Partnerships and Collaborative Spirit
Sheri Givens is President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance.
This year’s EEI Annual Conference is bursting with bold ideas and forward-thinking leadership –and that energy is exactly what SEPA brings to our work with investor-owned utilities every day. If you’re not yet engaged with SEPA, I have one question: why not?
Today, we’re proud to include forty-seven IOUs in the SEPA family, spanning twenty-one parent companies and twenty-six subsidiaries. Utilities like PG&E, Southern Company, and Exelon are more than just members. They’re leaders, collaborators, and builders. Their fingerprints are visible throughout our work, from peer learning and research to scalable programs that raise the bar for the entire industry.
Here’s what that looks like in action. With Duke Energy, we showcased how a solar and storage microgrid delivered both grid resilience and a green light from regulators. In Pennsylvania, we teamed up with four IOUs and the state energy office to co-author a statewide microgrid map. With Xcel, APS, and EnergyHub, we created a DERMS white paper that offers a step-by-step approach for scaling VPPs. And through our Utility Collaborative Forum, PG&E, SCE, and Con Edison are shaping practical approaches to EV-grid integration. These are the kinds of projects that take us from pilot to playbook — with IOUs at the helm.