If you’re planning or building a new operations center (or hoping to in the near future), then it is important to be familiar with a new slate of construction, technology, and operational improvements. Review the  considerations necessary for designing a new system operations center, from integrating the latest operational technology, security features, and strategies for construction and commissioning. Discuss how to design a facility that will meet your operational needs for today and allow for adaptability for what the future might bring.

Extreme weather events are stressing grid reliability and exposing vulnerabilities. Examine engineering strategies for grid hardening, wildfire mitigation, flood protection, storm resilience, and more for your transmission and distribution systems. Learn what steps utilities in regions with high risk for extreme events have taken to bolster their infrastructure and get insights into the latest engineering design standards and technologies that can help your planning.

Utilities are under increasing pressure to expand and adjust their power supply while ensuring long-term reliability. As dispatchable fossil fuel plants are retired, many are exploring alternative fuel options. As the economic challenges of hydrogen and other clean fuels have increased, other non-fossil alternatives, including biomass and waste-derived fuels, are getting increased attention. Explore how to find out which options might be available in your region and discuss the costs, implications, and trade-offs to be aware of with these viable fuel sources.

The value behind a grid modernization project goes well beyond the price tag, to how these investments support reliability, operational efficiency, customer engagement, and more. Learn practical strategies for building business cases for your projects that showcase the full potential value of the project alongside the cost. Review how to translate technical risk into business terms and learn best practices for structuring costs, capturing savings, and securing funding for grid modernization efforts.

As discussions of utility resource mixes become more charged, public power leaders must learn how to convey technical concepts into relatable terms. Learn how other public power communities have made talking about power supply and resource adequacy digestible to the policy makers, customers, and other decision makers in their communities. Get strategies for how to frame utility messages alongside community goals and explain technical challenges in an accessible way.