Learn how utilities are planning, enabling, and operating microgrids to strengthen reliability, serve critical loads, and support community energy goals.

For electric utilities, microgrids offer opportunities to support critical infrastructure, improve reliability in vulnerable areas, and partner with communities, campuses, and commercial customers on tailored energy strategies. This topic explores the role of utilities in planning, operating, and enabling microgrids—whether utility-owned, customer-driven, or hybrid models. Sessions will cover system architecture, islanding capabilities, regulatory challenges, and how microgrids fit into broader grid modernization and resilience strategies.

Sponsored by:

OATI

Featured content

Lessons from the Field: Commissioning, Operating, and Troubleshooting Utility-Owned Microgrids

February 04, 2026

This panel will explore the challenges and solutions encountered during the transition from construction to operation, and the ongoing work of maintaining reliable, resilient microgrid performance.


 

Grid-Forming Inverters in Future Distribution Systems: From Microgrids to Blue-Sky Operations

February 03, 2026

This panel will explore the evolving role of GFM inverters in distribution systems, encompassing both microgrid applications that enhance resilience and grid-connected scenarios that improve stability and power quality.


 

Inverter Based Resources in Resilient Utility Microgrids - Lessons from Field Tests

February 04, 2026

In this panel, we will share evaluation results comparing IBR performance to that of conventional generators, highlight how hardware-in-the loop simulations conducted by National Renewable Energy Laboratory de-risked field tests, highlight key lessons learned in development and operation, and share how project insights are informing the broader deployment of microgrids across our service territory.

Microgrid educational opportunities

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9:00 AM
  1. 31AB
    50 mins
    As utility microgrids integrate more renewable energy generation, it is important to assess how inverter-based resources (IBRs) contribute to microgrid stability and resilience. Microgrids with high l …
2:15 PM
  1. 10
    15 mins
    District Energy Systems are evolving to incorporate assets like waste, renewable heat sources, heat pumps, storages, electric boilers, and chilling units to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The volati …
10:00 AM
  1. 6D
    50 mins
    Texas’ ERCOT grid – independent, energy-only, and increasingly distributed – has become a proving ground for DER aggregation. Since 2021, ERCOT’s ADER Pilot Program has tested how aggregated distribut …