2026 Event Schedule

Grid upgrades and expansions are facing a timeline crisis. In regions like California, the average time to plan, permit, and build transmission projects has nearly doubled, from 8 years to over 15 years, prompting attention from utility commissions and the public. 

These delays are rarely caused by a single factor. They are the result of a disconnect between engineering realities, cost constraints, and stakeholder acceptance. A permitting delay forces a route change; that route change triggers a geotechnical and land rights issue; those issues force a design rework that balloons the budget by 20%.

This roundtable invites utility planners, engineering leads, permitting specialists, and project developers to discuss the root causes of cost creep and protracted delays. We will move beyond viewing "siting" as a reactive bottleneck and discuss the entire early-stage lifecycle. How do we bring deliverability considerations into Day 1 planning? How do we stop the cycle of endless refinements? Join your peers to share methodologies - from better data integration to agile cross-functional teams and meaningful stakeholder engagement - that keep projects on schedule and on budget.

Session Sponsored by Continuum Industries