From September 21–24, 2026, the global energy regulatory community will gather in Tbilisi, Georgia, for WFER IX under the theme “When Balance Is Achieved.”

“A major utility serving a mix of these customers is no longer diversified at scale even though it serves AI operators in multiple jurisdictions. It is exposed to a single wager held by a tiny club of whales.”

“A recent report from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council offers a starting point for regulators evaluating options to strengthen their states’ interconnection procedures.”

“The opportunity now is to make Wildfire Mitigation Plans more understandable, comparable, and evaluator-friendly, much as integrated resource and transmission plans became over time.”

“We’ve been told by customers they’re getting asked about Gridscope deployments on bond ratings and insurance calls – we’re hoping that in addition to direct reliability and risk reduction benefits we can provide, we’re also able to make a dent on affordability.”

“By leveraging load flexibility, utilities can unlock additional capacity rapidly and at lower cost relative to generation and T&D buildout – but this resource has been underutilized to date.”

The National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of DERs provides a BCA framework for public utility commissions, state energy offices, consumer advocates, investor-owned utilities, and other stakeholders to assess the benefits and costs of DER investments and strategies.

“Last year, we had a two-day Technical Conference dealing with large-load growth. We brought in all the stakeholder entities to provide insight. We also brought in Dominion Energy from Virginia, which has seen the greatest increase in load growth from data centers.”

“Iowa’s wind development conversations often leave out a critical innovation that doesn’t get talked about enough and that’s regulatory innovations. That allowed Iowa to invest responsibly and grow a large renewable portfolio that delivered reliable and affordable rates.”

“I am always interested in exploring innovation and technology that can better our electric grid and water and gas infrastructure. However, I also generally don’t want to see our utilities as first movers if there are risks to our reliability and affordability in Arizona.”