Reliability & Resiliency

With increasing pressure from extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and new demand patterns, utilities are prioritizing reliability and resilience across both transmission and distribution systems. This track explores how utilities are hardening assets, modernizing infrastructure, and strengthening the bulk power system to minimize disruptions and accelerate recovery.

 

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Reliability & Resiliency Educational Opportunities

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4:00 PM
  1. Utility Executive Roundtable: Strategic Grid Resilience, Rate Base Management, and Trust
    Northerly Island
    60 mins
    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 …
  2. Utility Roundtable: Balancing Grid Reliability with Operational Reality
    China Town
    60 mins
    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 …
8:15 AM
  1. Keynote Address: Understanding Exelon’s Blueprint for Modern Reliability and Resiliency
    Grand Horizons Ballroom DEFG
    15 mins
    Keeping the lights on is no longer just an engineering challenge for utilities of all types, and that’s partly because reliability isn't just one thing. It’s a dynamic endeavor that requires a complex …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Laura Randle-Smith
    Laura Randle-Smith, Vice President, Exelon Infrastructure - Exelon
10:00 AM
  1. Aging Grid Innovations for Affordable Resilience & Reliability
    Grand Horizons Ballroom DEFG
    45 mins
    Many utilities are on track to spend around 1% of asset replacement value on their aging grid over the next decade; a 100-year renewal rate with a $600B price tag.  We need innovation to help balance …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Coral Breidenbach
    Coral Breidenbach, Director, Distribution Operations - Xcel Energy
    Speaker image for Najwa Abouhassan
    Najwa Abouhassan, Director, Technology R&D - Exelon
    Speaker image for Jose Villalba
    Jose Villalba, Chief Operating Officer - Osmose
11:00 AM
  1. Leveraging Intelligent Line Sensors to Improve Situational Awareness and Outage Response at OPPD
    Grand Horizons Ballroom ABC
    45 mins
    Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), which supplies electric power to an area of 900,000 people in Omaha, NE, has a vision of Power the Future 2050 where we strive to achieve perfect power by increasin …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Maurice Kimsey II
    Maurice Kimsey II, Program Manager Distribution Automation Strategy - Omaha Public Power District
    Speaker image for Tim Figura
    Tim Figura, Senior Director of Product Management - Sentient Energy
12:45 PM
  1. Peer-To-Peer Roundtable: Beyond Reliability: Building Regulatory Frameworks That Enable Grid Resilience
    China Town
    45 mins
    As utilities face increasing pressure from extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and growing customer expectations, resilience has become a strategic priority. Yet many regulatory frameworks remain r …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Dan Desmond
    Dan Desmond, Senior Manager, Product Management - S&C Electric Company
    Speaker image for Michael Fuller
    Michael Fuller, Manager – Strategy & Policy - Ameren
    Speaker image for Richard Gray
    Richard Gray, Innovation Director - S&C Electric Company
    Speaker image for Shikhar Pandey
    Shikhar Pandey, Founder and Managing Partner - GridCo Group
1:45 PM
  1. Reliability and Resiliency! We are in This Together!
    Grand Horizons Ballroom ABC
    45 mins
    The session will discuss the utility’s plans and strategies for addressing: Capacity Reliability and resiliency DER integration To successfully navigate these critically intertwined industry challenge …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Joe Zerdin
    Joe Zerdin, Director Distribution Large Customer, Sustainment - Hydro One
  2. Stop Optimizing. Start Deciding.
    Grand Horizons Ballroom DEFG
    45 mins
    The grid industry has spent fifteen years building the capacity to see — sensors, SCADA, historians, and AI-powered dashboards now deliver more real-time visibility into utility operations than ever b …
    Speakers
    Speaker image for Jenny Bulach
    Jenny Bulach, Executive Industry Consultant - Hexagon ALI

Other Reliability & Resiliency News

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How are utilities using AI to rewrite planning playbooks?

Representatitves from Argonne National Laboratory, S&C Electric Company, and Exelon outline a roadmap for utilities of all sizes to operationalize AI at DTECH Reliability & Resiliency in Chicago.
September 04, 2026
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Manufacturers expand U.S. operations to meet unrelenting grid demand

Leading original equipment manufacturers are stepping up to meet increasing electricity demand in the US, announcing sizable investments to expand domestic production of critical grid infrastructure, including transformers, circuit breakers, and high-voltage cables.
September 03, 2026
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How much could new transmission save customers? About $15.3 billion, study finds

A new study finds interregional transmission, when combined with robust regional transmission, provides customer savings reaching up to $15.3 billion until 2050.
September 02, 2026
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Announcing the winners of the 2026 Utility Resilience Awards at DTECH Reliability & Resilience

The DTECH Utility Resilience Awards were created to honor the people and projects that have helped transform resilience from a backroom engineering goal into the defining frontline challenge of the energy industry.
September 01, 2026
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