Shows
Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse JenkinsLive From New York Climate Week: The AI and Electricity MomentArtificial intelligence is helping to drive up electricity demand in America. Energy costs are rising, and utilities are struggling to adjust. How should policymakers — and companies — respond to this moment? On this special episode of Shift Key, recorded live at Heatmap House during New York Climate Week, Rob leads a conversation about some potential paths forward. He’s joined first by Representative Sean Casten, the coauthor of a new Democratic bill seeking to lower electricity costs for consumers. How should the grid change for this new moment, and what can Democrats do to become the party of chea...
2025-09-261h 04Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse JenkinsLive From New York Climate Week: The AI and Electricity MomentArtificial intelligence is helping to drive up electricity demand in America. Energy costs are rising, and utilities are struggling to adjust. How should policymakers — and companies — respond to this moment? On this special episode of Shift Key, recorded live at Heatmap House during New York Climate Week, Rob leads a conversation about some potential paths forward. He’s joined first by Representative Sean Casten, the coauthor of a new Democratic bill seeking to lower electricity costs for consumers. How should the grid change for this new moment, and what can Democrats do to become the party of chea...
2025-09-261h 04
Audio BriefsFrom Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs: Rewriting the Grid Planning Playbook in the Southwest Power Pool and TexasAn audio version of “From Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs: Rewriting the Grid Planning Playbook in the Southwest Power Pool and Texas,” a new Commentary by CSIS’s Arushi Sharma Frank. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.
2025-07-2317 min
Redefining Energy187. Texas: Power Surge or Power Splurge? - Jul25Texas is an oddity in the western electricity world: fastest growing load, ultra-low prices, crazy development of renewables. Texas consumes now more power than France, despite having only half the population. Prices are a factor 4 lower compared to 20 years ago. And 90% of additional load has been provided by Wind and Solar, despite the permanent attacks from the fossil fuel lobby.To make sense of the current situation in Texas, and also talk about the future, with unbelievable projections, full of AI and Datacentres, we have the pleasure of welcoming Arushi Sharma Frank.Arushi Sharma Frank is...
2025-07-2126 minAudio BriefsPower Access for AI: The Flexibility CompactAn audio version of “Power Access for AI: The Flexibility Compact,” a new Commentary by CSIS’s Arushi Sharma Frank. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.
2025-07-0310 min
Open CircuitThe grid is smarter. Why aren't we smarter about the grid?The grid faces a mismatch: the system is getting smarter, but we're not getting smarter about how we use it.
Utilities have installed 130 million advanced meters. Millions of homes have smart thermostats, water heaters, and batteries that could work in concert. Data centers could unlock over 100 gigawatts of new capacity without major infrastructure expansion.
Yet most smart devices aren't coordinated, advanced meter data sits unused, and there's no standard way to plan for or pay flexible loads.
In this episode of Open Circuit, we examine what is holding back grid flexibility — and what it...
2025-06-201h 24
Audio BriefsExperts React: Energy Policy in the Reconciliation DebateAn audio version of “Experts React: Energy Policy in the Reconciliation Debate,” a new commentary by CSIS's Joseph Majkut, Clayton Seigle, Kyle Danish, Leslie Abrahams, Jane Nakano, Arushi Sharma Frank, and Mathias Zacarias. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.
2025-05-1516 min
Energy Capital PodcastTexas' Load Growth Challenges – And Opportunities, with Arushi Sharma FrankLarge load growth is one of the most urgent challenges and opportunities for the grid.From data centers to factories to electrified oil and gas operations, demand on the ERCOT grid is expected to soar. If we don’t load forecasting and planning right, we risk higher costs, more outages, and a weaker grid. If we do it right, we can build a more resilient, affordable, and flexible system for decades to come.On this episode of the Energy Capital Podcast, I’m joined by Arushi Sharma Frank, energy policy expert, consultant, and Substack writer, for...
2025-05-011h 10
With Great PowerSevere storms are fast-tracking grid resiliency projectsWhen Winter Storm Uri hit Texas in 2021, it led to more than 240 deaths and hobbled the electric grid for days. At the time, Arushi Sharma Frank was working on Tesla’s U.S. energy policy team, trying to convince Texas regulators to allow it to connect a 100 megawatt battery to the grid. It was part of a larger effort to encourage distributed energy resources (DERs) as a means of improving grid resiliency. After Uri, regulators greenlit Tesla’s pilot projects.Today, Arushi runs her own grid resiliency consultancy and recently helped community groups in New Orleans draft a pr...
2024-12-1719 min
DER Task ForceDERVOS '24: Policy PanelDERVOS, 10/25/24, NYCNew energy technologies can thrive or die due to regulatory policy. This unbelievable policy panel will feature regulators who have actually supported new technologies and advocates who have successfully fought for paradigm-shifting policies. We know we have great technologies--this panel will explore how we get them to scale.Speakers: Allison Clements (FERC), Marissa Gillett (CT PURA), Arushi Sharma Frank (Luminary Strategies, former Tesla)Moderator: Allison Bates Wannop (DER Task Force) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes...
2024-11-201h 27
Energy Capital PodcastIntegrating Distributed Energy Resilience Solutions with Arushi Sharma FrankThere aren't many grid strategies that increase reliability, resiliency, affordability, and sustainability. While many strategies may address one or two of these factors – perhaps even three – distributed energy resources uniquely check all four boxes. After Hurricane Beryl, Texans, including policymakers, were left questioning how such a disaster could happen again, especially so soon after Winter Storm Uri. The pain, suffering, and even loss of life were profound and, tragically, avoidable.My guest this week is Arushi Sharma Frank. Arushi is one of the smartest people on energy and energy policy, with a particularly deep expertise in distributed ener...
2024-09-041h 01
DER Task ForceThe real story of Texas VPP policy with Arushi Frank, Founder of Luminary StrategiesLast week we were lucky enough to sit down with Arushi Sharma Frank, the policy wizard who while at Tesla Energy helped turn Texas into one of the DER capitals of the world. She gives us the in depth history of of how ERCOT’s VPP program was forged — a story our co-host James was also a part of. We also talk about the rest of her time at Tesla, case studies in Australia and the UK, how regulators still don’t understand organic consumer adoption patterns, the Obamacare of power markets, where residential DERs are headed, and what Arushi...
2024-07-122h 17