Join Allen for an engaging episode of DC Power Hour, where he moderates a dynamic panel discussion featuring Battcon Hall of Fame members Tom Carpenter and Pete DeMar, alongside industry experts Ryan Wallace and Lucas Berndt. Together, they dive into the highlights of Battcon 2025, sharing key takeaways, memorable moments, and insights from the premier battery technology conference.

Episode Highlights

11:02 – Was there any real concerns at, Battcon about lithium ion respect to safety?

29:34 – What did you think of the panel session sessions?

44:25 – It was a fantastic Battcon. It, the venue, the subjects were great. They were diversified and every single paper teaches me something.

52:44 – Building those relationships, getting to know those people, that's the true value of being involved in coming to events like Battcon.

Listen, in this episode of DC Power Hour, Allen is joined by Nick Fortune and Mike Vest of HOPPECKE Batteries Inc. as they discuss power outages, threats to the grid, and more with Ryan Wallace and Lucas Berndt from Eagle Eye Power Solutions.

Episode Highlights

5:09 –  My feeling is that the grid is overextended. It's under-built at the moment, and there's more and more power being placed on the grid every day, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence and data centers.

8:48 – Can we take things below ground and get the wires underneath so they don't get crunched by trees and limbs that come down.

11:01 – We recycle over 99.9% of our lead. We've won awards in many of those type of situations, we're very green.

33:42 – What do you guys think of bringing small nuclear reactors closer to the need for power? Microgirds?

In this episode of DC Power Hour, host Dave Neubert, joined by DC power experts Allen Byrne, Lucas Berndt, and Ryan Wallace, discusses aging DC power infrastructure, focusing on underfunding, skill shortages, and maintenance challenges. They explore real-world outages and the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades and skilled tradespeople.

Episode Highlights

5:33 – They couldn’t get their SCADA system online. They essentially had to declare a state of emergency.

8:48 – Recently, we’ve had a massive power outage in the country of Chile, followed by another on the entire Iberian Peninsula two weeks later.

13:01 – I’ve gone into nuclear facilities, and they had a plan for their plan, and then another plan for that plan.

14:36 – I’ve noticed over the last 20 years or so of my career that we’re losing the skills.

24:27 – We have an aging infrastructure and a workforce that’s retiring and taking their knowledge with them.

In this episode Allen hosts Pete DeMar, who has over 40 years of experience in the stationary battery industry, and Ryan Wallace, Market Development Manager for Eagle Eye Power Solutions. They explore the critical topic of battery room safety, covering key precautions and best practices to prevent hazards. The expert panel discusses essential safety measures, including proper signage, ventilation, PPE requirements, and emergency protocols for thermal runaway and hazardous gas exposure. Tune in to learn how to create a safer battery environment and mitigate risks before they become serious threats.

Episode Highlights

5:05 – More and more batteries are being moved into occupied spaces, either rightly or wrongly, safely or not safely. So, let's start with battery location.

13:52 – You should have two people both trained on the hazard that they're going to be working with. The person that goes in there has to be trained. And that's in a several OSHA and IEEE documents.

17:53 – I've been lucky. I've only had one battery blow up in front of me.

30:10 – We want to install that hydrogen detection sensor on the highest peak or the highest part of the ceiling.

39:06 – Your ventilation could actually fail and your recombiner, by recombining that 90 some percent of that gas, will prevent air from being a buildup in the battery room.

In this episode Allen hosts Pete DeMar, who has over 50 years of experience in the stationary battery industry, shared his background and expertise in battery failure analysis. Al Warner, with a history of involvement in batteries since his time on the farm, shared his experiences in the military and the UPS industry, highlighting his learning journey and continued interest in battery maintenance.

Episode Highlights

4:53 – I was, I guess, the whistleblower for VRLA batteries. I had, the main manufacturer at the time come to my location and had a battery assembled for them. I showed them every problem that they have with them. So IEEE came out with a document called IEEE 1188, and that became the standard for maintenance of VRLA batteries.

11:56 – UPS batteries are the heart of the UPS system. If you don't have a battery, it's not uninterruptible so battery maintenance is critical.

22:28 – Control algorithms that monitor the batteries kind of put the customer to sleep believing that the UPS is going to give them a warning before it fails, but that doesn't always happen.

22:28 – A brownout is where the utility lowers the voltage so they can provide for a few more customers and then there's of course the famous blackout and rolling blackouts.

29:24 – A totally separate problem that we have not actually discussed is, there are two things and one of those is, with large UPSs and DC battery systems, the arc flash calculations, they are way off.

49:35 – They're relying on the electronics to Safely take care of their batteries. Same thing is true with UPSs. They rely on the electronics and no inspection It's out of mind, out of sight.

In this episode of DC Power Hour, Allen along with special guests Al Warner and Fran Losey discuss how AI growth, along with data center growth and the required electrification, affect the powering infrastructure.

Episode Highlights

6:03 – Do you agree with me when I say that the politicians are those that try to enforce these laws or make the suggestions?

3:57 – It's critical that people who have our level of experience speak out when we see a need for the younger generation to understand what we've went through. We've learned a lot of lessons. In the power industry and being able to communicate those. And today's topic is probably near and dear to my heart.

10:32 – The number one lesson that I took away from the National Power Lapse study was that before the actual outage, where the power just goes to zero, there's usually a voltage sag and power supplies traditionally are designed to withstand a certain amount of voltage sag and outage.

16:06 – A brownout is where the utility lowers the voltage so they can provide for a few more customers and then there's of course the famous blackout and rolling blackouts.

19:51 – The reality of today's grid, which needs a massive upgrade, as we've said before, is it needs to be redesigned because the whole backbone of the US grid is the problem.

31:46 – We had a crew come to our, our property and they were trimming the limbs. I said take these down because they're going to be a problem and the guy said, no they don't pay me to do that. The next year we had limbs from those trees hanging on our power line and we had an outage.

In this episode of DC Power Hour, Allen along with special guests Al Warner and Fran Losey discuss how AI growth, along with data center growth and the required electrification, affect the powering infrastructure.

Episode Highlights

6:03 – Do you agree with me when I say that the politicians are those that try to enforce these laws or make the suggestions?

10:42 – What do you see happening in some of those big data centers you work in?

17:17 – Do you know the rack requirements for hyperscale deployments are 10 to 14kW per rack in existing data centers, and they're estimating this is going to rise to 40 to 60kW rack?

27:33 – Question: I got three strings in parallel, I lose 1 string, what's my run time? And everybody will say 2/3rds. Answer: Not even close!

32:09 – Who has the most experience with micro-nuclear plants? The United States Navy. If we can power aircraft carriers, we can power cities with these plants.

In the latest episode of DC Power Hour, Dave Neubert recaps the BATTCON conference in Miami with the Battery Blarney duo, George and Allen. Allen, a founder and Hall of Fame member, discusses the history of BATTCON, which began to address negative press around VRLA batteries by fostering dialogue among industry stakeholders. Despite Allen's absence this year, George highlights key presentations and international participation, underscoring BATTCON's importance as a leading stationary battery conference.

Episode Highlights

3:28 – It started off with the presentation by Curtis Ashton, the current chair of the committee, the job you held for many, many years Allen.

11:30 – There was a lot of focus from the floor on battery safety.

31:04 – In some of the very large telecommunications applications, particularly places like the cable companies, they were seeing instability on the 48 volt bus, and I mean real instability.

37:27 – I know from my own training requirements here, a basic standard like PRC 005, there is a lack of understanding at the level with the people who are doing it.