2026 Event Schedule

Each panelist will present one aspect of the system. Jonathan Woldemariam, SDG&E Director of Wildfire, will present high priority use cases to include the prediction of overhead and underground conductor failures, the idenfication of an energized downed/broken conductor, and the determination of the precise location of the fault. Ryan Anthon, PacifiCorp Director of Grid Modernization, will present the measurement and ancillary data that is required to implement the use cases to include the next generation of waveform capture AMI meters and substation and circuit monitoring data. David Kreiss, Power Systems Consultant, will present the end-to-end architecture of the system that will produce the expected results to include the quantization of anticipated benefits, and Jun Wen, Southern California Edison, senior manager of grid innovations, will present a view of the future of advanced distribution systems as” Towards Autonomous Awareness: Orchestrating Sensors, Analytics, and Operations at Scale“.

The theme of the panel is that changes in our distribution system require that we develop better distribution monitoring and analysis systems. These changes include the increased occurrence of wildfires and major storms, the growth of loads including electric vehicle chargers and data centers that are exceeding the loading capabilities of circuits and apparatus, as well as the growth of DERs and residential solar.

The panel will then describe the end-to-end systems that can address these changes and improve distribution operations and management.

The panel will also discuss the deployment of two pilots, their scope and initial results. 

Based upon the formal presentation content and the anticipated questions, we expect attendees to learn the following:

• New use cases that have been researched and demonstrated that provide high value. These uses case include real-time fault location and predicting underground cable, overhead conductor, identifying energized downed conductors, and detecting vegetation incursion.
• A unique approach as to how the new System can significantly improve ADMS functionality to reduce system losses, optimize voltage, and better manage load flow during system events.
• A true and measurable cost recovery strategy.
• An architecture that will be required to both support the use cases and functionality as well as an interface with ADMS and DERMS.
• A clear explanation of the new AMI generation of meters, their capabilities, and what Distributed Intelligence means to you.
• The scope of the next gen system and a clear presentation of its components and complexity to ensure that adequate resources and time are requested and allocated.