Schedule

UEIC @ ETS

7:00 AM – 9:00 AM CST | Grab and Go Breakfast


7:00 AM – 5:00 PM CST | Registration Opens



1:00 PM – 2:15 PM CST | Workshop 1


1:00 PM – 2:15 PM CST | Workshop 2 – Solving the Climate Puzzle

Climate action plans are top of mind for companies and municipalities committed to climate change. How can we produce a sustainable solution that’s more actionable than aspirational? Walking through real-life scenarios, participants will review proven strategies for multiple criteria decision analysis and learn to guide various stakeholders to reach a sustainable, consensus-based climate plan.

Jason Ketchum

Vice President, Commercial
ONE Gas

1:00 PM – 2:15 PM CST | Workshop 3


2:15 PM – 2:40 PM CST | Networking Break


2:40 PM – 3:00 PM CST | Welcome to ETS23


3:00 PM – 3:15 PM CST | Keynote

Raiford Smith

Chief Utility Innovation Officer, US Utilities
AES

3:15 PM – 4:00 PM CST | Accelerating Access and Efficiency

This session focuses on the benefits of equitable policy as well as how to avoid blind spots in service and accessibility featuring how to bring community back into the conversation.

Angie Ostaszewski

Energy Efficiency Consultant
Ameren

Shaun Hoyte

Section Manager of Clean Energy Networks
Con Edison

Ashley Nicholls

Co-Founder & Chief Strategist
Doer/Maker

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM CST | Grid Supply Chains in a Volatile World


4:30 PM – 5:15 PM CST | How Public Funding is Enabling Modernization

A session that will discuss how recent legislation and policies will shape the industry as well as what actions local, state, and federal governments can make to help meet decarbonization goals.

Nancy Bui-Thompson

Board Director
SMUD

Georges Sassine

Vice President, Large Scale Renewables
NYSERDA

Debbie Brodt Giles

Manager for Innovation, Prizes, Networks, and Vouchers
NREL

Damali Rhett Harding

US Managing Principal
The Regulatory Assistance Project

5:15 PM – 5:20 PM CST | MC Closing


5:15 PM – 7:00 PM CST | Networking Reception


8:00 AM – 9:00 AM CST | Breakfast & Networking


8:45 AM – 9:00 AM CST | Zpryme Research

Joyce Deuley

Director of Research & Innovation
Zpryme

Hebah Bukhari

Research and Content Analyst
Zpryme

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM CST | Opening Keynote

George Bjelovuk

Vice President/Evangelist
Siemens

9:30 AM – 10:00 AM CST | Fireside Chat – Resilience

Dwayne Stradford

Managing Director | ENRA Strategic Initiatives
AEP

10:00 AM – 10:45 AM CST | Transportation Electrification Progress and Pitfalls

A pulse check on the state of electrification transportation and a forum for sharing lessons learned both in success and setback.

Erin Autin

VP of Content & Thought Leadership Strategy
Zpryme

Natasha Contreras

Clean Transportation Customer Engagement Manager
SDG&E

Sheri Givens

President & CEO
Smart Electric Power Alliance

10:45 AM – 11:00 AM CST | Networking Break


11:00 AM – 11:15 AM CST | ETS Talk – A Revolution We Can Manage: Overcoming 5 Pain Points of the EV Boom

Maria Kretzing

Head of Innovation
Bidgely

11:15 AM – 11:45 AM CST | Fireside Chat –  Future of Workforce

A look forward at what Gen Z entering the utility workforce is going to mean for the future of the industry as well as how to interest generations beyond in the space.

Ali Mohammed

Sr Director of the Digital Innovation and Transformation Office
NYPA

Joyce Deuley

Director of Research & Innovation
Zpryme

Bashir Bseirani

CEO and CTO
Avertra

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM CST | The Many Facets of Resilience

A session that seeks to address a new era of resilience and sustainability challenges to keep electricity service uninterrupted, be it from changing climate, asset health, software issues, security, or other challenges.

Erin Autin

VP of Content & Thought Leadership Strategy
Zpryme

Erika Bierschbach

Vice President, Energy Market Operations & Resource Planning
Austin Energy

Abhay Gupta

CEO & Founder
Bidgely

12:30 PM – 1:45 PM CST | Lunch


1:45 PM – 2:30 PM CST | Breakout A – Managing the Potential of Distributed Energy Resources

A session about DER use cases demonstrating how solar, storage, and other distributed energy resources help utilities with long-term goals, and how utilities are managing the growing number of DERs on the grid.

Dana Harmon

Principal
Juniper Advisory Group

1:45 PM – 2:30 PM CST | Breakout B – Decentralization as Resilience

A session about how decentralization can be used to make the grid more resilient against physical and virtual threats. 

Joyce Deuley

Director of Research & Innovation
Zpryme

Hala Ballouz

President
Electric Power Engineers

Lorraine Akiba

President & CEO
LHA Ventures

1:45 PM – 2:30 PM CST | Breakout C – Advancements in T&D tech

The clean energy transition is underway, and transmission & distribution systems need to adapt to larger amounts of renewable energy generation. This panel focuses on how utilities are approaching challenges to their T&D systems and how they can improve technological and operational efficiency as they decarbonize.

Ali Mohammed

Sr Director of the Digital Innovation and Transformation Office
NYPA

Khalil Shalabi

Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Transformation
Lower Colorado River Authority

Dylan Lockwood

Senior Editor
Zpryme

2:45 PM – 3:30 PM CST | Breakout A – Electric Vehicle Programs

A dialogue about best practices when designing EV programs as well as what the goals of such programs should be

Dylan Lockwood

Senior Editor
Zpryme

2:45 PM – 3:30 PM CST | Breakout B – Utility as Community Leader

A breakdown of a utility’s role in a community and beyond a power supplier and what works best for creating a thriving relationship with a community.

Anita Ledbetter

Executive Director
Build San Antonio Green

Peter Muhoro

Chief Strategy, Technology & Innovation Officer
REC

Jesse Hernandez

Senior Director of Equity, Community Strategy & Engagement
CPS Energy

2:45 PM – 3:30 PM CST | Breakout C – Resilient Cybersecurity: IT AND OT

A deep dive into the realities of modern cybersecurity – how it relates to asset management as well as new complications as IT converges with OT.

Hebah Bukhari

Research and Content Analyst
Zpryme

Carol Johnston

VP Energy, Utilities & Resources
IFS

Ann Delenela

Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer
Entergy

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM CST | Networking Break


4:00 PM – 4:30 PM CST | Fireside Chat – Grid Supply Chains in a Volatile World

An honest look at how global and US supply chains affect the grid nationwide as well as how standards can be put in place to keep the chains efficient and secure

Erin Autin

VP of Content & Thought Leadership Strategy
Zpryme

Alicia Farag

Co-Founder & President
Locusview

4:30 PM – 5:15 PM CST | ESG more than investing

A look at how ESG standards are moving beyond the realm of investment strategy and are defining customer expectations

Deepak Garg

CEO and Founder
Smart Energy Water

Joyce Deuley

Director of Research & Innovation
Zpryme

5:15 PM – 5:30 PM CST | Keynote


5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CST | Networking Reception

7:00 AM – 9:00 AM CST | Breakfast & Networking


8:30 AM – 8:40 AM CST | Welcome


8:40 AM – 9:00 AM CST | Opening Keynote


9:00 AM – 9:40 AM CST | Fireside Chat

Henk Rogers

Founder & CEO
Blue Planet Alliance

9:40 AM – 9:55 AM CST | ETS Talk

Jarred Metoyer

Senior Vice President / Managing Director Markets and Risk
DNV

9:55 AM – 10:40 AM CST | Panel – Designing Customer Programs for Evolving Needs

Customer demands are changing, and utilities As customer demands evolve, it’s not enough for utilities to meet them in the middle. Utilities must be forward thinking and keep the customer as the focal point as they design new programs. This session discusses designing programs to facilitate a fulfilling and individualized customer journey.

Erin Autin

VP of Content & Thought Leadership Strategy
Zpryme

Lon Huber

Vice President, Rate Design and Strategic Solutions
Duke Energy

Vanessa Barbarisi

Director of Utility Transformation
AES

10:40 AM – 11:10 AM CST | Networking Break


11:15 AM – 11:45 AM CST | Fireside Chat

Paul Lau

CEO & General Manager
SMUD

Eric Dresselhuys

CEO
ESS inc.

11:50 AM – 12:35 PM CST | Panel – Managing the Grid Edge

A session about the software, programs, and strategies that will manage the grid edge and leverage edge devices into useful utility resources.

Joyce Deuley

Director of Research & Innovation
Zpryme

Michael Phillips

Co-Founder & CEO
Sense

Mark O. Webb

Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer
Dominion Energy

Carlos Nouel

VP, Transformation Programs
National Grid

12:35 PM – 1:45 PM CST | Lunch


1:45 PM – 2:30 PM CST | Breakout A – Customer Experience: Beyond Turning the Lights On

A look at changing customer expectations and how to create a better holistic customer experience as well as how decisions at every level can affect the customer experience.

Nathanael Gillespie

Director, Customer Solutions
Pepco

Dylan Lockwood

Senior Editor
Zpryme

1:45 PM – 2:30 PM CST | Breakout B – Prepping for the EV Revolution

A discussion about the data, infrastructure, workforce training, and planning needed for utilities to handle ever-increasing EV adoption among customers.


1:45 PM – 2:30 PM CST | Breakout C – Outage Prediction and AI

A session talking about how AI and modeling are helping track and prevent outages as well as other notable use cases.

Hebah Bukhari

Research and Content Analyst
Zpryme

2:45 PM – 3:30 PM CST | Breakout A – Bridging Communities Through Technology

Utilities are prioritizing digital transformation by adopting a human-centered approach that focuses on understanding and meeting the needs of customers and employees. This approach enables utilities to create more effective and sustainable systems that better serve their communities and ecosystem as a whole.

Joyce Deuley

Director of Research & Innovation
Zpryme

Brad Chadwell

Director of Enterprise Research and Innovation
Tennessee Valley Authority

2:45 PM – 3:30 PM CST | Breakout B


2:45 PM – 3:30 PM CST | Breakout C – Communications Strategies are No Longer Optional

A discussion about how the changing role of utilities has made public-facing communications a critical business process, and also what some best practices for comms are.

Ali Mohammed

Sr Director of the Digital Innovation and Transformation Office
NYPA

Jenise Osani

Vice President of Marketing & New Products, OUC
Orlando Utilities Commission

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM CST | Networking Break


4:00 PM – 4:45PM CST | Panel – Accelerating Decarbonization

A session that will discuss progress and pitfalls of decarbonizing the grid through tech, policy, and strategy.

Bart Franey

VP Clean Energy Development
National Grid

Celina Bonugli

Sr. Energy Innovation Strategist
APS

Bryan Hannegan

President & CEO
Holy Cross Energy

Angel Lance

Founder and CEO
Motive Power

Dylan Lockwood

Senior Editor
Zpryme

4:45 PM – 5:15 PM CST | Fireside Chat – The Energy Transformation: What’s Behind and What’s to Come

Jackie Sargent

General Manager
Austin Energy

David Wade

President & CEO
EPB

5:15 PM – 5:30 PM CST | TLOY Announcement/Closing Keynote


5:30 PM – 7:00 PM CST | Networking Reception

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM CST | Breakfast & Networking


9:00 AM – 9:15 AM CST | Keynote


9:15 AM – 9:40 AM CST | Fireside Chat – Where Nuclear Stands in an Evolving Grid

A deep dive into what the increased attention and resources into nuclear energy will mean for nationwide and global decarbonization efforts as well as what challenges are keeping some apprehensive about it.

Christine King

Director, Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear
Idaho National Laboratory

Dylan Lockwood

Senior Editor
Zpryme

10:00 AM – 10:45 AM CST | Modern Demand Response

A session that lays out how demand response is changing with new technology and customer realities.

Erin Autin

VP of Content & Thought Leadership Strategy
Zpryme

Cheryl Mele

VP, Customer Care & Corporate Communications
El Paso Electric

Eric Rehberg

Chief Engineer & Founder
Armada Power

10:45 AM – 11:15 AM CST | 🤝 Networking Break


11:15 AM – 12:00 PM CST | Panel – Creating a Culture of Innovation Within an Organization

A session that lays out how demand response is changing with new technology and customer realities.

David Wade

President & CEO
EPB

Mark Podorsky

Energy & Utilities Practice Partner
Bridgewater

John Kochavatr

Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Portland General Electric

12:00 PM – 12:30 PM CST | Fireside Chat – Changing the Industry’s Thinking

Untried ideas, hot takes, just putting new ideas out there in general

Navneet Trivedi

Co-Founder and COO
Vrinda

12:45 PM – 1:00PM CST | Closing