2026 Event Schedule

This workshop is designed to equip utility leaders, planners, and engineers with a clear, actionable strategy for de-risking substantial grid modernization investments. The curriculum has been broken out into two parts with specific timing and a break in between, enabling attendees to engage with one or both pieces:

• The first section (9:00-10:30am) will empower attendees with the tools and knowledge needed to propel their ideas forward and scale their impact through leveraging prize and other non-dilutive funding opportunities.
  
  
• The second section (10:45 – 12:15pm) focuses on the full program lifecycle, providing a practical framework to translate initial capital and strategy into successful execution. Attendees will learn how to achieve the sustained, rigorous results necessary to justify and guarantee follow-on ratepayer investment.

Attendees will come away with insights that allow them secure funding and turn smart investments into rate-based success.

Part 1:
9:00-10:30 – Funding Opportunities and Turning Ideas into Action

Unlocking Non-Dilutive Funding Opportunities
This session is designed to introduce participants to a range of federal prize programs and federal funding opportunities that are designed to foster innovation, accelerate technology development, and support transformative solutions in energy. These discussions intend to go beyond a single agency to encompass government funding initiatives broadly, helping to advance grid modernization, enhance resilience, and strengthen energy infrastructure.

Open Opportunities Highlight
Attendees will gain valuable insights into high-impact, non-dilutive funding mechanisms available through various government programs, including competitions and vouchers. These opportunities can provide access to capital, technical support, national lab expertise, and real-world validation without requiring equity commitments. Specific prize programs from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity will be highlighted in detail.  

Expert Panel: Turning Ideas into Action
A cross-disciplinary panel featuring experts from the National Laboratory of the Rockies, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and others with experience in prizes, vouchers, NOFOs, and SBIR/STTR programs will provide practical guidance on navigating these funding opportunities effectively. Participants will learn about available resources, the value of strategic partnerships, and gain actionable insights into successful approaches for leveraging government funding opportunities.

Part 2:
10:45 – 12:15 - Feasibility First: Strategic Foundations for Grid Modernization Rate Cases

As utilities accelerate grid modernization efforts—integrating advanced technologies, distributed energy resources, and resilience upgrades—the pressure to justify these investments through rate-based funding has never been greater. This course is designed to help utility professionals understand how to leverage a project feasibility phase as a strategic investment to prepare for a rate case filing and increase the opportunity for a successful regulatory outcome.  

Utility leaders in Grid Modernization, Regulatory Affairs, Finance, Planning and Engineering, and Operations will align on the value of a feasibility phase to prevent costly missteps in a filing, strengthen stakeholder engagement and alignment, improve capital recovery, and more clearly connect the Utility ‘Grid of the Future’ strategy to the funding necessary to execute.

Introduction to Grid Modernization and Rate Cases (15 min)

• Objective: Establish foundational understanding.
• What is grid modernization? (Smart grid tech, DERs, resilience)
• What is a rate case and how it supports capital recovery
• Regulatory expectations and scrutiny
• Common pitfalls in rate cases 
  
  

The Feasibility Phase – What, Why, and How (30 min)

• Objective: Define feasibility studies and their components.
• Technical assessment: infrastructure readiness, interoperability
• Organizational assessment: staffing availability, operational change readiness
• Economic assessment: cost-benefit analysis, ROI projections
• Regulatory assessment: policy alignment, stakeholder engagement
• Environmental and social impact assessments: environmental impact studies, customer surveys
   

Strategic Value of Feasibility Before Rate Case Filing (15 min)

• Objective: Show how feasibility studies strengthen rate cases.
• Topics:
  • Building a defensible business case with data
  • Enhancing transparency and stakeholder trust
  • Avoiding stranded assets and regulatory rejection
  • Aligning with cost recovery mechanisms and performance metrics
     

Practical Tools and Frameworks (30 min)

• Objective: Equip participants with actionable tools.
• Topics:
  • Step-by-step feasibility study framework
  • Templates for stakeholder engagement and risk assessment
  • Group Exercise: Drafting a feasibility outline for a sample grid upgrade