Agenda
Note: Subject to change. Additional speakers to be announced. Click on speaker to view profile.
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
9:30 - 10:30
Executive Insight Panel - The New Energy Operating Model: Distributed, Digital, and Dynamic
A strategic discussion of how decentralization, electrification, and digitalization are reshaping how energy systems are planned, operated, and monetized. We will explore how utilities, regulators, technology providers, and large energy users can adapt business models and investment strategies to capture value from a more flexible, data-driven, and customer-centric energy ecosystem.
10:30 - 11:00
Networking Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:00
From DER Visibility to DER Orchestration
Moving beyond monitoring toward real-time control and optimization of distributed energy resources. Panelists will examine how utilities and solution providers are evolving from passive DER awareness to coordinated, grid-aware orchestration that can improve reliability, flexibility, and asset utilization at scale.
• Edge DER control vs. centralized DERMS
• ADMS integration challenges
• Real-time visibility and telemetry
• Standards and interoperability gaps
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch
1:00 - 2:15
Optimizing Scenario Planning and Analysis for the Distributed Grid
Explores how DERMS can be used for scenario planning to evaluate operational risks, system constraints, and DER behavior under rapidly changing grid conditions. Panelists will discuss how advanced modeling, forecasting, and simulation tools can help utilities anticipate the impacts of load growth, outages, weather variability, and DER availability before they affect real-time operations. We will also examine how scenario planning can improve operational confidence, support more proactive decision-making, and help utilities manage complexity across an increasingly dynamic distributed grid.
• Modeling short-term DER scenarios and operational constraints
• Evaluating impacts of load growth, outages, and variability
• Forecasting DER availability and flexibility
• Stress testing system responses to rapid-change events
• Supporting operational decision-making and planning confidence
2:00 - 2:15
Coffee Break
2:15 - 3:30
From Planning to Execution: Scenario-Based Grid Strategy & Readiness
Utilities are shifting from deterministic forecasts to scenario-based planning to address uncertainty from DER growth, data center demand, and climate impacts—while increasingly needing to connect these insights to execution-ready systems like DERMS. This session draws on real-world experience to show how strong preparation, data readiness, and cross-functional alignment enable a successful transition from planning to operational reality.
• Integrated resource planning evolution
• Hosting capacity analysis at scale
• Scenario-based planning methods
• Climate-aware & data center development grid planning
• Defining clear use cases and success criteria early
• Data readiness: models, telemetry, and integration groundwork
• Phased implementation and realistic deployment timelines
3:30 - 4:00
Networking Coffee Break
4:00 - 5:15
DERMS: From ADMS to the Edge
This session explores how DERMS extends grid intelligence from traditional ADMS environments to behind-the-meter assets, enabling coordinated control, visibility, and optimization across the full grid edge. As DER adoption accelerates, utilities will need integrated platforms that can manage increasingly dynamic resources while preserving reliability, operational simplicity, and customer value.
• Coordinating front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter DERs
• Use cases enabled by unified FTM–BTM visibility and control
• DERMS as the operational bridge between ADMS and edge assets
• Unlocking flexibility, resiliency, and hosting capacity at the edge
• Enabling scalable edge operations without increasing complexity
• Aggregation and orchestration
• Market integration and FERC 2222
5:15 - 6:45
Drink Reception
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
9:00 - 9:30
8:00 - 9:00
Networking Continental Breakfast
Opening Address
9:30 - 10:30
Executive Insight Panel: Women in Power -- Integrating Renewables and Sustainable Energy into the Grid System
This discussion explores the evolving role of renewables in grid operations, through the lens of women driving technical, strategic, and policy decisions across the power system.
• Navigating grid interconnection and system constraints
• Renewable procurement and portfolio strategy
• Regional coordination and long‑term planning
• Aligning sustainability goals with grid reliability
• Leading change in a rapidly evolving energy landscape
Additional panelists TBA
10:30 - 11:00
Networking Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:00
Data Governance in a Distributed Grid
As grid operations become increasingly distributed, utilities must balance broader data access with privacy, cybersecurity, operational reliability, and evolving regulatory requirements. This session examines data ownership, access models, and governance frameworks that enable secure data sharing across utilities, customers, DER providers, aggregators, and technology platforms.
• Data ownership and access models
• Privacy and security considerations
• Edge analytics vs. centralized processing
• Enabling data sharing across stakeholders
• Regulatory trends and implications
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch
1:00 - 2:15
Powering the AI Economy: Data Centers as Grid Assets
The rapid growth of AI-driven data centers is reshaping utility load forecasts, transmission and distribution planning, and real-time grid operations. Panelists will discuss how data center operators, utilities, regulators, and technology providers can align reliability, sustainability, and capacity needs while supporting the next wave of digital infrastructure growth.
• Load forecasting under extreme growth
• Onsite generation and hybrid supply models
• Demand response participation
• Cooling optimization and efficiency
• Utility coordination and interconnection planning
• Storage, backup power, and grid-support capabilities
2:15 - 2:45
Networking Coffee Break
2:45 - 3:45
Data Center Energy Management: How Do Data Centers Respond to Requests for Flexibility?
This session examines how data centers are transitioning from passive energy consumers to active grid partners through advanced power architecture, flexible demand strategies and deploying AI and advanced analytics to improve forecasting, reliability and efficiency.
• Next-Generation Power Distribution
• The Data Center as a Virtual Power Plant
• Hybrid Supply & Onsite Generation
• Thermal Management & Liquid Cooling
• Forecasting with AI
• Outage Prediction and Prevention
3:45 - 4:00
Coffee Break
4:00 - 5:00
Closing Session: Evolving the Industry Landscape
This session focuses on how utilities are redefining their roles in a more decentralized, competitive energy landscape. As DERs, electrification, data centers, microgrids, and customer-sited resources reshape the power system, utilities are being asked to move beyond traditional asset ownership and energy delivery models. We will look at how platform-based utility models, new revenue structures, third-party partnerships, and evolving policy frameworks can support reliability, innovation, customer choice, and long-term grid value.
• Utility vs. platform operator models
• Revenue models in a DER world
• Partnerships with third parties
• Policy and regulatory implications