3 AM topics that keep our executives awake – a multi-utility / multi-disciplinary perspective

Currently, the electrical power industry offers key solutions to achieve society’s decarbonization targets, and many electrical utilities still face significant challenges. Among the industry, two issues are still under development: 1) how can utilities best upgrade their infrastructure, and 2) how can utilities change their planning practices to more efficiently deploy investments. The resolution of these two issues, would bring additional value to electricity users and satisfy society goals for renewable energy and electrification targets. This panel addresses the challenges of integrating renewables with aging infrastructure while addressing key topics in our industry such as reliability, resilience, safety, and energy justice needs and requirements. This panel will provide a multi-disciplinary view of topics that are of keen interest to executives in electric power utilities and addresses potential solutions and recommendations. The challenges are addressed within the following topics: 1) Federal and State Regulations, 2) Transmission and Distribution Upgrades; 3) System Planning and New Loads; 4) Renewable Integration; 5) Electric Transportation; 6) Reliability and 7) Resilience. Best practices to deal with the issues are expected to be shared by the participating executives. Speakers will include executives (VP level) from Avangrid, National Grid US, and SDGE.