ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Information is abundant, but wisdom is not. The manuals and standards can tell you how a power plant is supposed to run. They cannot tell you what went wrong at another plant last month, what that team learned from it, or what they did differently afterward.
In this episode of the Grid Mod Pod, Dr. Elizabeth Cook sits down with Kris Edmondson, Vice President of Gas Generation at the Tennessee Valley Authority and chair of AEIC's Power Generation Committee. Kris has spent nearly 30 years in the industry, most of it in generation, working across gas, coal, and hydro at several utilities.
The conversation explores what happens when utility leaders step outside their individual organizations and share what they are actually experiencing in the field.
Kris has been part of AEIC's Power Generation Committee for 11 years, since his first meeting in 2015. Today, the committee brings together 40 to 50 executives who are working through the same fundamental challenges: safety, compliance, reliability, and efficiency.
The value of that network is not just in the documents or standards it produces. It is in the room. One utility can stand up and say, "Here is what happened to us. Here is what we learned." The other members take notes, ask questions, and bring those lessons back to their own organizations.
Here's what you'll learn when you tune in:
⚙️ The four fundamentals every power generation organization is working on, regardless of technology
🛡️ Why compliance is something you cannot fully learn until you are responsible for it
📋 The membership rule that makes the Power Generation Committee work: to be a member, you have to present
🤝 How utility leaders come together to speak with one voice to OEMs and influence how equipment and services are delivered
🔧 What the supply chain looks like from the manufacturer's side of the table
🎓 How a professor's phone call helped launch Kris's nearly 30-year career in power generation
👷 Why people, rather than equipment, may be the greatest opportunity in generation today
☕ Why the conversations that happen outside the formal agenda can sometimes be the most valuable
🔗 How trust and relationships accelerate learning across the utility industry
Because the most important lessons in power generation are not always found in a manual or an industry report. Sometimes they come from one engineer talking to another.
"The knowledge of one is the knowledge of all."
What this episode answers:
• What are the four fundamentals every power generation organization has to get right?
• Why do utility executives rely on peer networks in addition to standards and manuals?
• How does AEIC's Power Generation Committee help utilities learn from one another?
• How does the committee give collective feedback to OEMs such as GE, Siemens, and Mitsubishi?
• Why are relationships and trust so important to sharing knowledge across the industry?
About the Grid Mod Pod
Grid modernization happens inside a highly regulated, security conscious, non traditional business model that operates very differently from most industries. At its core are utility leaders and operations experts navigating new technologies, regulations, and challenges to deliver a sustainable, affordable power grid.
Each week, the Grid Mod Pod brings their voices and perspectives to the surface, with practical insights from the people doing the real work of modernizing and improving our ever evolving power grid.
This podcast is brought to you by the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC), the place for knowledge sharing across the electric utility industry. Founded in 1885 by the early adopters of Thomas Edison's patented technology.
Knowledge of one is the knowledge of all.
