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“It took us 140 years to get to nine gigawatts, and we're going to double that over the next 10 to 15 years.” Ted Geisler, CEO, Arizona Public Service

Halcyon CSO and co-founder Nat Bullard sits down with Arizona Public Service CEO Ted Geisler to talk about powering one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. APS started 140 years ago with a single street lamp in downtown Phoenix, before Arizona was a state, and later built Palo Verde, still the largest power producer in the US.

Ted grew up in Arizona training horses and was about to start vet school when a mentor suggested he try something else first. He joined APS in an entry-level construction role 26 years ago and worked across trading, renewables, grid operations, IT and finance before becoming CEO.

Chapters

00:03 | Intro
00:49 | 140 years of APS, from a single Phoenix street lamp
03:11 | Palo Verde, and some of the fastest growth in the country
04:38 | Why air conditioning made Phoenix possible
07:27 | APS today: 1.5 million customers and a 9 GW peak
08:37 | Ted's path: from training horses to vet school to APS
14:12 | 4.5 GW of new large customers: chip fabs, manufacturing and data centers
17:21 | Growth pays for growth: the APS Pledge for Responsible Growth
19:42 | The biggest generation and transmission build-out in APS history
21:08 | Moving away from "peanut butter" rate making
24:34 | What happens if a data center leaves? Protecting other customers
27:10 | The Arizona Corporation Commission and a rate structure Edison would recognize
29:15 | When the new rates land, and the annual true-up
31:38 | Can large customers lower everyone else's rates?
34:10 | Wildfire: fire scientists, grid hardening and AI cameras
38:36 | "We solve for heat"
42:17 | Designing equipment for the climate 20 to 30 years out
44:43 | Cooling costs, pre-cooling and 100,000 smart thermostats
48:09 | People: subject matter experts and utility generalists
55:51 | TSMC's $265 billion investment and building big again
59:04 | Wish list: grid security, affordable nuclear and long-duration storage

More in the series

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