Forum on Informed Investment, Technology, and Policy Pathways for the Electricity System and Interdependent Energy Infrastructure

Webinar

The Future of the Electricity Control Center

December 3, 2025

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM (ET)

Past

Discussion

This discussion information is being collected via Slido. Slido is not affiliated in any way with, or endorsed by, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and your submission via the Slido website is subject to Slido’s privacy and terms of use.

About

A number of technological and process-based advances have been made in electricity control centers, enabling more-efficient and reliable grid service. This webinar will explore recent advances in technologies used in control centers, including the use of AI and machine learning, as well as improvements in communications infrastructure which can support modernized control and management of the grid.

Moderator: Jeff Dagle, Electricity Forum member and chief electrical engineer for electricity infrastructure resilience at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Speakers:

Elliot Mainzer, California ISO
Matthew Gardner, Dominion Energy
Adrian Kelly, EPRI
Ying Zhang, Oklahoma State University

Organizing Project

Advances in Electric Grid Technologies and Capabilities: Webinar Series

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2384
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Co-located Electricity Generation, Data Centers, and Opportunities for Flexibility

November 5, 2025

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM (ET)

Past

Discussion

This discussion information is being collected via Slido. Slido is not affiliated in any way with, or endorsed by, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and your submission via the Slido website is subject to Slido’s privacy and terms of use.

Materials

About

The grid is being shaped by growing electricity demand, particularly from large loads such as data centers, and constraints on the speed of generation and transmission build-out to meet these demands. To meet the needs of these demand sources, more entities are exploring the potential for co-locating electric generation with load centers, sometimes with ties to the larger grid and sometimes without. This webinar will explore efforts to add co-located generation to the electricity system and discuss how flexible generation could offer an economical and reliable asset for balancing the future grid.

Moderator: Debbie Lew, Electricity Forum member and executive director of the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG)

Speakers:

Elliott Flick (Constellation)
Tim Horger (PJM)
Sai Moorty (ERCOT)
Abe Silverman (Johns Hopkins University)

Organizing Project

Advances in Electric Grid Technologies and Capabilities: Webinar Series

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2384
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Hardening the Electricity Transmission and Distribution System for Increased Reliability

October 22, 2025

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (ET)

Past

Discussion

This discussion information is being collected via Slido. Slido is not affiliated in any way with, or endorsed by, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and your submission via the Slido website is subject to Slido’s privacy and terms of use.

About

The electricity system is facing increasing challenges to maintaining reliable service, including growing demand, aging infrastructure, cyber and physical security risks, extreme weather events, and supply chain issues. This webinar will discuss promising approaches for system investments and steps which can be taken to increase the reliability of the electricity transmission and distribution systems.

Moderator: Mark Lauby, Electricity Forum Member and chief engineer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

Speakers:

Alison Silverstein, independent consultant
Tom Galloway, North American Transmission Forum (NATF)
Jeff Smith, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Larry Bekkedahl, Portland General Electric

Organizing Project

Advances in Electric Grid Technologies and Capabilities: Webinar Series

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2384
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

Forum on Informed Investment, Technology, and Policy Pathways for the Electricity System and Interdependent Energy Infrastructure: Forum Members Meeting

September 16, 2025

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

The forum members will hold a meeting to develop future activities.

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2421
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Meeting Closed

Forum on Informed Investment, Technology, and Policy Pathways for the Electricity System and Interdependent Energy Infrastructure - Planning Meeting #1

May 14, 2025

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM (ET)

Past

About

The U.S. electricity system is undergoing a period of immense transformation – driven by the development of economical renewable energy resources across the economy and the rapid expansion of distributed technologies being connected to the grid. This first meeting is being held to scope and plan forum activities.

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2421
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Supply Chains for the Future Electricity System

April 16, 2025

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (ET)

Past

Discussion

This discussion information is being collected via Slido. Slido is not affiliated in any way with, or endorsed by, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and your submission via the Slido website is subject to Slido’s privacy and terms of use.

About

The electricity system is navigating simultaneous needs to meet increasing demand, replace aging infrastructure, and harden against extreme weather events. This webinar explores how to navigate these competing pressures on manufacturing, supply, and market availability. Questions to be considered include:

How can we ensure the availability of new technologies to serve electricity system?
What steps can be taken to establish domestic chains to support manufacturing of new and/or critical electricity system technologies and their components?
How can supply chains be established to support secure Information and Communication Technology practices and cyber-physical security?
What supply chain management can be undertaken to increase our ability to effectively respond to resilient events?

Moderated by: Mike Howard (CEO Emeritus, EPRI)
Webinar participants: William Chueh (Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy), Neva Espinoza (EPRI), Martin Herman (BrightNight), and Alexandre Nicolas (Electric Power Engineers)

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2421
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Bringing Electricity System Innovation to Market

April 8, 2025

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)

Past

Discussion

This discussion information is being collected via Slido. Slido is not affiliated in any way with, or endorsed by, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and your submission via the Slido website is subject to Slido’s privacy and terms of use.

About

Important innovations in the electricity system have come from companies outside the traditional electricity industry – from machine learning for load management (from software) and improved solar panels (from semiconductors) -- with an increasingly diffuse set of suppliers. How can the Department of Energy and other federal agencies help leverage and incorporate these new technologies into the existing grid? Webinar participants may discuss questions such as:

How might the various parts of the Department of Energy coordinate most-effectively to support taking innovative technologies to market?
What are the key instruments for bridging innovation “valleys of death” in the electricity system? Are these primarily funding, or can these be traversed with improved data- or information-sharing or technical support?
What mechanisms may be needed to improve the transfer of technology to the market? Are these efforts best pursued legislatively or through regulation? Or what can industry consortia, NGO, or agency support achieve without legislative or regulatory action?
Historically what have been the most-effective means for bringing technologies out of the RD&D stages and into market? What have been the largest barriers preventing these pathways?

Moderated by: Varun Rai (UT Austin)
Webinar Participants: David Arfin (NineDot Energy), Tim Holme (QuantumScape), Ashby Monk (Stanford University), and Nancy Pfund (DBL Partners)

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2421
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

Webinar

Supporting State & Subnational Decision-Making in the Electricity System

April 1, 2025

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (ET)

Past

Discussion

This discussion information is being collected via Slido. Slido is not affiliated in any way with, or endorsed by, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and your submission via the Slido website is subject to Slido’s privacy and terms of use.

About

The U.S. electricity system is operated by a number of different decision-makers (utilities, public utility commissions, independent system operators), with varying goals, capacities, and constraints. Nationally-focused entities including the Department of Energy, FERC, and NERC, among others, have capabilities that facilitate learning and mutual benefits from harmonized sub-national actions. Webinar participants may discuss questions such as:

How can parts of the Federal government more effectively support state, local, and regional decision-making in the electricity system?
What dynamics do state climate and clean energy policies/targets create within the electric system more broadly?
How can we facilitate information-sharing in order to learn lessons from state, local, and regional policies in the electric system?
What lessons can be learned from our international partners (e.g. Canada) in electricity system management and governance?

Moderated by Sue Tierney (Analysis Group)
Webinar participants: Kate Marks (Venn Strategies), Blake Shaffer (University of Calgary), Abe Silverman (Johns Hopkins University), and David Terry (NASEO)

Contact

Brent Heard

(202) 334-2421
bheard@nas.edu

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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My Academies

Forum on Informed Investment, Technology, and Policy Pathways for the Electricity System and Interdependent Energy Infrastructure

The Future of the Electricity Control Center

Co-located Electricity Generation, Data Centers, and Opportunities for Flexibility

Hardening the Electricity Transmission and Distribution System for Increased Reliability