ISO-NE staff share expertise in distinguished lecture, other October events

Collaboration, expertise, and innovation are three of ISO New England’s core values. Staff embody these values by presenting their work at electricity industry conferences and events around the region, the country, and the world. Here’s a selection of their October speaking engagements.

Gordon van Welie, president and CEO, delivered a distinguished lecture Oct. 16 at Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation in Pittsburgh. He also took part in S&P Global’s Nodal Trader Conference in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23.

Both talks discussed New England’s energy transition and key findings from recent ISO-NE economic studies that explored possible versions of the future grid. He described changes in new resource proposals and demand growth and reflected on the results of the electric industry restructuring that began more than 30 years ago. To conclude, van Welie explained that the objective of the ISO’s Capacity Auction Reforms key project is to design and implement a capacity market that efficiently prices the resource adequacy objective given prevailing supply and demand conditions.

System Planning

Alex Rost, director, Transmission Services, gave an overview of the ISO’s resource interconnection process at Renewable Energy Vermont’s annual conference in Burlington on Oct. 15. His presentation was part of a panel discussion titled “Accelerating interconnection of resources in New England.” Rost gave a similar presentation to electrical engineering students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Oct. 27.

Patrick Boughan, supervisor, Economic Studies and Environmental Outlook, joined a panel on energy demand forecasting at the Connecticut Power & Energy Society’s fall conference in Hartford on Oct. 30. He presented key findings from New England’s Evolving Grid, the ISO’s latest economic study.

External Affairs

Anne George, vice president, chief external affairs and communications officer, took part in the American Petroleum Institute’s State Relations Summit in Washington on Oct. 1. She was part of a panel that discussed the results of electric industry restructuring and challenges related to future demand growth.

On Oct. 30, Eric Johnson, executive director, External Affairs, took part in a panel discussion at The Engine, a business incubator and accelerator in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He discussed the forecast for electricity use, the changing resource mix, and the process for interconnecting new resources to the grid.

Johnson also provided an ISO-NE regional update at the Vermont System Planning Committee’s quarterly meeting in Killington on Oct. 29.

Kerry Schlichting, supervisor, State Policy, External Affairs, provided an ISO-NE overview and regional update to the Energy & Environment Council of CBIA (the Connecticut Business & Industry Association) during a virtual meeting Oct. 16.