“The RealWear device is a voice activated technology that reduces costs and make us more effective. At its core, it’s a safety technology that makes people hands free.”

“These automations are going to help Ameren save costs and in turn help reduce the bills for Ameren customers.”

“All of what we would do if we were in the plant, we can do right there in the virtual space. As an instructor, I can sit and watch everybody. The workers loved it.”

Through these profiles we aim to learn what drove the innovation, what's its essential benefit, and what aspect of their accomplishments did the innovators find most rewarding?

We selected the most outstanding in these ten categories: distributed generation, drones, environmental protection, microgrids, renewables integration, reliability and resilience, robotics, transmission, virtual reality, and wearables.

All of the nominations are impressive and impactful for our industry and the public. All of them are celebrated in the following pages.

One thing we can be proud of is that our association, NARUC, chose to stay relevant during this pandemic, a decision that will ultimately pay dividends to our members.

Our industry has institutionalized innovation.

The purpose is to demonstrate capacity of grid-interactive efficient buildings to improve energy intensity of homes and businesses, and to validate buildings’ potential to provide flexibility and resilience to the energy system as a whole.