Rocky Mountain Natural Gas and Reliability in the West, With Jason Sandel

03/17/25 • 31 min

In the latest episode of NewsData's People in Power, upstream natural gas drilling executive Jason Sandel, chair of the Western States and Tribal Nations Energy Initiative, sits down with Abigail Sawyer to discuss the value of Rocky Mountain-sourced natural gas for providing electric reliability and heat in the West. Sandel, who runs a family-owned drilling and well-servicing business in the San Juan Basin, also discusses how natural gas producers can pivot to drilling geothermal and advanced-geothermal wells to provide emissions-free baseload power with little to no investment in new equipment or retraining.

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President Donald Trump, The Inside Story With Neil Chatterjee

In this episode of People in Power, Chatterjee, former energy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, discusses what to expect from the new federal administration in terms of energy. Some of his thoughts are surprising, such as Trump’s embrace of clean energy, and how Trump is concerned about his legacy. First nominated to FERC by Trump in 2017. Chatterjee describes how Trump isn’t doing anything he didn’t say he was going to do, and offers some personal insights into the president. Other topics include winning the artificial intelligence war against China and bringing down the cost of electricity.

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NewsData Reporter Roundtable!

People in Power Episode 8: NewsData Reporter Roundtable! Looking to update your knowledge of emerging Western wholesale energy markets? This episode of People in Power features three experts on the topic, California Energy Markets Managing Editor Jason Fordney, Clearing Up Editor Steve Ernst and California Energy Markets Associate Editor and Southwest Editor Abigail Sawyer. They discuss both the California Independent System Operator’s extended day-ahead market and the competing proposal from the Southwest Power Pool, Markets+. You can hear about the latest dynamics around the markets, from solving the thorny governance issue to the effectiveness of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative to where the Bonneville Power Administration will land. This is a critical listen for anyone involved in Western energy markets!