DIAMOND SPONSORS

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

MEDIA PARTNER

HOTEL, ROOM RESERVATION & PARKING INFORMATION

GCPA has a room block with a limited number of rooms for the nights of Mon 4/18 - Tue 4/19 at Hilton Americas - Houston, located at 1600 Lamar, Houston, TX 77010. There are also a few rooms available on the night of Sun 4/17 (Easter Sunday) if you choose to come in earlier. Single or double occupancy rooms are available at the special rate of $224 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 Monday, March 28th.

 

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM ONLINE

Call 1-800-236-2905 if you need assistance; mention the room block
 

VIEW THE HILTON AMERICAS - HOUSTON WEBSITE

PARKING: Parking is available at Hilton Americas standard rates which are currently $32/day for self parking in the attached garage and $48/day for valet parking.

AGENDA - TUESDAY, APRIL 19

7:00 AM   REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:00 AM   GCPA President’s Welcome - Mark Dreyfus, Principal, MD Energy Consulting
                Recognition of Chairs - Kim Casey, Executive Director, GCPA
                Conference Introduction - Cherie Fuller, Vice President, EDF Energy NA
                                                         J. Jolly Hayden, Managing Director, GDS Associates

8:15 AM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS - Sylvester Turner, Mayor, City of Houston

8:45 AM   Session I - ERCOT: Where Are We Now? Regulatory / Market Design Changes
State agencies and market participants have been interpreting and implementing the many statutory changes passed in the 2021 legislative session relating to the power industry in Texas. With this panel of leading industry lawyers and executives, we will explore the content of recent agency rules and orders, discuss major ongoing proceedings that industry practitioners should monitor, and look ahead to future regulatory or legislative activity around power resiliency in Texas.  
Moderator: Jason Ryan, Exec. Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs, CenterPoint Energy
Panelists:
Matt Henry, General Counsel, Oncor Electric Delivery
Julie Parsley, CEO, Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Michele Richmond, Executive Director, Texas Competitive Power Advocates
Cathy Webking, Partner, Spencer Fane LLP

9:45 AM   NETWORKING BREAK

10:15 AM   Session II - ERCOT Market Outlook: New Tools in the Tool Box
ERCOT’s long-term forecast indicates we have adequate power generation resources to meet the growing load in the region. However, as we learned during Winter Storm Uri, we can experience challenges in meeting demand under certain operating conditions. The PUC is evaluating a number of market design changes to ensure there are adequate resources to meet demand in all operating conditions. A Firm Fuel Product, Loads in Non-Spinning Reserve Service, Fast Frequency Response Service, and ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS) are just a few of the resource tools being proposed. And, ERCOT is working with the Commission and the industry to  eliminate barriers to distributed generation, energy storage, and demand response to allow more resources to participate in the ERCOT market. This panel will discuss the potential market impact of these new policies, resources, and tools and how they can be utilized to meet future peak demand during periods of high stress on the electric grid.  
Moderator: Warren Lasher, President, Lasher Energy Consulting, LLC
Panelists:
Ryan Aldridge, Managing Partner, AB Power Advisors
Bob Helton, Vice President Regulatory & Legislative Affairs, ENGIE
Tina Lee, Vice President, Asset Management, WattBridge
Bryan Sams, Vice President, Government & Regulatory Affairs, Calpine

11:00 AM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS - Dan Brouillette, President, Sempra Infrastructure; Former U.S. Secy. Of Energy; Facilitated by Brian Lloyd, Regional Vice President, External Affairs, Sempra Infrastructure

11:30 AM   Session III - State of the ERCOT Market from a Financial Viewpoint
For the better part of 20 years, federal policies, coupled with market rules designed by Texas regulators and ERCOT stakeholders, have resulted in new power generation investments flowing increasingly to wind, solar, and battery technologies. As Texas electric policymakers contemplate ERCOT's future generation mix, this panel will discuss the state of capital markets for energy infrastructure and the degree to which the desires of Texas policy makers intersect with the preferences of capital providers.
Moderator: Mark Egan, CEO, Infield Clean Energy
Panelists:
John Bills, Partner, PEI Global Partners
Andrew Chen, Managing Director, CIT Group Inc.
Joan Hutchinson, Managing Director, Marathon Capital, LLC

12:15 PM   LUNCHEON

1:45 PM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS - Brad Jones, Interim CEO, ERCOT

2:15 PM   Session IV - Innovative Approaches to Decarbonization
Decarbonization is one of today’s most significant world-wide policy initiatives and will be a topic of conversation for decades to come. In the efforts to achieve decarbonization whether by 2030 or 2050, there is no doubt that companies and governments across the globe will be required to “think outside the box.” In this panel discussion, we will hear from companies who are beginning their journey through significant investments, renewable energy commitments and innovative approaches to zero carbon goals.
Moderator: Beth Garza, Sr. Fellow, Energy & Environmental Policy Team, R Street
Panelists:
Lara Cottingham, Chief of Staff, Greentown Labs
Tim Sullivan, President & General Manager, SeQuest - Oxy Low Carbon Ventures
Kreshka Young, Sr. Regional Commercial Director, USGC Energy and Climate, Dow

3:15 PM   POWER STAR AWARD PRESENTATION

3:30 PM   NETWORKING BREAK

4:00 PM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS - Jimmy Glotfelty, Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas

4:30 PM   Session V - Virtual Power Plants: Building a Smarter Grid
In organized electricity markets, distributed energy resources (DERs) such as rooftop solar, behind-the-meter battery storage, and electric vehicles, are proliferating, creating new opportunities for portfolios of DERs to deliver services to grid operators and local utilities as “Virtual Power Plants” (VPPs). In other parts of the U.S., FERC Order 2222 is driving integration of VPPs, but only recently have ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission begun to explore market participation by VPPs in Texas. This panel will review lessons learned from other jurisdictions and identify legal, policy, or technical obstacles that need to be overcome in Texas for these resources to fully participate in ERCOT markets.
Moderator: Suzanne Bertin, Owner, S. Bertin Consulting
Panelists:
Jaden Crawford, Director of Market Development, Leap
Nakhia Crossley, Sr. Manager of Public Policy, Sunrun
Arushi Sharma Frank, U.S. Energy Markets Counsel, Policy & Business Development, Tesla
Mona Tierney-Lloyd, Head of U.S. State Public Policy & Institutional Affairs, Enel North America Inc.

5:15 - 7:00 PM   COCKTAIL RECEPTION AT THE GROVE - Join us at this beautiful rooftop location across the street from the Hilton Americas.

AGENDA - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20

7:45 AM   REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 AM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS - David Cherrett, Head of Energy Analytics, EDF Trading
The significance of the Ukraine invasion to commodity markets, as with other monumental events, has to be understood in context; the war was in part a function of and an accessory to an ongoing Global Molecule Crisis; but critically it is not the cause of it. It is instead but one chapter in the Global Molecule Crisis, albeit an important one, extending through Brexit, Covid, the Green Revolution and Energy Transition. In this conversation we try and explore the connection between these themes and the likely implications for energy prices going forward.

9:00 AM   Session VI - State of the ERCOT Retail Market
Following Winter Storm Uri, Load Serving Entities in ERCOT became acutely aware of the multitude of risks in serving retail customers. As the PUC and ERCOT implement changes to market design and system operations in the quest to improve system reliability, Retail Electric Providers and Load Serving Entities are facing increased ancillary services costs, a new Load Serving Obligation, increasing pressure to offer demand side response services as well as other contractual and operational changes. At the same time, load growth is on the rise due to population migration, electrification and industrial growth. This expert panel of retailers will discuss their views of the ERCOT market focusing on areas of change, growth and opportunity.
Moderator: Cherie Fuller, Vice President, EDF Energy NA
Panelists:
Scott Burns, Vice President of Innovation & Customer Experience, Reliant, an NRG Company
Jay Harpole, CEO, APG&E
Michael Lee, CEO, Octopus Energy
Deb Merril, President, Retail, EDF Energy Services

10:00 AM   NETWORKING BREAK

10:30 AM   KEYNOTE ADDRESS - Amit Patwardhan, Exec. Vice President of Technology, EnergyX

11:00 AM   Session VII - The EV Invasion
2021 was a break-out year for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the United States. While the rest of the auto industry saw year on year sale contraction, EV sales reached a new domestic high nearly doubling the prior sales peak. EVs are a promising technology to decarbonize transportation and they are batteries on wheels. Join us for this panel to explore how the EV invasion may shape the future of the electric power industry. 
Moderator: Danita Park, Director of EV & Commercial Development, NRG Energy
Panelists:
Ralph Adams, Director of Utility Partnerships, Nuvve
Yann Kulp, Co-Founder, Director Business Development, eIQ Mobility, a NextEra Company
Teri Viswanath, Lead Economist – Power, Energy & Water, CoBank

12:00 PM   CONFERENCE ADJOURNS
 

PRE-CONFERENCE HALF DAY WORKSHOP
“The Path Forward for Grid Scalable Energy Storage”
The Hilton Americas Houston 1:30 - 4:30 (Check-In at 1:00 PM)

It seems like only two years ago, Texas market participants were discussing the integration of storage into ERCOT’s regulatory and operational framework, as well as the signals that storage developers needed to invest in Texas. Now, with almost 4,000MW of storage planned to be operational by 2024, there are undoubtedly a multitude of reasons storage developers are investing in Texas. Likewise, with the PUCT and ERCOT at a turning point in the redesign of the Texas market, there are a multitude of services storage can provide to our grid as we see continued growth in both load and renewable energy.

In a long-awaited topic originally scheduled for the 2020 Spring Conference Workshop, storage developers will discuss what services storage can provide for grid reliability and resiliency, including distributed storage resources, co-located storage with solar, short duration ancillary services, long duration provision of energy, and resiliency benefits like grid support, especially in areas of congestion.
Additionally, regulators and experts will discuss:
    •    The importance of storage to the Texas market in this time of redesign
    •    Where we are right now in storage integration in ERCOT
    •    Lessons learned from other storage rich markets like CAISO
    •    Where is the future potential for storage on the grid

Pricing WITH Conference Registration: $200
Pricing without Conference Registration: $300
Full Agenda Coming Soon

 

WELCOME COCKTAIL RECEPTION

Mingle and network at a Welcome Cocktail Reception
on Monday, April 18th at the Hilton Americas - Houston
from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Pricing: $40

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP AGENDA
“The Path Forward for Grid Scalable Energy Storage”
Monday, April 18th ~ 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM

It seems like only two years ago, Texas market participants were discussing the integration of storage into ERCOT’s regulatory and operational framework, as well as the signals that storage developers needed to invest in Texas. Now, with almost 4,000MW of storage planned to be operational by 2024, there are undoubtedly a multitude of reasons storage developers are investing in Texas. Likewise, with the PUCT and ERCOT at a turning point in the redesign of the Texas market, there are a multitude of services that storage can provide to our grid as we see continued growth in both load and renewable energy.

During this workshop, storage developers will discuss what services storage can provide for grid reliability and resiliency, including distributed storage resources, co-located storage with solar, short duration ancillary services, long duration provision of energy, and resiliency benefits like grid support, especially in areas of congestion.

Additionally, regulators and experts will discuss:
    •    The importance of storage to the Texas market in this time of redesign
    •    Where we are right now in storage integration in ERCOT
    •    Lessons learned from other storage rich markets like CAISO
    •    Where is the future potential for storage on the grid?

AGENDA

1:00    REGISTRATION / CHECK-IN DESK OPENS

1:30    Introduction - Presenter: Caitlin Smith, Sr. Director, Regulatory, External Affairs & ESG, Jupiter Power

1:40    Importance of Storage to Texas - Presenter: Pat Wood III, CEO, Hunt Energy Network

2:00    Status Update on Storage Integration in ERCOT - Presenter: Kenneth Ragsdale, Principal, Market Design & Development, ERCOT    

2:20    BREAK

2:35    The Role of Battery Energy Storage Systems: Value Stacking Opportunities
Moderator: Andy Nguyen, Director, ERCOT Regulatory Policy, LCRA

Panelists:
Sam Brandin, Manager of Origination, Plus Power
Julie Chao, Manager of Origination, Broad Reach Power
Arushi Sharma Frank, U.S. Energy Markets Counsel, Policy & Business Development, Tesla
Laura Wellborn, Director, Trade & Dispatch, Jupiter Power

3:35    BREAK

3:50     Storage Lessons Learned from CAISO & Other Markets - Presenter: Cathleen Colbert, Director, CAISO Market Policy, Vistra

4:10    Future Landscape for Storage in ERCOT - Presenter: Julia Matevosyan, Chief Engineer, Energy Systems Integration Group

4:30    WORKSHOP ADJOURNS

PRICING INFORMATION

CONFERENCE PRICING - price includes one and a half day conference on 4/19 - 4/20 and cocktail reception on 4/19. *Non-Member rate includes 2022 Individual Membership good through 1/31/23.
 

CONFERENCE	Early Bird Reg. through 3/28/22	Regular Reg. 3/29/22-4/15/22	Onsite Reg. 4/19/22-4/20/22
GCPA Member	$795	$950	$1050
Non-Member*	$1020	$1175	$1275
Govt./State Agency Employee	$295	$295	$350
GCPA Member in Job Search Mode	$375	$375	$475
Non-Member in Job Search Mode*	$600	$600	$700
Student	$125	$125	$150

WORKSHOP PRICING - price includes half day workshop on 4/18, beverages and snack.
 

WORKSHOP	Early Bird Reg. through 3/28/22	Regular Reg. 3/29/22-4/15/22	Onsite Reg. 4/18/22
Fee w/ conf. registration	$200	$250	$275
Fee W/OUT conf. reg.	$300	$350	$375

WELCOME RECEPTION PRICING - price includes welcome reception on 4/18, one drink ticket and hors d’oeuvres. Additional cocktails can be purchased at the bar.
 

RECEPTION	Early Bird Reg. through 3/28/22	Regular Reg. 3/29/22 - 4/15/22	Onsite Reg. 4/18/22
Fee	$40	$40	$45

REFUND POLICY - Cancellations must be received by 5 PM on Friday, April 1 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

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 9.25 hours of credit if all conference sessions  are attended. 2.5 credit hours will also be available for the 4/18 workshop on Grid Scalable Energy Storage.

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 regulatory and market design changes, ERCOT market outlook, ERCOT market from financial perspective, decarbonization, virtual power plants, state of the retail market, and EVs effect on the power market’s future. There are no prerequisites. Attendees will receive approximately 10 hours of credit if all sessions are attended. 2.5 credit hours will also be available for the 4/18 workshop on Grid Scalable Energy Storage.

Attorneys: GCPA has received approval from the Texas State Bar for MCLE credit as follows: April 18th Workshop - 2.5 hrs.; Panel I - 1.0 hr.; Panel II - 0.75 hr.; Panel V - 0.75 hr. Attorneys may self report their hours to the Texas State Bar. GCPA’s sponsor number is 2661 and the course number is 174154722.