Chris Womack is chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company, one of the largest investor-owned, regulated utility holding companies in the US. Its electric and gas subsidiaries serve more than 9 million customers in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In this episode, co-host Dan Testa sits down with Womack to discuss the many issues facing the US power industry, including how utility capital spending impacts affordability, federal loan guarantees, coal-fired power plant extensions, as well as rising power demand forecasts driven by data centers and AI.

The development of data centers, many of which are to enable the growth and widespread use of powerful AI applications, is one of the key drivers of steeply increasing electricity demand forecasts in the US and around the world.

But while the power industry is working to supply electricity needed by large tech firms, it is also using AI technology to improve its own operations. In this episode, Dan Testa speaks with experts and executives about how utilities, large industrial facilities and energy companies are using AI, and what’s ahead.

Joining this episode are Morgan Scott, vice president of global partnerships and outreach at the Electric Power Research Institute; Honeywell Process Automation President and CEO Jim Masso; and Amit Narayan, co-founder and CEO of GridCARE.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally reshaped its energy sector, with oil and gas exports diverted from Europe to Asia while soaring military spending strains the state budget.

The war has stalled Russia's decarbonization plans and reduced investment in cleaner energy projects. But with climate change impacts increasingly visible across Russia's vast territory, the question looms: How will Moscow adapt its energy infrastructure? And what potential exists if the government shifts priorities toward energy adaptation?

In this episode of Energy Evolution, host Eklavya Gupte and Rosemary Griffin, managing editor at Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, examine how geopolitical conflict and climate realities are creating a crossroads moment for one of the world's largest energy producers.

First, Tatiana Mitrova, fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, explains how the war in Ukraine is affecting Russia's energy strategy and why the country's enormous renewable energy potential remains largely untapped.

The conversation then turns to Eoin Quill, researcher at Climate Analytics, who puts Russia's greenhouse gas emissions in global context, examines its role as a carbon sink, and explores how the rapidly warming Arctic could alter the country's energy infrastructure and export capabilities.