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 : 05 | Keynote Speaker – Michelle Vargo from Puget Sound Energy | Michelle Vargo, Puget Sound Energy, Senior Vice President Energy Operations |
| 9 : 05 | 9 : 50 | Grid Enhancing Technologies | Shaun Foster, Puget Sound Energy, Director, Transmission Julie Selker, Grid Strategies, Director of Policy and Strategy |
| 9 : 50 | 10 : 10 | BREAK | |
| 10 : 10 | 11 : 00 | DERMS (Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems) | Fei Ding, National Laboratory of the Rockies, Automation and Controls Manager |
| 11 : 00 | 11 : 45 | Utility-Focused Adaptive Risk Mitigation under a Changing Wildfire Regime in the PNW | Andre Coleman, Pacific Northwest National Labs, Senior Research Scientist |
| 11 : 45 | 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 | Regional Perspectives on Transformer Supply Chain Challenges and Solutions | Brett Hanson, SCL, Standards Supervisor Kevin Murray, PSE, Standards Manager Erica Pierce, TPWR, Business and Finance Manager Tyler Reinitz, SnoPUD, Mgr of Standards & Asset Mgmt |
| 2 : 45 | 3 : 30 |
Impacts of FERC Order 881 on utilities |
Travis Filleau, Tacoma Power, System Planning Engineer |
| 3 : 30 | 4 : 00 | Cybersecurity Threats and Policy Implications for Battery Energy Storage Systems | Dr. Emma Stewart, Idaho National Lab, Director, Center for Securing Digital Energy Technology |
| 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 |
| 5 : 00 | 6 : 30 |
No Host Happy Hour – Optional Networking Event |
@ College Inn Pub, |
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 | Bridging Top Down and Bottom Up Load Forecasting for Modern 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, Senior Manager |
| 9 : 30 | 9 : 45 | BREAK | |
| 9 : 45 | 10 : 45 | Panel: Data Centers: The Opportunity, The Risk, and The Reality | Travis Metcalf – Amazon Web Services, Senior Energy Strategy Manager Mike Miller – Sr VP of Transmission Svs at BPA Kevin Ludwig, Black & Veatch, Grid Solutions Leader Eleanor Ewry, Puget Sound Energy, Manager – Transmission Strategy & Markets |
| 10 : 45 | 11 : 30 | Overview of Energy Northwest’s Small Modular Reactor Project | Jackie Eutsey, Energy Northwest, Strategic Outreach Program Manager for Nuclear Development |
| 11 : 30 | 12 : 30 | LUNCH | |
| 12 : 30 | 1 : 45 | Building Modern Transmission Infrastructures: Strategies for Success
Learnings from PSE’s Energize Eastside project and Snohomish PUD’s Crosswind Transmission Line project. Q&A to follow. |
Andra Flaherty, Snohomish County PUD
Bradley Strauch, PSE, Land Planner with Energize Eastside |
| 1 : 45 | 2 : 15 | BREAK | |
| 2 : 15 | 3 : 00 | Journey Towards a Just Transition: Engineering Equitable Outcomes |
Grecia Elenes, Seattle City Light, Environmental Equity Advisor
Reagan Price, Seattle City Light, Race and Social Justice Initiative Program Manager |
| 3 : 00 | 3 : 45 | How AI is Redefining Energy Delivery | Shawntia McNeil, NVIDIA – Global Energy Partner Ecosystem Mgr |
| 3 : 45 | 4 : 30 | Understanding AI Adoption in the Power Industry: NEETRAC’s Industry Analysis and Key Insights | Geon Seok Lee from NEETRAC |
| 4 : 30 | 4 : 40 | Closing Comments, Post Event Survey, Feedback | |
| END | |||
Updated Jan 7th, 2026
