Alltricity Network eNews

You are receiving this email because of your affiliation with Alltricity Network (formerly RMEL)

Alltricity Network Report
  

From The Desk of Ken Wilmot (Alltricity Network Executive Director)

2025 is off to a great start, and we’re excited to kick off our educational programming with the Introduction to the Electric Utility Workshop on February 19 at the CPS Energy Emergency Management Center Training Facility in San Antonio, TX. After more than a year’s hiatus, this 1-day workshop for non-technical staff, early-career engineers, and newcomers to the industry will provide a comprehensive foundation in the U.S. electric utility industry’s past, present, and future. Please share with your colleagues who would like to attend!

In addition to the Introduction Workshop and the many other 2025 conferences, workshops, and roundtables listed on our Events & Education Calendar, we’re also gearing up for an incredible 2025 Alltricity Network Spring Conference. Learn more about the annual Spring Conference below, and in the meantime, for those planning to watch the Super Bowl this weekend, please stay safe and have fun!

REGISTER FOR THE 2025 ALLTRICITY NETWORK SPRING CONFERENCE

May 5-7, 2025 | Dallas, TX | Early Bird rates for groups & individuals end March 21—register early & save!

May is just around the corner—don’t miss this chance to connect, learn, and share insights while enjoying all that downtown Dallas has to offer! Whether you're in management, engineering, planning, or operations, this conference delivers valuable education and networking opportunities tailored to your needs. Featuring 25+ technical sessions covering trends, technology, operations, leadership, and more—the 2025 Spring Conference will help you navigate the evolving electric utility landscape. Visit the 2025 Spring Conference event page for the latest details, schedule at-a-glance, and conference highlights.

Register now (Early Bird rates end March 21) and book your discounted hotel room by April 13, 2025.

Keynote Speakers Announced

We are pleased to announce two outstanding keynote speakers and we’re confident you’ll find both speakers inspiring and impactful!

  • Day 1 Keynote Speaker (May 6): Morris Morrison – Inspirational Disruption & Leadership Expert, Futurist, Author, Entrepreneur
    Morris Morrison is dedicated to building stronger, kinder, and focused leaders. As a futurist and entrepreneur, he’s impacted youth and major organizations across industries, helping them navigate change and embrace automation and AI in the future of work.
  • Day 2 Keynote Speaker (May 7): Wylie Davidson – Motivational Safety Speaker: Leaving a Safety Legacy
    Wylie Davidson energizes audiences to rethink personal safety values and foster a strong safety culture. Known for blending humor with powerful messages, he helps organizations create lasting safety legacies.

The NextGeneration Pre-Conference Workshop Returns

Taking place Monday, May 5 from 2:30-6:00 p.m., ahead of the 2025 Alltricity Network Spring Conference, this supplementary workshop is designed for the electric utility industry's next generation by helping attendees develop leadership skills—both as supervisors and individual contributors—while building valuable industry connections.

Register now and don’t miss this chance to grow your career. Member price is only $100 when bundling with a full Spring Conference registration. Professional Development Hour (PDH) certificates will be awarded upon completion.

Spring Conference Sponsorship Opportunities Available

Reach a diverse electric utility audience and enhance your organization's visibility at the 2025 Spring Conference through Tabletop Sponsorships. View sponsorship opportunities and reserve your spot today as we have sold out in the past! If you have questions or would like to discuss a customized opportunity, please contact us at info@alltricitynetwork.org.

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2025 ALLTRICITY SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION GOLF TOURNAMENT

June 24, 2025 | Arrowhead Golf Club | Littleton, CO

Get ready to hit the greens for a day of fun, networking, and making a difference! The 2025 Golf Tournament, hosted by the Alltricity Scholarship Foundation, is your chance to combine a great day of golf with a meaningful mission: supporting the next generation of electric utility industry professionals through scholarships. Since 2000, the Alltricity Scholarship Foundation has awarded 644 scholarships, distributing over $1.4 million to students, thanks to the generosity and participation of supporters like you in this and other Foundation events. Learn more about the 2025 Golf Tournament and view the event brochure.

Registration Schedule *Register early—space fills up quickly!* In recent years, the Golf Tournament has sold out within just a few days of opening, during the Sponsor Registration window.

  • Sponsor Registration Only: March 3-24
  • General Registration: March 24-31
  • Open Registration: March 31-June 6

View full Golf Tournament Registration Schedule details and sponsorship opportunities and we look forward to teeing off with you, for a GREAT cause, soon!

ALLTRICITY NETWORK AS YOUR RESOURCE

Alltricity Network is here as a resource for you and your organization. We encourage you to share our development opportunities with your peers, workgroups, and professional network! For the latest events, visit the Alltricity Network Events & Education Calendar on our website.

Our Education Committees—comprised of dedicated members—work hard to provide timely, relevant, and thoughtfully curated educational and networking opportunities. If there are topics or workshops you’d find valuable for the industry, we’d love to hear from you—feel free to contact us anytime!

Commonwealth Associates, Inc. - We partner. We understand. We deliver.
Commonwealth Associates, Inc. ®
We provide expert engineering and consulting services that enable a more reliable and resilient power system. Collaborating with diverse energy industry stakeholders, we tackle intricate energy engineering challenges. Our areas of expertise encompass Renewable Energy, Studies and Consulting, as well as Power Delivery and Power Generation.
 
For more information visit commonwealthassociates.com.
Advertisement
Education and Upcoming Events

Introduction to the Electric Utility Workshop - February 19, 2025 (San Antonio, TX)

Empowering Operations: Lineworker Safety, Skills & Leadership Workshop - March 18-19, 2025 (San Antonio, TX)

2025 Transmission & Substation Renewables Conference - March 19-20, 2025 (Westminster, CO)

2025 Alltricity Network Spring Management, Engineering, & Operations Conference - May 5-7, 2025 (Dallas, TX)

2025 Safety Conference - May 21-23, 2025 (Tempe, AZ)

2025 Alltricity Scholarship Foundation Golf Tournament - June 24, 2025 (Littleton, CO)

2025 Large Projects Conference - June 25-26, 2025 (Westminster, CO)

2025 Alltricity Network Fall Convention - September 29-October 1, 2025 (Kansas City, MO)

PLANNING SESSION: 2026 Alltricity Network Spring Conference - October 16, 2025 (Location TBA)

PLANNING SESSION: 2026 Alltricity Network Fall Convention - November 13, 2025 (Location TBA)

   
Burns & McDonnell
      
Meridian Cooperative
   
Alltricity Network Member Information
Follow Alltricity Network on LinkedIn
The association's trusted network is accessible on LinkedIn. Working side-by-side in a cooperative manner, Alltricity Network members band together for the common goal of bettering the industry and improving service for utility customers. For more than 120 years, these key principles have proven successful and, more importantly, are tried-and-true methods for building strong business relationships.
 
Alltricity Network Champions is a prestigious group of Alltricity Network supporters with access to useful and beneficial promotional opportunities. Thank you, 2024 Alltricity Network Champions!
Private LTE: Bridging the Data Gap in the Energy Transition
Black & Veatch Corporation®
Eager to use big data to improve operations and drive new business models, utilities are turning to AMI, sensors and intelligent devices.
But, with this technology comes big data to instantly gather, analyze and share across the enterprise, revealing a gap in the utility operation — the network. Download this ebook and explore lessons learned from real Black & Veatch LTE deployments.
Download Here
Advertisement
Industry Information
Floating Solar in Federally Controlled Hydropower Reservoirs Has ‘Surprisingly Large’ Potential
  
Reservoirs could host enough floating solar panels to generate up to 1,476 terawatt hours, or enough energy to power approximately 100 million homes a year. “That’s a technical potential,” Rosenlieb said, meaning the maximum amount of energy that could be generated if each reservoir held as many floating solar panels as possible.
New Solar Plants Expected to Support Most U.S. Electric Generation Growth
  
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), it expects that U.S. renewable capacity additions—especially solar—will continue to drive the growth of U.S. power generation over the next two years. It expects U.S. utilities and independent power producers will add 26 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to the U.S. electric power sector in 2025 and 22 GW in 2026. 
California Cities Launch Nation’s First Public Hydrogen Utility
  
First Public Hydrogen, or FPH2, a public utility created by the California cities of Lancaster and Industry, began the process of selecting hydrogen suppliers at a Jan. 13 board meeting, following the finalization of the 45V clean hydrogen production tax credit guidance.
China’s DeepSeek AI Reshapes Global Energy
  
This market shift isn’t due to a qualitatively superior new product, advertisements, consumer pricing, distribution agreements, user interface, or anything else that usually signals a new leader in consumer tech. Energy, more precisely DeepSeek’s ability to use far less of it, is why it is so groundbreaking.
   
Futura Systems, Inc
      
FlexGen Power Systems, Inc.
   
U.S. ‘Needs More Storage’ to Ensure Grid Reliability, Resilience: SEIA
  
The United States should deploy 10 million distributed energy storage installations and reach 700 GWh in total deployed storage capacity to meet its energy needs by 2030, the Solar Energy Industries Association said.
Four SMR Developers Aim to Build Reactors at Texas A&M University Site
  
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp said land has been offered to the four companies to build their small modular reactors (SMRs) at the site, with an application already started for an Early Site Permit with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Clean Energy Stakeholders Descend on Capitol to Lobby for IRA Tax Credits
  
As Congress weighs clawing back Inflation Reduction Act funds to pay for other items in its upcoming 2025 budget, the Solar Energy Industries Association and other groups led a lobbying blitz on Capitol Hill, bringing industry representatives there for “over 100 meetings,” the group said.
Trump’s Funding Pause Clouds Future of Solar for All Program
  
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s $7 billion Solar For All Program faces an uncertain fate following the rollout of executive orders from President Donald Trump putting a freeze on federal financial assistance.
Nisus Corporation: Better Science for Better Poles.
Nisus Corp®
Nisus manufactures QNAP® Copper Naphthenate, the only heavy-duty pole protection without an EPA Danger label and with a proven track record, as seen in over 1000 years of cumulative field-test data. QNAP has cleaner handling characteristics, is not a sensitizer, and, because it is EPA-labelled for residential landscaping and boiler fuel at end of pole life, it has more end-of-life disposal options. Best of all, it’s made right here in the United States.
Learn More
Advertisement
Member Announcements
NPPD Receives National Commendation from APPA for Mutual Aid Efforts
  
NPPD was recognized for its efforts in early October, when crews spent approximately two weeks traveling and providing mutual aid to restore power to residents in the area of Augusta, Georgia, and then Orlando, Florida following back-to-back hurricanes.
United Power and Silicon Ranch Expand Partnership with New 150 MW Byers Solar Farm
Located in Adams County, 10 miles northeast of Byers, the new solar installation is being developed in partnership with Silicon Ranch, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers and a community-focused renewable energy company.
Black Hills Corp. Energizes First Phase of its Ready Wyoming Electric Transmission Expansion Project
  
Energizing the initial segment of the project marks a significant milestone in connecting the company’s Wyoming and South Dakota electric systems. The strategic project is expected to stabilize long-term transmission costs for customers, expand market access to energy, and support long-term growth in Wyoming.
El Paso Electric Joins Southwest Power Pool Markets+ to Enhance Energy Reliability, Efficiency and Sustainability
El Paso Electric (EPE) is proud to announce its decision to join the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Markets+, a new energy market designed to provide enhanced grid reliability, increased customer savings and advancing sustainability efforts across the Western United States. 
Basin Electric to Build 1,400-Megawatt Generation Facility in Northwest North Dakota
  
The nearly $4 billion project, called the Bison Generation Station to be constructed near the town of Epping, will produce approximately 1,470 megawatts (MW) of electricity, one of the largest electric generation projects in the cooperative’s history.
Xcel Energy’s Harrington Generating Station Transitions to Natural Gas
At the end of 2024, Xcel Energy converted Harrington Station to utilize locally-produced, clean natural gas. The conversion to a natural gas fuel system was made in partnership with the State of Texas in 2020 and will be fully complete in May 2025.
Arizona Electric Utilities Team Up to Explore Adding Nuclear Generation
  
Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) announced today they’ll be working together to explore adding nuclear generation in Arizona. The utilities have been monitoring emerging nuclear technologies and have a shared interest in evaluating their potential to support growing energy needs in the state.
White Paper
Floating Solar Panels Could Support U.S. Energy Goals
Federal reservoirs could help meet the country's solar energy needs, according to a new study. Geospatial scientists and senior legal and regulatory analyst quantified exactly how much energy could be generated from floating solar panel projects installed on federally owned or regulated reservoirs.
New Design Makes Aluminum Batteries Last Longer
Large batteries for long-term storage of solar and wind power are key to integrating abundant and renewable energy sources into the U.S. power grid. However, there is a lack of safe and reliable battery technologies to support the push toward sustainable, clean energy. Now, researchers have designed a cost-effective and environment-friendly aluminum-ion (Al-ion) battery that could fit the bill.
Aging Reactors Need a Concrete Solution
It's been known for some time that radiation impacts the structural integrity of concrete. However, until now the details of this were unknown. Researchers can finally demonstrate what properties of concrete affect its structural characteristics under different neutron radiation loads. Their findings raise some concerns whilst reducing others; for example, quartz crystals in concrete can heal themselves, potentially allowing some reactors to run for longer than initially thought possible.