The key to grid solution success is a deep under standing of the problem at a fundamental level and a strong network of people to help implement the solution.
The GridKnowledge podcast series is born out of a need for more candid conversations and trusted electric grid knowledge transfer. A decade ago, I would have said we are inundated with information from multiple media sources and it is hard to stay on top of the news and technology. Today I will say the same thing but with AI and the widespread distribution of aggregated news, the challenge is compounded. Not only am I inundated, but I also find myself questioning the validity of the source and value of the content. Ask a subject matter expert about the time they asked AI for guidance on a specific grid application and you’ll often get a smile. The result is often some generic hallucination based on marketing information and flawed. Or, how about the time you saw an interesting headline, read the article, didn’t learn anything significant and loathed the time wasted.
In my 30 years of experience in the electric power industry I have found that the solutions to our challenges are often as complex as the electric power grid itself. The key to grid solution success is a deep understanding of the problem at a fundamental level and a strong network of people to help implement the solution. While the faces of a problem change, the fundamentals don’t. We know the vision; a safe, affordable, resilient and reliable grid.
We also know the current issues; rising costs, supply chain gaps, weather impacts to an aging grid, load growth, and retirement driven workforce knowledge gaps. It’s relatively easy to find a paper, article or AI blurb, that will support any number of ideas, but in my experience, there is nothing better than a trusted advisor, a subject matter expert, that practitioner who has implemented and honed solutions for decades and can direct me to a successful path.
This is the vision of APC Media, to produce content that is for the practitioner by the practitioner. The GridKnowledge podcast series is simply an extension of this vision; to build the network of subject matter experts with deep grid knowledge, facilitate knowledge transfer, and accelerate grid improvement for societal benefit. I’m passionate about learning, getting to know more grid experts, and sharing what they know. Whether you are listening to learn or you have expertise to contribute, I look forward to connecting and sharing the knowledge journey.
With over 30 years in the electric power and energy industry, Ben Lanz is responsible for Osmose (Osmose.com) technical outreach and education efforts, is a past Chairman of the Board of the Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative (PDI2.org), a nonprofit dedicated to disseminating grid investment best practices, and is an Executive Advisor for Power Systems Technology Magazine. He is a senior member of IEEE PES and ICC, and a voting member of DEIS, IAS, ACP, CIGRE & NETA. He has chaired IEEE technical committees associated with power system reliability, protection, and testing, and has published over 100 papers, articles and technical conference contributions on the subjects of power system reliability, resiliency, asset management, design, lean work practices, longevity and diagnostics.
This article was originally published in the February 2026 issue of the Advanced Diagnostics & Analytics magazine.
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