2026 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Resiliency Summit

TUESDAY, 6 OCTOBER

• • Livermore Training School
  • Applied Technology Service Center
  • Hazard Awareness & Warning Center
  (Attendees will visit 2 of 3 locations)

• 4:00pm – 7:00pm – Registration
• 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Welcome reception and display tables at hotel

WEDNESDAY, 7 OCTOBER

• 7:00am – 6:00pm – Registration
  
  
• 8:00am – 8:30am – Coffee and gathering for Open Session
  
  
• 8:30am – 9:00am – Safety message and welcome video from C.Y. Chung, President, IEEE PES
  
  
• 9:00am – 9:30am – Keynote Address
  • Summet Singh – Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Executive Vice President, Energy Delivery
    
    
• 9:30am – 10:00am – Coffee and networking break
  
  
• 10:00am – 11:00am – Panel 1: The Grid at a Crossroads: CEOs on Reliability, Resilience and Affordability
  Description: Energy systems have hit an inflection point, and CEOs are charged with leading the response. The C-Suite shares their perspectives on top reliability, resiliency and affordability issues shaping the modern utility landscape.
  • Moderator: Shay Bahramirad – Vice President of Transmission & Distribution Engineering, PG&E and Past President, IEEE PES
    
• 11:00am – 12:00pm – Panel 2: Big Tech, Big Load: How Innovation is Reshaping the Grid
  Description: Technology and energy have become intrinsically linked. The biggest players in tech discuss their role in ensuring a reliable energy grid that can handle large loads.
  • Moderator: Mohsen Hosseinzadehtaher – Advisor, Danovo Energy Solutions
  • Marc Spieler – Senior Managing Director, NVIDIA
  • Avnaesh Jayantilal – Chief Technology Officer of Grid Innovation & Software, GE Vernova
• 12:00pm – 1:30pm – Lunch
  
  
• 1:30pm – 2:30pm – Panel 3: The Affordability Imperative: Balancing Costs While Delivering Performance and Growth
  Description: Consumers expect their energy bills to remain affordable. Utility leaders compare notes on what they are doing to accomplish this in their respective service areas.
• • Ali Yari – Director of Engineering, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)
  • Rachel Williams – Experienced utility expert

• 2:30pm – 3:00pm – Coffee and networking break
  
  
• 3:00pm – 4:00pm – Panel 4: Powering the AI Boom: Data Center Load and Grid Resilience
  Description: Utility leaders will discuss how data centers have created unique challenges for grid operators, and how they are addressing concerns regarding balancing supply and demand, and resilience and reliability needs in the age of AI and surging growth.
  • Moderator: Jens Nedrud – Director, Transmission Planning, PG&E
  • Jacob Bissell – Director of Customer Design & Delivery, CPS Energy
  • Emanuel Bernabeu – Senior Director, Applied Innovation & Analytics, PJM Interconnection
  • Carla Frieh – Vice President, Transmission & Substation Engineering, ComEd
    
    
• 4:00pm – 5:00pm – Panel 5: What Regulators Are Watching – How Energy Utilities Can Plan for What’s Next
  Description: Policy must be updated to stay current with a rapidly changing energy landscape. Federal and state regulators examine today’s most pressing issues and preview the next debates on the horizon.
  • Moderator: Wendy Al-Mukdad – Principal Risk Analyst, PG&E and Chair, IEEE SF Chapter
  • Evan Mickelson – Power Systems Engineer, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
  • Michael Pesin – Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
  • Barry Mather – Group Manager, Integrated Devices & Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • Forest Kaser – Director, California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety
    
    
• 6:00pm – 9:00pm – Sponsored Evening Event – Hornblower Cruise*, featuring:
  • Dinner buffet
  • Cash bar
  • Live DJ entertainment
  • Scenic San Francisco Bay views
  • Casual dress code

*Separate registration is required.

THURSDAY, 8 OCTOBER

• 8:00am – 8:30am – Coffee and gathering for opening session
  
  
• 8:30am – 9:00am – Keynote Address:
  
  • Peter Kenny – Chief Delivery Officer, Senior Vice President, Electric Transmission and Distribution, PG&E
• 9:00am – 10:00am – Panel 6: Smarter Forecasting: Leveraging AI to Better Predict Load
  Description: Artificial Intelligence presents utilities with a key opportunity to enable resiliency goals. See how they are integrating AI that enhances their forecasting models.
  
  • Moderator: Yun Wang – Head of AI Center of Excellence, PG&E
  • Matthew Green – Senior Vice President, Integrated Planning & Advisory, TRC Companies, Inc.]
  • Shawn Chandler – Executive Vice President, Innovation of Energy & Markets, QGEMS Energy Limited
  • Zhenyu (Henry) Huang – Interim Deputy Associate Laboratory Director, Distinguished Fellow, Argonne National Lab
• 10:00am – 11:00am – Panel 7: Resilience Under Threat: Strategies for Extreme Weather and Wildfire Risk
  Description: Preparing for extreme weather events has become a full-time job for energy providers. Chief meteorologists and utility leaders break down strategies they deploy to mitigate the effects of storms and wildfires.
  
  • Moderator: Andrew Abranches – Vice President, Wildfire Mitigation, PG&E
  • Scott Strenfel – Senior Director, Wildfire Risk, Meteorology Operations & Fire Science, PG&E
  • Colton Ching – Senior Vice President, Planning & Technology, Hawaiian Electric Company
  • Brian Pierre – Manager, Electric Power Systems Research, Sandia National Laboratories
    
• 11:00am – 11:30am – Coffee and networking break
  
  
• 11:30am – 12:30pm – Panel 8: Meeting Unprecedented Growth While Strengthening Grid Resilience
  Description: After more than 20 years of flat overall load growth, utilities are experiencing record new business and growth demands, while facing significant challenges driven by the increasing frequency and severity of major weather events. Utility leaders explore how they can continue to improve reliability and resiliency during an era when exponential growth and climate change are the new normal.
  
  This will include a discussion on new technology solutions to improve reliability and resilience, new standards and indices to evaluate performance, and evolving regulatory and policy challenges.
  
  • Moderator: Julio Aguero Ramero – Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Innovation, Danovo Energy Solutions
  • Shinjini Menon – Senior Vice President, System Planning & Engineering, Southern California Edison (SCE)
  • Heide Caswell – Administrator, Oregon Public Utility Commission and Chair, IEEE PES Distribution Reliability Working Group
  • Freddie Wright – General Manager, Distribution Engineering & Reliability, Georgia Power
  • Jon Eric Thalman, Senior Director, System Performance Reliability & Resilience Strategy, PG&E 
    

• 12:30pm – 2:00pm – Lunch
  
  
• 2:00pm – 3:00pm – Panel 9: Reliability Without Borders: International Perspectives from Utility Leaders
  Description: Common themes exist for utilities grappling with reliability around the world, but every region has its own unique challenges. Global experts reflect on key lessons learned and share how they provide reliable power for their communities.
  
  • Moderator: Damir Novosel – Chief Technology Officer, Danovo Energy Solutions
  • Claudia Cosoreanu, Chief Technology Officer, GE Vernova
• 3:00pm – 4:00pm – Panel 10: Help Wanted: Educating, Training and Retaining a New Energy Workforce
  Description: The world will need millions of new engineers with skills in advanced technologies to build and maintain the energy systems of the future. Academics and People Leaders trade insights on how to educate, recruit and retain the young talent the industry must have to sustain success.
  
  • Moderator: Vassilis Kekatos – Associate Professor, Purdue
  • Jeff Painter – Senior Director, PG&E Academy
  • Amin Khodaei – Co-Founder and CEO, Grident and Vice President of Education, IEEE PES
  • Maryam Khanbaghi – Director of Power Systems & Sustainable Energy Program, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Santa Clara University
    
    
• 4:00pm – 10:00pm – IEEE PES Resiliency Summit Networking, Moroccan Dinner & Show*
  Co-hosted by IEEE San Francisco Young Professionals (YP) and Women in Engineering (WiE) affinity groups and sponsored by the IEEE PES Resiliency Summit, IEEE PES Region 6 YP and IEEE PES Women in Power (WiP).
  

4:00pm – 5:00pm – Moderated Panel: PES Industry Leaders to share more on their careers, challenges and excitement for the next generation of engineers.

5:00pm – 6:00pm – Speed Networking: PES Industry Leaders will move from tables of 6-8 attendees every 10 minutes.

Move from hotel to Marrakech Restaurant (0.2 mi walk)

6:30pm – 7:30pm – Five Course Moroccan Dinner at Marrakech Restaurant with informal networking

7:30pm – 10:00pm – Georges Lammam Ensemble & Show with the premier Arabic band and open floor dancing

*Separate registration is required.