Agenda

8:00 – 9:00 am

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 – 9:45 am

Opening Keynote: Future Power Plants as Intelligent Energy Hubs

This forward-looking opening address discusses the evolution of the power plant into an intelligent energy hub that coordinates generation, renewables, storage, grid interaction and process demand as one integrated system. It explores how flexible generation, AI-enabled optimization and advanced control architectures can improve reliability, economics and decarbonization as operating conditions become more dynamic. A staged roadmap outlines the transition from digitalization and integration toward predictive and increasingly autonomous operation.

• Manoj Kumar Sharma, Head Technology- Energy Power and Steam, Reliance Industries Ltd

9:45 – 10:30 am

Microgrid Feasibility to Optimize Development, Execution, and ROI

What is the technical definition of a “microgrid”? Microgrid systems, designs, and intentions are far more complex and risky than PV-only or generator-only projects. What are typical components of a microgrid system? What is entailed in a quality feasibility study? Why is it a fundamental part of a successful microgrid project? Which engineering design and financial questions should be asked during the planning and decision-making stages to ensure the system will accomplish critical goals as intended? Attendees of this session will gain a better understanding of microgrid systems, project development, underwriting challenges, and risk reduction.

Technical fundamentals and considerations for early-stage microgrid development
Key strategies to mitigate risks and costly execution
gaps through proper feasibility studies
Key financial questions that should be addressed during the planning stage

• Ryan Mayfield, CEO, Mayfield Renewables

10:30 – 11:00 am

Networking Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:15 pm

Utility, Community & Resiliency Microgrid Deployments

Utilities and municipalities are increasingly deploying community and utility-owned microgrids to improve resilience, manage distributed energy growth, and support critical services. This session explores deployment models, ownership structures, and operational lessons.

Strategies for community resilience planning
Evolving utility microgrid models
Case studies of leading municipal deployments
Addressing interconnection complexity remains significant
Advances in multi-customer systems

• Will Kenworthy, Regulatory Director - Midwest, Vote Solar

• Brian Levite, Director of Clean Energy, Long Island Power Authority

• David Gahl, Executive Director, Solar and Storage Industries Institute

• Adrienne Pierce, Chief Executive Officer, New Sun Road

12:15 – 1:15 pm

Lunch Break

1:15 – 2:30 pm

Energy Storage Integration, EMS Platforms & Intelligent Controls

This session discusses advances in energy management systems and storage optimization platforms for successful microgrid operations. Panelists will explore EMS architecture developments, DER orchestration, battery optimization, and autonomous control strategies. The discussion will be driven by case study analysis and results from the field.

Advancements in EMS platforms
Improving storage economics through optimization
The role of DER coordination in enhancing reliability
Adoption of autonomous controls
Status of interoperability standards

• Lennart Hinrichs, Executive Vice President and General Manager - Americas, TWAICE

• Steve Pullins, Chief Executive Officer, ResSET

• Ryan Franks, Business Development - Energy Storage Systems, Data Centers and Microgrids, Emerson

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Networking Coffee Break

3:00 – 4:00 pm

Campus, Healthcare & Mission-Critical Microgrids

Universities, healthcare systems, military bases, and transportation hubs continue to lead advanced microgrid deployments. This session looks at specific case studies of hybrid sustainable energy microgrids to explore operational priorities, reliability strategies, and lessons learned from mission-critical facilities.

Healthcare resiliency requirements
Advances in campus systems sophistication
Islanding capabilities – integrating with the utility
Business models and economic considerations
Reliability metrics driving investments

• Jake Rosenberg, Executive Director - Energy & Operations, National Facilities Design & Construction, Kaiser Permanente

4:00 – 5:00 pm

AI Infrastructure, Data Centers & Flexible Energy Storage Systems

Rapid data center expansion and AI-driven electricity demand are creating new opportunities for resilient distributed energy and storage infrastructure. This session explores the evolving role of microgrids in supporting high-density computing environments.

Microgrids and energy storage applications for data centers
Data centers as grid assets
Flexible power architectures
Innovations in addressing power center cooling requirements
Storage supporting load management

• Doug Poffinbarger, Director of Commercial Operations, Nostromo Energy

5:00 – 6:30 pm

Reception

Wednesday, December 2, 2026

8:00 – 9:00 am

Coffee and Continental Breakfast

9:00 – 9:45 am

Microgrid Economics and Financial Modeling

Engineering a microgrid is one challenge; securing financing and ensuring the project is profitable is another. This session will review various funding structures, revenue streams, costs, and financial risks for commercial-scale microgrids. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the fundamental concepts that drive value for multi-DER projects, and how to think about assets through the lens of opportunities, risks, and constraints.

• Jon La Follett, Director of Engineering, Mayfield Renewables

9:45 – 10:15 am

Easing the Path for Community Microgrids: Policy Solutions for Resilient Power in Michigan

This session examines the regulatory barriers to community microgrids serving multiple properties, using Michigan as a case study. It explores challenges related to distribution-system ownership, service across property lines, tariffs and compensation, while highlighting the broader resilience and grid benefits community microgrids can provide. Emerging policy approaches in Oregon and other states will be considered as potential models for enabling more effective community microgrid development.

• Lee Shaver, Senior Energy Analyst, Climate and Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists

10:15 – 10:45 am

Networking Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:15 am

Industrial Microgrids, Battery Storage & Energy Security

Industrial and commercial operators are investing in microgrids and onsite storage systems to manage rising electricity costs, improve reliability, and support decarbonization objectives. This session will examine practical deployment models and operational strategies, addressing topics such as:

Time-to-power and achieving energy security for C&I customers
Enabling technologies, challenges and opportunities
Battery deployments as key components of C&I systems
The state of flexible onsite generation
Enhancing resiliency and improving operational continuity

• Connor Sheehan, Vice President, American Microgrid Solutions

11:15 – 12:15 pm

Renewable Integration, Solar-Plus-Storage & Hybrid Microgrids

Solar, wind, fuel cells, and storage are increasingly combined into hybrid microgrid systems capable of supporting resilient and low-carbon operations. This session reviews architecture strategies and the operational optimization of such systems, including such topics as:

Advances in hybrid systems reliability
Renewables penetration – trends and projections
Dispatch optimization and curtailment reduction
Recent developments in storage supporting renewable integration

• Clark Wiedetz, Vice President – Energy Solutions, STV

• Jaclyn Harr, Director of Client Services, The Energy Authority

12:15 – 1:15 pm

Lunch Break

1:15 – 2:15 pm

Utility Coordination, Interconnection & Grid-Interactive Storage

Microgrids and storage systems are evolving into grid-interactive assets capable of supporting broader utility operations. This session explores interconnection challenges, grid services participation, and utility coordination frameworks.

Evolving grid services markets
Interconnection reform
Maximizing operational flexibility for utilities
Demand response and aggregation models – recent case studies

• Russ Newbold, VP/GM Distributed Generation Growth, CPower

2:15 – 2:45 pm

Networking Coffee Break

2:45 – 4:00 pm

Resilient Microgrids for Extreme Weather & Grid Outages

Climate-driven grid disruptions are increasing demand for resilient distributed energy systems. This session examines how microgrids and storage systems are being designed to withstand outages, severe weather, and infrastructure failures.

The role of distributed energy systems in outage mitigation
Hardening strategies and enabling technologies
Lessons learned from recent case studies
Leveraging storage and microgrids in recovery planning

• Sherif Abdelrazek, Ph.D. PE, Co-founder and CEO, Storlytics Energy Storage

• Will Heegaard, Operations Director & Co-Founder, Footprint Project

• Logan Burke, Executive Director, Alliance for Affordable Energy

• Aanchal Kumar, Strategic Account Manager, BoxPower

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