ERCOT Power NEXT 2027

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 covers power-generation operations, grid reliability and security, project development, and changing electricity demand. Keynote sessions address supply, demand and the next build cycle; securing the grid amid AI-related threats; and reliability, readiness and the performance gap. Technical sessions include gas-turbine fleet performance and upgrade potential; advanced reactors and TRISO fuel; carbon-capture integration; battery storage and capacity-market accreditation; data-center power demand and flexibility; long-duration storage; nuclear digital modernization; renewable integration; and power-project delivery. Additional program areas include CHP, cybersecurity, grid planning, emissions, and operations and asset reliability.

The program covers residential, commercial and industrial, and utility-scale solar and storage, with discussion of tax-credit deadlines, tariff and sourcing rules, permitting reform, interconnection, storage financing, and data-center-driven demand. The keynote “State of the Industry: A Candid Look at Where Solar and Storage Stand” examines policy volatility, tax credits, tariffs, and market consolidation. Another keynote features a live recording of the Energy Empire podcast about forces reshaping America’s clean energy buildout. “Designing Commercial-Scale PV: Three-Phase, the NEC, and Interconnection” addresses service configurations, conductor and overcurrent-protection sizing, and Article 705 interconnection. “The Mid-Market Interconnection Bottleneck” considers delays for mid-sized projects, utility perspectives, and possible reforms. “The New Rules for EPCs, Post-ITC” examines compressed schedules, supply constraints, milestone risks, and the post-safe-harbor landscape for utility-scale and C&I projects. Storage and grid topics include FEOC requirements, OEM and warranty structures, augmentation, and revenue assumptions in project financing; FERC Order 2222 and state virtual power plant mandates; and BESS fire-safety planning under UL 9540A and NFPA 855, including early engagement with authorities having jurisdiction. Other sessions address peak-demand revenue from capacity, ancillary services, demand response, and arbitrage; ERCOT load growth and large-load interconnection; and financing, interconnection, and construction for data-center power projects. Workshops cover commercial PV fundamentals and O&M practices including NFPA 70B, infrared thermography, and PV ground-fault troubleshooting. Roundtables address operational and business challenges involving supply chains, policy, financing, and market access. Conference passes cover sessions, roundtables, keynotes, and Braindate; workshops require separate purchase, while Exhibit Hall Only passes include access to keynotes.

Plenary and concurrent sessions examine renewable project markets and financing across solar, wind, storage, and clean firm power. Topics include tax-credit policy and compliance, tariffs, domestic-content requirements, power and PPA prices, data-center and other large-load demand, interconnection, procurement, construction, supply chains, and post-subsidy project economics. Financing sessions address tax equity, transferable credits, preferred equity, debt, development capital, lender underwriting, diligence, tax insurance, risk allocation, offtake structures, storage revenue models, sponsor equity, M&A, portfolio and asset valuation, and operating performance. The program also covers community solar and commercial and industrial projects, clean-firm and co-located generation, domestic manufacturing, and the effect of changing policy and market conditions on project execution and investment.

The program combines a shared market program with concurrent Capital, Markets & Deal Strategy and Energy Innovation & Investment tracks. Sessions address capital availability, tax equity and credit transfers, private credit, project bankability, investment risk, insurance, and the effects of policy and market changes on project finance. Topics include macroeconomic and geopolitical forces affecting U.S. energy investment; capital deployment across renewables, gas-fired generation, storage, transmission, and digital infrastructure; financing firm power amid rising electricity demand; and project-finance trends and capital sources. The innovation track covers emerging energy asset classes, post-tax-credit renewable and storage economics, AI and data-center power demand, permitting and commercialization barriers, small modular reactor economics, construction risk, geothermal, long-duration storage, and distributed energy. Closing discussions consider which energy technologies and business models may scale by 2030, what makes infrastructure bankable, and investment lifecycle strategies including M&A, value creation, and exits.

Sessions examine natural gas market fundamentals for AI data center demand, including basin capabilities, rig activity, storage trends, pipeline bottlenecks, competition with LNG exports and other electricity demand, and commercial strategies for procurement, hedging, and risk management. The program also addresses AI and predictive analytics for pipeline nominations, forecasting, capacity management, and gas-flow optimization, plus integration with ERP, ETRM, CRM, and SCADA systems. Infrastructure discussions cover pipeline capacity, reliability and right-of-way; regional transmission, distribution and generation investment; federal-land development models; and the commercial and regulatory structures needed to advance large-load projects. Utility service challenges include pipeline limitations, public perception, permitting, capital requirements, commercial structuring, cost allocation, reliability obligations, and protecting existing customers. A developers roundtable covers demand forecasts versus speculative projects, developer qualifications, speed-to-power and behind-the-meter strategies, gas procurement, community hurdles, and regulatory and policy issues. Other sessions address mobile gas delivery and virtual pipelines, including CNG/LNG solutions for remote or capacity-constrained markets. The keynote considers AI-driven electricity demand, gas and electric utility bottlenecks, regional load growth, and nuclear energy. A Texas-focused panel examines policy, technology, research, planning, permitting, investment, and cross-sector coordination for large-load development, including data centers and advanced manufacturing.

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.

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.

An intensive workshop on projected electricity demand and expanding the supply of natural resources used to generate power. Topics include natural gas, geothermal development and repurposing oil and gas assets; hydrogen, uranium, lithium and critical minerals; and water, environmental, storage, site-selection and regulatory considerations. Program discussions cover grid shortfalls and raw materials for electricity generation, solutions for increasing electricity supply, geothermal, and technology including ORC, sensors and small nuclear reactors. Other sessions address AI prompts for grid and behind-the-meter planning; lithium direct lithium extraction (DLE) and hydrogen technologies; regulatory and legislative factors affecting geothermal, critical minerals, low-carbon energy, grids and data centers; and mining and oil-and-gas intersections, including near-surface imaging and copper for electricity transmission. The program also includes an AI prompt clinic focused on water, the environment, science and regulations.