Explore how utilities are enhancing reliability and building grid resiliency through modernization, risk planning, and infrastructure innovation.

With increasing pressure from extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and new demand patterns, utilities are prioritizing reliability and resilience across both transmission and distribution systems. This track explores how utilities are hardening assets, modernizing infrastructure, and strengthening the bulk power system to minimize disruptions and accelerate recovery. 

Sponsored by:

GE Vernova

Featured content

Planning Reliable and Resilient Grid Interconnections in the Context of Load Growth, DER Integration and Extreme Weather Events

February 04, 2026

We will present a methodology involving grid master plans and tailored investment plans. These plans are designed to prepare the infrastructure for load growth and new grid connections, prevent outages, replace aging equipment and mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the grid.

How PG&E and Southern Company Use Data Science to Predict Outages and Accelerate Storm Recovery

February 02, 2026

This session will offer practical insights for utilities across levels of analytics maturity. Attendees will learn how to frame the right data queries, build trust in predictive models, and align analytics with operational decision-making to improve outcomes for storm response, customers, and crews alike.  

A Case Study in Asset Management Modernization: Integrating Asset Data and Grid Topology with Reliability and Outage Recovery Analytics

February 03, 2026

This session presents a technical case study of how ENMAX, in collaboration with Engineered Intelligence, re-built its asset management ecosystem to shift from fragmented, manually transformed datasets to a fully integrated, system-wide risk decision platform

Reliability and resilience educational opportunities

Loading
8:00 AM
  1. 25C
    240 mins
    This dynamic, utility-focused course explores how Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) can be adapted and enhanced to support the integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). As DER …
  2. 28E
    240 mins
    As wildfires become more frequent, destructive, and complex, utilities must adopt a forward-leaning, technologyenabledapproach to resilience. This four-hour Grid University course is designed for prof …
  3. 30E
    240 mins
    This intensive four-hour course is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of modern Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), its evolution, future direction, and best practices for successfu …
1:00 PM
  1. 29AB
    25 mins
    When Great River Energy (GRE) launched what would become America’s largest DLR deployment, it wasn’t aiming for headlines--it was answering the hard questions facing nearly every utility today: How we …
  2. 33AB
    180 mins
    Asset management provides a structured approach for making informed decisions about reliability, risk, and cost, while strengthening communication with regulators and organizational leadership. This G …
  3. 28E
    180 mins
    The proliferation of Inverter-Based Resources (IBRs) introduces significant challenges to effective grounding, primarily due to their distinct characteristics compared to traditional synchronous gener …
  4. 31C
    180 mins
    In today’s evolving distribution systems, microgrids play a vital role in enhancing reliability and resiliency, enabling seamless integration of distributed energy resources (DERs), and improving powe …
  5. 28AB
    50 mins
    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 conduc …
  6. 28CD
    50 mins
    Extreme weather events – whether wind-driven storms or prolonged drought conditions - are testing the resilience of today’s electric grid like never before.  While utilities have made major strides in …
  7. 26AB
    50 mins
    Global utilities are grappling with the same urgent dilemma — billions in required upgrades, and only a fraction of the capital needed to address them at once. Xcel Energy, which manages a large terri …
2:00 PM
  1. 28CD
    25 mins
    In a coordinated effort to bolster Texas grid reliability ahead of peak summer conditions, CPS Energy worked with ERCOT, the PUCT, and CenterPoint Energy to rapidly deploy 15 mobile synchronous genera …
3:25 PM
  1. 28CD
    25 mins
    In just months, CenterPoint Energy has achieved significant milestones across its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (“GHRI”) — clearing more than 6,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation and installi …
9:00 AM
  1. 31AB
    50 mins
    To address accelerating demand growth and distribution system constraints, Alectra Utilities is strengthening its approach to Non-Wires Solutions (NWS) through the development of more responsive and f …
  2. 29AB
    50 mins
    As climate-driven threats become more severe and localized, utilities across the country are adapting their resilience planning to reflect region-specific risks. From wildfire mitigation to storm hard …
10:00 AM
  1. 31AB
    50 mins
    Wildfires are one of the top risks faced by electric utilities today.  Fire season is year round.  California and the West have experienced a dramatic increase in the number and intensity of wildfires …
  2. 6F
    50 mins
    This panel will address recent developments in the regulation of nuclear energy and nuclear waste storage, and how they have affected, or might in the future affect, the expanded use of nuclear energy …
  3. 10
    50 mins
    This panel will challenge conventional grid planning processes and discuss how Virtual Power Plants are delivering hundreds of reliable megawatts across North America. Unlike traditional peaker plants …
11:00 AM
  1. 31AB
    50 mins
    Southern California Edison (SCE) is modernizing grid operations to meet California’s escalating reliability, resiliency, and decarbonization demands while preparing for millions of DERs and accelerate …
  2. 29CD
    50 mins
    As distributed energy resources (DERs) continue to transform the power system, coordination across state, utility, and community levels is essential to achieving grid reliability and sustainable city …
  3. 29AB
    50 mins
    As clean energy goals accelerate in the United States and around the world, renewable energy (e.g., PV, wind) penetration continues to increase in electric power systems. Conventional synchronous mach …
1:15 PM
  1. Digitalizing the Grid - Booth #6045
    30 mins
    A forward-looking approach to vegetation management is needed to meet the evolving challenges of wildfire mitigation efficiently. In this session, Logic20/20 will share how they co-developed and deplo …
2:00 PM
  1. Reliability & Resiliency - Booth #UL741
    30 mins
    Use reliability analysis to evaluate your distribution system's response to likely events. Locations and the actual consequences of events that occurred over the previous years should fuel the analysi …
2:45 PM
  1. Digitalizing the Grid - Booth #6045
    30 mins
    Energy organizations face mounting pressure to safeguard operations against evolving cyber and operational risks. C-level executives view improvements to the industrial network and security systems di …
  2. Grid Edge Intelligence - Booth #4845
    30 mins
    As affordability pressures rise and electrification accelerates, US utilities are planning new ways to tap distributed energy resources (DERs) to keep the grid reliable and costs down. But to make DER …
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. 29AB
    50 mins
    Customers want electricity that is safe, affordable and reliable. Some want it to be clean. Most of them are connected to the grid. Some require new service connections or interconnections. Here is th …
10:00 AM
  1. 6C
    50 mins
    Utilities across the geographies are operating in a rapidly shifting landscape defined by grid modernization, accelerating DER adoption, extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and rising customer expe …
  2. 29AB
    50 mins
    Utility vegetation management is undergoing a rapid transformation driven by emerging technologies, such as satellite imaging, LiDAR, artificial intelligence, condition-based maintenance, tree health …
  3. 31AB
    49 mins
    The electric utility landscape is being transformed and reshaped with renewable, clean, and more resilient energy solutions. There are also unprecedented challenges in the industry including an increa …
  4. 10
    50 mins
    Microgrids offer unique pathways to resilience, new revenue streams, and sustainability. But every microgrid is unique, which means delivering reliable projects requires far more than acknowledgement …
10:15 AM
  1. Reliability & Resiliency - Booth #UL741
    30 mins
    As rapid technological advances- including the proliferation of AI, the explosive growth of Data Centers, and the integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and fast EV charging- drive an unpre …
11:00 AM
  1. 28AB
    50 mins
    As utilities navigate the growing complexity of grid operations, driven by distributed energy resources (DERs), electrification, aging infrastructure, and rising cybersecurity threats, control centers …
  2. 10
    25 mins
    As utility infrastructure ages and grid complexity increases, traditional protection schemes and time-based maintenance practice are no longer sufficient for maintaining high levels of system reliabil …
  3. 29CD
    50 mins
    Time-synchronous measurements from low-voltage sensors, such as meters, can open the door to a new class of distribution-system diagnostics that were previously impractical at scale. This session demo …
  4. 29AB
    50 mins
    Overview: In this session, 3 utility panelists will share real-world experiences and insights from commissioning and operating utility-owned microgrids. As more utilities move from planning to impleme …
  5. 31AB
    50 mins
    Reliability and resiliency challenges confront every utility—whether from extreme weather, equipment failures, cyber threats, or shifting load dynamics. In this session, utility leaders share firsthan …
11:25 AM
  1. 10
    25 mins
    Distribution systems are responsible for the large majority of service interruptions impacting end users. Reliability performance is generally evaluated in most jurisdictions by calculating indices de …
1:00 PM
  1. 6C
    50 mins
    Across North America, tribes are advancing energy sovereignty through resilient microgrids, distributed energy resources, and long-term strategies that strengthen self-determination and local economic …
  2. 31AB
    50 mins
    The rise of distributed energy resources (DERs) is overwhelming utility engineering teams with manual, repetitive study tasks. At Dominion Energy, a small team of engineers decided to fix that from th …
1:15 PM
  1. Reliability & Resiliency - Booth #UL741
    30 mins
    STATCOM applications are now widespread, helping mitigate voltage deviation issues across a wide range of causes. For rapidly changing loads, the standard approach is fast open-loop control and nettin …
2:00 PM
  1. 29CD
    50 mins
    With the acceleration of capital projects (new substations and upgrading existing substations), it is increasingly important to look at how to deploy digital substations. Digital substations provide i …
  2. 28AB
    50 mins
    As utilities modernize their distribution networks with broadband-enabled technologies, cybersecurity stakes have never been higher. This session presents a real-world case study of a utility’s compre …
  3. 6E
    50 mins
    Salt River Project (SRP) are leading the way in grid modernization by integrating intelligent sensing technologies, predictive analytics, and Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) to enhance …
  4. 6F
    50 mins
    The first year under the new federal administration has brought sweeping changes to U.S. energy policy - reviving fossil fuel incentives, reassessing decarbonization targets, and fast-tracking permitt …
2:45 PM
  1. Innovative and Emerging Tech - Booth #143
    30 mins
    Overview and Update of the Automated Splicing Machine project being developed by Prysmian, ConEdison, and Exelon. Session Sponsored by Prysmian
3:00 PM
  1. 29AB
    50 mins
    This content presents an approach to identifying optimal locations for the installation of Power Quality Conditioners (PQCs) within distribution systems to dynamically manage voltage and reactive powe …
  2. 28CD
    50 mins
    As utilities focus on their quest to modernize and harden the power grid, mission-critical cellular networks are emerging as a catalyst toward digitizing, decentralizing, and decarbonizing critical gr …
  3. 29CD
    50 mins
    Modern blackouts no longer unfold at human speed—they now cascade at machine speed.A comparative analysis of major outages across the United States, Spain, Italy, and Latin America reveals a 300-fold …
  4. 6F
    50 mins
    How do you convince regulators to approve forward-looking resilience investments when traditional cost-benefit frameworks weren't designed for climate uncertainty? This panel tackles the regulatory ch …
3:30 PM
  1. Innovative and Emerging Tech - Booth #143
    30 mins
    Distribution lateral circuits have long relied on basic protection devices — (reclosers, sectionalizers, and fuses) to maintain reliability. But today’s grid faces new challenges: DER integration, ele …
4:00 PM
  1. Reliability & Resiliency - Booth #UL741
    30 mins
    An AI-driven online chatbot desgisned to locate engineering specifications and applicable standards, ensuring the most suitable product is selected for critical infrastructure projects. This tool can …
4:15 PM
  1. Reliability & Resiliency - Booth #UL741
    30 mins
    NERC CIP compliance should not require a 4-week preparation scramble before audits. Yet many utilities still rely on manual processes - spreadsheet-based password tracking, periodic configuration revi …
8:00 AM
  1. 25A
    240 mins
    Distribution feeder circuits have traditionally been designed as radial feeds, with the voltage being the highest at the substation and the lowest at the end of the circuit. This allows the voltage to …
  2. 25B
    240 mins
    In an era defined by escalating climate risks, severe weather volatility, and mounting regulatory scrutiny, electric utilities must rapidly modernize their emergency management strategies. This four-h …
  3. 28E
    240 mins
    As the electric power grid experiences unprecedented demand growth driven by data centers, electric vehicles (EVs), hydrogen production, and crypto mining, effective planning for large load integratio …
10:00 AM
  1. 6C
    50 mins
    As California advances toward ambitious decarbonization goals, the electrification of medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets is emerging as a cornerstone of the state’s clean transportation strategy. E …
  2. 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 …
  3. 31AB
    50 mins
    Are utilities ready to embrace Agentic AI? This session explores how autonomous, goal-driven AI systems can help utilities overcome data and operational barriers, accelerate safe adoption, and scale A …
  4. 10
    50 mins
    As wildfire risk accelerates across the West, utilities are evolving their fire prevention and response strategies to protect infrastructure and communities. In this panel, leaders from Arizona Public …
  5. 11AB
    50 mins
    The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) and the growing use of heat pumps for building decarbonization create new opportunities—and challenges—for utilities. This panel will discuss the pilot project fund …
  6. 29CD
    50 mins
    Dominion Energy is laying the groundwork for a smarter, more predictive approach to asset management—one that begins with data. As part of a multi-year transformation, the company is focusing on build …
11:00 AM
  1. 6D
    50 mins
    The demand for cleaner electric energy grows each year with electrification of data storage, mobility, space conditioning, vertical agriculture, industrial processes and more. Some say that America wi …
  2. 31AB
    50 mins
    With the rapid growth in demand, data centers are increasingly looking for on-site power generation and storage solutions to relieve grid constraints and navigate utility interconnection delays. Innov …
  3. 26AB
    50 mins
    In the summer of 2025, New York City faced prolonged, record-setting heatwaves that placed extraordinary stress on the electric grid. Con Edison responded by activating a demand response portfolio app …
11:15 AM
  1. Reliability & Resiliency - Booth #UL741
    30 mins
      Wildfires pose a growing threat to utility infrastructure, particularly in regions with high vegetation density and extreme weather conditions. This presentation explores a comprehensive approach to …
1:00 PM
  1. 31AB
    25 mins
    Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) is pioneering a model for long-duration energy storage (LDES) and sustainable community development through the Questa Green Hydrogen Project—a multi-site initia …
  2. 6D
    50 mins
    As utilities and regulators face mounting pressure to modernize the grid, improve resilience, and unlock demand-side flexibility, performance-based ratemaking (PBR) is gaining traction as a powerful r …
  3. 10
    50 mins
    Transmission infrastructure is critical to grid stability, yet traditional inspection methods often fall short in providing the speed, accuracy, and insights needed to proactively manage asset health. …
1:25 PM
  1. 31AB
    25 mins
    As the energy sector rapidly advances toward decarbonization, long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems are becoming essential for ensuring grid reliability, enabling renewable integration, and enha …