Conference Chair Troy Eichenberger Tennessee Valley Authority
WIFI Sponsored by Copper Labs
Mobile App Sponsored by OATI
Registration Desk Sponsored by Resideo
Phone Charging Stations & AV Sponsored by CPower
Power Alley Sponsored by ecobee
2:00 - 5:00 pm A Tour of Possibilities
Come and share a little bit of Memphis' rich culture in this guided tour which embraces the often uncomfortable and tragic parts of the city's history while also celebrating its resilient and inspiring future of possibilities. This #1 ranked tour of Memphis has received Trip Advisor's certificate of excellence for four consecutive years and offers PLMA conference attendees an opportunity to experience the arts, music, and history of this unique city and its citizens.
Noted as one of the nation's premier heritage and cultural museums, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, is steadfast in its mission to share the culture and lessons from the American Civil Rights Movement and explore how this significant era continues to shape equality and freedom globally. This group tour will explore the history of the Civil Rights Movement and its impact on our culture today. As we'll be walking to the Museum from the Peabody Hotel, there is no transportation planned for this event.
Please Note: If you have a Bank of America ID, Merrill, or Bank of America Private Bank debit or credit card (plus your ID), you are eligible to receive one free general admission to the Museum on Sundays. Learn More Here
Join PLMA's Executive Committee, Board members, colleagues, and friends for a fun-filled conference welcome and an opportunity to reconnect over delicious Southern food specialties and drinks at the beautiful outdoor patio of Loflin Yard. Located in historic downtown Memphis, with roundtrip transportation provided from the Peabody Hotel, this inclusive event will be fun for all!
7:30 - 9:00 am | Shared Evolution Training & Interest Group Breakfast | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Peabody Grand Ballroom A
8:30 am - 4:00 pm TRAINING CLASS: The Evolution of DR to DER
Concurrent Interest Group Activities Join the PLMA Interest Groups for several candid, interactive roundtable discussions among practitioners from across North America who are actively engaged in flexible load management. The Interest Group sessions are open to everyone!
Peabody Grand Ballroom B
9:00 - 11:00 am C&I Load Flexibility Interest Group C&I Demand Response Trends + Market Potential Review Join the co-chairs of the C&I Load Flexibility Interest Group as we review recent trends in Demand Response from both vendor and utility perspectives. Following this report-out, Debyani Ghosh with Guidehouse will be presenting key takeaways from a recent market potential study carried out in partnership with Arizona Public Service.
Debyani Ghosh Guidehouse
Bruce Brazis Arizona Public Service
Vasudha Lathey Olivine
Tom Roberts IGS Energy
Andy Taylor Duke Energy
Peabody Grand Ballroom C
9:00 - 11:00 am Customer Engagement Interest Group Email Marketing by the Numbers: Residential DR Outreach Whether for customer acquisition or customer retention, a lot goes into an effective email campaign. From opens to click-throughs, from timing to pacing of emails, and from in-house to vendor production, a successful campaign demands careful calibration, measurement, and adjustments. Join our expert panel for an interactive conversation on email campaign successes and lessons learned.
Vanessa Richter Oracle Utilities
Lenore Zeuthen Opinion Dynamics
Ana Villarreal Commonwealth Edison
Rebekah Grant Baltimore Gas & Electric
11:00 am - 12:00 pm | Shared Evolution Training & Interest Group Lunch | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Peabody Grand Ballroom B
12:00 - 2:00 pm Global Load Management Interest Group The DER Communication Protocols Series Join us to learn about DER protocols and specifically the differentiators vital to the selection processes used by both utilities and government entities. Bring your questions to this interactive discussion! Read Full Description >
Scott Coe Grid Optimize
Michael Brown Berkshire Hathaway, NV Energy
Ross Malme Malme Energy Consulting
Jon Hilowitz Orange and Rockland Utilities
Peabody Grand Ballroom C
12:00 - 2:00 pm Electric Transportation Interest Group Electrifying School Buses – Challenges, Opportunities, and Bright Horizons This session will tackle the intricacies and nuances of electrifying school buses and the impact of school bus electrification on the grid both from the load growth and load flexibility perspective. Read Full Description >
Moderator Meghan Jennings Rappahannock Electric Cooperative
Wendy Brummer Pacific Gas and Electric
Linda Stevens OATI
Savannah Robertson Drive Electric Tennessee
Pearl Donohoo-Vallett Pepco Holdings
Venetian Room
12:00 - 2:00 pm Retail Pricing Interest Group Crypto, Cannabis, and Data Centers: Retail Pricing Strategies for Emerging C&I Loads This session will hear from utility and vendor experts about how pricing can effectively manage and price major sources of emerging C&I load. Read Full Description >
Bill Atzl Con Ed
Brian Uchtmann Driftless Energy
Jeff Pollard Indian Electric Cooperative
2:00 - 2:30 pm | Shared Evolution Training & Interest Group Refreshments | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Sponsored by Sense
Peabody Grand Ballroom B
2:30 - 4:00 pm Decarbonization thru Load Management Strategic Initiative Challenges and Opportunities for Measuring Decarbonization Impacts from Load Management This session, sponsored by the Decarbonization thru Load Flexibility strategic initiative, will explore the current approaches to measuring decarbonization through load management efforts. We will also explore possible paths forward as load management plays a larger role in decarbonization strategies. Read Full Description >
Dave Alspector Tierra Resource Consulting
Stacy Philips Duke Energy
Brian Grunkemeyer FlexCharging
Rich Hasselman GDS Associates
Peabody Grand Ballroom C
2:30 - 4:00 pm Connected Devices Interest Group Where Are You at in the DR/DER Evolution? PLMA has identified three stages of the history, present and future of the evolution of DR to DERs. What are the elements of each? And how do those measure up to the realities across utilities? This session provides a basic understanding and self-assessment to identify where we, utilities and vendors, fit in.
Wendy Brummer Pacific Gas and Electric
Nick Bengtson EnergyHub
J.T. Thompson Generac Grid Services
Venetian Room
4:00 - 5:00 pm PLMA Monday Meetup If you've been with us all day in Interest Group sessions or the training class, it's time for a well-deserved break! Come and catch up with friends and colleagues on the day's learnings!
Sponsored by Olivine
Venetian Room
5:00 - 5:45 pm Conference First Timers' Welcome! If this is your first PLMA Conference, join us for a fun opportunity to meet and get to know some fellow first timers!
The Skyway Ballroom
5:00 - 6:15 pm Board of Directors Meeting Calling all PLMA Board members and At-Large Representatives listed at www.peakload.org/Leadership! Please join us for a new, short-format Spring Board Meeting.
Peabody Rooftop
8:00 - 10:00 pm Welcome Reception Join PLMA leaders, board, members, and staff as we kick off the 47th PLMA Conference with some great networking, a little music, and a Dessert Extravaganza of delicious regional specialties! This reception is open to everyone!
Sponsored by EnergyHub
7:30 - 8:45 am | Breakfast in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Sponsored by Eaton
7:30 - 8:30 am | Women in DM: Breakfast Connection — West Foyer
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
Opening Session
Sponsored by EFI
Chair Christine Riker Energy Solutions
8:45 - 9:00 am Special Opening Event Join us in the Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC for an event unique to the Peabody Hotel!
9:00 - 9:20 am Opening Remarks from the Chair
Richard Barone Get Smart, LLC
9:20 - 9:30 am Welcome to Memphis
Mark Yates Tennessee Valley Authority
9:30 - 10:00 am Keynote Address
Doug McGowen President and CEO Memphis Light, Gas and Water
10:00 - 10:30 am | Refreshment Break in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Sponsored by Sense
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
General Session 2
Co-Chair Robin Maslowski Guidehouse
Co-Chair Michael Brown Berkshire Hathaway, NV Energy
10:30 - 11:00 am Defining a Buzzword: Virtual Power Plants and the Orchestration of Distributed Energy Resources Learn about VPPs including use cases, control frameworks, and operational approaches as we clearly define this term. The presenters will explore PGE’s top-down VPP which demonstrates a control approach that lets the utility plan events and deliver grid services based on the desired behavior at the population level, without concern for specific individual devices. Read Full Description >
Angela Long Portland General Electic
Dr. William Burke Virtual Peaker
11:00 - 11:30 am Virtual Power, Real Reliability: The Economics of Virtual Power Plants Using hourly reliability analysis, this study demonstrates that a VPP could provide 400 MW of resource adequacy to a mid-sized utility with a dual peaking net load shape. Further, it shows that under plausible market conditions, a VPP is the only resource capable of providing resource adequacy at a negative net cost to the utility. Read Full Description >
Ryan Hledik The Brattle Group
11:30 am - 12:00 pm VPP Power Half Hour: Panel Discussion and Audience Questions
Adam Light Portland General Electic
Dr. William Burke Virtual Peaker
Ryan Hledik The Brattle Group
Rizwan Naveed Google
Angela Long Portland General Electric
12:00 - 1:30 pm | Lunch in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Sponsored by Franklin Energy
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
General Session 3
Co-Chair Ruth Kiselewich ICF
Co-Chair Troy Eichenberger Tennessee Valley Authority
1:30 - 2:00 pm PLMA 20th Award Winners Join us to recognize the award winners in three categories: Program Pacesetter, Technology Pioneer, and Thought Leader.
Moderators, Awards Program Co-Chairs:
Kevin Knight Baltimore Gas & Electric
Peter Bergeron CPower
Meg Campbell Guidehouse
2:00 - 2:45 pm The Good, the Bad, and the Reality of Program Design Learn best practices and explore the challenges of device-based load management programs, from smart thermostat programs to EVs, and those in-between. Representing all program design functions, the presenters will explore the components of end-to-end LM programming, program flexibility and cost effectiveness, the need for choice in customer devices, and managing vendor API fees. Read Full Description >
Moderator J.T. Thompson Generac Grid Services
Michael James Colby Xcel Energy
Santosh Veda Dominion Energy
Andy Taylor Duke Energy
2:45 - 3:15 pm | Refreshment Break in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Sponsored by Sense
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
General Session 4
Co-Chair Jenny Roehm Schneider Electric
Justin Chamberlain CPS Energy
3:15 - 4:00 pm Grid Resiliency: Innovative Approaches to Increasing Demand Response Participation Despite the frequency of grid emergencies, only 20-40% of eligible customers participate in DR programs that help balance the supply and demand of energy. Learn from a pilot between SDG&E and ecobee last September in which they tackled this issue by streamlining DR participation through effective customer communications. Read Full Description >
Kari Binley ecobee
Lilli Trinkley San Diego Gas & Electric
4:00 - 4:30 pm Utility Perspectives: A View from the Other Side Learn from PLMA’s utility members on current issues of concern within each of their organizations. The presenting utilities will each offer a 3-5 minute description of their scenario with the goals of: a) enhancing awareness and utility understanding among all PLMA members and b) setting the stage for future follow ups. Read Full Description >
4:30 - 5:00 pm Sponsor Showcase Lightning Round Hear from several PLMA sponsors about their solutions and what makes these worthy of consideration, all in a series of lightning-fast presentations! These are not marketing pitches but learning opportunities provided by the sponsors on the specific ways they create value for the energy industry.
5:00 - 6:30 pm | Networking Reception in the Sponsor Lounge
Sponsored by Copper Labs
8:00 - 9:00 am | Breakfast in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Forest Room
Sponsored by Elexity
Track A Retail Pricing
Co-Chair Kevin Knight Baltimore Gas & Electric
Co-Chair Kitty Wang Energy Solutions
9:00 – 9:30 am Evaluating Customer Impacts from Con Edison’s Smart Home Rate Demonstration Learn about Con Edison, Orange & Rockland, and their partners’ 2-year residential demand rate and thermostat demo project. Presenters will focus on key learnings around load impacts, structural and behavioral bill impacts, and customer reactions which led to helpful implementation changes over the two treatment summers. Read Full Description >
Moderator Chelsea Wolgel ICF
Candice Tsay Con Edison
Eric Bell, PhD Apex Analytics and Resource Innovations subcontractor
Jordan Folks Opinion Dynamics
Venetian Room
Sponsored by Olivine
Track B Other Topics
Co-Chair Kari Binley ecobee
Co-Chair Allison Hamilton NRECA
9:00 – 9:30 am Demand Flexibility Under Building and Transportation Electrification: Trends and Performance Learn about Berkeley Lab's work forecasting electrification load increases for partnering municipal utilities; the impacts of demand flexibility on distribution and system-wide peak; plus trends in program costs, scale, design, and rates. Project partner SMUD will discuss their plans to use the results of LBNL’s analysis. Read Full Description >
Sean Murphy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Terry Borges Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
Sponsored by EnergyHub
Track C Electric Vehicle Topics
Co-Chair Joyce Bodoh REC
Co-Chair Debyani Ghosh Guidehouse
9:00 – 9:30 am EV Behaviors Across Various TOU Rates at Southern California Edison Learn about the electricity usage behaviors of SCE EV customers across three TOU rates and a traditional tiered rate. Presenters will discuss the various rates, plus key findings including peak period load reductions and energy usage impacts, plus SCE’s efforts to enroll customers in its Prime Rate, which incentivizes off-peak charging. Read Full Description >
Eva Molnar Southern California Edison
Aimee Savage Apex Analytics
Forest Room
Track A
9:30 - 10:00 am Residential Household and EV Owner Impacts from ComEd’s Time-Of-Use Pilot Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) deployed its Residential Time-of-Use (TOU) Pricing Pilot in June 2020. The primary objective of the Pilot is to examine whether fixed-price time-of-use rates encourages customers to shift or reduce energy usage during the hours with the highest prices and, typically, highest usage. Read Full Description >
Araceli Martinez Common-wealth Edison
George Jiang Resource Innovations
Eric Bell, PhD Apex Analytics and Resource Innovations subcontractor
Venetian Room
Track B
9:30 - 10:00 am Entergy Arkansas’s Smart Demand Response Program Solves Declining Capacity Challenge Learn about Entergy Arkansas’ successful smart thermostat DR program pilot, run in anticipation of bidding its capacity into MISO. The presenters discuss the ways they leveraged program data to deliver levelized MW reductions for an event of any duration, in order to maximize a MISO bid while minimizing the risk of not delivering the committed capacity. Read Full Description >
Moderator Heather Hendrickson Entergy Arkansas LLC.
Santiago Asimbaya Entergy Arkansas LLC.
Lisa Lucas ICF
Terry Rohrer Connected Energy
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
Track C
9:30 - 10:00 am Beneficial Electrification With Vehicle To Grid: Roanoke Electric Cooperative's Experience Learn about REC’s vision to bring beneficial electrification and cost savings to its 14,000 member-customers, through V2G technology. REC and Fermata deployed a Nissan LEAF and a bidirectional 15 kW charger over three years. The presenters will share their results and how REC envisions scaling this technology across its rural service territory. Read Full Description >
Cathy Davison Roanoke Electric Cooperative
Dr. Melissa Chan Fermata Energy
Forest Room
Track A
10:00 - 10:30 am Program Insights from Leveraging CPP and DR for Grid Flexibility Learn about SMUD’s My Energy Optimizer program, a multi-DER residential program, and how it reduces demand during peaks and emergencies. The year-old program includes automated DR during peak hours, plus CPP rates. Presenters will discuss customer engagement with the program’s advanced rates, its grid benefits, and its carbon impacts. Read Full Description >
Jennifer Starrh SMUD
Rachel Henderson Uplight
Venetian Room
Track B
10:00 - 10:30 am Optimizing for Equity, Environment, and Resiliency Benefits in DER Planning Learn about PGE’s method for supporting DER resource planning at the intersection of environment, resilience, and equity, which includes geographic analysis and community engagement supported by data such as demographics, air quality, wildfire risk, power shutoff zones, and more. The presenters will discuss their approach to locational targeting, community engagement, and examples from PGE’s territory. Read Full Description >
Angela Long Portland General Electric
Fred Schaefer Cadeo Group
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
Track C
10:00 - 10:30 am Active vs Passive: Lessons Learned From EV Managed Charging Program Learn about active and passive residential EV managed charging programs from CPS Energy which deployed both approaches in parallel in 2021. The presenters will review their lessons learned, as well as best practices for program design, incentive structure, marketing, and more. Read Full Description >
Moderator Nick Bengtson EnergyHub
Julie Cain CPS Energy
10:30 - 11:00 am | Refreshment Break in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF
Sponsored by Sense
Forest Room
Sponsored by CPower
Track D Water Heating
Co-Chair Chris Ashley EnergyHub
Co-Chair Derek Kirchner TRC Companies
11:00 – 11:30 am EcoPortTM is Live! The Grid-Connected Water Heater EcoPort is the brand name for hot water heaters and other grid-connected appliances that are compliant with the ATSC/CTA-2045 standard. Read Full Description >
Rolf Bienart OpenADR Alliance
Brian Lusher Duke Energy
Venetian Room
Sponsored by Resideo
Track E Thermostat Programs
Chair Clayton Engel West Monroe Partners
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Test, Learn, Iterate: A Story of DR Pre-Enrollment and Mass Save Learn about the outcomes of National Grid’s efforts to maximize DR program enrollments through e-commerce, Demand Response Pre-Enrollment, and program optimization. The presenters will explore how National Grid eliminated barriers between EE and DR, and how it built a flexibility program that now manages 80,000+ devices while prioritizing customer satisfaction. Read Full Description >
Moderator Jonathan Coons EFI
Vince Faherty Google Nest
Michael Haber EnergyHub
David Roman Ubeda National Grid
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
Sponsored by Copper Labs
Track F Planning/Inclusion/Innovation
Co-Chair Peter Bergeron CPower Energy Mgmt.
Co-Chair Melissa Knous Duke Energy
11:00 am – 12:00 pm What Silo? SRP & Google's Approach to Program Innovation (Includes Income-Eligible Focus) Learn about SRP’s lessons learned, operational challenges, and future opportunities from its 2022 implementation of various innovative strategies to increase DR program participation in LMI and Multifamily communities. The presenters will discuss split incentives, the customer journey, customer pain points, and their marketing campaigns to drive demand and participation. Read Full Description >
Moderator Jim Walsh Techniart
Tyson Brown Google/Nest
Eamonn Urey Salt River Project
Forest Room
Track D
11:30 am – 12:00 pm Understanding the Potential of Residential Water Heaters as Energy Storage for Grid Flexibility Learn about storing surplus PV generation in the form of extra-heated water to limit the demands of electric water heaters during times of peak load. The presenters will discussion the components of this solution, which includes cloud connections, commandable water temperature setpoints, intelligent controllers, and mixing valves to ensure safe usage temperatures. Read Full Description >
Benjamin Futrell UNC Charlotte
12:00 - 1:30 pm | Lunch in the Sponsor Lounge | Peabody Grand Ballroom DEF 1:30 pm | Sponsor Lounge Closes
Sponsored by OATI
Peabody Grand Ballroom ABC
Closing General Session
Co-Chair Laurie Duhan BG&E
Co-Chair Richard Barone Get Smart, LLC
1:30 – 2:30 pm Grid Resilience and Demand Flexibility in the Wake of Extreme Weather Events Recognizing the significant impact of climate change on energy supply and grid resilience, this panel will present recent research and data on the severity of climate-change-induced grid emergencies; discuss experiences from utilities and ISO’s from across the country; and showcase the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from new grid emergency programs implemented by utilities. Read Full Description >
Beth Reid Olivine, Inc.
Aimee Gotway Bailey, PhD National Grid
Denise Munoz Commonwealth Edison
Erica Keating Southern California Edison
John Moura North American Reliability Corportation (NERC)
2:30 pm Welcome to Charlotte for the 48th Conference!
Stacy Phillips Duke Energy
2:40 pm Closing Remarks
Robin Maslowskir Guidehouse
2:45 pm | Ice Cream Social
Sponsored by Opinion Dynamics
3:15 - 5:00 pm ULME
Wednesday, May 10, 2023, 3:00 – 5:00 pm and Thursday, May 11, 2023, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Open to Utility Representatives Only, Registration Required)
Conference Chair
Debyani Ghosh
Bruce Brazis
Vasudha Lathey
Tom Roberts
Andy Taylor
Vanessa Richter
Lenore Zeuthen
Ana Villarreal
Rebekah Grant
Scott Coe
Michael Brown
Ross Malme
Jon Hilowitz
Moderator Meghan Jennings
Wendy Brummer
Linda Stevens
Savannah Robertson
Pearl Donohoo-Vallett
Bill Atzl
Brian Uchtmann
Jeff Pollard
Dave Alspector
Stacy Philips
Brian Grunkemeyer
Rich Hasselman
Nick Bengtson
J.T. Thompson
Chair Christine Riker
Richard Barone
Mark Yates
Doug McGowen
Co-Chair Robin Maslowski
Angela Long
Dr. William Burke
Ryan Hledik
Adam Light
Rizwan Naveed
Co-Chair Ruth Kiselewich
Kevin Knight
Peter Bergeron
Meg Campbell
Michael James Colby
Santosh Veda
Andy Taylor
Co-Chair Jenny Roehm
Justin Chamberlain
Kari Binley
Lilli Trinkley
Co-Chair
Co-Chair
Moderator Chelsea Wolgel
Candice Tsay
Eric Bell, PhD
Jordan Folks
Co-Chair
Sean Murphy
Terry Borges
Co-Chair
Eva Molnar
Aimee Savage
Araceli Martinez
George Jiang
Moderator Heather Hendrickson
Santiago Asimbaya
Lisa Lucas
Terry Rohrer
Cathy Davison
Dr. Melissa Chan
Jennifer Starrh
Rachel Henderson
Fred Schaefer
Julie Cain
Co-Chair
Co-Chair
Rolf Bienart
Brian Lusher
Chair
Moderator Jonathan Coons
Vince Faherty
Michael Haber
David Roman Ubeda
Co-Chair
Moderator Jim Walsh
Tyson Brown
Eamonn Urey
Benjamin Futrell
Co-Chair Laurie Duhan
Beth Reid
Aimee Gotway Bailey, PhD
Denise Munoz
Erica Keating
John Moura
Stacy Phillips