STANDARDS LEADERS PANEL

Navigating the International Standards Roadmap to Plan Your Business and Logistical Strategies

Hear the latest from standards representatives who have recently produced or overseen numerous new Smart Grid standards, and whose work is continually ongoing.

• Get a roadmap for the next five years and optimize your readiness for future standards and emerging trends
  
• Hear how Canadian standards and regulatory leaders are handling the country's unique geographic and market requirements
  
• Learn concrete strategies for ensuring compliance and compatibility with all relevant standards

Source the latest updates on industry standards so you can plan your strategy around them.

Ralph Zucker, Executive Director, SmartGrid Canada	Keith Jansa, Manager of Standards, Canadian Electricity Association
Bill Bryans, VP Technical Services, Electrical, Electro Federation Canada; Co-chair, Canadian National Smart Grid Technology and Standards Task Force

CASE STUDY: Pepco Holdings Inc

Distribution Automation: New and Upcoming Challenges and Solutions to Improve Reliability

Distribution automation is one of the most crucial aspects of ensuring a reliable grid, and will only become more so as the infrastructure continually evolves and new industry standards take shape. Hear about PHI's success and learn:

• Concrete strategies for increasing secure communication both ways between substation and end devices on distribution lines
  
• Best practices for determining which new DA equipment to invest in, when to do it, and when to re-purpose or upgrade current assets for distribution automation
  
• Distribution automation start up challenges and solutions
  
• Expected improvements in feeder reliability performance

Hear innovative strategies for distribution automation to maximize the reliability and interoperability of your grid.

Joseph LoPorto, Manager, Distribution Automation Program & Special Projects, Pepco Holdings Inc. (DE)

Mid-Morning Networking Break

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

CASE STUDY: Southern California Edison

Interoperability of Demand Response Resources: Efficient and Cost-Effective Strategies

A key tool for utilities to manage daily system peaks is through demand response. As more smart meters are implemented and new technologies continue to emerge, source key strategies for success. Learn from this utility serving central, coastal and southern California.

• Facilitate customer communication via AMI to encourage smart energy use
  
• Concrete strategies for integrating demand response resources into your grid operations
  
• Best practices for industry standards such as IEC 61850 and Zigbee

Develop and strengthen your demand response efforts through best practices.

Kevin G. Wood, Manager, Large Customer Programs, Systems and Technology, Southern California Edison

REGULATORS PANEL

Partnering with Regulators in Building and Upgrading an Interoperable Grid

A must attend with regulators across Canada! Learn how different jurisdictions are responding to the interoperability challenge, and how they are working together with key stakeholders in developing critical infrastructure upgrades. Learn:

• How the infrastructure and market situation stand in each province
  
• How to ensure mutual collaboration and feedback with regulators
  
• Regulators' thoughts on the value of an interoperable grid vis-à-vis the investments required

Gain valuable insights into how regulations will affect your interoperability decisions.

Don Flintoff, Senior Electrical Engineer, British Columbia Utilities Commission	Willie Grieve, Chair, Alberta Utilities Commission
Brian Hewson, Senior Manager, Network & Smart Grid, Ontario Energy Board

Networking Luncheon

Join the conference speakers and your peers for a relaxing luncheon.

INDUSTRY EXPERT: Security Design

Ensuring Present and Future Grid Security: Designing, Maintaining and Planning Ahead

With ever more elaborate grid infrastructure comes increasingly serious potential threats to security and privacy. Hear from an industry leader and develop a roadmap for risk assessment and mitigation, including:

• How to incorporate the latest standards and best practices into your comprehensive security plan
  
• Best practices for collaborating with other utilities in preventing cascading breeches while maintaining your system's integrity
  
• How to respond to threats in real time and upgrade your grid's security capabilities while retaining your current assets

Prevent major threats to your grid security through strategic planning.

INDUSTRY EXPERT: Security Implementation

Building Grid Security in Practice: State-of-the-Art Solutions to Protect Your Grid Operations

Hear how you can bolster the security of your grid operations through a comprehensive and systematic approach. Start-ofthe- art solutions are available in developing and maintaining a security system that meets your interoperability requirements. Understand how you can:

• Ensure NERC-CIP compliance while meeting your utility's unique technological and geographical needs
  
• Leverage best practices for enabling secure and real-time data transfer throughout your distribution operations
  
• Develop a detailed checklist to plot out the details of your security strategy in the short and long term

Build best security practices into every aspect of your grid operations.

Andrew Ginter. Director of Industrial Security Waterfall Security Solutions

Mid-Afternoon Networking Break

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

Bridging the Gap to Smart Grid: How to Use Advanced Analytics to Ensure Stability and Reliability

Utilities currently face a host of next generation challenges that include AMI, renewable and EV integration, distributed generation, energy conservation and more.  The move to modernize the grid also means more devices such as appliances and mobile communications.  All these driving forces have the potential to create instability and raise reliability concerns.  Hear how NI and its partners are working with utilities to enable distribution analytics and  control, all the while ensuring a future proof Smart Grid.   

• Leverage advanced analytics as a measurement and analysis tool
• Empower engineers with accurate distribution data
• Deliver consistent energy to your customers as you transition to new technologies
• Source lessons learned and best practices to guide your infrastructure upgrades

Chris LeBlanc, North American Energy Segment Manager, National Instruments

Brad Luyster, Business Segment Manager, Siemens Energy, Inc.

CASE STUDY: BC Hydro

Successfully Integrating Telecommunications Infrastructure onto the Grid

This utility recently engaged in a three-month pilot field project to determine the suitability of WiMAX technology for its applications, using Industry Canada's reserved 1.8GHz frequency. Learn about its challenges and solutions, plus takeaway strategies to:

• Optimize utility applications that will advance the challenges posed by relevant regulations and industry standards
  
• Benchmark utility applications for integration of distributed generation on the distribution network
  
• Apply new technologies to conservation programs that leverage the smart meter

Leverage telecommunications interoperability best practices to optimize your use of Canada's dedicated broadband spectrum.

Sol Lancashire, Telecom Architect, BC Hydro; Chairman of the Board, Utility Telecom Council of Canada

Evening Social Activity

Network with industry leaders and stakeholders while enjoying some of the best Toronto has to offer. Start by joining fellow delegates and speakers for complimentary appetizers in the hotel lounge.

Opening Comments from the Chairperson

Grant Gilchrist, P. Eng., Principal Consultant, Smart Grid Engineering Team EnerNeX

CASE STUDY: Austin Energy

Renewable Energy Sources: Ensuring Grid Adaptability and Facilitating Easy Integration

Full integration of renewable energy sources is becoming more urgent by the day. Prepare your utility while there is still time! Hear how the ninth largest community-owned electric utility in the USA is integrating wind and solar power into the grid.

• Make the necessary adjustments to optimize grid flexibility and adaptability for new energy sources
  
• Source strategies to integrate distributed generation sources into your grid operations
  
• Identify key challenges and ways to overcome them, plus technology best practices

Take away a solid blueprint for adopting and adapting renewable energy sources into your grid.

Mark Kapner, Senior Strategy Engineer, Austin Energy (TX)

E-CAR PANEL

Plug-in Electrical Vehicles: Adapting and Innovating for Grid Interoperability

Plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly emerging in the market and will act both as a load and a power source for your distribution infrastructure. Learn how to:

• Implement best plug-in charging standards to ease interoperability
  
• Use EVs for effective energy storage and to facilitate energy sell-back into the grid
  
• Prepare your pricing structure for EVs charging away from their home base

Identify fast-emerging trends and strategies to maximize EV possibilities for your utility.

Hawk Asgeirsson, Manager of Power Systems Technologies, DTE Energy (MI)	Tom Odell, Manager, Electric Vehicles Project, Toronto Hydro
More to come...

Mid-Morning Networking Break

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

Networking Luncheon

Join the conference speakers and your peers for a relaxing luncheon.

CASE STUDY: Toronto Hydro–Electric System Limited

Building a "Smart Community"

Smart meters are only the beginning. Discover how to integrate your IT, Operations, Customer Service, and more to build complete integration among all aspects of your distribution. Learn how to:

• Test the reliability of your new technologies before they go public
  
• Optimize assets and end-use electronics for best energy storage capabilities
  
• Implement a comprehensive cost-benefit roadmap that takes account of all emerging technologies

Take away a practical blueprint for total utility integration in your service area.

Richard Ford, Manager, Grid Solutions, Toronto Hydro

Mid-Afternoon Networking Break

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

INDUSTRY EXPERT: Semantic Modelling

The Common Information Model (CIM) and MultiSpeak: Semantics to Facilitate Interoperability

The CIM and Multispeak have emerged as core semantic modeling tools for facilitating exchanges of data within utility systems – increasingly necessary as the reliable and secure exchange of data becomes ever more central to the Smart Grid. Identify:

• Best practices for designing information interoperability into your grid components
  
• How semantic modeling can be applied to achieve information interoperability
  
• How to use the CIM and Multispeak individually and interoperably in utility planning and harmonization activities

Learn to understand and integrate all your technologies with these crucial tools.

John Simmins, Senior Project Manager – Smart Grid, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)