Join PLMA's Women in DM Affinity Group for some early morning networking. Then, enjoy some breakfast and an opportunity to hear from two talented colleagues who've forged successful load management careers; one from a utility and one from a vendor. They'll share their personal stories as well as some of the career skills they've honed, lessons they've learned, and advice they might give.

Whether you are a "woman in DM" or you work with women every day, you are welcome to join us!

Opening Remarks from the Chair

Richard Barone Oracle Utilities

Welcome to Kansas City

Kevin Brannan Evergy

How State Policy Affects Load Flexibility Program Valuation and Design
A key challenge in load flexibility programs is how to determine load flexibility value to the grid and how the valuation affects program design. A key determinant to how initiatives are valued for many utilities is the state-level energy policy. This panel will bring together utility representatives from several states to discuss differences in policy and how program designs and valuation practices vary to adapt to these policies. Areas of policy focus will include: Capacity and wholesale market value, the value of decarbonization, the inclusion of load flexibility into long-term planning, approaches to non-wires alternatives or deferred T&D upgrades, and resource procurement. Panelists will be asked to summarize their load flexibility initiatives, their approach to valuation and measuring cost effectiveness, and how state-level policy has influenced load flexibility program design.

AJ Howard Linden Clean Energy

Brian Lusher Duke Energy

JP Dowling NRG

Kerri Carnes Arizona Public Service

Jeffrey Berg Ameren Missouri

VPP Liftoff: Adopting and Adapting Best Practices from Three Utility-Led VPPs
Harnessing the power of virtual power plants (VPPs) can help grid stakeholders manage rising electricity demand, shifting supply resources, increasing distribution costs, reliability and affordability challenges, and other pressures. Join this session to learn about how three utilities (including National Grid’s ConnectedSolutions program, Green Mountain Power’s ESS Leasing Program, and Rocky Mountain Power’s WattSmart program) have implemented and designed VPP programs to meet near-term grid needs. Utility practitioners will share their experiences on operationalizing VPPs to drive real-world impacts – from reducing peak loads to improving system reliability to deferring distribution investment – and the U.S. Department of Energy will share about the just-published Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Virtual Power Plants 2025 Update, which includes 75+ case studies and 60+ industry and DOE resources to support industry practitioners with VPP deployments.

Bill Comeau Rocky Mountain Power

Paul Wassink National Grid

What's Up at PLMA | Interest Group Reports
Hear from PLMA's eight Interest Groups on their progress and plans going forward, all in short 3-minute clips.
Presenting Groups: Connected Devices, Retail Pricing, Electric Transportation, Global Load Management, Customer Engagement, Commercial & Industrial Load Flexibility, Beneficial Electrification and Public Power & Cooperatives

2025 PLMA Awards for Excellence in Load Management
Join us as we recognize this year's award recipients.

Kevin Knight Baltimore Gas & Electric

Michael Ohlsen Tallahassee Electric & Gas Utility

Design Customer-Centric and Cost-Effective Battery Storage Programs
Although utilities are close to unlocking greater potential of batteries as controllable and flexible assets, designing and launching cost-effective and customer-centric battery storage programs involves complex decisions, such as choosing technologies and setting incentive levels. In this session, E Source will host a conversation with three utility battery program and technology leaders to discuss different stages of program development and the future of batteries in utility portfolios. We’ll also explore how load management teams can leverage granular data on market trends, pricing, and technologies to quantify the value of battery programs, set incentive levels, and justify programs to regulators. Xcel Energy will also discuss how they incorporated scalable solutions for grid flexibility into their most recent distribution plan filing. Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power will share considerations that could impact their future battery value-capturing strategy, including experience with current programs and forecasted improvements in pricing and performance.

Michael Hartnack E Source

Jason Delaney Arizona Public Service

Kristin Gaspar Xcel Energy

Bryan Jungers Tucson Electric Power

PLMA Utility Members Share
In this 30 minute session you will hear from several of our utility members concerning situations that they are encountering at their company. Example topics for this session could include: a "problem" that needs solving, or some unexpected results from a pilot (good or bad), or even just a request for information. These 3-5 minute presentations will have few slides, and focus on their particular situation. The goal is to create awareness and conversation for the upcoming "Networking Reception" as well as potential for follow-up throughout the conference or after the conference.

Sponsor Technology Advancement Roundtable
In this 30 minute session you will hear from several of our sponsors about the essence of their solutions. Our Co-chairs have vetted the presentations and helped the sponsors get their key messages compressed down to 3 minutes. This is not a marketing pitch, but a statement from the sponsors on specific examples of how they provide value.