ESIG LLTF Webinar: Practical Guidance and Considerations for Large Load Interconnections

**PLEASE NOTE – THIS IS A MEMBERS-ONLY WEBINAR**

Featured Speakers: Ryan Quint, PhD, PE, President and CEO, Elevate Energy Consulting and President and Chief Engineer, GridStrong; Kyle Thomas, PE, VP Engineering & Compliance Services, Elevate Energy Consulting; Casey Baker, Senior Program Manager, Transmission Projects, GridLab

About the Webinar: Requests to connect large data center and artificial intelligence (AI) loads are entering transmission planning processes at an unprecedented rate. This surge is driven by a combination of tax incentives, low electricity costs, access to usable land and water, available capital for AI development, and business-friendly regulatory environments. These potential data center customers are relatively price insensitive, prioritizing fast and reliable access to electricity as quickly as possible.

Given the pace of load growth, the economic benefits of serving these customers, and strong political support for data center development, utilities need streamlined access to resources and recommended practices that can enable this emerging future. Although the potential benefits to utilities are significant, the technical challenges of integrating large loads cannot be overlooked. Rigorous engineering analysis and due diligence are more critical than ever before to ensure reliable operation of the grid as these substantial loads come online.

This presentation will highlight findings from a recently released report that provides a practical guide to improving and harmonizing utility practices for processing, studying, and assessing large load interconnection requests. It also provides a reference for state regulatory bodies in their effort to ensure that utility constituents are fully evaluating the potential impacts that large loads, particularly data centers, can have on grid reliability and existing customers.

About the Speakers: Dr. Ryan Quint is the President and CEO of Elevate Energy Consulting and the President and Chief Engineer of GridStrong. Ryan is responsible for the strategic direction and execution of Elevate projects across all verticals and is focused on building a world-class team of experts tackle complex and emerging challenges with Elevate’s industry partners. Ryan also leads the engineering vision and execution of Elevate’s software arm, GridStrong. Prior to launching Elevate, Ryan spent nearly 9 years at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), most recently as the Director of Engineering and Security Integration. He also has experience at Dominion Energy and the Bonneville Power Administration. He received his PhD from Virginia Tech, is a registered professional engineer in Virginia, and was the recipient of the 2024 IEEE Power and Energy Society Outstanding Young Engineer of the Year Award.

Kyle Thomas leads Elevate’s engineering and NERC / FERC regulatory compliance services divisions and supports the strategic direction and execution of a myriad of Elevate projects. He has extensive experience in protection and control systems, substation equipment, transmission planning, data center and inverter-based resource integration, strategic initiatives, product development, and leading internal and external teams of subject matter experts. Kyle has a decade of experience working at Dominion Energy as well as experience leading product development at an innovative superconducting startup, VEIR. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Virginia, received his M.S. from Virginia Tech, is a Senior Member of IEEE, and has held various leadership roles in several international working groups.

Casey Baker is a Senior Program Manager of the transmission program at GridLab. Casey has spent over a decade in the utility industry working in a variety of roles including Transmission Planning, transmission interconnection contract management, Distributed Energy Resource Planning, and solar PV site management. Before joining GridLab, Casey managed the energy supply and microgrid program for Liberty Utilities’ California electric utility. He has extensive experience in the western transmission system and works to help support the nation’s efforts towards clean energy development and resiliency. Casey holds a MBA and BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Registration Cost: FREE for ESIG Members

Q&A Session: We will be using the Slido platform for Q&A. Please submit your questions and follow-along during the event at this link.