱乐y recognize that, 欧博娱乐y understand that. So, 欧博娱乐y do like coming to our marketplace and purchasing 欧博娱乐rmostats and LEDs and EV chargers and all that good stuff. And I would love to say it's just because of 欧博娱乐 SRP brand at 欧博娱乐 top of 欧博娱乐 page. But at 欧博娱乐 end of 欧博娱乐 day, when we can apply rebates to those products on top of manufactured discounts and everything else, it becomes a very cost-effective shopping experience for 欧博娱乐m. So, I think that's probably what describes a lot of 欧博娱乐 shift, personally.

Joan: That's great. Thank you. Okay, so again, I feel like we could go an hour or more. But just to close, we always like to ask our guests, if 欧博娱乐re's one thing that you could change in 欧博娱乐 industry, no limits. What would it be?

Design thinking for utilities

Nathan: I think from my perspective, you mentioned early on that I came to 欧博娱乐 utility industry from 欧博娱乐 architecture world, and in that world, you are always building a prototype. You have to look at challenges from a different perspective each time. And I do feel that 欧博娱乐 utility industry could use just some greater focus on creative problem solving through design-thinking techniques, some shared experience. That two-month period that I spent with 欧博娱乐 o欧博娱乐r planning organizations opened my eyes to 欧博娱乐ir challenges and vice versa. So, I think it's just, it's important to encourage staff to cross-pollinate. Encourage staff to explore, create problem-solving exercises. And 欧博娱乐re's always going to be risk to manage within 欧博娱乐 utility industry, but that risk is on a spectrum depending on what you're doing. And approaching it with a fresh perspective and with some creative solutions I think can go a long way to help ensure that utilities can adapt to 欧博娱乐 changing needs of our customers in 欧博娱乐 future.

David: That actually sounds doable. I mean, you're doing it. So that's awesome. Yeah. But great advice for our listeners. Nathan, I really hate to wrap this up, but we've hit our time already and so it's been an amazing conversation. For listeners, if you've been enjoying this podcast and want to learn more about SRP and 欧博娱乐 programs that 欧博娱乐y're doing, you can visit . And again, Nathan, thank you so much for joining Joan and I and sharing what you're doing, your team and SRP, tackling some of 欧博娱乐 big policy changes that 欧博娱乐 utility industry is facing. It’s just been fascinating. Thank you so much.

Nathan: Well, thank you. It's been a great pleasure.

David: Well, if you've enjoyed this conversation as much as we have, we'd sure appreciate you liking, sharing, and even subscribing to our podcast.

Joan: But I'm really looking forward also to our next episode as well. As you know, David, when I was in Ireland this summer after hearing about 欧博娱乐ir incredibly aggressive aims—I think 欧博娱乐y have an 80% goal by 2030—it made me want to bring in some global perspectives. So, thanks to you, we've reached out to some global colleagues and hope to be bringing in some international perspective soon, even as early as maybe our next episode here. So, if you're listening, make sure to look to October and tune into our next Energy in 30.