AGENDA - Wednesday, March 8, 2023
12:15 PM CHECK-IN / REGISTRATION
1:00 PM OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS: John Cupparo, Board Member, SPP
1:20 PM Session I - RTO’s Vision
Although much has changed since last year, the need for transmission investment in this rapidly changing industry persists. Continued concerns about the amount, nature, and funding of continued transmission investment create a need to more strategically consider transmission planning processes across the electrical grid. How have the RTOs coordination efforts been going and what new initiatives can stakeholders look forward to? What are the latest developments related to the MISO Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) and SPP 20-year Assessment processes? How has the Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue (JTIQ) study process changed the way we think about how the RTOs can coordinate on key issues? How should longer-range transmission planning incorporate and account for the changing resource mix as a result of state and federal environmental policy? The speakers will discuss the work that has been done since last year and how the RTOs can consider what the future grid might look like in order to ensure reliable and economic electricity for end users.
Speakers:
Aubrey Johnson, Vice President, System Planning, MISO
David Kelley, Vice President, Engineering, SPP
1:50 PM Session II - Introduction to Resource Adequacy & the Sloped Demand Curve
The MISO South and SPP resource mixes are changing in profound ways that complicate resource adequacy. Those changes are even complicating the very definition of resource adequacy. The longtime reliance on relatively close conventional baseload power plants is declining sharply, driven by economic and policy factors as well as consumer preferences for renewable resources that can be very distant from load centers. This is creating numerous challenges for maintaining energy service reliability and affordability.
Speakers:
Antoine Lucas, Vice President Markets, SPP
Todd Ramey, Sr. Vice President, Markets & Digital Strategy, MISO
2:10 PM Session III - Resource Adequacy & the Sloped Demand Curve Panel
This panel will discuss how best to ensure that generation, transmission, and energy storage expansion maintain resource adequacy within and across regions. As part of that discussion, the panel will consider appropriate roles for RTOs, state regulators, utilities, and other industry participants.
Moderator: David Sapper, Director, Customized Energy Solutions
Panelists:
Lisa Duffey, Director – Strategic Market and Fuel Operation, Cleco
Charles Griffey, President, Peregrine Consultants, LLC
Brett Kruse, Vice President, Market Design, Calpine
Dr. David Patton, President, Potomac Economics
3:30 PM NETWORKING BREAK
4:00 PM KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Beth Garza, Sr. Fellow, R Street Institute
4:20 PM Session IV - Merchant HVDC & Grid Technologies
In the journey to decarbonization, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission as well as other advanced grid technologies could be a key enabler to deliver low-cost, clean energy to consumers. Although they may seem to be a “no brainer” solution, these projects and technologies often face significant challenges. On this panel, we will explore the advantages HVDC and other grid technologies can offer, learn about two HVDC development projects and discuss potential solutions to challenges these projects continue to face.
Moderator: Rob Gramlich, President, Grid Strategies
Panelists:
Aaron Bloom, Energy Systems Integrator, NextEra
Nicole Luckey, Sr. Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Invenergy
Justin Sabrsula, Vice President, Fundamentals & New Markets, Pattern Energy
5:05 PM COCKTAIL RECEPTION
AGENDA - Thursday, March 9, 2023
8:15 AM CHECK-IN / REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST
9:00 AM KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Andre Porter, Sr. Vice President & General Counsel, MISO
9:20 AM Session V - Leveraging Renewables
MISO received a record 171 GW of proposed generation projects, much of it solar, in 2022. If they’re all accepted, the interconnection queue would be comprised of 95% renewable and storage resources. Those same resources account for more than 91 GW of the 95.4 GW of active requests in SPP’s queue, and that is before the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment in the sector and related technologies gooses development. This panel will discuss the various steps the grid operators are taking to address the flood of renewable requests and to shorten their time in the queues.
Moderator: Melissa Seymour, Vice President, External Affairs, MISO
Panelists:
Dr. Terry Chambers, Director, Energy Efficiency & Sustainable Energy Ctr., University of Louisiana - Lafayette
Steve Gaw, Sr. Vice President of Markets and Infrastructure, Advanced Power Alliance
Robert Moore, Managing Director, Head of Origination & Structuring, Recurrent Energy
Kelly Pearce, Managing Director, Integrated Resource Planning & Strategy, AEP
10:10 AM KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Jette Gebhart, Director, Office of Energy Market Regulation (OEMR), FERC
10:30 AM NETWORKING BREAK
11:00 AM Session VI - Reliability, Resilience & Resource Adequacy from Different Points of View
It is not just the resource mix that is rapidly changing, but also the rules, regulations, opportunities, challenges and costs. Your interpretation of what reliability, resilience and resource adequacy means to you and how you determine what is best for your company can vary depending on your point of view. This panel will explore the consumer view as well as the view from municipalities and cooperatives.
Moderator: Jennifer Vosburg, President, Jennifer J. Vosburg LLC
Panelists:
Stephen Chriss, Director, Energy Services, Walmart
Jim Dauphinais, Managing Principal, Brusker & Associates, Inc.
Jason Painter, Sr. Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, ACES
12:00 PM LUNCHEON
1:30 PM Session VII - Regulatory Matters: Insights from State Commissioners
Regulators in the MISO and SPP footprints work with other state commissioners in their regions, in addition to their day-to-day responsibilities. Here’s an opportunity to hear from four of the state commissions in a panel moderated by Arkansas PSC Chairman Emeritus Ted Thomas. The regulators will share their insights on FERC’s various transmission-related NOPRs, the reliability challenges posed by extreme winter weather, the Inflation Reduction Act’s boost for the renewable industry, balancing the interests of disparate stakeholder groups, and other issues.
Moderator: Ted Thomas, Founding Partner, Energize Strategies
Panelists:
Brent Bailey, Commissioner, Mississippi Public Service Commission
Andrew French, Commissioner, Kansas Corporation Commission
Davante Lewis, Commissioner, Louisiana Public Service Commission
Dan Scripps, Chairman, Michigan Public Service Commission
2:30 PM KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Jeff Dennis, Deputy Director for Transmission Development, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy
2:50 PM NETWORKING BREAK
3:20 PM Session VIII - Carbon Sequestration
Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) may play a vital role in the ongoing energy transition, and could be the critical link for decarbonization in both electric power generation and industrial manufacturing. With governmental agencies, the electric power industry, energy customers and investors all looking for ways to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, CCUS is becoming an increasing area of focus. Join this distinguished panel to hear how stakeholders are responding to developments in CCUS regulation, technology, and incentives and learn about the evolving challenges and opportunities for CCUS.
Moderator: Dr. David Dismukes, Professor Emeritus, LSU Center for Energy Studies
Panelists:
Bill Conway, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, CLECO Corporate Holdings LLC
Bret Estep, Sr. Director Renewable Energy Advisory Services, Tenaska Power Services Co.
Benjamin Heard, President, Gulf Coast Sequestration
4:35 PM ADJOURN