The State of the Power Grid with Mike Ratliff

In this episode of Elixir Wizards, Charles Suggs and Emma Whamond are joined by Mike Ratliff, co-founder and CTO of GridVar, to talk about the role software plays in the changing energy infrastructure. With over 30 years of experience in technology, Mike shares the path that took him from the early internet and cloud computing into energy and utility software, along with what he has learned about staying adaptable as the industry continues to shift.

Mike explains why building software for the power grid comes with a very different set of constraints than building a typical web application and breaks down some of the challenges utilities are facing, including grid interconnection delays, power quality, increasing energy demand, and the growth of distributed energy resources. We also discuss demand response, microgrids, virtual power plants, battery storage, and how software can help utilities better understand and manage a grid that is becoming more complex.

Mike also explains why Elixir and the BEAM are a strong fit for always-on energy systems, how an Erlang MQTT server first led him into the ecosystem, and what it takes to introduce Elixir inside an established organization. The episode closes with a broader look at AI-assisted development, the value of domain expertise, and why technical leaders still need communication, judgment, and a compelling story to move important ideas forward.

Key topics discussed in this episode:

• Mike Ratliff’s path from software to energy technology
• Lessons from three decades of technology industry change
• The value of generalists in modern software engineering
• Why good technical judgment remains difficult to replace
• Building software that interacts with physical infrastructure
• Why utility technology adoption can move slowly
• Understanding today’s grid interconnection backlog
• Power quality challenges affecting new grid connections
• Using simulation to accelerate utility engineering studies
• Centralized and distributed approaches to grid management
• How solar energy creates the duck curve
• Using demand response to balance electricity consumption
• Edge devices supporting real-time grid coordination
• Microgrids and resilience in distributed energy systems
• Cybersecurity considerations for increasingly connected power grids
• Preparing utility infrastructure for extreme weather events
• Battery storage and the growth of renewable energy
• How virtual power plants coordinate distributed resources
• Why Elixir works well for energy software
• BEAM reliability for always-on utility infrastructure
• Discovering Elixir through Erlang and MQTT
• Building an early virtual power plant with Elixir
• Making the business case for an Elixir migration
• Why technical leadership also requires effective storytelling

Links Mentioned:

GridVAR https://www.gridvar.com/
GridPoint https://www.gridpoint.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Iberian_Peninsula_blackout
Demand Response: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_response
Virtual Power Plant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_power_plant
Microgrid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microgrid
Volts podcast: https://www.volts.wtf/