185. Blackouts - Jul25

185. Blackouts - Jul25

What Really Happened During the Iberian Blackout This Spring? And How Should We Make Sense of the Conflicting Reports?

To shed light on the events, Gerard and Laurent are joined by global energy expert Steve Berberich, who served as President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) from 2011 to 2020. Steve led CAISO through the August 2020 blackout in California and now serves as President and CEO of Onward Energy.

We begin by placing the Iberian blackout in a broader context—comparing and contrasting it with major grid failures from recent years: South Australia 2016, California 2020, Texas Uri 2021, Ireland 2024, Louisiana 2025 and of course Iberia 2025.

We examine both the long-term systemic weaknesses and short-term triggering events behind each case—identifying patterns, divergences, and the reforms that followed in their aftermath. Then we turn our full attention to Spain. Unlike the other blackouts, the Iberian event did not stem from extreme weather. Instead, Steve—along with Gerard and Laurent—dives deep into the underlying structural vulnerabilities of the Spanish grid.

From regulatory gaps and design flaws to operational mistakes, we scrutinize the entire system and arrive at a set of clear, evidence-based conclusions.

Link to Gerard’s substack https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spains-grid-blame-blackouts-bureaucracy-gerard-reid-tiqre/

Link to the Energy Institute Report https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review

Episoder(174)

215. PPAs, FPAs, IPPs, Flex and Capture rates: new paradigms - Feb26

215. PPAs, FPAs, IPPs, Flex and Capture rates: new paradigms - Feb26

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214. Grid Resilience: hot risks, cold solutions - Feb26

214. Grid Resilience: hot risks, cold solutions - Feb26

Resilience is the buzzword of the moment—from Gerard’s personal resilience on display in Davos last week to the critical issue of grid resilience.  The great Doug Houseman draws a useful distinction b...

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213. Big Funds, Bigger Bets: Inside Infrastructure’s Power Shift - Jan26

213. Big Funds, Bigger Bets: Inside Infrastructure’s Power Shift - Jan26

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212. Heat Pumps rise again - Jan26

212. Heat Pumps rise again - Jan26

Heat pumps sit at the heart of Europe’s strategy to cut emissions and reduce dependence on imported gas. Under the EU’s REPowerEU plan, the bloc is targeting 60 million heat pumps by 2030. By the end ...

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211. The last Mile revolution: turning Distribution Networks into Flexibility Powerhouses - Jan26

211. The last Mile revolution: turning Distribution Networks into Flexibility Powerhouses - Jan26

Laurent and Gerard sit down with Jo-Jo Hubbard, CEO of Electron, to explore why the centre of gravity in the energy transition is shifting decisively toward the distribution grid. Jo-Jo explains why t...

12 Jan 30min

210. Our Predictions for 2026

210. Our Predictions for 2026

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Will artificial intelligence reshape the power grid, or will the inertia and complexity of today’s infrastructure slow progress—or even redefine how large language models, chips, and datacenters are d...

15 Des 202531min

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