At age 10, Neil Chatterjee found common ground with his immigrant father through politics. Watching then-Vice President George H. W. Bush spar with Michael Dukakis during a presidential debate on TV,  Neil and his dad connected in a way they hadn’t before.

Years later, after serving as Senator Mitch McConnell’s energy advisor and appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, he found that he needed to shed his partisan views — and his reputation as McConnell’s coal guy — to become a convener. Doing so helped him enact policies to make a more resilient electric grid with more renewable and distributed energy resources.

This week on With Great Power, Neil Chatterjee explains why he thinks energy policy has gotten so politicized in the U.S. and what could change that trajectory. He and Brad delve into some of the weedy issues FERC will be addressing in 2026 and some “wonky solutions" to load growth and other grid challenges. Neil also talks about his current role as chief government affairs officer at Palmetto, a provider of residential renewable energy products.

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

The power sector is at an inflection point. Skyrocketing load growth and rising energy prices are converging with an aging electric grid, inadequate power supply, and regulatory hurdles. It’s a perfect storm that’s forcing utilities to take a serious look at their business models.

But new innovations focused on meeting energy demand and confronting the affordability crisis are tackling these challenges head on.

If you’ve been a With Great Power listener over the past five seasons, you’ve heard stories from many of the people behind those innovations. This season, we’re digging even deeper.

You’ll hear from some of the leading voices in the power sector, from utilities and energy management companies to developers, community advocates, and grid planners.

Stay tuned for all new episodes about the superheroes building the future electric grid, today.

Season 6 launches soon. Subscribe to With Great Power on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

With Great Power is a co-production of GridX and Latitude Studios.

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Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The Grid X production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

In Nigeria, tens of millions of people live without access to reliable power. Utibe Bassey grew up in Lagos, and knows what it’s like to not have electricity to perform simple daily tasks.

When she moved to the United States as a teen, she didn’t think much about electric utilities. But she did think about how managers treat employees – a thought spurred by an unfortunate instance she witnessed while working at a fast food chain. Ever since then, Utibe has refined her personal philosophy, “Love as a KPI,” which prioritizes kindness and human connection in the workplace.

As we prepare for our season six launch, we bring you one of our favorite episodes from season three of With Great Power. In this rerun episode, Utibe tells Brad about how she puts her personal philosophy to work at Dominion Energy, where she is vice president of customer experience. She also talks about what it means to work in the power industry, having lived without access to reliable power in her youth.

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Erin Hardick. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.