2027 Event Agenda

Utilities across North America are increasingly turning to battery energy storage systems (BESS) to address a growing range of grid challenges, including distribution capacity constraints, accelerating load growth, renewable integration, resiliency requirements, and infrastructure upgrade deferrals. While the industry has largely moved beyond asking whether storage has value, a more difficult question remains: where should storage be deployed, how should it be sized, and what operational role should it play to deliver the greatest value to customers and the grid?

The answer is rarely straightforward. A battery designed to defer a substation upgrade may look very different from one intended to support a large data center interconnection, capture clipped renewable energy, provide resiliency benefits, or participate in wholesale markets. Utilities must balance technical performance, economics, operational flexibility, regulatory requirements, and long-term asset management considerations when making these decisions.

In this panel discussion, leaders from Duke Energy, Southern Company, Camelot Energy Group, and Storlytics will share lessons learned from planning, developing, and operating utility-scale and distribution-connected energy storage projects. Through real-world examples, the panel will explore how utilities evaluate storage as a non-wires alternative, how siting and sizing decisions are made, and what challenges emerge as projects move from concept to operation.

Discussion topics will include:

• How utility applications for energy storage have evolved over the past decade and where utilities are realizing the greatest value today

• Evaluating energy storage as a Non-Wires Alternative (NWA): what technical and economic criteria drive deployment decisions

• Distribution-connected storage programs across different states: how varying tariffs, incentives, and regulatory structures influence project design

• The role of energy storage in supporting large load growth, including data centers and industrial customers, and whether storage can provide greater interconnection flexibility

• How utilities are evaluating emerging battery chemistries and long-duration energy storage technologies to meet evolving grid needs

• Solar-plus-storage architecture decisions: DC-coupled versus AC-coupled configurations and the tradeoffs utilities are seeing in practice

• Common contracting, procurement, and deployment challenges that impact project success and lessons learned from recent projects

• Operational lessons from utility-owned and utility-operated storage assets, including degradation management, augmentation planning, performance optimization, and lifecycle risk management

Attendees will gain practical insights into how leading utilities are approaching storage deployment decisions today, where expectations have differed from operational reality, and what strategies have proven most effective in maximizing project value over the life of the asset. The session is designed to provide actionable lessons for utility planners, engineers, developers, and decision-makers responsible for integrating energy storage into an increasingly complex electric grid.