Rapid, concentrated demand growth from data centers, advanced manufacturing, and other super sized electric loads have the potential to bring major economic development opportunities, but come paired with complex challenges around service needs, infrastructure investment, procurement, and more. How public power providers structure rates and policies determines both whether your community attracts this growth and to what extent existing customers see effects. Explore what high load factor customers need from the grid and how utilities can translate those needs into thoughtful, defensible rate structures, line extension policies, and contracts. Discuss strategies for balancing opportunity and risk, and considerations for contracts such as firm vs. non firm service, cost recovery mechanisms, and market structures. Examine what other utilities are doing to design competitive offerings that support modern load growth and sustain affordability.

Topics: 

• Industries driving load growth and their energy requirements
• Considerations for economic development
• Rate design strategies for large loads – and the effect on other customers
• Trends in utility policies and rate structures
• Developing contracts that support the community and the large customer

Rapid, concentrated demand growth from data centers, advanced manufacturing, and other super sized electric loads have the potential to bring major economic development opportunities, but come paired with complex challenges around service needs, infrastructure investment, procurement, and more. How public power providers structure rates and policies determines both whether your community attracts this growth and to what extent existing customers see effects. Explore what high load factor customers need from the grid and how utilities can translate those needs into thoughtful, defensible rate structures, line extension policies, and contracts. Discuss strategies for balancing opportunity and risk, and considerations for contracts such as firm vs. non firm service, cost recovery mechanisms, and market structures. Examine what other utilities are doing to design competitive offerings that support modern load growth and sustain affordability.

Topics: 

• Industries driving load growth and their energy requirements
• Considerations for economic development
• Rate design strategies for large loads – and the effect on other customers
• Trends in utility policies and rate structures
• Developing contracts that support the community and the large customer

Build core literacy in the concepts surrounding risk and critical infrastructure and learn about the frameworks and assessment tools that can help your utility prioritize and manage risks surrounding your assets. Begin with an introduction to the fundamental components of risk — threats, vulnerabilities, consequences, and likelihood — and then explore how structured frameworks can support clearer decision-making across your organization’s leadership. Designed for professionals who need a grounded, shared understanding of strategic risk and the emerging challenges utilities face in managing it. Walk through how to conduct qualitative and quantitative approaches to risk analysis, including developing risk registers and interpreting risk analyses with confidence.

Topics:

• Elements of risk and risk management 
• Developing effective, structured risk scenarios
• Using frameworks to understand and prioritize risk
• Approaches for assessing and analyzing risk
• Challenges for utilities in risk management

Build core literacy in the concepts surrounding risk and critical infrastructure and learn about the frameworks and assessment tools that can help your utility prioritize and manage risks surrounding your assets. Begin with an introduction to the fundamental components of risk — threats, vulnerabilities, consequences, and likelihood — and then explore how structured frameworks can support clearer decision-making across your organization’s leadership. Designed for professionals who need a grounded, shared understanding of strategic risk and the emerging challenges utilities face in managing it. Walk through how to conduct qualitative and quantitative approaches to risk analysis, including developing risk registers and interpreting risk analyses with confidence.

Topics:

• Elements of risk and risk management 
• Developing effective, structured risk scenarios
• Using frameworks to understand and prioritize risk
• Approaches for assessing and analyzing risk
• Challenges for utilities in risk management

Investigate the practical steps utility leaders and finance professionals can take to stay ahead of the evolving financial and regulatory landscape for public utilities. Delve into the upcoming changes to governmental accounting standards, including walking through practical examples of how these changes could affect financial reporting and decision making. Then explore common attributes of fraud and how organizations are preventing and addressing it, including why strong internal controls and proper segregation of duties remain essential. Discuss single audit and regulatory considerations and how control weaknesses can create broader compliance risks. Conclude with a forward looking discussion on funding capital projects, including the role of financial forecasts, key budget to actual controls, and how capital decisions affect rates and your long term financial planning.

Topics: 

• GASB changes on the horizon and what they mean for your financial reports
• Fraud prevention and internal controls for resource-constrained organizations
• What utility finance pros should know about regulatory changes and compliance
• Financial planning and sustainable options for funding capital projects

Investigate the practical steps utility leaders and finance professionals can take to stay ahead of the evolving financial and regulatory landscape for public utilities. Delve into the upcoming changes to governmental accounting standards, including walking through practical examples of how these changes could affect financial reporting and decision making. Then explore common attributes of fraud and how organizations are preventing and addressing it, including why strong internal controls and proper segregation of duties remain essential. Discuss single audit and regulatory considerations and how control weaknesses can create broader compliance risks. Conclude with a forward looking discussion on funding capital projects, including the role of financial forecasts, key budget to actual controls, and how capital decisions affect rates and your long term financial planning.

Topics: 

• GASB changes on the horizon and what they mean for your financial reports
• Fraud prevention and internal controls for resource-constrained organizations
• What utility finance pros should know about regulatory changes and compliance
• Financial planning and sustainable options for funding capital projects

It is easy to get overwhelmed by cybersecurity findings and analyses. The challenge lies in producing clear, measurable, leadership-ready decisions out of this sea of information. Gain strategies for how to translate technical results into priorities for taking action, discuss how to establish effective governance structures, and review steps to adopt a measurable assurance model that positions your organization to proactively tackle cybersecurity challenges.

Hear perspectives from both a small public power utility and an industry cyber practitioner on field-tested steps that can meaningfully improve your organization’s security posture and resilience. Get ideas and practical guidance for boosting your security, even without large security teams, dedicated OT staff, or enterprise-level budgets to back you up.