DAY 1
| Day 1 – Wednesday April 1st, 2026 | |||
| Start | End | Presentation | Speaker |
| 7 : 00 | 8 : 00 | Registration Open, Breakfast at 7:15 | |
| 8 : 00 | 8 : 15 | Opening Remarks | NWESS Chair |
| 8 : 15 | 9 : 45 | Keynote Speaker – Michelle Vargo from Puget Sound Energy | Michelle Vargo, Puget Sound Energy, Senior Vice President Energy Operations |
| 9 : 45 | 10 : 30 | ||
| 10 : 30 | 10 : 45 | BREAK | |
| 10 : 45 | 11 : 20 | DERMS (Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems) | Fei Ding, National Laboratory of the Rockies, Automation and Controls Manager |
| 11 : 20 | 12 : 00 | Database for Wildfire Mitigation Plans | Andre Coleman, Pacific Northwest National Labs, Senior Research Scientist |
| 12 : 00 | 1 : 00 | LUNCH | |
| 1 : 00 | 1 : 45 | Seismic Transformer Research | Aisha McKee, R&D Program Manager and Jon Bender, Research Engineer, W.E. Gundy & Associates, Inc. |
| 1 : 45 | 2 : 00 | BREAK | |
| 2 : 00 | 2 : 45 | Supply Chain Issues and Mitigation Strategies Related to Transformers | Brett Hanson, Seattle City Light, Standards Supervisor Kevin Murray, Puget Sound Energy, Standards Manager + Tacoma Power and SnoPUD Represenatives TBD |
| 2 : 45 | 3 : 30 | Transformer Loading/FERC Order 881 | Daniel Kuraspediani, BPA, Operations Planning |
| 3 : 30 | 4 : 00 | Integrated Load Planning Study | TBD |
| 4 : 00 | 4 : 30 | EPRI E-Roadmap Tool / NEVI | Jamie Dunkley, EPRI, Program Manager |
| 4 : 30 | 5 : 00 | The Grid Center for Reliable Electricity Delivery (GridCRED) | Jacob Reidt, Pacific Northwest National Lab, Advisor |
DAY 2
| Day 2 – Thursday April 2nd, 2026 | |||
| Start | End | Presentation | Speaker |
| 7 : 00 | 8 : 00 | Registration Open, Breakfast at 7:15 | |
| 8 : 00 | 8 : 45 | Top Down and Bottom Up Distribution Planning | Darrin Kinney, Integal Analytics, SVP of Business Development |
| 8 : 45 | 9 : 30 | Preparing for Middle Housing and EPRI Tool for Secondary Design | Tanya Panomvana, Seattle City Light, Principal Electrical Power Systems Engineer |
| 9 : 30 | 9 : 45 | BREAK | |
| 9 : 45 | 10 : 45 | Data Centers: The Opportunity, The Risk, and The Reality | Travis Metcalf – AWS, Mike Miller – Sr VP of Transmission Svs at BPA Kevin Ludwig – Black & Veatch Eleanor Ewry – Pugest Sound Energy |
| 10 : 45 | 11 : 30 | Bonneville Power Administration’s Allocation of Capacity and Markets Plus Choice over EDAM | Todd Kochheiser, BPA, Senior Electrical Engineer |
| 11 : 30 | 12 : 30 | LUNCH | |
| 12 : 30 | 1 : 15 | Grid Enhancing Technologies | George Lynch, Idaho Energy Resources Authority, Director |
| 1 : 15 | 2 : 00 | Challenges for New Transmission Line Routing | Bradley Strauch, PSE, Land Planner with Energize Eastside |
| 2 : 00 | 2 : 15 | BREAK | |
| 2 : 15 | 3 : 00 | How are changes in federal energy policy impacting grants related to DEI | Reagan Price, Seattle City Light, Race & Social Justice Initiative Program Manager |
| 3 : 00 | 3 : 45 | AI for Power Utilties by NVIDEA | Shawntia McNeil, NVIDIA – Global Energy Partner Ecosystem Mgr |
| 3 : 45 | 4 : 30 | AI for Power Utilties by NEETRAC | J.C. Hernandez-Mejia or Geon Seok Lee from NEETRAC |
| 4 : 30 | 4 : 40 | Closing Comments, Post Event Survey, Feedback | |
| END | |||
Updated Jan 7th, 2026
