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Monday, Oct 27, 2025

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Registration & Breakfast
Registration Location: Liberty Foyer
Breakfast Location: Freedom Ballroom

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Tutorial: Power System Needs and Services Operating with High Shares of Inverter-Based Resources
Location: Liberty CD
Workshop Chair: Julia Matevosyan, Associate Director, Chief Engineer, ESIG
**Requires separate registration**

The tutorial will cover the importance of grid reliability services – in particular, how system needs for services are changing with increasing shares of inverter-based resources (wind, solar PV and battery storage), how their location of delivery can impact system behavior, and how these needs can be met by a mix of resource technologies, including emerging grid-forming inverter technology.  Topics covered will include a framework and demonstration of a method to quantify the need for services while simultaneously accredit resources for their ability to provide services. Such a framework can help system operators and planners to determine if they have enough services to cover the needs at all times. This tutorial will also discuss the approaches for procuring services in place today, and the risks and lost opportunity with insufficient interconnection requirements for new generation resources.

Matthew Richwine, Founding Partner, Telos Energy

Deepak Ramasubramanian, Principal Technical Leader, EPRI

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch
Location: Freedom Ballroom

1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Introduction / Opening Remarks
Location: Liberty CD

Opening Remarks
Mark Ahlstrom, NextEra Energy & ESIG Board of Directors’ President

Keynote
Jason Connell, VP of Planning, PJM Interconnection

Industry Overview
Debra Lew, Executive Director, ESIG

2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Break
Location: Liberty Foyer

3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Opening Plenary Session: Grid Events
Session Chair: Julia Matevosyan, Associate Director, Chief Engineer, ESIG
Location: Liberty CD

What happened during recent grid events, what triggered them, and what are we learning about system vulnerabilities and response?

Iberian Blackout of April 2025
Bruno Gouverneur, Head of Market & Operations, ENTSO-E (Belgium)

Chilean Grid Blackout of February 2025: Causes and Lessons
Victor Velar Guerrero, Manager, Studies and Real-Time Simulation, Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional (CEN) (Chile)

Grid Transition and Performance: What Do We See and What Do We Do? 
Fred Huang, Director of Operations Support, ERCOT

Blackout Prevention – Layers of Defense
Duncan Burt, Chief Strategic Growth Officer, Reactive Technologies (UK)

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Meet and Greet
Location: Victory Brewing Company

This informal happy hour is designed for new participants to meet and mingle with the ESIG community – all are invited to attend to make introductions and form new connections! RSVP here.

Tuesday, Oct 28, 2025

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast
Location: Freedom Ballroom

8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Session 1A: Resources for Firm Capacity Services
Session Chair: Steve Capanna, Policy Director, Crux Alliance
Location: Liberty CD

As systems plan for increasing clean energy, what role remains for gas or is clean firm capacity ready to fill the gap?

The role of thermal generation in decarbonized electricity systems: learnings from the ESIG Task Force on Planning for 100% Clean Electricity
Elaine Hart, Principal, Sylvan Energy Analytics

Meeting the Modern Resource Adequacy Challenges: A Case for Flexible Technology
Jenny Zhao, Senior Manager, Market Development, Wärtsilä North America

Meeting Growing and Dynamic Energy Demand with an All-of-the-Above Strategy
Matt Kalemba, Vice President, Integrated Resource Planning, Duke Energy

Power System Trends in New York: Clean Firm Resources
Jason Frasier, Senior Manager, Transmission Planning, NYISO

The Evolving Role of Thermal and Clean Firm Technologies in Low-emissions Power Systems
Max Schoenfisch, International Energy Agency (IEA) (virtual presentation)

8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Session 1B: Managing Increasing Complexity in the Control Room
Session Chair: John Simonelli, CEO and Managing Director, Flashover LLC
Location: Independence

What tools and strategies are operators using to manage growing complexity—and where are the biggest gaps?

Utilizing Operational Experience of HVDC and STATCOM for Future Functional Requirements
Rajiv Porwal, Director, System Operation, Grid-India (India) (virtual presentation)

New Adaptive Zonal Controllers (NAZA) and Innovative Solutions for System Operations at RTE
Alexandre Parisot, RTE (France)

Gridgeo – a situational awareness tool at ERCOT
Xiangjun Xu, Manager, Grid and Market Solution (GMS) Technology Development – Markets & UI, ERCOT
Tejaswi Potluri, Manager, Grid and Market Solution (GMS) Technology Development – Grid, ERCOT

Control Center of the Future: Challenges and Opportunities
Vikas Singhvi, Program Manager, EPRI

Operational Complexities and Strategic Solutions
Jonathan Gravelin, Senior Manager, Control Room Operations, ISO New England

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Break
Location: Liberty Foyer

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Session 2A: Expediting Transmission Development
Session Chair: Rob Gramlich, Founder and President, Grid Strategies
Location: Liberty CD

How can we accelerate transmission planning and construction to keep pace with rapid changes in the resource mix and load growth—and what are we learning from current major initiatives and early efforts to comply with FERC Order 1920?

Optimizing Energy and Land with TerraGrid and Routify
Aaron Bloom, Executive Director, Transmission Fundamentals, NextEra Energy Resources

Advancing Transmission in the MISO Region
Jennifer Curran, Senior Vice President, Planning and Operations, MISO

Sunny Raheem, Director, System Planning, Southwest Power Pool

Allison Clements, Principal, 804 Advisory

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Session 2B: Grid Operator use of AI and Advanced Methods within Power System Applications
Session Chair: Laura Walter, Senior Lead Data Scientist, PJM
Location: Independence

Where is AI already delivering value in power system planning and operations—and what’s next?

Building Trust in Large Language Models: A Journey, Not a Destination: Update from MISO
Michael Parran, Manager Grid R&D, MISO

AI in Grid Operations and Planning at ISO-NE
Tongxin Zheng, Technical Director, ISO-NE

Advanced AI Solution for Critical Power Transmission Reliability and Flexibility in SPP
Shawn Monroe, Principal Strategist for AI, Hitachi Vantara

AI for Ops and Planning: Early Learnings and R&D Activities
Aidan Tuohy, Director, EPRI

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch
Location: Freedom Ballroom

1:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Session 3A: Resource Adequacy Assessments for Large Geographic Regions
Session Chair: Derek Stenclik, Founding Partner, Telos Energy
Location: Liberty CD

What are the best practices for assessing RA over large regions, and how are they evolving with changing risk and resource profiles?

Sarah Edmonds, President & CEO, Western Power Pool

Andrew French, Commissioner, Kansas Corporation Commission

Khatune Zannat, Manager, Probabilistic Assessments, Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc.

Dylan Zhang, Manager, Resource Adequacy, NYISO

1:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Session 3B: Modernizing the Interconnection Queue: AI, Automation, and Process Reform
Session Chair: Lauren Campbell, Director of Policy and Economic Analysis, Grid Strategies LLC
Location: Independence

How are interconnection processes being reformed, and what role can AI play in improving efficiency?

SPP: GI Backlog, AI, Automation and Process Reform
Jennifer Swierczek, Manager, Generator Interconnection, Southwest Power Pool

MISO: Accelerating the Interconnection Process with Advanced Software and Automation
Ryan Westphal, Manger, Generation Interconnection, MISO

PJM: Interconnection Queue Progress
Donnie Bielak, Director, Interconnection Planning, PJM Interconnection

Energy Resource Interconnection Service (ERIS): A Review of Current Practice and Considerations for its Future
Will Gorman, Research Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

NEER Automating Interconnection Studies
Cody Doll, Director – Transmission Studies, NextEra Energy Resources

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Break
Location: Liberty Foyer

3:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Session 4A: Capacity Accreditation
Session Chair: Emma Nicholson, Principal, Charles River Associates
Location: Liberty CD

How are capacity accreditation methods evolving to reflect the changing resource mix?

Capacity Accreditation Overview: A “Critical Periods” Reliability Framework
Arne Olson, Senior Partner, Energy and Environmental Economics (E3)

Marginal ELCC Implementation and Lessons Learned in PJM
Walter Graf, Chief Economist, PJM Interconnection

MISO’s Upcoming Direct Loss of Load Accreditation Approach
Michael Robinson, Principal Market Design Advisor, MISO

Stakeholder Perspectives on Evolving Accreditation Methods used by ISOs for Capacity Auctions
Dan Pierpont, Vice President, Wholesale Market Policy, LS Power

Grant Glazer, Senior Manager of Regulatory and Market Affairs, MN8 

Hwikwon Ham, Commissioner, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

3:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Session 4B: Integrated Planning with DERs
Session Chair: Cristin Lyons, ScottMadden
Location: Independence

How can customers, DERs, and demand flexibility provide transmission and/or distribution system services?

Julieta Giraldez, Director of Integrated Planning, Electric Power Engineers

Integrated Planning at HECO
Ken Aramaki, Director of T&D, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)

Planning for DERs and the Benefits of an Integrated Approach
Carlo Brancucci, CEO, encoord

Integrating DERs into Distribution and Resource Planning
Obadiah Bartholomy, Manager, Distributed Energy Strategy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)

5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Student and Young Professional Happy Hour
Location: Liberty CD

Guest Speaker:
Ben Hobbs, Deputy Chair, Dept. Environmental Health & Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, and Chair, CAISO Market Surveillance Committee

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Networking Reception
Location: Liberty Foyer

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast
Location: Freedom Ballroom

8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Session 5A: Flexibility Solutions in Distribution Systems
Session Chair: Julieta Giraldez, Director of Integrated Planning, Electric Power Engineers
Location: Liberty CD

What are the new needs in distribution planning and operations to enable flexibility and grid services from DERs on both transmission and distribution services?

Beyond Planning: How to Orchestrate the Full Value of DERs
Paul George, DSO Commercial Lead, Electricity North West (UK)
Chris Broadhurst, Chief Commercial Officer, Electron

Decentralized Energy Markets and a Path to DSOs: An EU Perspective
Alex Papalexopoulos, President and CEO, ECCO International

Lessons from the World´s Most Electrified Country: Next Generation Active Distribution Grid Operations in Norway
Augusto Andrade, Product Management, Kongsberg Digital (Norway)

GridShare and the Evolution of Flexibility Markets
Umar Waqas, Vice President, Grid Modernization, GrandBridge Energy (Canada) (virtual presentation)

8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Session 5B: GFM Project Examples
Session Chair: Alyssa Jenkins, Principal Consultant, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc.
Location: Independence

What is the industry learning from real-world deployments of grid-forming inverters?

Great Britain Grid-Forming Deployments Experience
Xiayao Zhou, Engineering Compliance Manager, National Energy System Operator (NESO)(UK)

Grid-Forming Requirements and Deployment Plans in the Chilean Power System
Victor Velar Guerrero, Manager, Studies and Real-Time Simulation, Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional (CEN) (Chile)

Study the Control and Protection Improvements for a Weak Grid Area with High IBRs
Jing Wang, Researcher III, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (virtual presentation)

GFM Resources Performances During HECO Grid Events
Li Yu, Manager, Transmission Planning, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)

Dynamic Properties  and Frequency Response of IBR-dominating Power Systems
Slava Maslennikov, Technical Manager, ISO New England

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Break
Location: Liberty Foyer

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Session 6A: Finance and Investment
Session Chair: Abe Silverman, Assistant Research Scholar, Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Location: Liberty CD

What investment structures and risk-sharing models are needed to accelerate transmission and clean energy infrastructure?

Lou Schick, Director of Investments, Clean Energy Ventures

Kelli Joseph, VP, Electricity Markets and Policy Credit Risk, Fifth Third Bank

Bryan Long, Executive Director, US Power Origination, JP Morgan

Jacob Mays, Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Session 6B: Importance of In-The-Loop Testing for Model Validation
Session Chair: Reza Pourramezan, Manager, Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe), New York Power Authority
Location: Independence

Why is in-the-loop testing and real time simulations critical for accurate model validation of inverter-based devices?

Real-Time Simulation and HIL Testing: Advancing Power System Innovation and Reliability
Reza Pourramezan, Manager, Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe), New York Power Authority

Leveraging Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing to Improve Model Fidelity and Accuracy
Aditya Ashok, Director, Energy Systems Research, Opal-RT Technologies

Software-in-the-Loop simulation – a must for today’s MMC grid forming converters
Bryan Buterbaugh, Application Engineer, Hitachi Energy

Addressing Challenging System Stability and Model Validation while Retaining OEM Confidentiality
Lukas Unruh, Power System Studies Engineer, Electranix

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch
Location: Freedom Ballroom

1:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Session 7A: Fireside Chat: Collaborative Approaches to Planning
Session Chair: Lisa Schwartz, Senior Policy Researcher and Strategic Advisor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Location: Liberty CD

How can we build more effective, collaborative planning processes between system operators, regulators and stakeholders?

Mike Bull, Deputy Executive Secretary, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and Jody Londo, Director of Regulatory & Strategic Analysis, Xcel Energy

Schuyler Matteson, Clean Energy Planning Lead, New York State Department of Public Service and Jason Frasier, Senior Manager, Transmission Planning, New York ISO

Ken Aramaki, Director of T&D, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)

Lavelle Freeman, Vice President, Distribution System Planning, Eversource

1:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Session 7B: Technical Challenges and Solutions with Integration of Large Loads
Session Chair: Julia Matevosyan, Associate Director, ESIG
Location: Independence

What technical challenges do large, fast-growing loads present—and how are planners and operators adapting?

Considerations for Load Power Variability Requirements
Andrew Isaacs, Vice President, Electranix

Impact of AI Workload and E-Statcom as a Mitigation Measure 
Sergey Kynev, Business Development Manager, Siemens Energy

Understanding LLM-Induced Load Profiles and Grid Complications
Amin Zamani, Senior Director, Advanced Technology Integration, Quanta Technology, LLC

Data Center Power System: Architecture and Modeling Considerations
Shahil Shah, Principal Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (virtual presentation)

Stability and Operation Considerations for an Off-Grid Data Center
Naresh Acharya, Technical Director, GE Vernova Consulting Services

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Break
Location: Liberty Foyer

3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Closing Plenary: Fireside Chat Session on the Future of Demand Flexibility
Session Chair: Pearl Donohoo-Vallett, Technical Advisor, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Location: Liberty CD

Should demand flexibility be treated as supply or demand, and what mechanisms are needed to scale it responsibly?

Michael Robinson, Principal Market Design Advisor, MISO

Amber Motley, Director, Short Term Forecasting, CAISO

Travis Kavulla, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, NRG Energy

Karen Onaran, CEO and President, Electricity Consumers Resource Council

Sanem Sergici, Principal, The Brattle Group

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Click here for full Large Loads Workshop Agenda

*All Thursday events require separate registration from Technical Workshop to attend. **Must be member of ESIG to register/attend Working Group Meetings and Large Loads Task Force Workshop.

8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Working Group Meetings

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Break
Location: Freedom/Independence Foyer

10:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
DER Working Group Meeting
Location: Freedom F

10:15 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Large Loads Workshop – Click Here for Full Agenda

Thursday, Oct. 30 – Friday, Oct. 31
EPICS Workshop on EPICS Research and EPICS Collaborations

Location: Freedom E

**Requires separate registration**