Evening Reception
- For GridWise Alliance members and all gridCONNEXT attendees
Introductions
- Welcomes by gridCONNEXT Co-Hosts Steve Hauser and Ron Pernick
- Introductions by Calvin Butler, CEO, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) and Chairman, GridWise Alliance
Utility Keynote
With more than 20-years in leadership roles at Exelon (most recently as president & CEO of ComEd before becoming CEO of Exelon Utilities this past May), Anne Pramaggiore brings a unique perspective on strategic, operational, and financial operations. Add in her deep bench of experience with both regulatory and customer relations, and we look forward to hearing Anne’s views on how the U.S. utility sector is changing and opportunities for creating the grid of the future.
- Anne Pramaggiore, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO, Exelon Utilities
Point–Counterpoint: Supporting Utility Innovation While Ensuring the Public Good
How best to balance market innovation (e.g., renewables, storage, and transportation electrification) and the public good (e.g., affordability and reliability), while not a zero-sum game, has been a central debate among utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders. Via brief presentations and a moderated conversation, we’ll dig into this topic with Jon Wellinghoff and David Springe.
As the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 2009-2013, Jon Wellinghoff is known for his forward-thinking, innovative leadership on clean energy and a modernized grid. Under his guidance, much of today’s distributed and utility-scale clean-energy regulatory structures and initiatives were born. David Springe, in various roles as an economist, general counsel, and now executive director, has championed the interests of utility consumers for more than two decades.
- Jon Wellinghoff, CEO, GridPolicy, Inc., and Former Chair, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- David Springe, Executive Director, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA)
- Moderated by Calvin Butler, CEO, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) and incoming Chairman, GridWise Alliance
Tech Panel: Cities & Electrified Bus Fleets – What it Means for Utilities
Bus fleets are emerging as one of the greatest opportunities for electrified transportation. The Chinese city of Shenzhen has already fully electrified its fleet of 16,359 busses, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance is predicting that 80 percent of the world’s city bus fleets will be electric by 2040. What will this shift mean for city management, utility operations, and the grid of the future? Explore emerging opportunities and challenges, the hype vs. reality, on this panel.
- Ryan Popple, CEO, Proterra
- Michael Smith, Senior Vice President, Distributed Energy, Constellation
- Lisa Jerram, Director – Bus, Paratransit & Surface Transit, American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
- Stephanie Medeiros, Head, EV Charging Infrastructure, ABB
- Moderated by John Gartner, Director, Navigant Research
Special Keynote with House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Greg Walden (R-OR)
Special Keynote with U.S. Representative (R-OR), Chair, Committee on Energy & Commerce, Greg Walden
Post-Election Analysis: Federal Energy & Grid Prospects
Less than a month after the mid-term elections, we’ll take time to unravel what the election results mean for the future of federal action on energy, grid modernization, sustainable infrastructure, clean energy vs. fossil fuels, and more. For this discussion we welcome two industry veterans to discuss the key themes from the conference (the convergence of energy, transportation, storage, and the grid) from the vantage point of likely Republican and Democratic actions.
- Jason Hartke, President, Alliance to Save Energy
- Andrew Shaw, Senior Managing Associate, Dentons
- Moderated by Nick Juliano, Deputy Energy Editor, Politico
Getting to 100: Corporate Efforts to Meet 100% RE Targets
Once considered an audacious goal, a growing number of major corporations are committing to getting 100% of their electrons from RE sources (some are already there). Similarly, a small but increasing number of corporations are looking at electrifying their transportation fleets. On this panel we’ll hear from corporations, NGOs, and service providers supporting this transition, navigating obstacles, and working to meet this major shift to low-carbon/zero-carbon energy sources.
- Amy Davidsen, Executive Director, North America, The Climate Group and Lead, RE100
- Hans Royal, Director of Strategic Renewables, Schneider Electric
- Valerie Cardwell, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives – Office of Sustainability, Comcast
- Bill Weihl, Strategic Advisor and former Director of Sustainability, Facebook and Green Energy Czar, Google
- Moderated by Ron Pernick, Managing Director, Clean Edge and Co-Producer, gridCONNEXT
Grid Modernization Index: Tracking State Progress and Building a 21st Century Grid
Now in its fifth edition, the Grid Modernization Index (GMI-5) tracks and ranks the performance of all 50 states on their grid modernization efforts across three categories: state support, customer engagement, and grid operations. On this panel we’ll discuss what they’re doing, share best practices, and explore potential opportunities and challenges ahead.
- Sue Gander, Director, Environment, Energy & Transportation Division, National Governors Association (NGA)
- Steve Hauser, CEO, GridWise Alliance and Co-Producer, gridCONNEXT
Networking Break
- Refreshments Provided
The Connected Home & Engaging Utility Customers
The concept of the smart home isn’t new. For decades, a host of companies have worked to leverage the opportunity of a smart home with varying degrees of success. But major breakthroughs in technology, customer choice, and policy and regulatory structures are radically altering the landscape. On this panel we’ll hear from utility and technology leaders at the forefront of enabling the next-generation connected home, and uncover ways that it is improving the customer experience and helping utilities to optimize demand management.
- Mike Bates, General Manager, Energy, Intel Corporation
- Rolf Gibbels, Head of Worldwide Business Development, Power & Utilities Industry, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Raiford Smith, Vice President, Energy Technology and Analytics, Entergy
- Matt Duesterberg, CEO, OhmConnect
- Moderated by Cameron Brooks, President, E9 Energy Insight
Inspirational Keynote: Human Evolution, Sustainability, and Lessons for the Grid
Jonathan Salk is a highly respected psychiatrist and co-author (with his father the late Jonas Salk) of A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future. The book, initially released nearly four decades ago and recently updated for a new generation, provides a startling, fresh message of understanding, perspective, and hope for today’s tense, rapid-fire, kaleidoscopically changing world. Jonathan will discuss how we are moving from “Epoch A” values (focused on self- interest and competition) to “Epoch B” values (focused on species-level interest and cooperation).
- Jonathan Salk, Coauthor, A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future
Cocktail Reception
- Ballroom – Liaison Capitol Hotel; beer, wine, and heavy hors d’oeuvres; GMI- 2018 awards ceremony: and live jazz music.
Breakfast, Facilitated Session and Round-Table Discussions
- Facilitated Session: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) – Consumer Values: Moving the Engagement Needle
The Grid Room – Environmental Defense Fund, Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative, CenterPoint Energy and CLEAResult will be releasing a new report that analyzes how specific consumer groups engage with energy management technologies and incentive programs. This research aims to better understand people’s motivations and behavior when it comes to energy use, and to identify solutions to encourage consumers’ energy efficiency choices. Followed by a group discussion, key preliminary results will be presented by:
– Ronny Sandoval, Senior Director, Grid Modernization, Environmental Defense Fund
– David Quinn, Director, Marketing & Customer Communication, CenterPoint Energy
– Nathan Shannon, Deputy Director, Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative - Roundtable Session: DOE – DSPx
The Hub Room – The key goal of the Modern Distribution Grid (“DSPx”) project is to provide architecture and engineering-based frameworks to facilitate grid modernization business and regulatory decision processes to better align the objectives and expectations of customers, regulators, utilities, stakeholders, and technology providers. In this session, join DOE’s Joe Paladino to learn more about next steps related to this project. - Roundtable Session: Microgrids
The Hub Room – Is the increased focus on microgrids hype, or is the future of the grid a federated network of microgrids, or somewhere in between, or something else?In this session, join Lee Krevat, Founder and CEO of Krevat Energy Innovations to discuss this important topic.
State of the Nation: Energy & Grid-Related Legislation and Developments
- Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources
Keynote: View from Abroad – The Future of European Grid Operations
This year we are excited to welcome Laurent Schmitt to the stage for a close-up, inside-view of the European grid. As head ENTSO-E, he is focused on supporting his members in building the regional energy market, ensuring optimal functioning, and enabling aggressive energy and climate goals. We look forward to learning how Europe is integrating high degrees of renewables, developing system flexibility, and ensuring a customer-centric approach as it modernizes its grid.
- Laurent Schmitt, Secretary-General of ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators
Open Source and the Digital Utility of the Future
We are witnessing the advent of the “digitization of everything” across all sectors of the economy, including utilities. From operation centers and transmission line management to microgrids and smart meters, electric utilities are looking to build their digital efforts off the backbone of open source systems (think of Linux and datacenters). For this conversation we bring together utility and open source experts to explore emerging themes, opportunities, and issues.
- Dean Samara-Rubio, Solutions Architect for Energy and Utilities, Internet of Things Group, Intel Corporation
- Patric McElroy, Vice President and Chief Software Engineer, GE Power Digital
- Jerry Gentry, Senior Director, Architecture & Engineering, NYPA
- Moderated by Carl Imhoff, Manager, Electric Infrastructure Research Program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Keynote: Leading the Way: California's View of Clean Energy, Transportation, and the Utility of the Future
While the Trump Administration attempts to revive the coal industry and rolls back climate policies, California acts as a significant counterweight. As the world’s fifth largest economy, the state is committed to getting 100% of its electricity from renewables by 2045, among other initiatives. Courtney Smith will discuss how the California Energy Commission is supporting policy and financial investments in the transition to a clean-energy future – and what it means for the rest of the nation.
- Courtney Prideaux Smith, Chief Deputy Director, California Energy Commission (CEC)
The Road Ahead: Valuing Distributed Resources
Valuing energy resources at the edge of the grid (such as energy storage, microgrids, and rooftop solar) relies on the ability of utilities and regulators to combine a variety of functions into quantifiable value streams and then accurately and reliably measure them. Join us with leading experts to learn how distributed resources are currently being evaluated and valued in the market place – and what it might mean for the future of utility operations.
- Dr. Adam Warren, Director, Integrated Applications Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
- Allan Schurr, President, Enchanted Rock Solutions
- Andy Marshall, Practice Director, Distributed Energy Resource Mgmt., Landis+Gyr
- Lynne Kiesling, Associate Director, Purdue University Research Center in Economics
- Moderated by John Carey, energy and environmental writer and former senior correspondent, Business Week
Blockchain Revisited: One Year Later
At our inaugural event, we hosted a moderated conversation on energy markets and blockchain. Since then, the topic has picked up considerable momentum, with conferences, webinars, media coverage, and real-world projects devoted to the intersection of energy markets and blockchain. Join us as we take a closer look at what’s unfolded over the past year, explore hype vs. reality, and uncover where the market might be headed.
- Jon Creyts, Managing Director, Rocky Mountain Institute and Council Member, Energy Web Foundation (10-minute overview followed by moderator role)
- Kristen Brown, Principal , Innovation & Partnerships, Exelon Utilities
- Mike D’Aurizio, Investment Manager, Ventures, Centrica Innovations
- Neil Gerber, Director, New Energy and Environment, IBM
Smart Infrastructure: Utility Investments in Clean Energy, Connected Mobility, and Grid Modernization
Market innovation relies as much on technology breakthroughs as it does on financial and regulatory ones. On this panel will explore the most important financial advances (investment structures and vehicles) enabling the build-out of a smarter, more resilient and interconnected grid. The panel includes some of the leading investors and advisors in utility-scale and distributed infrastructure, including renewables, connected mobility, smart grid, and efficient buildings.
- Susan Nickey, Managing Director, Hannon Armstrong
- Tom Murray, Vice President, EDF+Business, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
- Mark Stinner, Vice President, Greentech Capital
- Moderated by Ron Pernick, Founder and Managing Director, Clean Edge, Inc.
Grid Transformation: Navigating Opportunities & Challenges
On this closing panel, which you won’t want to miss, we convene some of the smartest minds at the forefront of modernizing the nation’s grid. On this panel will uncover the major opportunities and not-insignificant challenges as we modernize the nation’s grid.
- Laurent Schmitt, Secretary-General of ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators
- Jan Vrins, Managing Director, Energy, Navigant
- Moderated by James Mazurek, Managing Director, Utilities, Accenture