Columbia Energy Exchange

14 episodes scanned. 100% of ad slots promote the show's own products.

Recent Episodes

1. Katie Dykes Shares Lessons on Building and Regulating a Modern Grid

   Nov 3, 2026

   Former Connecticut Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes discusses how New England is balancing affordability, reliability, and decarbonization as electricity prices rise and demand grows from electrification, EVs, heat pumps, and manufacturing. The conversation covers regional coordination through ISO New England, utility asset-replacement spending and rate-setting incentives, the role of performance-based regulation, and Connecticut's permitting reforms. Dykes also addresses political pressure on bills, the value of clean energy as a price hedge, and the challenge of maintaining public trust in permitting.

2. Senate Permitting Reform Bill: If It Passes, Will It Work?

   Oct 27, 2026

   Three scholars at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, Robin Millican, Noah Kaufman, and Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh, discuss the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a Senate permitting bill, and their center's analysis of it. The conversation covers changes to NEPA review, Clean Water Act section 401 and Endangered Species Act timelines, tribal consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act, and the bill's permit certainty provisions. They also examine the odds of passage in a lame-duck session and the findings of Cavanaugh's interactive tool on past project timelines.

3. DOE's Julie Kozeracki on the Federal Role in US Nuclear Financing

   Oct 20, 2026

   Julie Kozeracki, acting chief investment officer and nuclear sector lead at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing (formerly the Loan Programs Office), discusses the office's role in financing nuclear projects. The conversation covers loans for reactor restarts and uprates, a $17.5 billion commitment for long-lead equipment for AP1000 reactors, and why federal financing is needed given high construction interest costs and past cost overruns. She also addresses NRC licensing, investment tax credit reforms that would require Congress, and the role of nuclear in firm, carbon-free power.

4. Daniel Palken on the Bipartisan Senate Bill to Reform Energy Permitting

   Oct 13, 2026

   Daniel Palken, director of infrastructure for energy and permitting at Arnold Ventures and a former Senate energy staffer, walks through the core provisions of the bipartisan permitting reform bill, including changes to NEPA, Clean Water Act Section 401 certifications, judicial review deadlines, and transmission authority. The conversation also covers the arguments for and against the bill, the bill's relationship to clean energy policy and the grid, and its prospects for a Senate vote in the lame duck session.

5. Gautam Jain and Ned Shell on the Promise of Carbon Credit Markets

   Oct 6, 2026

   Gautam Jain, senior research scholar at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, and Ned Shell, director of public policy and climate finance programs at Bloomberg, discuss project-based carbon credit markets—how they work, why they matter for climate action, and what regulatory frameworks are needed to scale them globally. The conversation covers the differences between voluntary and compliance carbon markets, the EU's integration of carbon removal credits into its emissions trading system, and the concept of high-integrity credits. They examine the diverging approaches of Microsoft and Google to carbon removal, the role of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and what policymakers and companies need to do to build trust and liquidity in these markets.

6. Global Gas Markets on Edge as Europe Braces for Winter

   Sep 29, 2026

   Three research scholars from Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy discuss the global natural gas market as Europe heads into winter with below-average storage levels and supply disruptions from the Middle East threatening LNG flows. The conversation covers European energy security challenges, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, competing demand from Asia, and how geopolitical shocks and energy transition policies are reshaping long-term gas demand forecasts. The guests examine scenarios ranging from mild winters to severe cold spells, the role of coal and renewables in displacing gas demand, and how decision-makers must navigate extreme uncertainty in volatile energy markets.

7. Iran Conflict Brief: Jan Stuart on What a US Diesel Export Ban Would Mean

   Sep 25, 2026

   Jan Stuart, global energy strategist at Piper Sandler, discusses the ongoing Middle East energy crisis seven months into the largest oil supply disruption in history. The conversation covers crude oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, extreme diesel market pressures, stratospheric tanker rates, and the potential impacts of a proposed US diesel export ban on global energy markets and the upcoming midterm elections.

8. Erica Downs and Michal Meidan on China's Oil Shock That Wasn't

   Sep 22, 2026

   Erica Downs (senior research scholar at CGEP) and Michal Meidan (China Energy Research lead at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies) discuss China's response to the Middle East conflict and disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz. Despite being the world's largest oil importer with heavy Gulf reliance, China cut crude imports by 30% in Q2 2026, drew minimally on strategic reserves, and avoided economic disruption through demand reduction, diverse sourcing, and state price controls. The episode examines how decades of planning—including stockpiling, supply diversification, and EV adoption—enabled China to manage the largest oil supply shock in history while revealing a broader shift in energy security from resource control to technology dominance.

9. Six Months In: Iran War Widens as Energy Markets Feel the Shock

   Sep 15, 2026

   Jason Bordoff hosts three scholars from Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy to discuss the widening Iran conflict six months after the collapse of the Memorandum of Understanding. The conversation covers the tightening oil markets, attacks on Saudi infrastructure, Houthi advances in the Red Sea, and the strain on global energy supply—with crude breaking $100/barrel and diesel prices exceeding $6/gallon in the US. The guests analyze whether this is becoming a multi-front regional war, the exhaustion of strategic buffers, and the possible paths to resolution.

10. Luisa Palacios and Bob McNally on Why the US-Venezuela Oil Deal Matters

    Sep 8, 2026

    Jason Bordoff interviews energy experts Luisa Palacios and Bob McNally about the Trump administration's controversial August 2024 deal granting North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) development rights to 17 Venezuelan oil fields containing approximately 65 billion barrels of reserves, with the U.S. government taking a 35% equity stake. The discussion examines the legal ambiguities under Venezuelan law, the lack of transparency and competitive bidding, concerns about durability given Venezuela's political instability, and whether this arrangement—intended to mobilize investment—actually creates more risk than it mitigates. The guests debate whether the deal serves U.S. energy security interests and compare it to the long, volatile history of U.S.-Venezuela oil relations.