Large Load Building Electrification and Decarbonization

Beneficial electrification has made huge strides in the last decade, driving consumer satisfaction and cost savings, providing significant decarbonization benefits, and equipping utilities with grid-strengthening load flexibility. Join the Building Electrification Interest Group for three different takes on this theme: The Brattle Group will discuss their recent nationally focused report titled “A Decade of Beneficial Electrification: Progress and the Path Ahead,” Salt River Project will describe their electrification offerings for commercial and industrial customers in Arizona, and National Grid + edo will explain how they’re testing load flexibility with electrified commercial buildings in New York. This rich, interactive session will include audience discussion and a Q&A. Everyone welcome!

Enhancing Multifamily Residential Outcomes through Market Research

Last Fall, ComEd’s lead researcher joined the Customer Engagement Interest Group to offer an overview of different market research tools and their role in ensuring successful program outcomes. In this session, the Group returns to the challenge of multifamily building programs with updated market research results from a multifamily EV pilot that under-performed expectations. Join us to hear what the researchers learned when they spoke to property managers and end-users, and how these insights may apply to multifamily programs more generally. Plus, more on the use of AI in market research and program design, and the chance to participate in a fun break-out challenge.

Transportation Electrification Efforts from Utilities

More information coming soon.

3:00 – 3:45 PM
Flexible Resources: Orange and Rockland’s REV Demonstration Virtual Power Plant

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (“O&R”) in a partnership with Sunrun has fully enrolled, installed, and is operating the first Virtual Power Plant (“VPP”) implemented by a utility in New York State. Through REV funding, the ISBM (Innovative Storage Business Model) Virtual Power Plant project has installed 345 residential solar-plus-storage systems that aggregate to approximately 1.6 MW / 3.2 MWh in flexible resources. The VPP can be activated by O&R during times of peak demand to assist the electric distribution system. The ISBM project functions with a customer signing a lease agreement with Sunrun for the solar system, O&R subsidizes the cost of the battery and gives the customer an option for a free battery, and O&R receives primary dispatch rights to the battery for 10 years.

O&R and Sunrun will present: Total customer population vs. total addressable market; marketing/adoption; dispatches for load relief, data analysis, and performance dashboard creation.

3:45 to 4:30 PM
Ask the Experts/What Do You Want Out of Connected Devices?

More information coming soon.

Who Are Today’s Residential Customers? A Segmentation Perspective

Every few years, the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) updates its consumer segmentation framework to keep pace with energy industry and societal changes. This segmentation uncovers key consumer trends and behaviors as they relate to energy efficiency, demand response programs, electrification, distributed energy resources and more. During this presentation, SECC’s President & CEO Nathan Shannon will moderate a session with Mayson Smith from Cobb EMC, Arnold Santayana from CPS Energy, Sarah Farlee from Freestate Electric Cooperative and Tim Hillman from ICF and will walk through the new attitudinal segmentation and provide recommended steps for electricity providers and other industry stakeholders looking to better connect with and engage each of the new consumer segments. Panelists will also highlight new research findings on Gen Z, rural and low-income consumers, including their interest in clean energy programs and their attitudes toward their electricity providers.

9:00 – 9:45 AM
Quantifying and Operationalizing the Demand Stack

The Demand Stack, which integrates demand-side resources for enhanced grid and customer benefits, is succeeding at harnessing program value. Join the Brattle Group to review its quantitative analysis of Demand Stack advantages which can optimize demand-side investments. Utilities and industry leaders will discuss their experiences implementing these insights into regulatory frameworks, building internal support, and improving customer experiences to deliver savings and megawatts where the grid requires it.

9:45 – 10:30 AM
Integrating EE and DR for Lasting Engagement and Flexible Load: AES Indiana’s Holistic Approach

AES Indiana is aligning EE and DR programs to enhance grid flexibility and meet efficiency goals. By integrating its EE portfolio with DR offerings across segments and creating a unified marketplace, AES Indiana has simplified customer enrollment and reduced program silos. Learn how its approach has increased summer peak DR capacity to ~51 MW while ensuring cost-effectiveness and customer satisfaction. Plus, lessons learned on early tech integration and flexible marketing strategies.

11:00 – 11:30 AM
Improving DER Forecasting with Asset Performance Data

Join DNV and Con Edison to learn how they improved system and distribution load forecasting for DERs. They’ll demonstrate their use of AMI, SCADA, and supplemental asset data for developing load shapes for DERs to improve forecast accuracy. These shapes help identify DER-specific trends, improve asset predictability and alignment with system peaks, and predict interactions across DERs. Learn how they addressed challenges, plus considerations for future DER load shape research.

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Systematic Evaluation of Distribution-Level Load Flexibility: A Large-Scale Experimental Approach

In 2025, SCE tested its distribution-level dispatch capabilities, using 200,000+ devices, by assigning 330 distribution and 58 bulk substation banks each into ten groups. Conducted during summer with varied weather conditions, these tests quantified performance and load impacts by dispatching one group while withholding ten for control. Learn about SCE’s experiment and the insights it provides on enhancing grid stress mitigation, and the potential for DR to support T&D planning.