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HOTEL, ROOM RESERVATION & PARKING INFORMATION

GCPA has a room block with a limited number of rooms at the AT&T Conference Center located at 1900 University Ave., Austin TX 78705. Standard King and Double Queen rooms are available at the special rate of $230 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, September 12th.

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM ONLINE

Call 512-404-3600 if you need assistance; mention the room block

TO VIEW THE AT&T CONFERENCE CENTER WEBSITE: Click Here

Parking is available in the attached Conference Center Garage. Guests may self-park for 8-24 hours for $21 per day. Valet services are also available at the University Avenue entrance for $21 per day or $38 for overnight.

AGENDA - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3

7:00 AM   REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:15 AM    GCPA President’s Welcome Mark Dreyfus, Principal, MD Energy Consulting; Recognition of Chairs Kim Casey, Executive Director, GCPA; Conference Introduction Jason Ryan, Exec. VP, CenterPoint Energy & Juliana Sersen, Partner, Baker Botts

8:25 AM     KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Representative Todd Hunter, Chair, State Affairs Committee, Texas State Legislature

9:10 AM     Session I - ERCOT Resource Adequacy:  Reliability Standard and Market Design Implications
Senate Bill 3 (2021) requires the PUCT and ERCOT to establish a reliability standard for the ERCOT region and to procure ancillary or reliability services on a competitive basis to ensure that the adopted reliability standard will be achieved. ERCOT’s reliability standard analysis is ongoing. House Bill 1500 (2023) added requirements and limitations that may present challenges. Senate Bill 2627 (2023) would subsidize up to 10 GW of new dispatchable generation. What is the status of these efforts and where might it all be headed?   

Moderator: Dan Jones, Independent Consultant

Panelists:
Carrie Bivens, Vice President, ERCOT IMM Director, Potomac Economics
Zach Ming, Director, Energy & Environmental Economics (E3)
Sam Newell, Principal, The Brattle Group
Woody Rickerson, Sr. Vice President & COO, ERCOT 

10:00 AM     NETWORKING BREAK

10:30 AM     Session II - The Consumer Perspective on ERCOT
Prior to Winter Storm Uri, most Texans had no idea who ERCOT was or what it did. Today, Texas consumers are very concerned about the reliability of the grid and are experiencing sticker shock at the escalating cost of electricity. From areas open to retail competition to the regulated areas, consumers are exploring options to manage electricity reliability and costs including alternative REP supply options, behind the meter/backup generators, solar panels, demand response, and energy efficiency projects. For some residential consumers, they have no choice but to curtail consumption and/or seek financial assistance. This panel of consumers from various segments will share their views on the ERCOT retail market and its far-reaching impacts.

Moderator: Jay Harpole, CEO, APG&E

Panelists:
Shawn McGlothlin, Director, Global Energy, Texas Instruments
Melissa Trevino, Asst. Vice President, Power, Oxy
Margo Weisz, Executive Director, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute

11:15 AM     Vignette ~ Lubbock Integration Update - Chris Rowley, Director, REP Market Relations, Oncor and Matt Rose, Public Affairs and Government Relations Manager, Lubbock Power & Light

11:30 AM     Session III - GCPA Insider: Chat with RTO CEOs
Both different and alike! While each RTO operates according to its own market structure and rulebook, all are faced with a growing set of common challenges: the rapidly changing generation resource mix in a time of capacity constraints and backlogged interconnection queues, latent demand for transmission expansion, and renewed pressure to prepare for extreme weather. In this GCPA Insider Chat, the CEOs of ERCOT and MISO will share their insights and views on what it will take to meet these challenges while delivering the moderate cost and reliability that regulators and consumers have come to expect.

RTO CEOs:
John Bear, CEO, MISO
Pablo Vegas, President & CEO, ERCOT

12:15 PM     LUNCHEON

1:45 PM     KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Chris Moser, Executive Vice President, Head of Competitive Markets and Policy, NRG

2:15 PM     Session IV - The Investor’s Viewpoint
Over the past 12- 18 months, a considerable number of ERCOT power generation assets have changed hands. Both fossil and renewable power plants traded, and there have been changes in Texas law designed to subsidize the construction of new dispatchable generation. What factors have contributed to the growing number of transactions across all fuel types? What will happen to investor interest in ERCOT as the invisible hand of the past 20+ years is replaced by a more interventionist approach to markets? This panel aims to better understand what investors are seeing in renewable and fossil power opportunities today, and whether market participants should anticipate continued investor interest in ERCOT. 

Moderator: Mark Egan, Founder, Energy Evolution Advisors

Panelists:
Mark Crawford, Head of Power, Kennedy Lewis Investment Management
Eddy Daniels, Partner, McGuireWoods
Tyler Kopp, Principal, Energy Capital Partners
Kellie Metcalf, Managing Partner, EnCap Investments
Anthony Omokha, Managing Director, Ares Management Corporation

3:15 PM     NETWORKING BREAK

3:45 PM     Vignette ~ Texas PUC: The Work in Progress - David Smeltzer, Agency Counsel, Rules, PUCT

4:00 PM     Session V - Market Reactions from Power Generators
The recent 2023 Legislative Session resulted in numerous changes for the existing generation fleet. The panel will delve into HB 1500 (the PUCT and ERCOT sunset bill that contained many market design additions) and discuss how its various market design features could impact the existing generation fleet. We’ll also touch on recent results from Firm Fuel Supply Service, ECRS, and Summer 2023, and discuss how these items impact current and future opportunities for generation. Lastly, the panel will discuss the current regulatory environment at the Legislature, PUCT, and ERCOT and discuss their thoughts on how regulatory certainty or uncertainty impact current and future expectations. This panel represents a diverse set of technologies and will provide valuable insight through the lens of generators with various views on the market.

Moderator: Ryan Aldridge, Managing Partner, AB Power Advisors

Panelists:
Tina Lee, Vice President, Asset Management, Wattbridge
Caitlin Smith, Vice President, Policy & Corporate Communications, Jupiter Power
Mark Spencer, Project Director, LS Power
Frank Swigonski, Director, Market Design, Pine Gate Renewables

4:45 - 6:45 PM     COCKTAIL RECEPTION    

 

AGENDA - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4

7:45 AM     REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:25 AM     Announcements: Kim Casey, Executive Director, GCPA

8:30 AM     KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Doug Lewin, Author, Texas and Energy Power Newsletter; President, Stoic Energy Consulting

8:55 AM     Vignette ~ SPEER's View on Energy Efficiency - Noah Oaks, State & Local Policy Manager, SPEER

9:10 AM     Session VI - Energy Efficiency and DR: Stepping Up the Game in Texas 
Texas has fallen behind other states in its attention to energy efficiency and demand response. Is there really little being done, or is it just not being measured with the same precision as required in other regulated areas? Are large customers the only ones benefiting from demand response programs? Is anyone focusing on reducing or managing residential consumption? Are there structural barriers in ERCOT preventing greater and more effective investments on the demand-side? Listen in as these panelists share their thoughts with ERCOT’s top regulator.

Co-Moderators: Kathleen Jackson, Interim Chairman, PUCT and Senator Nathan Johnson, Texas Senate District 16

Panelists:
Garry Jones, Director, Energy Efficiency, Oncor
Mike Lee, CEO, Octopus Energy
Steve Nadel, Executive Director, ACEEE
Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director, Lone Star Chapter, Sierra Club

10:00 AM     NETWORKING BREAK

10:30 AM     KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Rudy Garza, President & CEO, CPS Energy; Facilitated by Mark Dreyfus, Principal, MD Energy Consulting

10:50 AM     emPOWERing YOUNG PROFESSIONALS AWARD PRESENTATION

11:00 AM     Vignette ~ What Is Resiliency? - Jason Ryan, Executive Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs, CenterPoint Energy

11:15 AM     Session VII - Taking a Punch and Getting Back Up Quicker: The Path to Greater Resilience on the Texas Grid
The decades long focus on grid reliability has expanded to emphasize resilience. This panel will address how well the grid takes a punch and gets back up—as extreme weather presents more risk of missing customer and community expectations of the power grid. As with most challenges, there is no silver bullet for a resilience solution, and the panel will discuss their different approaches to the topic. The panel will also discuss legislation passed in Texas in 2021 and 2023, and how its implementation will benefit Texans.

Moderator: Brad Tutunjian, Vice President of Regulatory Policy, CenterPoint Energy

Panelists:
Mike Grable, Vice President – Chief Sustainability, Compliance & Risk Officer, Oncor
Brad Grainger, Director North America Sales, RS Technologies, Inc.
Resmi Surendran, Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Shell
Joel Yu, Vice President, Policy, Enchanted Rock

12:00 PM     CONFERENCE ADJOURNS

PRE-CONFERENCE HALF DAY WORKSHOP
“New Kid on the Block: Virtual Power Plants in ERCOT”
AT&T Conference Center 1:00 - 5:00 (Check-In at 12:30 PM)

In the second half of 2022, the Texas PUC formed a task force made up of market participants and non-profit organizations to work with ERCOT and the PUC to develop a pilot project for aggregated distributed energy resources, also known as virtual power plants, to provide energy and ancillary services in the ERCOT market.  The pilot project kicked off in January 2023, and by the time of the workshop, virtual power plants will be powering Texans.  The workshop will provide attendees with valuable insights into the latest developments in the pilot project, what the next phase of the pilot project might look like, and the vital role virtual power plants will play in the ERCOT market in the future.

The workshop features presentations and panels that will provide practical insights into virtual power plants. Key topics that will be addressed include:

• The fundamentals behind the Texas PUC decision to move forward with the pilot project

• The innovative process used to develop the pilot project

• The current status of the pilot project, including hearing from market participants with virtual power plants providing power to the ERCOT market

• Opportunities and challenges as the PUC considers expanding the pilot project

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the speakers about their experience on the ground in deploying virtual power plant projects, what has worked well and what has not, as well as views into the future of these projects in the ERCOT market and elsewhere. The workshop will provide a valuable platform for government officials, regulators and industry professionals to exchange ideas and collaborate on the future of virtual power plants.

Early Bird Price WITH Conference Registration: $225
Early Bird Price WITHOUT Conference Registration: $325

 

WELCOME COCKTAIL RECEPTION

Mingle and network at a Welcome Cocktail Reception
Monday, October 2nd - AT&T Conference Center - 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Pricing: $45

AGENDA FOR PRE-CONFERENCE HALF DAY WORKSHOP
ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 2

“New Kid on the Block: Virtual Power Plants in ERCOT”
AT&T Conference Center 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Check-In at 12:30 PM)

In the second half of 2022, the Texas PUC formed a task force made up of market participants and non-profit organizations to work with ERCOT and the PUC to develop a pilot project for aggregated distributed energy resources, also known as virtual power plants, to provide energy and ancillary services in the ERCOT market. The pilot project kicked off in January 2023, and by the time of the workshop, virtual power plants will be powering Texans. The workshop will provide attendees with valuable insights into the latest developments in the pilot project, what the next phase of the pilot project might look like, and the vital role virtual power plants will play in the ERCOT market in the future.

INTRODUCTION - Jason Ryan, Exec. Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs, CenterPoint Energy

1:00 PM   KEYNOTE: The National Perspective on VPPs
Speaker: Arushi Sharma Frank, U.S. Energy Markets Counsel, Policy & Business Development, Tesla

1:20 PM   PANEL I: The Texas Journey : What Have We Done So Far?
Moderator: Will McAdams, Commissioner, PUCT
Panelists:
Eric Goff, President, Goff Policy
Jason Ryan, Exec. Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs, CenterPoint Energy

2:05 PM   KEYNOTE: ERCOT Status Update
Speaker: Jason Ryan, Exec. Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs, CenterPoint Energy

2:35 PM   BREAK

3:05 PM   KEYNOTE: VPPs: A Report from Google & Brattle
Speaker: Aaron Berndt, Head of Energy Industry Partnerships, Google

3:20 PM   PANEL II: The Critical Importance of VPPs for the Future Grid 
Moderator: Eric Goff, President, Goff Policy
Panelists:
Aaron Berndt, Head of Energy Industry Partnerships, Google
Scott Hinson, CTO, Pecan Street
Micalah Spenrath, Policy Principal, Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance
Margo Weisz, Executive Director, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute

4:10 PM   PANEL III: The VPP Providers’ Perspective 
Moderator: Tiffany Wu, Advisor, PUCT
Panelists:
John Bonnin, Sr. Consultant, AutoGrid Systems, Inc.
Jaden Crawford, Director of Policy, David Energy
Kristina Rollins, Assistant General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs, NRG
Rajiv Shah, Head of U.S. Policy & Markets, Octopus Energy
Jonathan Tijerina, Vice President, Enterprise Risk & Development, CPS Energy

5:00 PM   ADJOURN

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 8.5 hours of credit if all conference sessions are attended. 3.5 credit hours will also be available for the 10/2 workshop.

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: in-depth knowledge of current issues in ERCOT Resource Adequacy, the Consumer Perspective, RTO CEO’s Viewpoints, Investor’s Viewpoint, Generator’s Perspective, Energy Efficiency & DR, and Resiliency of Texas Grid. There are no prerequisites. Attendees will receive approximately 11.5 hours of credit if all sessions are attended. 3.5 credit hours will also be available for the 10/2 workshop. The learning objectives for the workshop are: in-depth knowledge of Virtual Power Plants in Texas. 

Attorneys: GCPA’s sponsor number is 2661 and the course number is 174211415 when self-reporting hours. The Texas State Bar has approved a total of 4.5 MCLE hours for the conference: Session I - 0.75; Session III - 0.75; Texas PUC Vignette - 0.25; Session V - 0.75; Energy Efficiency Vignette - 0.25; Session VI - 0.75; Resiliency Vignette - 0.25; Session VII - 0.75. The 10/2 Workshop was also approved for a total of 3.5 MCLE hours.

PRICING INFORMATION

CONFERENCE PRICING - price includes one and a half day conference on 10/3-10/4 and cocktail reception on 10/3.*Non-Member rate includes 2023 Individual Membership good through 1/31/24.

CONFERENCE	Early Bird Reg. through 9/12/23	Regular Reg. 9/13/23 - 9/29/23	On-Site Reg. 10/3/23 & 10/4/23
GCPA Member	$850	$1000	$1100
Non-Member*	$1100	$1250	$1350
Govt./State Agency Employee	$350	$350	$400
GCPA Members in Job Search Mode	$425	$425	$525
Non-Members in Job Search Mode*	$675	$675	$775
Full Time Students	$175	$175	$225

WORKSHOP PRICING - price includes half day workshop on 10/2, beverages and snack.

WORKSHOP	Early Bird Reg. through 9/12/23	Regular Reg. 9/13/23 - 9/29/23	On-Site Reg. 10/2/23
Fee w/ conf. registration	$225	$275	$300
Fee W/OUT conf. reg.	$325	$375	$400

WELCOME RECEPTION PRICING - price includes welcome reception on 10/2, one drink ticket and hors d’oeuvres. Additional cocktails can be purchased at the bar. Reception is only available with conference and/or workshop registration and is not available as a stand-alone purchase for non-conference or non-workshop attendees.

RECEPTION	Early Bird Reg. through 9/12/23	Regular Reg. 9/13/23 - 9/29/23	On-Site Reg. 10/2/23
Fee	$45	$45	$50

 

REFUND POLICY - Cancellations must be received by 5 PM on Friday, September 15 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.