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Battery energy storage systems, or BESS, are transforming how utilities manage reliability, resilience, and capacity. Get a comprehensive overview of BESS applications and strategies, including practical use cases and examples from public power. Explore how storage can be deployed for multiple objectives — from improving distribution reliability to supporting bulk supply services — while learning about emerging technologies and safety considerations. Through real-world examples and interactive discussion, gain understanding of the technical, operational, and economic aspects of BESS deployment, all to help you make informed decisions and plan for your utility’s future.

Topics

• BESS applications and benefits
• Behind-the-meter storage and its role in customer solutions
• Strategies for reliability improvement and distribution capacity
• Value stacking and multi-objective dispatch for maximum ROI
• Integration with solar and other DERs
• Flexible connections for BESS (emerging concepts)
• Safety considerations and risk management
• Energy storage resources

Gain the knowledge and tools necessary to conduct thorough incident investigations, including overseeing effective root cause analyses. Truly understanding the underlying causes of workplace incidents creates the foundation for implementing corrective actions that prevent future occurrences. Walk through what to do and expect in the entire investigation process, from initial response and data collection to analysis, reporting, and follow-up. Learn the latest suite of incident investigation techniques and root cause analysis methods and review tools for data collection and documentation. Discover how to effectively create and track corrective actions and keep up with reporting requirements.

Topics

• How incident investigations happened in the past vs. what they entail now
• Different types and components of root cause analysis, and how to conduct one properly
• Metrics driving regulatory and management systems
• Developing corrective actions
• Preparing your facility for investigation and analysis
• How to build a “go kit”

As the landscape for EV charging infrastructure continues to evolve, utilities and commercial customers have changing considerations for load, cost, and other grid impacts. Follow the latest trends in Level 3 DC fast chargers, including how this infrastructure is affecting load growth and electric rates. Review strategies for right-sizing transformers with EV load and considerations for optimizing EV infrastructure builds, whether utility-owned or commercial installations. Discover collaboration opportunities for industrial-scale and residential charging and how rate design can influence adoption and grid effects.

Dive into practical applications for some of the most complex and often misunderstood rules in the APPA Safety Manual. Walk through sections you may have overlooked and gain a deeper understanding of why these practices matter. Topics include truck grounding, equipotential grounding, rubber glove use, and radio frequency hazards. Get a preview of proposed changes under consideration in the next version of the NESC and discuss how the changes might affect public power’s safety practices in the future.

Utility leaders are adapting their safety training and programs to align with a broader set of expectations and learning styles among the current and next generation of workers. Learn what strategies help bridge generational gaps in your safety programs and how public power has successfully implemented these strategies. Find out the power that more effective, inclusive training strategies have on building a safety culture that resonates across your team.

Community growth brings economic opportunities but also new risks for utilities. Explore how T&D planners can manage line extension policies, capacity constraints, power supply costs, and rate design to ensure growth benefits both the utility and its customers. Review how growth has affected utility capacity and reliability in different regions and how public power is leveraging distributed generation to manage some growth.

Discuss the benefits and limitations of AI in relation to safety programs with your peers. Hear how other utilities use AI, share outcomes from your forays into AI applications, and gain practical strategies you can take back to your utility. Review example integrations and prompts and debate how to validate information compiled by AI along with its merits and pitfalls.

Join us for a run-down of the latest regulatory agenda at the Environmental Protection Agency, including recent developments affecting public power environmental programs and operations, from power plant air emission requirements to wastewater discharges, permitting, and solid waste disposal.

Imagine planning a trip without choosing a destination, mapping an itinerary, or deciding who you’ll travel with. Many of us approach our careers this way — hoping things will work out without ever taking the wheel. This is your invitation to stop wandering and start steering — not just for yourself, but for the teams you lead and influence. Learn how to begin to take ownership of your career and individual leadership development, while also learning how to cultivate accountability, foster a growth mindset, and empower others on your team. First, reflect on your values, uncover your strengths, and learn tools to help you create a personalized roadmap for growth. Then, explore how to effectively encourage your team to adopt a growth mindset, take accountability, and create a team development action plan. Whether you're just starting out or looking to reignite your path, stop waiting for someone else to lead and start practicing how to guide your own journey toward a fulfilling career and culture of results.

Known for his former life as con man, check forger, and impostor between the ages of 15 and 21, Frank Abagnale’s story inspired the Academy Award-nominated feature film, Catch Me If You Can. Abagnale’s unique expertise and first-hand experience now focus on a life of service and his contributions to the world of cybersecurity are immeasurable. The FBI and more than 14,000 financial institutions, corporations, and government agencies utilize his fraud prevention programs. And although most of his work is with the U.S. government, he refuses to be paid for it. He is a premier cybersecurity speaker, appearing at the FBI Academy and Bureau field offices, a faculty member at the National Advocacy Center, and runs Abagnale & Associates, a financial fraud consultancy company.