To attend this event, you must register separately. This event is free to attend and can be added to your registration when registering, or by visiting the registration resource center to review your existing registration.

As wildfire risk and extreme weather continue to intensify, utilities must strengthen grid resilience while balancing reliability, affordability, and evolving regulatory expectations. The Wildfire & Weather Emergency Response Summit brings together utility leaders and industry experts to share practical strategies, innovative technologies, and real-world case studies for mitigating wildfire risk and improving emergency preparedness.

Summit Agenda

Opening Remarks: Redefining Wildfire & Weather Emergency Response (12:30 – 12:35 PM)
The summit opens by exploring what it means to move beyond reactive emergency response toward a proactive approach that strengthens grid reliability and protects communities before disasters occur. Learn how collaboration, predictive analytics, and resilient planning are reshaping wildfire preparedness.
Speaker: Pedro Gignon, Demand Generation Manager, LiveEO

Beyond Ignition Risk: Comprehensive Wildfire Resilience from the Frontlines (12:35 – 1:05 PM)
Gain firsthand insights into how utilities are approaching wildfire resilience through operational best practices, strategic planning, and lessons learned from the field.
Presenter: Aaron Smith, PHI

How is AEP Texas Improving Distribution Reliability and Reducing Risk from Wildfires? (1:05 – 1:35 PM)
AEP Texas is modernizing its asset management program across more than 44,000 miles of distribution lines while accelerating inspections from a five-year to a one-year cycle by 2027. Serving a territory exposed to hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires, AEP is leveraging AI-powered inspections, weather stations, wildfire detection cameras, UAVs, GIS-integrated inspection data, and thermal imagery to identify issues earlier, prioritize maintenance, improve operational efficiency, and reduce outage risk.
Presenters: Patrick Rackley, AEP Texas; Kaitlyn Albertoli, Buzz Solutions

From Risk Maps to Capital Plans: Optimizing Grid Hardening Investments for Wildfire Resilience with PNM (1:35 – 2:05 PM)
Learn how Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and Firescape are using advanced wildfire modeling and asset-level analytics to prioritize grid hardening investments. This case study demonstrates how geospatial risk data can optimize capital planning, maximize resilience, and build regulator-ready business cases while operating within constrained budgets.
Presenters: Holly Eagleston, Firescape; Jeremy Tabet, PNM

Networking Break (2:05 – 2:15 PM)

Building Trust Through Crisis: Customer Engagement Strategies for Disaster Response (2:15 – 2:45 PM)
Emergency response extends beyond restoring power—it requires transparent communication and meaningful customer engagement. Southern California Edison, ComEd, and 4Liberty will share lessons from disaster recovery efforts and discuss strategies for aligning operational response with customer communications before, during, and after major events.
Presenters: Paolo Paruccini, 4Liberty; Dave Bunge, ComEd

Building the Triple Line of Defense: How AI and Asset Intelligence Enable a Layered Approach to Grid Resilience (2:45 – 3:15 PM)
Discover how AI-powered inspections and asset intelligence are helping utilities identify high-risk infrastructure, prioritize mitigation activities, and strengthen wildfire preparedness. Through lessons learned from Xcel Energy, ComEd, and eSmart Systems, attendees will see how AI-driven image analytics support smarter investment decisions and a layered approach to grid resilience.
Presenters: Coral Breidenbach, Xcel Energy; Don McPhail, eSmart Systems; Susanna Aguilar, ComEd

Wildfire Frontiers: Local Risk, Smarter Vegetation Intelligence, and Practical Next Steps (3:15 – 3:45 PM)
As wildfire risk expands beyond the western U.S., utilities need localized strategies—not one-size-fits-all solutions. Drawing on insights from the inaugural Wildfire Frontiers Summit, LiveEO will discuss how span-level vegetation and fuel intelligence can be integrated with asset, weather, and capital planning data to better understand risk, prioritize mitigation efforts, and strengthen long-term resilience.
Speaker: Pedro Gignon, Demand Generation Manager, LiveEO

Wildfire Summit Action Items and Takeaways Panel (3:45 – 4:00 PM)
The summit concludes with an interactive discussion bringing together utility leaders and technology innovators to summarize key lessons and identify practical actions attendees can take back to their organizations. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to support engineering, planning, operations, and wildfire mitigation efforts while continuing conversations throughout DTECH Reliability & Resilience.

 
Summit Sponsored by: