Agenda: Power Resilience Forum

Thursday, January 22

Morning Plenary Sessions

8.30-9.00am – Welcome and opening remarks
Kicking off PRF with an overview of our coverage of the space, key themes in the market and the plan for the conference

9.00-9.30am - Opening Keynote: From Stability to Surprise: How Shifting Weather Patterns Are Rewriting the Rules for Grid Resilience
Traditional weather patterns are shifting in ways that defy historical norms. Once-reliable seasonal cues are becoming erratic, extremes are becoming more common, and the past is no longer a trustworthy guide for future grid planning. As the boundaries between short-term weather and long-term climate trends blur along the weather-climate continuum, the power sector needs to rethink decision making in an increasingly uncertain climate. This keynote will explore why and how grid planners and operators must adapt to this new reality.

9.30-10.00am - Building the Nation’s Most Resilient Coastal Grid: CenterPoint’s Strategy Among Superstorms, Bomb Cyclones and 100-Year Floods - Every Year
In 2024, CenterPoint filed an ambitious plan with its regulator with the goal of significantly reducing the impact of hurricane and storm-related outages for its 2.8 million customers across Greater Houston by 2029. How did CenterPoint integrate planning across the organization to develop this strategy? How are the utility, its regulator and customers evaluating resilience technologies and their ROI? How are CenterPoint and key stakeholders collaborating to make the entire community more resilient? What learnings does the CenterPoint experience offer other utilities?

10.00-10.30am - Deploying the Dollars Before Disaster Strikes - Investing for a Stronger Grid
Too often, investments aren’t made in grid resilience and wildfire mitigation until after a major disaster strikes. How can utilities, regulators and other stakeholders proactively plan for extreme weather events? Should the burden be borne by ratepayers or taxpayers? How can you put an economic value to a more resilient grid?

10.30-11:00am - Networking break

11.00-11.30am - Case studies

11.30-12:00pm - Building Back Better: Reimagining the Grid for a Stronger Future
From Hurricane Katrina to Superstorm Sandy, grid disruptions are becoming more frequent and more costly. But recovery is no longer just about restoration; it's about transformation. How have utilities leveraged disaster recovery and infrastructure investments to build a smarter, more resilient, and more flexible grid? What has worked well and what would they do differently? What lessons did they learn and challenges did they face along the way?

12:00-12.30pm - Someone Else’s Problem. Until It Isn’t. Do All Utilities Need Wildfire Mitigation Plans?
Hawaii is green and lush. And surrounded by water. So why should utilities and regulators in the state have been planning for potential wildfires? What about utilities in the East, utilities that are primarily urban, utilities with service territories that are grasslands rather than forests? What’s at stake if you have a low likelihood but high consequence wildfire? What actions should utilities and regulators in states with low wildfire risk be taking, and why?

Friday, January 23

Morning Plenary Sessions

8.45-9.15am: Keynote (TBD)

9.15-9.45am: Turning Framework into Action: How Utilities Are Putting Climate Resilience to the Test
As climate risks intensify, utilities are under growing pressure to move from planning to doing. This conversation will explore how forward-thinking utilities are turning climate resilience frameworks—like EPRI’s Climate READi Power Framework, launched in 2025—into concrete action. Hear firsthand how companies are assessing physical climate risks, prioritizing investments, and implementing adaptation strategies on the ground. What’s working well? Where are the pain points? And what early lessons can help others accelerate their own resilience journeys?

9.45-10.10am: Smarter, Stronger, Faster: AI for Grid Resilience
As extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and rising demand strain the power grid, artificial intelligence is emerging as a critical tool for resilience. From predictive maintenance and outage forecasting to real-time situational awareness and adaptive grid control, AI is enabling faster, smarter responses to evolving threats. But with growing reliance on opaque algorithms, data quality issues, and cybersecurity concerns, AI also introduces new risks that utilities must confront head-on. Is AI the breakthrough the grid needs—or just another layer of complexity and risk?

10.10-10.30am: Adapting to Shifting Federal Priorities: Elevating Public and Private Sector Leadership in Resilience
As federal priorities evolve, other stakeholders are recalibrating their strategies, including identifying new opportunities for collaboration and innovation. This session will explore how changing federal funding and policy directions are shaping the resilience landscape and opening space for state, local, community, and private sector leadership. What segments of the resilience value chain are particularly well-suited for private investment? What innovative programs and partnerships are emerging at the local level, and how might they serve as scalable models for others?

10.30-11.00am: Networking break

11.00-11.25am: Driving Innovation: Investing in Tech Solutions for a More Resilient Grid
The past two decades have seen a wave of investment in clean energy technologies to reduce carbon emissions. But investment in adaptation technologies has lagged behind. Is the balance now shifting? What grid resilience technologies are most attractive to investors? What market signals do investors need to see from utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders to have the confidence in this market segment?

11.25-11.50am: Credit in the Line of Fire: Financing Utilities in a Shifting Risk Landscape
As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, utilities face mounting operational and financial risks. In response, insurers are reassessing their risk, resulting in higher premiums and reduced coverage. Credit rating agencies and municipal bond investors are similarly closely scrutinizing utility risk mitigation and response strategies thus impacting utilities' access to capital and overall liquidity. In this evolving threat landscape, what proactive steps can utilities take to maintain financial resilience?

11.50am-12.15pm: Resilient, Reliable...and Affordable? Confronting the Power Sector’s Impossible Equation
Can we truly have it all—resilience, affordability, and grid capacity to meet surging demand? As the grid strains under the weight of climate extremes, electrification, and aging infrastructure, regulators and utilities are facing a stark reality: the cost of resilience is rising, and so are expectations. How do we harden the grid, prepare for black swan events, and support decarbonization—without triggering rate shock or deepening energy inequity? How do we quantify resilience benefits and provide the highest value at the lowest cost possible?

12.15-12.30pm: From Risk to Return: The Strategic Imperative of Adaptation
Adaptation is often framed as a defensive necessity—but it's also a powerful lever for long-term value creation. As extreme weather impacts intensify, integrating adaptation into infrastructure planning can protect assets, reduce long-term risk, and open new opportunities for investment. This session will make the case for forward-looking organizations to embed adaptation into core strategy—not just to manage risk, but to unlock competitive advantage.

12.30-1.30pm: Lunch break

WORKING AGENDA