03 Jul UTC Unveils October Power Grid 4.0—Digitalization Global Forum
Washington—July 3, 2019 – Electric utility executives all over North America are welcome to Montréal to share best practices and lessons learned about digitalization. Across the globe, electric utilities are looking to go digital as they modernize their systems to enable greater customer engagement and deploy new and emerging distribution technologies. This forum will be a first in North America.
The “Power Grid 4.0—Digitalization Forum” will be held in Montreal from Oct. 16-18, 2019. The event is hosted by Hydro Quebec with the premier sponsor being SNC-Lavalin, an engineering partner expert at mastering complex projects over the last 100 years. The event’s other sponsors include Linxon, Juniper Networks, and Black & Veatch.
For all the details about the speakers and meeting agendas, please visit the event website: https://utcpowergrid.org/
“This event will be a key global forum for utilities, policymakers, our vendor partners, and other stakeholders to discuss these important issues,” said UTC President and CEO Joy Ditto. “By bringing major decisionmakers and executives in North America under one roof, we can learn from each other as utilities consider enhancing investments into new and emerging technologies. My thanks to Hydro Quebec for hosting and SNC-Lavalin for their important sponsorship.”
Nearly all utilities deploy their own information and communications technology (ICT) networks to provide day-to-day situational awareness of their infrastructure. As utilities invest in grid modernization in response to customer demand, these networks are being transformed to enable greater deployment of renewable and distributed energy resources that require a more flexible grid. To support grid modernization, the investment in digital assets is paramount, and C-level executives are continuing to realize that now is the time to allocate resources to transform their core utility business.
That’s why the Digitalization Forum is so timely.
“Managing energy supply and demand is evolving and the interconnectivity between customers and utilities is changing our industry. Great relationship between the North American Utilities is key to develop and offer a better outcome that suits the customers’ needs. Hydro Québec is pleased to participate to this first digitalization forum, that brings together, all the major players of our industry to share expertise and best practices, to come up with real solutions and improve performance for the next generations,” said David Murray Chief Operating Officer of Hydro-Québec and President of Hydro-Québec Production.
‘’A vast portion of the power utility infrastructure in North America was constructed in the 1960s and is nearing ‘end of life.’ Power utilities are replacing their equipment while taking into account the numerous changes facing the industry. Such a digital transformation requires capital investments which, if done correctly, can be offset by significant reductions in operational cost. This forum has been created in order to address these issues,’’ said Alain Brière, vice-president & general manager Intelligent Networks & Cybersecurity, SNC-Lavalin.
Who will attend?
Decisionmakers and the full slate of utility C-suite officials and other executives/engineers representing the major utilities in North America, including chief executives, chief information officers, chief financial officers, chief technology officers, chief security officers, among others.
Why you should attend?
• To understand the changing dynamics and the new revenue development for electric and energy management
• To know about new business models that meet commercial and residential customers’ expectations.
• To explain why it is essential to digitize now and learn the necessary investment strategies to get there.
• To learn how digitalization decisions will impact your utility, from IT, OT, physical and cybersecurity perspectives.
• To hear from senior utility executives and leading digitalization thought leaders from North America, who will breakdown the trends, opportunities, and challenges associated with the digital transformation.
• To network with interactive engaged people and to develop thought-provoking conversations.
UTC Member Advisory Board:
The advisory board was created to ensure the content of the conference captured the issues most relevant for utility executives based on the on-the-ground perspective of network experts.
• Sylvain Clermont – Director Operation Technologies Convergence, Hydro Quebec
• Thomas Fitzgerald – Operational Smart Grids, Avangrid
• Kevin Huff – UTC Vice-Chairman of the Board and Grid Integration Manager, Salt River Project
• Matthew Peacore – Principal Manager, Technology and Information Architecture, Southern California Edison
• Guy Pharand – Director, Network Management and Telecom, Hydro Quebec
• Fernando Saavedra – Smart Grid Analyst, Strategic Operations, New York Power Authority
###
About UTC
The Utilities Technology Council (UTC) is a global trade association dedicated to serving critical infrastructure providers. Through advocacy, education and collaboration, UTC creates a favorable business, regulatory and technology environment for our members who own or operate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems in support of their core business. For more information: UTC.org
