Our Annual Member Meeting took place online, June 30, to dig deep into navigating uncertainty in the grid ecosystem, as well as organization business and the 2026 Grid Innovator Awards.
The past two years have been unlike anything the industry has faced before. The landscape is shifting across many dimensions: surging load growth, extreme weather events, dramatic new tech fueled by AI, changing federal and state priorities, affordability pressures, lingering supply chain challenges, and so on. It’s never been this complex to make infrastructure investment decisions that must last for decades. We invite our members to our annual meeting to hear about industry trends and Grid Forward’s activities, and then join in a group discussion about how to frame the many challenges and move the grid forward.
Grid Forward Annual Member Meeting
Online session
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
11AM Pacific / 2PM Eastern
How to make significant decisions when your operation stands on shifting sands.
New opportunities, new challenges. Shifting policy, changing environments. It seems like everything is in motion and not just around the edges. Leaders making decisions on grid investments are having to consider many aspects shifting seemingly all at the same time. Our panel dissected current grid pressures, decision-making frameworks, and ways to approach planning and execution to meet the continued expectations for reliable, affordable power.
Julia Frayer, Managing Director, London Economics. She has worked across continents on both deregulated and regulated issues in electricity markets, gas and oil markets. She is also President and member of the Board of the NE Energy & Commerce Association
Lon Huber, SVP of Integrated System Planning and Chief Planning Officer, Xcel Energy. Lon is responsible for the planning, modeling, and design of the company’s energy systems. He previously was an SVP for pricing and customer solutions at Duke Energy, and has won numerous awards for innovation in the industry.
Pablo Vegas, president and CEO, ERCOT. Pablo plays a critical part in ensuring the reliable and efficient operation of the Texas electric grid, enabling its energy transition and expansion. He has held senior executive positions at NiSource Utilities, American Electric Power, PwC and Anderson Consulting.
On June 30, we gathered to dive into our panel discussion on how utilities, grid operators and those working to advance the grid can “navigate uncertainty“. Next up we took care of important organizational business such as board elections. Bryce recapped highlights from the past year, previewed what’s coming around the corner, and shared what is happening around the community working to modernize the grid. Finally we announced the winners of the 2026 Grid Innovator Awards.
Grid Forward’s Annual Member Meeting in 2025 convened at the inspiring Amaterra Winery west of Portland, OR. After some organizational business, Bryce Yonker led a discussion about the the impact of changes in federal policy and how to re-calibrate our efforts to advance grid modernization. We celebrated the winners of the 2025 Grid Innovator Awards: Puget Sound Energy, Pano AI and Rich Sedano. Finally, we convened on the terrace for an enjoyable social event.
The next day, over 150 of our members and others from our community came back to Amaterra for our Symposium “Standing up to Wildfire: Practical Tech and Tactics for Utilities.” This sold-out one-day event broke down the silos among the many stakeholders who share responsibility to mitigate wildfire threats and impacts. You can take a look in our three part article series.
