National Conference

Friday, June 16

Public Power Day of Giving

Help demonstrate public power's commitment to community service by volunteering with us. Day of Giving participants (and their guests) will spend a day volunteering with local service organizations (and meeting their fellow attendees). 

Sunday, June 18

Preconference Seminars

All seminars require an additional fee

Strategic Workforce Planning
Talent management is among the top concerns of management and boards, yet is often separated from an organization’s strategic initiatives. Get expert coaching on how you can align your workforce plan around your organization’s goals and long-term planning. Perform a preliminary needs assessment and gap analysis for your workforce, incorporating internal and external drivers that are changing your recruitment and retention strategy. Apply a strategic and a risk-based lens to get an objective view on how to plan and prioritize future needs and begin to map out an action plan for your workforce strategy.

Topics 

• Examine internal and external workforce drivers
• Identify future workforce needs and assess potential gaps
• Assess vulnerability and criticality of positions 
• Develop an action plan to address workforce priorities 

Julie Ryan, Managing Partner, Aether Advisors, LLC

                
Assessing the Value and Potential Disruption of Distributed Energy Resources
As consumers, developers, and utilities deploy smaller, often variable, energy sources such as solar and wind, these distributed resources have become integral to how utilities manage their local distribution systems. As behind-the-meter installation becomes easier, utilities’ work to ensure proper interconnection and management of these assets becomes more complex. Learn more about how different types of resources, including microgrids and battery storage systems, can affect everything from electrical safety to power quality, regulatory compliance, and utility cost allocation and rates. Explore the steps to conducting a comprehensive impact analysis and system study, including technical concerns to be aware of and tools to assess the potential strategic value of DERs. 

Topics

• Types and characteristics of distributed energy resources 
• Potential issues for public power systems (safety, regulatory compliance, rate pressure)
• Technical concerns with the interconnection of DERs
• Impact analysis and distribution system study tools
• DER strategic value and business case

Joni Batson, P.E., Vice President, Emerging Technologies, and Joseph Blackwell, Director, Digital Utility Organization—Leidos; and John Miner, P.E., President, Collaborative Learning

                
Power Up Your Financial Policies 
Utilities across the country are seeing a rise in rate challenges, exacerbating already tight margins and increasing expenses. Discover ways to tighten up policies and rate methodologies to help ensure equitable rate recovery and avoid rate challenges. Discuss the latest trends and practices for areas such as cash reserves, capital plans, inside and outside city rates, contributed capital on grant funds, allocation studies, and payments in lieu of taxes. Review how other utilities are handling common issues and what strategies you can take home to meet your key financial targets.    

Topics

• Trends in utility rate design 
• Common pitfalls in rate challenges
• Finding and fixing vulnerable financial areas 
• Best financial policy practices

Dawn Lund, Vice President, Utility Financial Solutions

Preconference Seminars

All seminars require an additional fee

Inspired Public Service: Excellence in Public Power Leadership
The American public’s faith in its government, and government employees, is eroding to crisis levels. Leaders in public service entities have an opportunity to help turn this around through fostering organizational cultures that cause employees to bring their full heart as well as their brains to work. Join current and aspiring public power leaders and policymakers to learn how to create outcomes that produce high customer and community satisfaction. Grow your leadership skills to improve your effectiveness as a public power executive or policymaker, while also increasing your personal satisfaction as a public sector leader. Learn a systemic approach to driving the concept of leading through serving the public interest to improve confidence in your organization, generate pride, improve efficiency and effectiveness, increase employee satisfaction and retention, and support greater public satisfaction. 

Topics

• Engaging mission, vision and values
• Defining strategy and translating into action
• Breaking down silos through a decision-making framework 
• Installing useful accountability
• Promoting ethics
• Facilitating broad-based solutions
• Developing communication skills

Steve Wright, CEO, Inspired Public Service (retired CEO of Chelan Public Utility District, Washington)

Preparing for an Electric Vehicle-Driven Grid 
Electric vehicles are officially moving from early adoption to mainstream – but the electric grid is still catching up. Review how to translate the latest market forecasts into a realistic adoption scenario in your community, and what you need to know to accurately project the resulting energy and capacity needs. Discuss how you can prepare for and manage potential grid impacts, from resource planning considerations to developing transportation-specific rates and service policies. Review the basic building blocks of how to plan for load growth related to electric vehicle charging—including plotting out likely load growth, expected load shapes, and ideal locations for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicle charging. 

Topics

• Latest EV market forecasts 
• Trends in charging infrastructure
• Forecasting and planning EV-related load growth
• Strategies for mitigating and modifying demand from charging

Bill Boyce, Principal, Bill Boyce Consulting, LLC (retired from Sacramento Municipal Utility District, California) 
     
                
Best Practices in Public Power Governance
If you’re like most utility governance officials, you must quickly learn the roles, responsibilities, and expectations that come with the job. Board or city council members, especially new appointees, will get a comprehensive overview of public power and the duties, responsibilities, and legal obligations of people in the governing board. Review the nuts and bolts of governance requirements, such as open meetings and records, fiduciary responsibilities, charters and bylaws, conflicts of interest, and interaction with regulatory agencies. Learn what you can do to encourage effective board meetings and communication between board members, staff, and stakeholders. Swap strategies for successful board operations and learn techniques for board development. 

Topics 

• Understanding the public power model 
• Duties and obligations of governing board members
• Common challenges and sticky situations for board members
• Making the most of your experience

Steve VanderMeer, Executive Consultant (retired from Hometown Connections, Inc.)
 

Women in Public Power Reception

Join the women thought leaders, policymakers, and innovators shaping public power for networking and drinks. Make new friends, share stories, and enjoy great conversations.

Welcome Reception

Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while you reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and network with other public power leaders. All conference participants and guests are welcome.

Monday, June 19

Morning Conversations

Start your morning by joining friends and colleagues in small group discussions. Continental breakfast will be served.

Opening General Session

An Insider’s View of Politics and Personalities in the News
Jessica Yellin, Award-winning Journalist and Former CNN Chief White House Correspondent and author of SAVAGE NEWS, a novel. 

Whether from sitting down with the newsmakers – including former President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama, Anthony Fauci, and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex – or reporting on the most impactful news of the day as an Emmy, Peabody and Gracie Award winning political correspondent, Jessica Yellin has been dedicated to giving the audience information, not a panic attack. Now as the founder of News Not Noise, an independent digital media brand, Yellin shares her take on current political events and how people can shape the news for better or worse. 

Industry Innovations Expo open

Refreshment breaks will be held in the Industry Innovations Expo.

Breakout Sessions

1. Building Pride in Public Service
   Instilling a culture that builds pride, meaning, and purpose can lead to higher levels of motivation and commitment. Learn what opportunities public power leaders have to improve organizational effectiveness through driving a culture of inspired public service, including how to continuously connect the dots between daily tasks and greater community impact. 
    
2. How Not to Lose Institutional Knowledge
   Knowledge transfer happens from individual to individual – knowledge retention captures key information in a way that benefits the organization. Learn how your organization can improve knowledge retention, including strategies for successfully engaging employees, best practices for storing and organizing key information, and tips for setting up smooth and seamless processes to capture intel. 
    
3. Preserving and Sharing Utility History 
   Telling your utility's story is important to preserving its legacy among your workforce and within your community. While many public power utilities have built up a long tradition of serving their communities, the connection of the community to the utility's past often wanes along with the years. Hear how one utility uncovered some wonderful history and a public power legacy that the whole community could embrace. Learn what they are doing to share that history, so the next generation understands the true value of public power. 
    
4. Exercising Keeps the Lights On 
   Just as regular physical activity is a boost for your personal health, exercising your utility’s incident response plan leads to improved security and operations. Hear lessons learned from the host and participants in the latest GridEx, the largest electric sector exercise in the U.S., including what recommendations emerged related to communications, collaboration, and coordination between state and local government, utilities, and other parties. Discover how you can prepare to participate in this year’s GridEx and other tips to enhance your incident response posture. 
    
5. Renewed Approaches for Renewable Energy
   Transitioning the energy system to more clean energy sources requires researching how viable new technologies and approaches can be at scale. Learn about two utility projects – one using utility scale solar on landfills and another converting coal plants to run on densified fuel pellets made from clean industrial paper and plastic waste – including how each utility embraced partnerships and what conditions allow for these technologies to be replicated.
    
6. Preparing for Utility Fleet Electrification 
   If you’ve considered electrifying your fleet – or your city is discussing the possibility – learn the ins and outs of what it takes to properly procure and manage an electrified fleet of vehicles. Review what you need to know before you make the plunge into operating an EV fleet, including how to make sure your facilities are prepared.  
    
7. Federal Legislative Update: From Congress to Your Community
   Hear what’s happening in Congress this year on issues that impact public power and your utility, including implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and legislative activity related to climate change, supply chain challenges, and grid security. Discover how you can add your voice and show Congress the power and needs of your community. 
    
8. Demonstrating a Commitment to Safety
   Leaders have a particularly wide scope of influence, so it is critical that they demonstrate commitment to safety through both words and actions, just as they do for utility operations. True leadership goes beyond wearing proper PPE and ensuring others do the same – executives can create and sustain a culture of positive safety performance through communication, training, and recognition. Learn how to integrate trust and accountability into your daily routines and performance cycles, and ultimately building in a stronger culture of safety from top to bottom. 

Lunch (on your own)

Breakout Sessions

1. Strategic Planning That Sticks
   Outlining your utility’s path to continued success or transformation in a strategic plan is only the first step. Leaders are charged with turning the plan into action – and keeping it from sitting on the proverbial shelf gathering dust. Explore the steps one utility took to invigorate the strategic planning process, including communicating the plan, creating action plans, developing accountability for implementation, and providing periodic progress reports.
    
2. Fostering Energy Literacy in Young People
   Get an inside look at the results of the National Energy Literacy Survey, which measured high school seniors and juniors’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding energy. Then discuss opportunities for providing K-12 energy education, including available resources to boost energy literacy, as well as fostering optimism regarding the energy literacy of young people entering adulthood. 
    
3. Collaborating with Tribes on Hydropower Relicensing and Licensing
   In addition to being a critical backbone for electricity production in the U.S., North American rivers have economic, cultural, and spiritual significance to many tribes and first nations. As hydropower operators seek new and manage existing licenses on these facilities, collaborating with affected tribes and first nations is not only a best practice for involving your community, it is increasingly a regulatory requirement. Explore a tribal perspective in natural resource decision-making, including the important protocols for early and continuous collaboration with tribes and the layers of influence and authority that tribes can exert in regulatory processes. Share examples of how such collaboration has occurred in your community and bring your questions on how to build better, proactive relationships.  
    
4. Disaster Response: Working with State and Federal Partners
   Meet the federal and state government leaders involved in grid resilience and how different agencies can help your utility following a disaster. Bring your questions on securing grant funding, planning, preparedness, and response to hear directly from the panelists on how utilities can expect to work with each partner.
    
5. Bringing Energy Storage to Scale
   As more public power utilities weigh the technical feasibility of implementing energy storage technologies, some common lessons in deploying and operationalizing these technologies have emerged. Hear from a panel of public power utilities about how storage projects have enhanced their organizational capacities, what factors they considered in weighing the benefits and costs of energy storage technologies, and how their implementation went. Also provide input on the energy storage maturity framework for public power utilities that is in development. 
    
6. Developing an Astute Electric Vehicle Strategy
   Hear how Nashville Electric Service formulated its comprehensive business strategy for vehicle electrification, including assessing the state of vehicle electrification in its service area, conducting workshops and stakeholder interviews to define a desired future state, performing a gap analysis, and setting attainable short-term and long-term goals. Discuss how considerations such as state and federal targets, automaker electrification goals, availability of grant funding, and community-specific needs can shape a utility’s EV roadmap or planning process. 
    
7. Readying for Environmental Regulations
   As federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency have outlined an ambitious regulatory agenda, utilities need to know how any potential new rules will govern future operations related to permitting, greenhouse gas emissions, water and air quality, and PFAS and other industrial chemicals. Get the latest look at the administration’s regulations agenda, review the implications of rulings from the Supreme Court regarding clean water and other environmental issues, and discuss how public power can brace for these changes and embrace potential opportunities that arise.  
    
8. Rating Agency Outlook for Public Power 
   Get the inside scoop on how Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor rate your credit and municipal bond issues directly from representatives from all three agencies. Learn how each views the latest global trends and utility threats as working for and against public power – and your utility’s - financial strength in a competitive market. Discuss the steps your boards and managers should take to put your utility in the best position to raise capital.

Break with Sponsors (Industry Innovations Expo) 

Breakout Sessions

1. Level Up Your Thought Leadership with Social Media
   For nearly two decades, social media has proven to be an effective platform for thought leadership. Discuss tactics for amplifying your messages and how you can align your executive profiles with your organization’s social strategy. Hear the latest strategies for planning and scheduling social media posts – including when you should consider straying from the plan. Also delve into how to measure meaningful results from your activity across social channels. 
    
2. Creating a Talent Pipeline 
   With a competitive labor market, fewer individuals pursuing careers in the utility industry, and an increasingly high volume of employees nearing eligibility for retirement, succession and workforce planning is vital to continuity of business operations and the ongoing success of public power utilities. It creates a culture to attract, develop, and retain top-notch talent. Learn strategies for identifying high-potential employees, developing top talent, and building on internal strengths to create a talent pipeline. 
    
3. Embracing Environmental Justice and Equity  
   As public power utilities transition to cleaner and non-emitting generation technologies, there are opportunities to further engage with communities who have been disproportionately affected by developments in the past. Engaging these communities in the thoughtful design and implementation of new technologies, policies, business models, processes, and programs can deliver more equitable environmental benefits, economic opportunities, and innovation. Learn what utilities are doing to reduce emissions impacts on specific communities and equitably distribute costs and opportunities in their long-term planning.
    
4. Protecting Grid Infrastructure
   In the wake of several high-profile attacks, communities are curious to know how secure the electric grid and their power supply is from harm. Get a briefing on the type and shifting nature of incidents targeting utilities and learn what you can do to protect your assets, including substations, transmission, and distribution lines. Also learn what steps to take to coordinate with law enforcement and keep the community informed should your system experience an attack. 
    
5. Getting the Most Value from Customer Data 
   One of the key features of advanced metering infrastructure is that it produces data – a lot of data. Among all that information lies valuable insight about how your customers use electricity, which utilities can analyze to better target programs and services, improve efficiency, and more. Learn how one utility is leveraging a data service to mine value from its AMI and customer data, what bumps in the road it encountered in making the data actionable, and plans for the future. 
    
6. Developing Community Solar Programs
   Setting up a community solar project requires careful study and review from many angles – the right site, ownership and subscription models, community outreach and education, financing, and more. Review how the Department of Energy’s National Community Solar Partnership can assist your utility in the decision-making process, including what tools can help you analyze and form the right strategy for your community, and insights from public power utilities on how to make the most of this assistance. 
    
7. What We’ve Learned about IIJA Funding So Far 
   Get an update on how funding stemming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has rolled out compared to what was initially expected, including where opportunities for grid resiliency, physical and cybersecurity, and electric and hydrogen vehicle fueling infrastructure stand. Review any early lessons learned from the first round of funding doled out and get tips on how utilities and local governments can best leverage the funding to accomplish their goals. 
    
8. Broadband as an Extension of Your Utility 
   Utilities have been deploying fiber deeper into their electric system for several years and might now have the excess capacity or ability to expand that fiber to support broadband services. Learn about the options utilities have in terms of partnerships and business models for rolling out broadband and hear about the pros and cons of different approaches from utilities who have made different models work for their communities. Discuss the steps required to institute the new service no matter which path you take. 

Industry Innovations Expo Reception

Unwind over drinks as you connect with industry suppliers, vendors, and consultants and discover how they can help your organization succeed. Enjoy some down time with colleagues.

Tuesday, June 20

Morning Conversations

Start your morning by joining friends and colleagues in small group discussions. Continental breakfast will be served

Industry Innovations Expo open

Awards & General Session 

Presentation of National Awards
Recognizing excellence in public power leadership

Navigating the Not-Normal Economy
Ron Insana, CNBC Senior Analyst and Commentator; Trailblazing Financial Journalist; Bestselling Author; Financial Professional

Communities across the U.S. and the world are learning how to manage amid economic turmoil – rising from global political instability, rapid inflation, and broken supply chains. Gain insight into the market signals and political maneuvers that are affecting our economy so that you can navigate through the noise and keep your utility as well-positioned as possible. Insana is host of a nationally syndicated daily radio show and a senior analyst and commentator for CNBC and the author of Traders’ Tales, The Message of the Markets, TrendWatching and most recently How to Make a Fortune from the Biggest Bailout in U.S. History: A Guide to the 7 Greatest Bargains from Main Street to Wall Street.

Industry Innovations Expo open

Refreshment breaks will be held in the Industry Innovations Expo.

Breakout Sessions

1. The Power of Example
   Of the many reasons local governments and public power utilities might face retention and recruitment challenges, demonstrating inspired leadership might be one of the most straightforward ways to solve the problem. Gain insight from other public power leaders on how you can develop into a person people want to follow, whether that’s in how you engage with your board, employees, city leaders or community. 
    
2. Centering DEI as a Retention Strategy 
   Utilities are facing an aging workforce and increased competition for talent. It is necessary, then, for public power utilities to actively seek to attract and retain a highly skilled, diverse workforce to ensure long-term continuity. Review the business case for embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion and learn what strategies you can deploy to attract, develop, and retain a skilled workforce that is reflective of the community you serve. 
    
3. Modern Municipalization Efforts    
   Get an update on the status of various municipalization efforts across the country and discuss how the various motivations behind these movements affects public perception about your utility. Hear directly from representatives from communities interested in the public power business model, including what benefits they hope to achieve, and how you can utilize this information to demonstrate the value of public power to your community and stakeholders.
    
4. How to Develop a Supply Chain Cybersecurity Risk Management Program 
   The vendors who provide products and services to public power utilities and their associated municipalities offer valuable services but can pose significant cyber risk to your organization. Gain pragmatic guidance and a program framework to address – and mitigate – risks stemming from your supply chain. 
    
5. Research, Reliability, and Resilience: Building the Modern Utility
   Explore the suite of tools and resources designed to help you transform your utility into the one your community expects and deserves in the 21st century. Learn how programs – from the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) to Smart Energy Provider (SEP) and Demonstration of Energy and Efficiency Developments (DEED) – can provide you with the insight needed to prioritize system improvements, help you benchmark your practices, and transfer key findings about how to apply the latest technology in a public power setting. 
    
6. Exploring Utility and Transit Partnerships
   Learn how Seattle City Light is working with its transit local system, King County Metro, on innovative technologies to support transportation electrification and implement its key priority of zero emissions by 2035. Explore why Seattle sees electrification as a major tool in decarbonization of the transportation system, and how the partnership offers opportunities to address environmental, economic, and social inequities in the city. 
    
7. How to Get Federal and State Funding Related to Natural Disasters
   When your community is working to rebuild following a natural disaster or hardening your system to be more resilient after any future disasters, your team should ensure you aren’t leaving money on the table that could support these efforts. Hear from public power utilities and vendors with experience in acquiring grants to support grid resilience about what to do to position your utility for getting, tracking, and properly using these funds. 
    
8. The New Global Paradigm for Natural Gas 
   Get a global view of how the natural gas market is changing and has changed, and then examine how different regions of the U.S. are affected by these fluctuations. Discuss how natural gas supply, demand, and transport infrastructure in each region affect public power’s ability to plan for and deliver reliable, affordable electricity. 

Lunch - Industry Innovations Expo 

Breakout Sessions

1. Strengthening Collaboration and Group Dynamics 
   New work norms and habits picked up the past few years have changed – and often undermined – efforts to engage with others and promote collaboration within our workplace culture. Get ideas on how to break the routine and build community within your organization, not in restoring past activities but through focusing on the distinctiveness of the people involved and what motivates and inspires them to engage. Explore what makes our interactions important and how you can create more meaningful dialogue to create impactful exchanges. 
    
2. How Customer Engagement Can Lead to Success 
   Public power utilities pride ourselves on openness and transparency. Public meetings and other venues offer the opportunity for valuable feedback and engagement and to address misinformation or contentious issues head on. Learn strategies to establish your utility's community-oriented posture, create a sense of ownership for customers, and pave the way for getting resource plans and rate increases approved. Review how to write a communication plan, distill complex information into understandable concepts, and deal with misinformation. Share your best practices for participating in community meetings. 
    
3. Keeping Your Small Utility Secure 
   As cyber and physical security incidents against utilities get increasing attention, many utilities are reassessing efforts to mitigate affects to their systems. Utilities serving smaller communities might not have as many resources in house to counter new threats as larger systems, but are deploying strategies to address threats and reduce risks. Connect with other smaller utilities to share ideas on addressing and strengthening your cybersecurity.
    
4. Urban Microgrids: Community Resiliency at Scale
   In September of 2022, thousands of residents of Lodi, California lost power for roughly an hour during record-breaking heat. Incidents like this are becoming more frequent as the electric grid is met with growing demand and the integration of renewable energy sources. Walk through how the city evaluated solutions to prevent future blackouts and why it ultimately chose to develop an urban microgrid. Discuss how urban microgrids can help overcome challenges posed by the modern grid architecture. 
    
5. Managing Loads from Building and Transportation Electrification
   The anticipated load growth from the electrification of buildings and the transportation sector provides both challenges and opportunities for electric utilities. Hear from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory about how it has modeled how utilities can manage peak demand with energy efficiency and demand flexibility, and get guidance from the Department of Energy on how utilities can leverage available tools to reduce uncertainty in forecasting load and develop next generation charging profiles.  
    
6. Financing Municipal Broadband Networks
   Learn practical steps to getting the financing necessary to move your municipal broadband project forward, from how to navigate various funding sources to defining rate structures and completing a competitive market analysis. Connect with utility leaders who have deployed municipal broadband networks to discuss the successes and challenges of raising capital for your own build, and how to make sure your planning reflects the actual costs you will incur.
    
7. Examining Hydropower’s Present and Future 
   Amid drought and other climate concerns, and considering cumbersome relicensing processes, many questions surround the long-term fate and role of hydroelectric dams. Get an update on how electric power dams have fared, what operational challenges they may face, and the outlook for how public power can rely on this critical resource in the future.  

Break with Sponsors (Industry Innovations Expo) 

General Session

The New Cyberthreat Landscape
Rachel Wilson, Director of Cybersecurity, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; Former Head of Counterterrorism Operations, National Security Agency

As energy infrastructure of all kinds has become an increasing target and geopolitical asset, the types of cyberattacks and nature of the attackers utilities are facing has changed. Get an insider’s briefing on how the threat landscape has transformed and how utilities and communities should respond accordingly. Wilson will share her unique insights into how we can best defend ourselves in an increasingly hostile cyberenvironment.

Association Business Meeting

Get reports from the board Treasurer on APPA’s performance and financials and cast your vote on policy resolutions that will guide APPA’s advocacy efforts for the coming year and for members to represent your region on the APPA Board of Directors. Each utility member must appoint a voting delegate for this meeting. 

Special Event

Wednesday, June 21

Chair’s Breakfast & Closing General Session

Chair’s Breakfast
Doors open at 7:30 am. Please be seated by 8:30 am for breakfast service. 

Installation of the 2023-24 Board Chair

Being in Charge: Lessons from Our Military Leaders
Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author and Military Historian

Get a guided profile of prominent military leaders from bestselling author and historian Rick Atkinson, including what key lessons from their successes and failures can translate to your leadership. A three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former Washington Post journalist, Atkinson shares the compelling findings from his works, which have ranged from the American Revolution to the liberation of Europe in World War II to the Persian Gulf War, and from his experience spending two months with General David H. Petraeus during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Conference Adjourns

National Conference