Intersolar & Energy Storage North America Flagship Event

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.

TechAdvantage is a conference and expo for electric cooperative engineering, operations, information technology, purchasing and supply management professionals. Its stated focus includes grid resilience, cybersecurity, data, AI and emerging technologies, with content areas spanning engineering, broadband and supply chain. Program topic areas include advanced metering, distribution automation, distributed energy resource management systems, microgrids, resiliency, EV charging and electrification, GIS, grid visibility, communications and connectivity, IT operations and cloud infrastructure. Other areas include cybersecurity, risk and regulatory compliance; data, AI and analytics; procurement, supply-chain resilience, logistics, inventory and materials management; broadband deployment, fiber and wireless technologies; disaster recovery, storm response and business continuity; and workforce strategies and load growth. The expo features technologies and solutions for electric cooperatives.

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 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 conference includes sessions, exhibits, plenaries, and keynotes focused on solar, storage, and microgrids across the Southeast. Session proposals are being solicited on microgrid and grid-resilience design, engineering, distributed energy resources, utility collaboration, and disaster recovery; distributed solar and storage for data center and AI demand; commercial and residential financing, post-ITC planning, and business diversification; municipal and utility contracting, permitting, and building officials; residential and commercial solar; workforce development; and business growth, marketing, branding, and customer experience.

Brings together storage developers, tax equity investors, capital and debt providers, tax advisors, market analysts, and offtakers. Topics include contract negotiations, revenue streams and costs; tax equity and credit markets; FEOC and Material Assistance; augmentation; M&A and merchant transactions; procurement plans, supply-chain risk, and domestic equipment availability; opportunities across ISO, RTO, and bilateral markets; extracting value from projects and portfolios; and adapting storage finance to political risk and new market signals.

Full Conference programming includes six tracks of panels and presentations, Monday Deep Dives on affordability, data centers, energy storage, and AI, Main Stage programming, and the RE+ Tech & Innovation Forum. Forum focus areas include solar and storage operations and maintenance, grid stability, tandem solar technologies, AI applications, and long-duration energy storage. Its format includes a keynote, deep-dive presentations, and a closing panel. Show Floor Theater topics include grid edge, industry trends, manufacturing and logistics, installation and operations, global markets, electric drive, fuel cells and batteries, and storage. The program also includes an International Pavilion, Spotlight Country, Start-up Pavilion, and poster sessions. The General Session addresses scaling breakthrough technology into commercial deployment, manufacturing and industrial leadership, energy as a strategic advantage, and the connection between transportation and energy infrastructure.

The conference focuses on the customer-utility interface, including planning, demand management, distributed energy resources, storage, DERMS, energy efficiency, interconnection, standardization, scalability, AI, data center growth, and next-generation loads. The program includes tutorials, technical tours, welcome and opening remarks with a keynote, breakout sessions, exhibits, stage presentations, startup lightning pitches, a poster session, and a closing session. Super Sessions address generation mix and grid reliability; data center growth and the AI economy; flexible load management; AI for planning, operations, and reliability; and asset management for an affordable grid. The program also includes an invite-only Innovation Challenge and brings together utility engineers, planners, consultants, developers working on large-load interconnections, AI and data-center leaders, DER providers, policymakers, regulators, and researchers in data, cybersecurity, and grid-edge systems. PacifiCorp is the host utility.

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.

The program examines North American advanced battery markets and technologies across grid-connected storage, electric vehicles, heavy-duty transportation, data centers, robotics, defense, and aerospace. Market briefings address light- and heavy-duty EVs, data centers and the grid, robotics, aerospace and defense applications, energy materials, and battery recycling and second-life markets. Plenary sessions cover data-center energy storage, foreign battery manufacturers in the U.S., and EV manufacturers navigating battery supply-chain gaps. Impact Sessions address non-lithium and emerging chemistries; defense batteries and domestic supply-chain security; truck, rail, and transit electrification; battery materials and the missing pCAM/CAM/AAM midstream; battery-technology financing; U.S. battery-materials mining; robotics and aerospace; domestic battery-manufacturing equipment supply chains; next-generation batteries; Chinese battery and technology supply relationships; and digitalization and AI in battery manufacturing. Other program elements include Community Action Labs, member company and research-institution presentations, and a closing roundtable on the future of battery technology. Featured program speakers include Bob Galyen, NAATBatt International’s Chief Technology Officer; M. Stanley Whittingham, NAATBatt’s Chief Science Officer and Nobel laureate; and David Hochschild, Chair of the California Energy Commission.

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.