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INTERESTED IN A SPONSORSHIP OR EXHIBIT?

GCPA has a room block with a limited number of rooms for the nights of Sun 4/14 - Tue 4/16 at Hilton Americas - Houston, located at 1600 Lamar, Houston, TX 77010. Single or double occupancy rooms are available at the special rate of $229 per night. Rate includes complimentary in-room high speed wireless internet service. Reservations must be received on or before the room block cutoff date of Friday March 29th.

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM ONLINE

OR call 1-800-236-2905 and use the room block code 1GL

TO VIEW THE HILTON AMERICAS - HOUSTON WEBSITE: Click Here (opens in new window)

Parking is available at Hilton Americas standard rates which are currently $27/day for self parking
in the attached garage and $40/day for valet parking.

AGENDA - TUESDAY, APRIL 16

7:00 AM                      REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:00 AM

8:15 AM                                          KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Omar Khayum, CEO, Annova LNG, an Exelon Business Unit

8:45 AM Session I - Evolving RTO Market Designs: Future of Energy & Ancillary Services

Energy and ancillary markets are facing new challenges with the growing uncertainty between day-ahead and real-time market schedules causing price volatility and system reliability issues in real-time. ISOs/RTOs are changing energy and AS market designs to tackle these challenges. The panel will look at the unique energy and AS market challenges in the CAISO/PJM/ERCOT markets and proposals underway or additional changes needed to overcome the challenges. The panel will also discuss potential impacts on the value proposition of different generation technologies under proposed market design changes.

Moderator: Judah Rose, Executive Director & Chair, ICF

Panelists:
David Hunger, Vice President - Clean Energy, Charles River Associates
Adam Keech, Executive Director, Market Operations, PJM
Brett Kruse, Vice President, Market Design, Calpine
Barbara Clemenhagen, Vice President of Market Intelligence, Customized Energy Solutions
 

9:45 AM                                      NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK

10:15 AM Session II - Energy Storage: Is it a Panacea?

Due to rapidly falling costs and operational flexibility, energy storage is increasingly viewed as a valuable electricity system resource.  Storage systems connected to the transmission and distribution grid have the potential to provide a range of services that could ultimately reduce power system costs and create value for consumers. However, there are remaining challenges to be addressed. How is storage being used right now in the U.S.? What business models make sense and where? In which markets is the economic case for storage a challenge and why? What are the limitations of energy storage technologies today and how should those limitations impact our strategy?

Moderator: Roger Leuken, Associate, The Brattle Group; Co-author - Nevada’s Energy Storage Potential Study

Panelists:
Warren Lasher, Sr. Director, System Planning, ERCOT
Anthony Maselli, Vice President for Development and Strategy, Vistra Energy
David Miller, Vice President of Business Development, Greensmith Energy Storage
 

11:15 AM Session III - What's Driving Decarbonization in the US: How Is It Working?

Decarbonization is being driven by many types of forces including government goals, corporate commitments, and economic forces. In some U.S. markets we see decarbonization being pushed at the state and local government level. In other areas it is accelerating thanks to low-cost renewable energy or other market factors. With no central federal policy for decarbonization, the goals and approaches vary widely across the country. Is this decentralized effort leading to faster decarbonization than a centralized one? Where do we see the most traction and why?

Moderator: Kai Guo, Director of Offshore Wind, Director of Market Research, Kiewit

Panelists:
Katharine Beisner, Sr. Project Lead, Electric Vehicles & Emerging Technologies, Austin Energy
Jeff Lyng, Director, Energy & Environmental Policy, Xcel Energy
John Hall, Associate Vice President for Clean Energy, Environmental Defense Fund
 

12:00 PM                                                  LUNCHEON

1:00 PM                                             KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Jesse Thompson, Senior Business Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
 

1:30 PM Session IV - Pollution Pricing in the Power Sector: Market-Friendly Tools for Incorporating Public Policy

State energy and environmental preferences are playing out as market interventions in organized power markets; the legal challenges over states issuing Zero Emission Credits (ZECs) are just one of the latest examples. This panel will describe how power markets have absorbed carbon prices imposed by some state policies, and explore whether additional state carbon prices or a market carbon price could ease state/market tensions. As an economic matter, should markets seek to internalize the environmental costs of generation?  As a legal matter, do markets have the authority to set a carbon price, in the absence of state action? What are the goals, opportunities, and potential pitfalls of pricing carbon in the power markets?

Moderator: Burcin Unel, Ph.D., Energy Policy Director, Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU School of Law

Panelists:
Jennifer Chen, Sr. Counsel, Federal Energy Policy, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University
Doug Scott, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Great Plains Institute
Josiah Neeley, Texas Director & Sr. Fellow in Energy Policy, The R Street Institute
Sam Newell, Principal, The Brattle Group

2:30 PM                                             KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Patricia Hoffman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity, U.S. Department of Energy 
 

3:00 PM Session V - Resilience – Beyond Grid Hardening: Cyber, Gas, and Advanced Supply Sources

Resilience includes the ability to prepare for, withstand, and recover rapidly from deliberate attacks, accidents, or naturally occurring threats or incidents. This panel will go beyond grid hardening topics and address advanced persistent threats, disruptions to downstream electric industry support or supply chains such as information technology platforms and gas pipelines, and how new sources of supply such as microgrids and distributed energy resources fit into the problem or solution set.

Moderator: Cheryl Mele, Sr. Vice President & COO, ERCOT

Panelists:
David Batz, Senior Director for Cyber & Infrastructure Security, Edison Electric Institute
Joel Firestone, Vice President, Regulatory and Market Compliance, LCRA
Brian Lloyd, Director of Regulatory Strategy - Texas, Sempra Energy
 

3:45 PM                                    NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK


4:00 PM                              POWER STAR AWARD PRESENTATION


4:15 PM Session VI - ISO CEO Roundtable: Contemporary Issues

Listen in and ask questions as this panel of ISO CEOs discuss current and future issues.

Moderator: Pat Wood III, Principal, Wood3 Resources

Panelists:
Nick Brown, President & CEO, SPP
Bill Magness, President & CEO, ERCOT

5:00 PM                                                      ADJOURN


5:00 - 7:00 PM                     COCKTAIL RECEPTION AT THE GROVE

Rain or shine, join your colleagues for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at this beautiful rooftop location overlooking Downtown Houston - just across the street from the Hilton Americas
 

AGENDA - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17

7:45 AM                    REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 AM                              OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Bill Kroger, Partner, Baker Botts
 

9:00 AM Session VII - Summer 2019 Expectations in ERCOT

The Texas population is increasing, its economy is growing, but its electrical supply is not. Last year saw record loads and high prices throughout the region. In 2019, the ERCOT market is facing an even tighter reserve margin than in 2018. What does this summer hold for the market? What are the risks of system emergencies? What commercial risks are increased this summer, compared to past years? What increased risks do customers face, both in regulated and deregulated areas?

Moderator: Beth Garza, Vice President & Director of ERCOT IMM, Potomac Economics

Panelists:
Katherine "Katie" Coleman, Partner, Thompson & Knight; Counsel for TIEC
Michele Gregg, Executive Director, Texas Competitive Power Advocates
Julia Rathgeber, President, AECT
 

9:45 AM                                 NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK

10:15 AM Session VIII - State of Retail Competition Across the Country

In roughly two decades of retail competition around the United States, retail market models have developed differing rules for billing, default service, and customer aggregation. Is this a complicating factor for retailers operating in multiple jurisdictions? Does this ultimately have a negative or positive impact on end-use customers? What can states take away from best practices in other markets?

Moderator: Allison Neves, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Channels, Just Energy

Panelists:
Chris Hendrix, Director of Markets & Compliance, Walmart
Abe Silverman, Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Group & Deputy General Counsel
Policy Maker Panelist TBA
 

11:15 AM Session IX - System Planning in a High DER Environment

Utilities and system operators have traditionally given limited attention to modeling of DERs in their planning efforts. Given the increased penetration of DERs, these resources need to be more carefully represented in modeling efforts. DERs are also starting to play a more important role as load flexibility resources as the renewable penetration increases. This session will describe best practices and lessons learned in planning in an environment with increasing DERs, and discuss challenges and opportunities in utility and wholesale planning functions.

Moderator: Sanem Sergici, Principal, The Brattle Group

Panelists:
Patrick Brown, Executive Director for Resource Planning, MISO
John Kosub, Sr. Director for Energy Portfolio Analytics, CPS Energy
Woody Rickerson, VP, Grid Planning and Operations, ERCOT
Steve Steffel, Manager, Regional Capacity Planning, PHI/Exelon
 

12:15 PM                                     CONFERENCE ADJOURNS

Mexico Power Market Update - Monday, April 15

The Hilton Americas Houston - 1:00 to 5:00 PM

SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE - SEE PAGE 3 OF THE SPONSOR BROCHURE

Worshop Sponsored by

1:00 PM CONFERENCE INTRODUCTION / OPENING TALK

1:15 PM ERCOT VS. MEXICO - PARALLELS & DIFFERENCES

Presenter: Austin Collins, CEO, Red Energia

Exactly how similar – or how different - are our neighboring systems? We present a quick introduction to Mexico’s power market through direct comparison of market concepts and operations between ERCOT and Mexico, in areas ranging from settlement mechanisms to retail switching to reserve margin predictions. This overview will be of interest for those looking for a general understanding of the state of Mexico’s electricity market, as well as current US or Mexico participants who are contemplating expansion or cross-border interchange. Will ERCOT serve as predictor of the eventual end-state of our southern neighbor’s developing energy market?

1:45 PM MEXICO’S POWER MARKET IN THE AGE OF AMLO

Presenter: Bob Anderson, Tenaska

Mexico’s new presidential administration continues to send shock waves through the still-emerging power and gas markets of Mexico. What is the ongoing dynamic between the Ministry of Energy, Mexican Congress, CENACE, and the CRE with respect to electricity? How does CFE deal with the Separation Law and its stated strategic goals across its many productive state companies? What is our industry’s message specific to 1) societal benefits achieved to date with the electric reform and 2) what full electric reform implementation could produce? How could the older CFE units achieve a new revenue stream beyond the CENACE spot market and stimulate the retail market? Where are we in terms of the Mexican centralized electric spot market versus a bilateral/OTC forward market? The discussion will also include a vision for the transactional mechanics of standardized products, credit margining, and contracts and how they could work with the universe of Mexican electric counterparties. We will also explore the underlying electric fundamentals to gauge the near-term energy consumption and price volatility in the Mexican electric market.
 

3:15 PM BREAK

3:30 PM LET’S GET PHYSICAL - RESERVE MARGIN & THE FUTURE RELIABILITY OF MEXICO’S POWER GRID

Presenter: Rebecca Bollenbach, Essentia Advisory Partners

Mexico’s power grid has experienced single-digit reserve margins and several major outage events since 2016, due to multiple physical and regulatory drivers. How will market factors such as expanding gas pipelines, delayed transmission projects, widespread electricity theft, and burgeoning renewable generation affect the grid in 2019 and beyond? In this session, we take a look at the physical state of Mexico’s grid, and consider whether AMLO’s political directives to revitalize CFE might address its reliability issues, or cause CENACE to face even bigger challenges in the race to meet the growing demands of its electricity consumers.
 

4:45 PM Q&A AND WRAP-UP

Pre-Conference Activities on Monday, April 15th:
To register for any of these events - CLICK HERE

TOPGOLF NETWORKING EVENT

PRE-CONFERENCE HALF DAY WORKSHOP

WELCOME COCKTAIL RECEPTION

PRICING INFORMATION

CONFERENCE PRICING - price includes one and a half day conference on 4/16 - 4/17 and cocktail
reception on 4/16.*Non-Member rate includes 2019 Individual Membership good through 1/31/20.

WELCOME RECEPTION PRICING - 4/15 reception includes one drink ticket and appetizers.
 

REFUND POLICY - Cancellations must be received by 5 PM on Friday, March 29 in order to receive a refund. A 10% service fee (minimum fee of $10) will be charged against all refunds. Please direct all cancellation requests to Mary Armstrong at MArmstrong@GulfCoastPower.org.
 

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT INFORMATION

UPDATE FOR ATTORNEYS:  We have now been approved for MCLE credit, with 6 hours for the overall conference and 3.75 hours for the Mexico Power Market Update Workshop, distributed as follows:

• Pre-Conference Workshop - “Mexico Power Market Update” – 3.75 hours
• Session III - “What's Driving Decarbonization in the US: How Is It Working?” – 0.75 hour
• Session IV - “Pollution Pricing in the Power Sector: Market-Friendly Tools for Incorporating Public Policy” – 1.0 hour
• Session V - “Resilience – Beyond Grid Hardening: Cyber, Gas, and Advanced Supply Sources” – 0.75 hour
• Session VI – “ISO CEO Roundtable: Contemporary Issues” – 0.75 hour
• Session VII - “Summer 2019 Expectations in ERCOT” – 0.75 hour
• Session VIII - “State of Retail Competition Across the Country” – 1.0 hour
• Session IX - “System Planning in a High DER Environment” – 1.0 hour

PEs: As part of the Continuing Education Program requirements for Professional Engineers in Texas, each licensed engineer is required to earn 15 hours per year of Professional Development Hours (PDH). Attendees will receive approximately 10.0 hours of credit if all conference sessions are attended. Credit hours will also be available for the workshop on 4/15.

CPAs: GCPA is a Board Registered CPE Sponsor with the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. This registration does not constitute an endorsement by the Board as to the quality of our CPE program. The learning objectives for CPAs attending the conference are: to obtain an in-depth understanding of RTO market designs, current state of energy storage, decarbonization, carbon pricing, market resilience beyond grid hardening, summer 2019 expectations in ERCOT, state of retail competition throughout the US, and system planning in a high DER environment. There are no prerequisites. Attendees will receive approximately 10.5 hours of credit if all sessions are attended. Credit hours will also be available for the 4/15 workshop.