Event Sponsorship & Exhibitor Opportunities 
2026 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Resiliency Summit
Achieving a More Reliable and Resilient Energy Future
Summary of Event
Join Us for the 2026 IEEE PES Resiliency Summit!
We are excited to invite you to the 2nd Annual IEEE PES Resiliency Summit, taking place 6–8 October 2026 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco, CA.
Hosted by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), this year’s summit convenes utility professionals, solution providers, and industry leaders to explore practical solutions for strengthening the reliability and resilience of our electric power grid. As we navigate an era of increasing energy demand and climate challenges, this event is your opportunity to engage with the latest strategies, technologies, and policy perspectives shaping the future of energy delivery.
View videos from last year’s event.
Why Attend?
- Expert Insights: Hear from industry leaders on critical topics, including AI and data center impacts on the grid, wildfire mitigation, extreme weather response, and workforce development.
- Practical Solutions: Gain actionable best practices that you can implement in your own systems to improve reliability performance and outage response.
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with top decision-makers from leading organizations in energy, technology, and government.
- Collaborative Future: Join a vibrant community of professionals dedicated to achieving a more reliable and resilient energy future.
- 86% of the participants from the 2025 event indicated that they would attend this event in the future.
Event Highlights:
- Keynote Speakers: Hear insights from PG&E leadership and other top-tier industry executives.
- Expert Panels: A single-track program covering the most urgent challenges facing our grid today.
- Networking: Engage with peers during receptions, lunch breaks, and display tables.
Deadline to make hotel reservations is 5 September 2026
Location
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
333 O’Farrell St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 771-1400
Event Program
Tuesday, 6 October
9:00am – 4:00pm – Optional Technical Tours*
Optional Technical Tours of PG&E’s Livermore Training Center, Applied Technology Services Center, Hazard Awareness & Warning Center and Continuous Monitoring Center
(Attendees will visit 2 of 3 locations)
*Separate registration is required.
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
- Sumeet 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: C-Suite Executives 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
- David Whitehead – President, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL)
- Terence Robert Donnelly – Former President and COO, ComEd
- Yannick Phulpin – Head of Department, Customer & Strategy, EDF
11:00am – 12:00am – 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
- Prithpal Khajuria – Segment Leader, Energy & Utilities, Intel Corporation
- Aidan Mallamo – Launch Industry Executive, Energy & Utilities, Launch by NTT Data
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.
- Moderator: Raj Beasla – Senior Director, T&S Engineering & Test, PG&E
- Ali Yari – Director of Engineering, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)
- Aaron Johnson – Senior Vice President, Local Customer & Community Engagement and Chief Sustainability Officer, PG&E
- Chris Shelton – Senior Vice President, Chief Product Officer, The AES Corporation
- Vishy Natarajan – Vice President, Customer Systems & Solutions, PG&E
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
- Carla Frieh – Vice President, Transmission & Substation Engineering, ComEd
- Peter Muhoro – Chief Strategy, Technology and Innovation Officer, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC)
- Carlo Brancucci – Co-Founder and CEO, encoord
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)
- 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*
Scenic boat cruise around the San Francisco Bay, featuring a dinner buffet and cash bar.
*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
- Simon Julien – Co-Founder, Inventor, Technical Lead, Latimer Controls
- Aditya Tallapally – Director, Energy Resilience, Growth & BRM, PG&E
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
- Chris Arends – Director of Client Solutions, Western Weather Group
- Tamara Mendelsohn – Chief Operating Officer, Overstory
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
- Jon Eric Thalman, Senior Director, System Performance Reliability & Resilience Strategy, PG&E
- Ben Kregel, Director of Engineering, ComEd
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 Executive Officer, Dash Power Partners
- Claudia Cosoreanu, Chief Technology Officer, GE Vernova
- Pablo Mollá – President, Ferrovial Webber Energy Division, Webber, a Ferrovial Company
- Vikas Manohar – Vice President, U.S. Sales, Tata Consulting Engineers
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
- Mahyar Zarghami – Professor, Sacramento State 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.
View videos from last year’s event.
Registration
Early bird registration will end on 5 May 2025 and the event pricing is as follows.
Hotel & Venue
Signia By Hilton San Jose
170 S. Market St
San Jose, California 95113 USA
Parking Information
Hotel offers valet parking for $50.00 per day + tax
IEEE PES has negotiated a special group rate of US$289 per night for attendees. This group rate is exclusive of taxes. Reservations must be made by 5:00 pm Pacific Time by 25 April 2025 to get the group rate. Once the room block is sold out, the hotel will offer rooms/rates based upon availability.
To book your room online at the group rate please click here: https://book.passkey.com/e/50995839
Travel Information
Local Airport and Transportation Options- San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC): Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, this airport is 3.9 miles from downtown San Jose. It offers free shuttle transport to Light Rail and train stations.
- Southwest Airlines and American Airlines both fly to San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC).
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO): Located within a 30-45 minute drive from San Jose.
- Oakland International Airport (OAK): Located within a 30-45 minute drive from San Jose.
- The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail, Caltrain, andAltamont Corridor Express (ACE) are all nearby public transportation options that connect Santa Clara to Silicon Valley.
- Caltrain also links Santa Clara to San Francisco and major tech hubs along the Peninsula.
Sponsorship and Exhibitor Opportunities
The event will provide practical experiences that are being implemented in order to achieve a more reliable and resilient electric power grid. This is an opportunity for utility professionals, solution providers, and industry leaders to discuss the efforts & solutions that are driving reliability performance through outage reduction and quicker response time. Industry experts will share their best practices, which will result in an excellent customer experience in electric reliability. Proven methods that can be adopted industry-wide. By providing support, your organization can raise your company’s profile among the individuals who are actively involved in creating a more reliable and resilient power grid. Please email Carl Segneri at to secure a sponsorship or for any questions. Thank you.À La Carte Options
- $35,000 – Evening Reception Sponsorship, (2) Sponsoring company
- Tuesday, 6 October @ Hotel
- Wednesday, 7 October (Hornblower Cruise)
- $12,000 – Morning Coffee, (1) Sponsoring company for each morning
- Wednesday, 7 October
- Thursday, 8 October
- $3,000 – Sponsored Meet & Greet Display Tables
Companies and organizations that have innovative solutions to address industry reliability are invited to participate in the summit to share their ideas and/or showcase their products.- Includes the following:
- 1 – Full event registration
- 1 – 6’ Table with ID sign
- 1 – Trash Can
- 1 – 2 Chairs
- Complimentary WiFi
- Includes the following:
Email Carl Segneri at to secure a sponsorship or for any inquiries. Thank you.