Course Topics

Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution

Skip Collier - Professional Training Systems, Inc.

• Basics of generation, transmission, and distribution, including electrical terminology, equipment, construction, and operating theory

Natural Gas Production, Transmission, and Delivery

Richard Moore 

• Basics of natural gas production, transmission, and distribution, including essential equipment and its operation

Next Generation Nuclear

• Latest research and development on creating nuclear reactors that are safer and more economical

Utility Accounting and Financial Reporting — How Utilities Make Money

Julie Desimone - Moss-Adams 

• Basic accounting concepts
• What the financial statements communicate and how they are used
• Cost management and how to know when you are making money

Financial Management and Capital Markets

Brandon Lohse - Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas  

• Value creation and the cost of capital/money
• Financial policy development and accessing capital
• Financial quality and credit ratings
• Perspective of a utility sector investment manager

Regulation and Rate Making

Ric Gale; Paul Kjellander 

• Rate making process including revenue requirements, cost allocation, and rate design
• How rate mechanisms are used in general rate cases

Utility Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy — Understanding the Big Picture

• Role industry advocacy plays in informing and shaping public policy
• Responsibility of legislators, state regulators, and FERC
• Customer preferences and the tension between stable prices and reliable services
• State's rights vs. federal rights

Managing Grid Operations

Brian Johnson - University of Idaho

• Challenges of operating and coordinating a more complex grid with more information, distributed resources, and customer expectations
• Balancing supply and demand in a dynamic and complex system 
• Enabling more flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness 

Customer Experience

Roy Barnes - Blue Space Consulting 

• Customer experience design and management 
• Integrate the customer experience into product and service design
• Identify and communicate the customer experience ROI

Safety Culture

Bo Hanchey - Idaho Power

• Creating a culture of safety that goes beyond protocols, training, and equipment
• Committing to safety excellence that improves safety performance, operational effectiveness, and business performance

Inclusive Leadership: Understanding and Managing Unconscious Bias

Scott Horton and Melanie Miller - Delta Concepts Consulting

• Creating personal learning and practical leadership skills to manage, lead, and contribute to a diverse and inclusive environment

Strategic Change Leadership

Roger Woodworth - Mindset Matters

• How leadership behavior influences organizational culture
• Gain personal insights about how "who you are" affects "how you are" as a leader
• Systems thinking in developing a pro-active strategic response
• Develop personal commitments and plans to be a high impact leader

Strategic Leadership in the Natural Gas Industry

• Utility industry perspective on improving safety, managing risk, and driving continuous improvement
• How current events affect natural gas operations, business strategy, and practices 

Strategic Human Resources

Bryan Cox – Avista

• Energy industry challenges and the impact on the workforce
• Digital workforce
• Culture, engagement, and employee experience
• Talent crisis
• Workforce of the future

Regulatory Strategy

Noel Black - Southern Company

• How the regulatory model supports, or does not support, the changing industry
• How regulatory strategy supports corporate strategy
• Current issues, including rooftop solar, extreme weather, EV infrastructure, decarbonization

Stakeholder Engagement 

Faith McKenna; Sayuri Yamada 

• Understanding the language of our stakeholders
• Employing effective advocacy tools and messaging to build collaboration

Strategic Trends in Consumer Engagement

Greg Guthridge - EY Power and Utilities Advisory Practice 

• How technology advances are powering new ways to engage
• Managing information for competitive advantage
• Building innovative products and services
• How nontraditional players are challenging the utility business model

Fuel Diversity: Integrated Resource Planning 

Jason Thackston - Avista 

• Trends in generation and the changing fuel mix
• How to manage fuel diversity
• Integrated resource planning process

Wholesale Power Markets

• Generation sources in the regional and national mix
• RTO market overview
• Fundamental design features of locational marginal pricing and financial transmission rights
• Where RTO markets are going 

Trends in Energy Security

Charles Durant - Oak Ridge National Laboratory 

• Areas of greatest vulnerability and who is in charge of overseeing physical protections of the grid
• Strategies to detect and deflect attacks on critical utility infrastructure systems
• Challenges in building up the resiliency of our infrastructure to withstand disruptions

Energy Storage 

• Resource flexibility and reliability trends

Advanced Grid Planning and Operations

Dana Cabbell - Southern California Edison

• Where the smart grid evolution is on the road to optimization
• Implementing new uses for the customer and integrating into operations
• Integrating renewables, advanced AMI, distributed generation, and storage

Environmental Collaboration

Ralph Cavanagh - Natural Resources Defense Council

• Removing unintended regulatory barriers to increase utilities’ capacity to invest in environmental solutions
• Making energy efficiency and renewable energy a profit center
• Creating diversified, environmentally responsible electric and gas resource portfolios to ensure more reliable and affordable service for customers
• Impact of federal environmental legislation on the utility industry
• Investing in grid assets to enhance reliability and reduce congestion, despite opposition to new transmission lines

Current Issues in the Natural Gas Industry 

• Industry wide perspective on natural gas abundance, new demand, emissions, infrastructure replacement, and the future of energy policy 
• Operational and regulatory differences between managing electric and natural gas delivery systems 

Data Analytics

• Using predictive analytics for risk prioritization
• How energy companies are using big data to appeal more directly to what customers want
• How big data is transforming the energy industry
• Machine learning

Next Generation Technologies

Raiford Smith - Google

• Zero carbon sources of energy
• Connected home devices and the next wave of demand response
• Automation enables new capabilities

Corporate Strategy

Jesse Langston

• How an industry creates a context for corporate strategy
• Role and responsibility of the main decision makers in the forming and implementation of corporate strategy while balancing competing interests
• Consensus-driven strategy development

Experience Innovation: Design Thinking Simulation

Lyall Samaroden - ExperiencePoint

• Human centered design and balancing analysis with intuition
• Terms, techniques, and thought patterns of successful innovators

The Energy Industry--Key Issues Shaping the Transformation 

• Increased decarbonization
• Aging infrastructure
• Transmission reforms
• Federal-State regulatory issues
• New competitors and emerging technologies
• Cyber and physical security
• Changing customer preferences and behaviors

Global Development and the Decade Ahead for Utilities 

Grant Dougans - Bain and Company

• Key trends in global energy markets and implications for U.S. utilities 
• U.S. energy transition 
• Key capabilities for leaders navigating the decade-ahead industry 

Climate Risk

• SEC climate rules, greenhouse gas emissions, net zero goals, and resource planning
• Understanding the impact on investors, consumers, and regulation

Retail Company of the Future 

• Bridging capabilities across silos to create more collaboration
• Gaining customer trust and building strategic partnerships
• Becoming a solutions provider 

Pathways to the Future

• Identifying and prioritizing key success factors
• Scenario planning for the future impacts of today's management decisions
• Aligning corporate strategy across diverse stakeholder interests