APPA National Conference

The technical program solicits new, significant work relevant to the nuclear industry, with summaries and abstracts presented orally. Topics include advanced reactors and power systems; energy storage integration with nuclear plants; fusion; nuclear fuel recycling, waste forms, transmutation and disposal; AI applications in nuclear safety and materials research; nuclear nonproliferation; advanced and additive manufacturing; and thermal hydraulics. Embedded topics include Decommissioning Environmental Sciences and Remote Technology, covering robotics and remote systems, decommissioning, environmental remediation, nuclear cleanup, used-fuel management, and related AI, digital-twin and regulatory topics. Accelerator Applications covers accelerator facilities and design, nuclear data, materials science, medical and industrial applications, security and forensics, and environmental studies. Accepted and presented summaries are slated for publication in ANS Transactions.

Annual conference and thought leadership forum with keynote discussions and breakouts focused on forces shaping the electric power industry. The intended audience includes electric company executives, government leaders, technology partners and innovators, policymakers, regulators, and industry stakeholders.

Brings government and industry together for strategic insights, direct engagement, and updates shaping future requirements and procurement priorities. The forum offers focused access to Air Force procurement officials responsible for training and simulation products and services. Topics include program updates from the Simulators Program Office and Simulator Branch; requirements and priorities involving 19th AF, ACC, AETC, AFGSC, AFNG, AFRL, AFSOC, HAF A3T, AMC, and PACAF; and emerging capability gaps, modernization priorities, and funding direction.

The symposium brings together Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force procurement leaders responsible for training and simulation investments. Topics include near- and long-term opportunities, acquisition strategies, funding outlooks, and program timelines, addressed through panels and Q&A sessions.

The conference brings together public power leaders, policymakers, vendors, and partners to exchange strategies and discover solutions for long-term utility success. Its program addresses how changing policy, technology, and lifestyles are reshaping the energy industry and communities, with multiple tracks and sessions. The Industry Innovations Expo focuses on solutions and tools for utility decision-makers, and the conference also includes a public-power community service component.

The program addresses federal policy and regulatory issues affecting public power operations, including energy reliability and affordability. It includes member-driven resolutions to clarify public power’s policy positions, advocacy priorities, tools for communicating public power’s value to federal policymakers, and Capitol Hill meetings. Agenda topics include how energy trade associations are navigating a new Congress; data centers, demand growth, and public power’s energy future; advocacy in narrow-majority and divided-government conditions; and legislative and regulatory developments. The PowerPAC VIP Reception is limited to PowerPAC members, and the PowerPAC President’s Circle Breakfast is limited to President’s Circle members.

The conference is for public power professionals who design, develop, and maintain the electric system. Program themes include Environmental, Generation & Fuels; Grid Modernization; Transmission & Distribution; Reliability & Resilience; and Safety. The audience includes vice presidents, superintendents, directors, managers, engineers, safety and training specialists, electric utility directors, city managers, and emerging leaders.

Sessions address policy, regulatory, and power-supply issues affecting joint action agencies and public power utilities. Topics include affordability, reliability, load growth, member expectations, and the role of joint action agencies in supporting members. The program covers AI and data centers’ effects on electricity-demand forecasts; utility costs, procurement timelines, supply chains, and rates; advanced nuclear deployment timelines, economics, and regulatory pathways; natural-gas production, pipeline development, and supply risks; and resource adequacy, capacity markets, and regional reliability. Additional sessions address battery storage, distributed and backup generation, virtual power plants, demand response, and emerging AI applications and member services. The event is designed for CEOs and senior management of joint action agencies and state associations, board members, commissioners, and public power utilities. Select sessions may be restricted to APPA member utilities, joint action agencies, and state associations.

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.

The gathering focuses on cooperative leadership and the changing energy landscape, including emerging technologies, rising demand, and shifting consumer expectations. Programming includes general sessions, education sessions on emerging issues, innovations, and strategies, an Expo featuring industry technologies and services, and the annual member business meeting. Voting members consider proposed resolutions and amendments to NRECA bylaws through the member resolutions process, which includes a Proposed Resolutions Forum.

The conference covers public power accounting and finance, human resources, rates and pricing, and risk management. Attendees may also attend concurrent summit sessions focused on public power cybersecurity and technology, including current practices, AI tools, utility resources, trends, and threats. The 2027 agenda is expected in early 2027.

PowerXchange is an annual meeting of cooperative leadership focused on emerging technologies, rising demand, shifting consumer expectations, and the changing energy landscape. The program includes general sessions with nationally renowned speakers, education sessions on emerging issues, innovations and strategies, peer collaboration, and an expo featuring technologies and services for electric cooperatives. The event also includes NRECA's Annual Business Meeting, where voting delegates participate in the member resolutions process and consider proposed resolutions and amendments to the NRECA Bylaws.

Sessions cover Environmental, Generation & Fuels; Grid Modernization; Transmission & Distribution; and Reliability & Resilience. Conference attendees can also attend sessions in the concurrent Safety Summit. The conference focuses on practices for building and maintaining safe, reliable electric systems, and includes the Public Power NextTech Expo. The 2027 agenda has not been published.