Bill Kaewert, a veteran of the power generation industry, discussed the challenges and innovations in maintaining electric power at the PowerGen conference in San Antonio. He highlighted the significant load growth due to hyperscale data centers, AI, population growth, and electrification, which has led to a 80-gigawatt reduction in dispatchable energy over the past decade. Kaewert emphasized the role of data centers in providing dispatchable power, noting they have 100 gigawatts of generators. He advocated for decentralized energy solutions, including storage and on-site generation, to address these challenges and suggested that individual and commercial entities should invest in their own power assets to mitigate rising electric bills.
Outline
Introduction and Overview of PowerGen Conference
- Scott introduces the episode of Industrial Talk, sponsored by the Propane Education and Research Council, highlighting their commitment to safety training and innovative propane-powered technology.
- Scott thanks listeners for their support and introduces the PowerGen conference in San Antonio, encouraging listeners to attend in 2027.
- Scott introduces Bill Kaewert, a power generation industry professional, and mentions his height as a joke.
Bill Kaewert's Background and Role at PowerGen
- Bill Kaewert shares that he has been attending PowerGen for over 20 years and works for a manufacturing company specializing in power electronics.
- Bill discusses the primary reason for his attendance at PowerGen: the increasing demand for electric power due to load growth, hyperscale data centers, AI data centers, population growth, and electrification of transportation.
- He highlights the issue of retiring dispatchable generation while load growth continues, emphasizing the importance of maintaining uninterruptible electric power.
- Bill mentions his role at Stored Energy Systems LLC, which manufactures power electronics for critical power applications in hospitals, data centers, and government facilities.
Challenges in Maintaining Electric Power
- Bill explains the challenges of maintaining electric power with the increasing demand and the retirement of dispatchable generation.
- He discusses the role of data centers in providing dispatchable power, noting that data centers have around 100 gigawatts of generators ready to rock and roll.
- Bill emphasizes the importance of using data center generators before an outage to prevent serious problems, such as those seen in Texas during the winter storm.
- He mentions the need to readdress EPA and other regulations to allow the use of standby generators before an actual outage.
Innovation and Solutions in Electric Power
- Bill discusses the potential for innovation in electric power, with individuals and businesses using storage batteries and on-site generation.
- He describes the concept of prosumers, who sometimes use grid power and sometimes produce their own power for export.
- Bill highlights the need for experimentation and failure to find the best practices for electric power management.
- He mentions the role of states as laboratories of democracy in finding solutions that work best for different geographic areas.
The Role of Utilities and Market Dynamics
- Bill and Scott discuss the inefficiencies and limitations of the existing grid and the need for more dynamic and efficient management.
- Bill emphasizes the importance of individual experiments and innovations in bringing your own power (BYOP) to address the challenges of the electric grid.
- He mentions the Texas Senate Bill Six, which incentivizes large loads to take responsibility for financing new assets and avoid stranded assets.
- Bill highlights the potential for revolutionizing electric power through BYOP and the role of states in implementing their own regulations.
The Impact of Data Centers and Electrification
- Bill provides statistics from Grid Strategies LLC, showing that 35-40% of demand growth is due to population and economic growth, not data centers.
- He explains that only 20-25% of the demand increase is attributable to hyperscale data centers and AI, with the rest coming from electrification of transportation and other factors.
- Bill argues that data centers are unfairly blamed for rate increases, as they are easy targets and not the primary cause of the demand growth.
- He advises residential and commercial customers to take charge of their electric power and invest in on-site assets to reduce or even zero out their electric bills.
Coordination of Distributed Energy Resources
- Bill discusses the challenges of coordinating distributed energy resources, particularly inverter-based resources, which are becoming a majority of power generation.
- He mentions a massive power outage in Spain last April, where inverter-based resources were a significant factor, and the ongoing investigation into the cause.
- Bill highlights the complexity of managing distributed energy resources and the need for coordination to avoid stability issues.
- He emphasizes the importance of individual commercial enterprises in contributing to the problem or averaging out the impact on the grid.
Conclusion and Contact Information
- Bill provides his contact information, encouraging listeners to reach out to him on LinkedIn.
- Scott thanks Bill for the conversation and highlights the importance of the PowerGen conference for the power generation industry.
- Scott encourages listeners to connect with him and other industry professionals to share their stories and innovations.
- The episode concludes with a reminder to listeners to stay tuned for more conversations and updates from the Industrial Talk podcast.
