Agenda 2026
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Opening Keynote: Energy Geopolitics in Uncertain Times
Delivered by Richard Nephew, Senior Scholar at CGEP and Director for Iran at the National Security Council (2011-2013)
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Oil market disruptions, geopolitical competition, and rapidly growing electricity demand are putting energy security back at the center of economic and national security policy. This panel will examine how governments and companies are responding to a more fragmented global energy landscape, from shifting oil and gas trade flows and the growing importance of energy diplomacy to the strategic role China plays across clean energy supply chains. The panel will explore how these pressures are reshaping decisions around reliability, affordability, investment, and climate goals, and what energy security is likely to require in 2026 and beyond.
Panel 1: Energy Security in 2026 and Beyond
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Panel 2: State of the Electricity Markets — Spotlight on PJM
PJM offers a timely window into the challenges reshaping electricity markets nationwide. Using recent developments in PJM, including a capacity auction that fell 6.8 GW short of PJM’s reliability requirement, proposed backstop procurement, a proposed curtailment framework for data centers and other large loads, and interconnection reforms such as FERC’s Expedited Interconnection Track, the panel will examine how different stakeholders are responding to market signals and constraints. The discussion will consider the implications for reliability, investment, affordability, and regulation.
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Fireside Chat with Con Edison
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Networking LUNCH - Open to All
Simultaneously Occurring:
Women in Clean Energy Luncheon
Energy Careers Bootcamp
Lunch Roundtables
1:15 PM - 1:45 PM
Keynote: The New York Test, Data Centers, Grid Growth, and Energy Policy
Delivered by Commissioner Uchenna Bright, New York State Public Service Commission
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
The top teams from the GridTech Hackathon on October 24 will present to judges and the audience at the Pitch Competition and compete for prizes.
Pitch Competition: GridTech Hackathon Finals
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM
Panel 3: Permitting Reform: Balancing Competing Priorities
Permitting remains one of the largest bottlenecks in U.S. energy development. This panel unpacks the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), which is a broad package in the Senate that addresses environmental reviews, transmission development, protections for permitted energy projects, and policy towards large load customers. The panel will bring together policymakers, legal experts, developers and reform advocates to discuss the tradeoffs embedded in the proposal, its prospects in Congress, and what a durable permitting deal could mean for U.S. energy development.
3:45 PM - 4:15 PM
Fireside: The Path to Commercializing Novel Energy Technologies
In conversation with John Williams, Chief Policy Officer, NYSERDA
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
Panel 4: From Innovation to Deployment: Which Energy Tech Scales, and Which Doesn’t?
As power demand accelerates and the grid grows more complex, innovation is expanding far beyond traditional generation assets. From distributed solar and community energy projects to virtual power plants, demand response, long-duration storage, and other customer-sited resources, a new generation of technologies is reshaping how energy is produced, delivered, and consumed. At the same time, investors, developers, and utilities are evaluating which solutions can scale, generate durable value, and play a meaningful role in supporting reliability, affordability, and security. This panel convenes leaders spanning project development, infrastructure finance, and grid innovation to explore how next-generation energy solutions are becoming investable assets. Speakers will discuss where investors see opportunity, how risk is being underwritten, and what it takes to move emerging technologies from demonstration projects to institutional-scale bankability.
5:15 PM - 5:30 PM
Closing Remarks
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM