ACE NY 2026 Fall Conference

The program focuses on transmission and power markets, bringing together finance, technology, and utility leaders. Sessions include: • “1920s Vision: Is Grid Planning Ready for the Future?” — transmission planning reforms under Order No. 1920, expansion efforts, implementation results, and where transmission is being built. • “Capacity Markets: Diagnosing a Chronic Condition” — whether current energy and capacity-market constructs can be rehabilitated or require an overhaul. • “Power Struggle: Paying for the Grid of the Future” — funding interregional transmission, grid grants, price-collared compensation structures, the Transmission Facilitation Program, a proposed transmission investment tax credit, and transmission’s capacity value. • “Gridmaxxing: ATTs and the Art of Doing More With What You've Got” — deployment of advanced transmission technologies, implementation barriers, line-loss savings, and resilience benefits. • “Cost Allocation: An Immovable Object Meets an Unstoppable Force” — cost allocation for large loads, jurisdictional disputes, co-location and proximate resources, broader grid expansion, curtailable large load, clean energy, and storage. Named speakers include Laura Rauch of MISO; Aftab Khan of PJM; Suzanne Glatz of Glatz Energy Consulting LLC; Katie Siegner of RMI; David Lapp of the Maryland Office of Peoples Council; Evelyn Robinson of MAREC; Jennie Chen of RAP; Joshua Macey of Yale Law School; Madeline Gould Laughlin of Grid United; Brooke Keene of Southwest Power Pool; Zach Zimmerman of Grid Strategies LLC; Theodore Paradise of CTC Global; Georg Rute of Gridraven; Carla Pinzon of Expand Power Technologies, Inc.; Bryn Baker of CEBA; Jeff Bladen of Verrus; Matt Christiansen of Wilson Sonsini; Morgan Sipple of the Data Center Coalition; and Craig Sundstrom of Amazon Web Services.

The program examines North American energy tradeoffs, grid reliability, clean-energy integration, affordability, and cross-border coordination. Opening keynote speaker Ernest J. Moniz is Founder & CEO of EFI Institute and Former U.S. Secretary of Energy; Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston joins a leadership fireside chat, and Charles Dickerson, President & CEO of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council, gives keynote remarks on the power grid’s current state and future outlook. Day 1 sessions address electricity-demand growth, reliability and the cost curve; U.S. and Canadian energy policy, prices and cross-border coordination; investment opportunities in Canadian critical minerals, clean electricity, renewables, hydrogen, new nuclear and infrastructure; nuclear affordability, small modular reactors, supply chains and regulatory timelines; infrastructure costs related to permitting, litigation, supply chains and community engagement; and grid-operator perspectives on reliability, cost control, planning and interregional cooperation. The program also includes a lunch program and table dialogues. Day 2 sessions cover regulatory and policy approaches to affordable reliability; energy-sector financing and investment; which generation technologies are likely to be built and how cost, deployment speed and scalability shape investment; demand flexibility, distributed energy resources, storage and digital grid tools; and firm-power options including nuclear and advanced geothermal. The Steve Leahy Energy & Innovation Collaboration Award recognizes a U.S.-Canada energy partnership demonstrating innovation, collaboration, and affordability and reliability benefits.

The forum examines North American power markets across renewables, conventional generation, utilities, data centers, commercial and industrial offtakers, and government. Topics include energy-policy consistency and consequential legislation; the effects of tariffs, tax-credit regulation, geopolitical conflict, interest rates, and industry consolidation on costs and demand; FERC interconnection reform and transmission investment; and whether domestic solar and storage manufacturing can compete under changing trade and incentive rules. The program also addresses data-center and AI-driven load growth, local opposition and project approvals, equipment and workforce constraints, powered land, gas paired with battery storage, battery operations and project economics, and mergers and acquisitions in power development. Other sessions examine hyperscaler nuclear strategies, clean firm and dispatchable power, long-duration storage, geothermal, small modular reactors, gas with CCS, aging renewable assets, behind-the-meter storage, large-load flexibility, and utility–data center collaboration. Roundtable topics include understanding FEOC and tariffs, overcoming local opposition, operations and maintenance, flexibility programs, EPC partnerships, and behind-the-meter projects.

The program focuses on clean-energy project performance, resource optimization, data tracking, and energy-assessment accuracy for solar, wind, and storage projects. Topics include solar design, module and system performance and degradation, modeling practices, soiling, capacity testing, and climate impacts; wind modeling, lidar and remote sensing, turbine and blade losses, equipment-failure prediction, IEC standards, FAA permitting, layout optimization, and repowering; and battery degradation, performance metrics, and pairing generation and storage with data-center loads. Additional topics include uncertainty modeling, AI applications, GIS and site planning, complex terrain and land cover, time-series data, co-located wind, solar, and battery storage modeling, climate impacts on energy assessments, renewable revenue and market outlooks, and storage revenue modeling. Proposal types include speaking and poster presentations, as well as sponsored software and tool review presentations or demos.

NARUC’s capstone meeting includes a year-end summary from NARUC President Ann Rendahl, topics across utility sectors, and installation of the organization’s new president and officers. The program covers utility affordability, customer assistance, ratemaking, large-load growth, data centers, demand response, and flexible load; transmission capacity, advanced transmission technologies, permitting reform, and infrastructure investment; coal-plant options, nuclear energy, natural gas, and pipeline safety; and grid resilience, distributed energy resources, virtual power plants, battery storage, and community microgrids. Other sessions address AI-enabled extreme-weather preparedness, cybersecurity in water and wastewater systems, operational technology for gas and water leak detection, telecommunications network transitions, utility data and customer service infrastructure, water infrastructure investment, federal-state energy regulation, and regulatory impacts of proposed permitting legislation. A workshop examines methods for evaluating advanced transmission technologies, including dynamic line ratings, advanced power flow controls, and advanced conductors. The agenda also includes committee business meetings and general sessions on utility infrastructure resilience and community-based resilience investments. Some meetings are closed to nonmembers or restricted to invitees.

Brings together policymakers, corporate leaders, investors, utilities, legal experts, and clean energy innovators to address pressing policy issues facing the clean energy industry. The program is expected to include panels and presentations on current policy and industry trends.

The program examines Texas power policy, market design, infrastructure development, project investment, and operations. Shared plenary sessions address the 90th Legislative Session and SB 6, PUCT rulemaking, ERCOT’s Batch Zero large-load interconnection process, load growth, data-center power supply, 765-kV transmission, siting and permitting, and local engagement. Headline speakers include State Representative Todd Hunter of the Texas House of Representatives (District 32) and Commissioner Courtney Hjaltman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Day Two has concurrent ERCOT Market Reforms and Investment & Asset Optimization tracks. Topics include resource adequacy, transmission cost allocation beyond 4CP, data-center development, battery state-of-charge rules, cybersecurity and energy security, renewable project strategy, dispatchable generation, electricity affordability, demand response, distributed energy resources and ADER, and inverter-based resource ride-through requirements. Other sessions examine battery project economics, powered-land siting factors such as water and cooling, and strategies for optimizing assets in changing market conditions. The closing plenaries cover advanced nuclear, geothermal and other low-emission dispatchable generation; project finance amid tax-credit, FEOC/PFE, procurement, interest-rate, EPC-cost and tariff risks; and energy-asset M&A and deal trends.

Resources for the Future and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation bring together researchers and stakeholders to examine energy economics, policy, and technology, with an emphasis on connecting research and decision-making. In-person attendance is by invitation only. The program includes an opening discussion on how researchers can collaborate with decision-makers amid changes in the US energy research and policy landscapes. Topical breakout sessions use lightning talks, practitioner reflections, and moderated discussion to cover energy supply chains, energy workforce transitions, industrial decarbonization, and energy system resilience. Other sessions address consumer perspectives on electricity rate design, energy efficiency, vehicle purchases, and energy policy choices; clean-energy research and deployment involving nuclear energy, geothermal technologies, carbon capture, and carbon dioxide removal; and the United States’ position in global clean-energy innovation. Facilitated networking focuses on data access, combining quantitative and qualitative research, reaching new audiences, and building communities of practice. The program also includes participant-nominated breakfast salons and a funders’ panel on emerging energy-system research needs and opportunities for impact.

Public power utility leaders meet with experts in technology, energy, and policy. Attendance is limited to facilitate productive dialogue. Sessions address shifts in the global energy landscape, including the energy transition, energy security, geopolitical and economic competition, and investment in energy infrastructure, renewable technologies, nuclear power, and fossil fuels. Other discussions examine reliability and affordability amid growing demand, rising costs, regulatory pressures, and customer expectations; resource adequacy, infrastructure investment, workforce challenges, supply-chain constraints, and emerging technologies; and leadership through outages, cyber incidents, severe weather, safety emergencies, and public scrutiny. The program also explores AI and other emerging technologies, including their utility applications and questions around governance, cybersecurity, workforce impacts, and risk management. Additional topics include evaluating and integrating significant new loads, generation and infrastructure investments, contracts and rate protections, aligning economic development with the public power mission, and workforce development, succession planning, leadership training, and knowledge transfer.