Power up with coffee and connections at this informal breakfast. Visit with your peers and chat with sponsors.

Ready for liftoff? Celebrate Huntsville’s rich legacy of space exploration and innovation while networking with peers, enjoying cosmic-inspired food and drinks, and winding down in an atmosphere that’s truly out of this world.

With the future of FEMA uncertain, reimbursement and federal declarations are waning. Hear from utilities and a member of the FEMA review council how you can increase your utility’s chances of getting reimbursed and what you should consider in reserve funding in the current climate. Walk through a reimbursement template to check if your practices align with the latest requirements and expectations.

As critical infrastructure projects continue to be delayed by long lead times and material shortages, utilities also face uncertainty from global markets – affecting the cost and feasibility of major efforts. Explore the various procurement strategies, considerations with domestic versus foreign manufacturing, inventory optimization methods, and other ways your peer utilities are building resilience into their supply chains.

Learn how to leverage distributed energy resources in your community to help combat rising costs and distribution and transmission constraints. Hear from utilities that have implemented distributed energy resource management systems to gather their advice for a smooth deployment, including tips for effectively engaging customers in programs. Discuss what a virtual power plant concept could do for your system and considerations for effectively aggregating DER in your area. 

Learn how utilities and regulators are using artificial intelligence to manage increasingly complex compliance requirements. Review potential use cases including automating data collection, enabling real-time monitoring, and developing predictive analytics with AI. Discuss how to integrate AI tools into your workflows to reduce manual workload, support decision making, and helping you keep pace with evolving environmental regulations.

Explore practical and emerging use cases for artificial intelligence across your operations. Discuss how to effectively use AI tools for enhanced forecasting, grid optimization, and more. Learn what it takes to set up and train AI to deliver accurate results and what controls to implement to reduce risk to your utility and customers.

Learn how utilities are deploying energy storage to address reliability, manage peak load, and integrate renewables. Review the use and business cases for storage, including how these assets can support peak shaving or energy arbitrage and if there are opportunities to stack value for these assets. Get a rundown on the latest economics surrounding energy storage, including the market outlook and what to look for when bidding for storage assets.

The national conversation around fossil fuels is shifting — and utilities are adapting in real time. From maintaining coal generation to navigating new natural gas facility development, the industry faces evolving challenges. Discuss how utility leaders are responding to changing policy, market pressures, and reliability demands.