EPRI Current

In this episode of the EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman speaks with EPRI’s Director of Agentic AI and Micro Data Centers, Ben Sooter, about the growing role of distributed inference, also known as micro data centers, in the evolving AI landscape. While large, centralized data centers dominate current discussions, Sooter explains why the next wave of compute demand will shift closer to end users to support faster, latency-sensitive applications.
 
 
The conversation highlights how this distributed approach could reshape grid planning, including opportunities to leverage available capacity at distribution substations and the need to better understand emerging load profiles. Sooter also discusses EPRI’s collaborative pilot efforts with NVIDIA, Prologis, and InfraPartners to explore siting, deployment, and scalability. As AI adoption accelerates, this episode examines how utilities can prepare for and help enable the next phase of digital infrastructure.
 
 

 

For more information and episodes visit EPRI.com.
 

 

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LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/epri/ 

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EPRI Current examines key issues and new R&D impacting the energy transition. Each episode features insights from EPRI, the world's preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, and from other energy industry leaders. We also discuss how innovative technologies are shaping the global energy future. Learn more at www.epri.com

How should organizations interpret AI benchmarks – and where do they fall short when moving from pilots to real‑world deployment?
 
 
In this episode of EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman is joined by Jaime Sevilla, Director of Epoch AI, and Apurba Sakti, EPRI Principal Technical Leader for AI, for a deep dive into AI benchmarking and responsible adoption. The conversation explores why strong benchmark scores don’t always translate into operational readiness, the limitations of generic leaderboards, and why domain‑ and workflow-specific evaluations are critical – especially in high-consequence sectors like energy. The discussion highlights how organizations can move beyond demonstrations toward continuous, evidence‑based evaluation to ensure AI systems are reliable, transparent, and fit for real‑world use.
 
 

 

For more information and episodes visit EPRI.com.
 

 

If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe and share! And please consider leaving a review and rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. 

 

Follow EPRI:

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/epri/ 

Twitter https://twitter.com/EPRINews 

 

EPRI Current examines key issues and new R&D impacting the energy transition. Each episode features insights from EPRI, the world's preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, and from other energy industry leaders. We also discuss how innovative technologies are shaping the global energy future. Learn more at www.epri.com

Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) are gaining momentum as a practical way to maximize the efficiency and capacity of existing transmission lines. Designed to improve how the grid is monitored, managed, and operated, GETs are increasingly seen as a practical solution to growing demand, congestion, and reliability challenges.
 
 
In this episode of EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman is joined by EPRI’s Anna Lafoyiannis and RMI’s Katie Siegner to explore how GETs are moving from pilot projects to broader deployment. The guests discuss technologies such as dynamic line ratings and advanced conductors, share insights from real‑world testing underway at EPRI’s labs, and examine evolving regulatory and policy drivers. From collaborative efforts like EPRI’s Grid Enhancing Technologies for a Smart Energy Transition (GET SET) initiative to emerging market signals and lessons from early adopters, the episode offers a grounded look at what it takes to scale GETs – and what utilities should consider next.
 
To learn more about EPRI’s GET SET Initiative, visit: https://transmission.epri.com/getset/
 
 

For more information and episodes visit EPRI.com.
 

 

If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe and share! And please consider leaving a review and rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. 

 

Follow EPRI:

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/epri/ 

Twitter https://twitter.com/EPRINews 

 

EPRI Current examines key issues and new R&D impacting the energy transition. Each episode features insights from EPRI, the world's preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, and from other energy industry leaders. We also discuss how innovative technologies are shaping the global energy future. Learn more at www.epri.com

Europe is accelerating the use of artificial intelligence across the energy sector – but how can utilities adopt AI safely, securely, and at scale? In this episode of EPRI Current, host Samantha Gilman continues the AI-EFFECT series with a discussion exploring three of the European Union’s Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEF) projects: AI-EFFECT, EnergyGuard, and EnerTEF.
 
 
Guests Adrian Kelly from EPRI Europe, Sotiris Pelekis from the Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS), and Elissaios Sarmas from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) discuss how these cross-country facilities help utilities validate, de‑risk, and operationalize AI through shared infrastructure, standardized testing, and regulatory alignment. The conversation highlights real-world utility use cases, cross-sector collaboration, and how Europe’s TEF model could inform global efforts to enable trustworthy AI in the power sector.
 
 
To learn more about Europe’s Testing and Experimentation Facilities and their role in enabling reliable AI, visit: https://ai-effect.eu/ai-effect-enertef-and-energyguard-join-forces-to-advance-ai-in-energy-sector/
 
 
Explore more episodes from the AI‑EFFECT series:

Episode 65: https://epricurrent.podbean.com/e/65-exploring-the-ai-effect-on-europe-s-energy-future/

Episode 52: https://epricurrent.podbean.com/e/52-what-is-the-ai-effect-on-europe-s-power-industry/

 

 

For more information and episodes visit EPRI.com.
 

 

If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe and share! And please consider leaving a review and rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. 

 

Follow EPRI:

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/epri/ 

Twitter https://twitter.com/EPRINews 

 

EPRI Current examines key issues and new R&D impacting the energy transition. Each episode features insights from EPRI, the world's preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, and from other energy industry leaders. We also discuss how innovative technologies are shaping the global energy future. Learn more at www.epri.com

In the final episode of the Grid Talk Series on the EPRI Current, Maria Pope, President and CEO of Portland General Electric, joins Marty Rosenberg for a wide‑ranging conversation on how utilities are responding to historic demand growth without compromising reliability or affordability. Maria shares how PGE is using advanced analytics, grid-enhancing technologies, and large-scale battery storage to unlock new capacity from existing infrastructure and accommodate rapidly growing loads. The discussion dives into PGE’s “growth pays for growth” approach, innovative rate structures, and the role customers play in funding grid expansion, while also exploring regional market coordination, renewable integration in the Pacific Northwest, and what today’s surge in data centers signals for long‑term grid planning.
 
 
In EPRI’s Take, host Samantha Gilman meets with David Porter, VP for Electrification & Sustainable Energy Strategy and executive lead for EPRI’s DCFlex initiative, about how data centers and other large loads can support grid reliability. David highlights three key flexibility opportunities at data centers – shifting compute workloads, optimizing auxiliary systems, and using backup generation and energy storage to manage peaks. The conversation also looks ahead, emphasizing the flexibility of demand across all electrified loads and the growing role of transportation electrification as a shared grid resource.
 
Learn more about DCFlex: https://dcflex.epri.com/
 
 

For more information and episodes visit EPRI.com.
 

 

If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe and share! And please consider leaving a review and rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. 

 

Follow EPRI:

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/epri/ 

Twitter https://twitter.com/EPRINews 

 

EPRI Current examines key issues and new R&D impacting the energy transition. Each episode features insights from EPRI, the world's preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, and from other energy industry leaders. We also discuss how innovative technologies are shaping the global energy future. Learn more at www.epri.com