Brief description:

Before fires scorched Los Angeles in January of 2025, the Electric Futures team began exploring a new neighborhood in Southern California that was built with climate disasters in mind. This community and other building projects like it generate and store their own energy, bypassing the electric grid – and blackouts. What happens now that federal support for these initiatives is starting to dry up? Can America still electrify? Our host, Chip Zukowski, finds out in Your Community, Electrified, season two of Electric Futures.

Long description:

The USC Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication is pleased to announce the launch of season two of Electric Futures, a podcast that focuses on the people and communities on the frontlines of the energy transition. In Your Community, Electrified, the four-episode arc dropping on June 25, 2025, host Chip Zukoski explores a new neighborhood in Southern California that was built with climate disasters in mind. This community and other building projects like it generate and store their own energy, bypassing the electric grid – and blackouts. What happens now that federal support for these initiatives has dried up? Can America still electrify? To find out, we speak to experts like:

- Ivan Penn, New York Times energy correspondent

- Dr. Rajit Gadh, UCLA Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the founding director of the UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center

- Christina Bellantoni, USC Annenberg School for Journalism Professor of Professional Practice, political pundit and former longtime political journalist and editor

- Ram Narayanamurthy, Deputy Director of the Building Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy

Additional highlights include:

• Insights from Indiana and Washington, where we learn about other projects that bypass the grid.

• The science behind the electric grid, how microgrids work, and the state of grids in the U.S.

Season one of the acclaimed podcast, launched in 2024, explored narratives from the Imperial Valley in Southern California, an area rich with community – and critical minerals – on the brink of an energy transformation so big, it has potential to completely change the lives of residents. Accolades for season one include:

• 2025 LA Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards finalist, Limited Series Podcast

• 2024 Quill Podcast Awards nominee, Best Science and Medicine Podcast

• Charted on the Top 50 Science Podcasts chart on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

• Featured in the LA Times, La Opinion, and NPR's KCRW

Listeners can find both seasons of Electric Futures on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Follow along on Instagram at @usc_electricfutures. For further information, email redhot@usc.edu.