POWER December 2021 - 26

POWER EVENTS
Power Event Attendees Welcome
the In-Person Experience
POWER hosted Experience POWER, the Distributed Energy Conference, and HydrogeNext
at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, October
18-21, 2021. The events were well-received by sponsors and attendees, as industry
professionals embraced the opportunity to meet again in person.
Aaron Larson
C
OVID-19 has disrupted all of our
lives in countless ways. Many
power professionals have grown
accustomed to working from home
and attending Zoom meetings, but that
doesn't mean we all enjoy the seclusion.
That's why POWER's events team was
so anxious to host Experience POWER,
the Distributed Energy Conference, and
HydrogeNext in person. It had been far
too long since people had gathered together
to hear from experts and network
with peers.
The response from sponsors and attendees
at the events was equally excited.
I can't tell you how many people
I heard say something like, " It's great to
be back in person! " While some companies
were still limiting travel, which
caused attendance to be down somewhat
from past years, the feeling I got
from everyone who participated was
that the events were a resounding success
and people can't wait for an even
larger get-together next year. Plans are
already in place for the three shows to
be co-located at the Gaylord Rockies Resort
and Convention Center near Denver,
Colorado, Oct. 3-6, 2022.
Cutting Carbon a Hot Topic
Julia Hamm, president and CEO of the
Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA),
provided a keynote address on Oct. 19
in San Antonio. " I can't tell you how
excited I am to be here! Pre-pandemic-this
was my life. You know, I spent
about a third of my time on the road,
traveling around the country-around
the globe-talking to audiences about
utility transformation. But it's actually
been 22 months since I stood on a
stage until today, and ironically, the last
time I was on stage was here in this
building, " Hamm said.
Hamm acknowledged that utilities
have been evolving and that there have
been meaningful reductions in emis26
emissions
by 70%, and some have
roadmaps to achieve 80% or even 90%
carbon-free power in an affordable way
using technology that is commercially
available today, Hamm said. Still, more
work needs to be done to find solutions
for " the last mile. "
1. Julia Hamm, president and CEO of the
Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) spoke
at the co-located Experience POWER, Distributed
Energy Conference, and HydrogeNext
events. Source: POWER
sions. However, she said the roughly
40% reduction in CO2
emissions from
the electric power sector is not good
enough. " Analysis shows us that as
a planet we are on track for a threedegree-Celsius
temperature increase
by mid-century, if we continue with our
current trends and don't change how we
operate. That is not acceptable, so we've
got to do things differently, " she said.
SEPA is not a trade association or lobbying/advocacy
group. Hamm said it is
simply focused on bringing together all
the relevant stakeholders, including the
utility industry, regulators,
technology
companies, large energy users, and big
tech companies, to work collaboratively
on electric power challenges.
One of the things SEPA has done is to
create a Utility Carbon-Reduction Tracker.
According to Hamm, the first U.S. utility
to commit to a carbon-free goal was Xcel
Energy in December 2018. " Since then,
we've seen utility after utility after utility
announce their own ambitious targets to
the point now where 72% of customers
are served by a utility in the U.S. with a
100% carbon-free goal. Really impressive, "
she said.
While it's impossible to know how
the world's energy sector will become
100% carbon free, most utilities have
clear plans on how to reduce carbon
www.powermag.com
Utilities Leading the Way
One interesting takeaway from Hamm's
presentation revolved around SEPA's
assessment of where utilities stand
in terms of progress toward a cleaner,
more modern power grid. The group factored
in several variables including how
much clean energy the company supplied,
how distributed energy resources
are handled, how grid modernization is
being implemented, how planning and
operating practices have evolved within
the organization, how the company engaged
with other stakeholders, and how
corporate leadership managed risks.
About 130 utilities participated in the
survey and SEPA scored each of them
based on their responses.
The results were not published publicly,
but Hamm did identify the top 10 in
alphabetical order. They were Austin Energy
(Texas), Consolidated Edison (New
York), Green Mountain Power (Vermont),
Holyoke Gas & Electric (Massachusetts),
Los Angeles Department of Water &
2. Hanna Grene, director of Energy Industry
for the Americas with Microsoft, spoke at the
co-located Experience POWER, Distributed
Energy Conference, and HydrogeNext events.
Source: POWER
POWER | December 2021
http://www.powermag.com
POWER December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER December 2021
