"With electricity demand growing for the first time in a decade and fossil assets retiring, deploying 80-160 GW of virtual power plants (VPPs)—tripling current scale—by 2030 could support rapid electrification while redirecting grid spending from peaker plants to participants and reducing overall grid costs.“

A discussion about the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program and how it's being implemented in two states.

Erin Belt with VDOT will share how Virginia has developed their NEVI Deployment Plan, selected alternative fuel corridors for federal designation, and released their Phase I-A funding through a grant application process. VDOT made coordination with utility providers in Virginia a priority with the development of their funding application and have early lessons learned to share.

In addition, Ethan Tremblay will provide an overview of Maine’s approach to the NEVI Program, including the development of the federally funded plan, alignment with other state processes, and progress to date. He will describe the coordination between state and quasi-state agencies, utilities, and other entities to ensure program success and share lessons learned to date.

Keynote presentation by Energy Expert and Author Peter Kelly-Detwiler addressing today's EV managed charging EV challenges and opportunities.

Industry expert, Doug Houseman, joins PLMA for a deep dive into the critical role to be played in the energy industry by Distribution Systems Operators (DSOs). We’ll explore how DSOs enable DERs, and how DSO business models differ from traditional distribution utility models and why, plus we’ll discuss examples of successful DSOs and how they coordinate DER activity via programs and markets. And, we’ll answer your questions, including why it’s critical we increase flexibility on distribution and transmission systems now, as a path to transitioning the U.S. to a DSO model.

Industry experts, Olivia Patterson and Peter Kelly-Detwiler,  joined PLMA to look out over 2025's potential opportunities and challenges ahead, including:
1. A review of our 2024 predictions and what actually happened
2. All about 2025's Growth in Demand driven by AI, data centers, EVs, + + + 
3. 2025's expected regional energy issues and opportunities
4. Planning ahead for new capacity, innovations, and pricing constructs
5. The role of Flexible Load Management – short-term buffer or long-term solution?
6. Where and how will all the new money flow?

Hosted by the Retail Pricing Interest Group
Con Edison’s Residential Demand Rate pilot program has been testing new rate structures made possible with the implementation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Smart meters offer customers choices that can lead to savings, and also help make electricity distribution more responsive and reliable.

Learn about Con Edison's Residential Demand Rate pilot, its rate structures, and the customers' experiences with our guest speakers, Rebecca Roberts, a Section Manager with Con Edison's Utility of the Future Group, and Eric Van Orden, Director of Sales and Business Development with Copper Labs.

It has been a wild and wooly year for managing residential demand response programs. In addition to normal program management we have had the additional challenges of our customers and ourselves having to shelter-in-place, as well as the difficulty predicting changes in customer behavior this new normal brings. 

Join the Customer Engagement Interest Group to learn more about challenges your utility peers have faced and some of the approaches they have taken to keep their programs fully subscribed and delivering results while customers’ homes are more fully occupied. Length: 59:11.

For this conversation, Joyce Bodoh, Director of Energy Solutions and Clean Energy at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC), will present REC's survey results and load data on electric vehicles from its Virginia service area. She will also discuss REC's roadmap on transportation electrification, and will share tips on member engagement.

The group co-chairs will then host a discussion to share ideas, thoughts, and suggestions around topical and relevant issues for PLMA to explore throughout 2021. Join us for this first look at electric transportation and its role in demand response and load management.

A 2025 PLMA Award of Excellence winner, BGE has also emerged as a national leader in EV load management with its Smart Charge Management program (SCM), demonstrating significant results through innovative managed charging techniques. As the first managed charging program of its kind to be scaled into a permanent offering, BGE’s SCM serves as a model for distribution-integrated EV load management for utilities nationwide. With high customer satisfaction rates and well-established cost-effectiveness, BGE secured approval from the Maryland Public Utilities Commission to expand its SCM to a permanent program with a target of 30,000 participants by 2027.

Learn how Evergy created and implemented a strategic plan to transition 550,000 Missouri residential customers to time-based plans in less than one year's time. Evergy had just six months to develop, test, and implement a highly technical, highly complex, multi-channel digital education initiative and ten months overall to begin converting customers. Partnering with Oracle, their plan, implementation, and results were recognized by the Missouri PSC for setting a new standard for utility time-based plan transitions. Join us to learn how they accomplished this transition, and what lessons and best practices were learned by all, as a result.