July 08 - 10, 2026
In-person at Riverhouse Lodge

Bend
Oregon

AGENDA

Wednesday, July 08 - AFTERNOON

Registration and Opening Reception at Riverhouse

 

4:15pm-4:30pm

Opening Remarks, Skip Newberry & Robert W. Cross

 

4:30pm-5:45pm

Energy Changemakers live podcast

 

PRESENTERS

Cameron Brooks, Think Microgrid; Greg Castle, Power & Grid, Schneider Electric; Casey Miller, Elexity

 

MODERATOR

Elisa Wood, Energy Changemakers

 

5:45pm-6:00pm

Segue,  Skip Newberry & Robert W. Cross

Thursday, July 09 – MORNING
7:30am-8:30am

Networking Breakfast

8:30am-9:00am

Fireside Chat:
Capital & Geography: Economic Drivers in Data Center Siting

 

PRESENTERS

Kendall Mongird, PNNL; James Ebert, J.P. Morgan

 

MODERATOR

Skip Newberry, TAO

9:00am-9:45am

Accelerating Interconnection: Creative Grid Solutions for the AI Era

 

PRESENTERS

Ellen Zuckerman, Google; Shanna Brownstein, GridCARE; Mike Wietecki, Akaysha

 

MODERATOR

Pascal Van Hentenryck, Gurobi

9:45am-10:00am

Lightning Talk:
Uday Varadarajan, Colectric

10:00am-10:45am

Financing the Grid: Standardizing Microgrids for Scale

 

PRESENTERS

Trent Douglass, Foss & Co; Wissam Balshe, Novitium Energy; Reed Mayfield, Beneficial State Bank

 

MODERATOR

Jon La Follett, Mayfield Renewables

10:45am-11:00am

Lightning Talk:
Callum McSherry, Sulis Energy

11:00am-11:45am

Drilling Down: The Superhot Future of Geothermal Power

 

PRESENTERS

Edith Bayer, Oregon Department of Energy
Matthew Houde, Quaise
Pete Lumley, Mazama

 

MODERATOR

Zach Hyder, Hubbell Communications

11:45am-12:00pm

Lightning Talk:
Zach Taie, OSU EIC

Thursday, July 09 – AFTERNOON
12:00pm-1:00pm

LUNCH

1:00pm-1:45pm

Affordable Resilience: Balancing Data Center Growth with Consumer Costs

 

PRESENTERS

John McFarland, PGE; Lisa McMeen, UEC; Courtney Lee, AWS

 

MODERATOR

Crystal Ball, PNUCC

1:45pm-2:00pm

Lightning Talk
Tess O'Donnell, AHG

2:00pm-2:45pm

Messaging the Market: Scaling Energy Tech at the Speed of Demand

 

PRESENTERS

Jason Anderson, Cleantech San Diego; Rick Costantino, Group14; Robert W. Cross, Outfit

 

MODERATOR

Grayson Shor, PNWBC

2:45pm-3:00pm

Lightning Talk
Devyn Pizzo, Ascend Education Group

3:00pm-3:30pm

NETWORKING

3:30pm-4:15pm

Unlocking the Grid Edge: Activating C&I Flexibility

 

PRESENTERS

Beth Reid, Olivine; Dain Nestel, Piclo; Casey Miller, Elexity

 

MODERATOR

Jenny Roehm, Schneider Electric

4:15pm

BREAK, transition to alternate programming

Friday, July 10 – MORNING
8:00am-9:00am

Networking Breakfast

9:00am-9:45am

Simulating Speed-to-Power: Merging AI Load Demands with Resilient Microgrid Economics

 

PRESENTERS

William Messner, PGE; Jacob Sandry, Euclid

 

MODERATOR

Elisa Wood, Energy Changemakers

9:45am-10:00am

Lightning Talk:
Nils Johnson, EPRI

10:00am-10:45am

AR681 Blueprint: Real-World Perspectives on Oregon’s Grid Future

 

PRESENTERS

Aron Bowman, ELM Microgrid; Devin Hampton, Utility API; Markus Virta, Cascadia Renewables

 

MODERATOR

Lucas Miller, Mayfield Renewables

10:45am-11:00am

Lightning Talk:
Charles Kelly, Green Urban Design

11:00am-11:45am

Innovation in Data Center Hardware: Toward a More Efficient Future

 

PRESENTERS

Alexandra Degher, MIT Consortium; Rami Khouri, Hyve Solutions

 

MODERATOR

Michael Jung, ODCAC

11:45am-12:00pm

Lightning Talk:
Madhup Verma, VTeamLabs

12:00pm

CLOSING COMMENTS

12:15pm

COMMENCEMENT

grid-graphic

This forum is crucial for entrepreneurs and professionals aiming to move beyond theoretical discussions and implement the practical solutions required for the future energy landscape.

Register
Become a Sponsor