This tutorial is now full. Space may become available, so please plan to arrive early on Tuesday, October 16, to join a queue for available seats.

This four-hour course will explain the fundamentals of how power markets work, the changes that have taken place in the past decade, and the revolutionary change that is about to occur. We will cover:

1. The fundamentals of how power is generated and dispatched
2. Who does what in the new world (utilities, regulators, entrepreneurs, and interactive consumers)
3. Factors driving technological change and the critical role of information technology
4. The key technologies - including wind, solar, storage, and other distributed energy resources
5. Emerging winners and losers
6. Business models, and global trends, including carbon, financial trends and national economic development policies
7. Regulatory models and experiences worth examining (including New York, California, Texas, Australia, China, and Germany
8. Implications for the future and potential outcomes
9. The challenge for planners and investors, and options for creating potential no-regrets strategies in an increasingly volatile market 

The concept of the circular economy offers a framework through which city governments and policymakers, urban planners and designers, businesses and individuals can rethink urban systems — and begin to close the loop on the flow of materials. As cities embark on the transition towards a circular economy, information and digital technology will play a crucial role in helping them address these challenges. Data forms part of the “connective tissue” linking urban systems together — from the movement of traffic, to the health of buildings, to how citizens can produce and consume energy. This session will explore the role of data in transforming urban life and building long-term prosperity, resource sufficiency, economic viability and well-being in a circular city. 

This session will evaluate potential energy storage applications, and what technologies make the most sense — technically and financially — for those solutions. The perspectives include a global technology company, a multi-national telecommunications company, a large investor-owned utility and a renewable and energy storage developer. The solutions that will be considered as part of this discussion: lithium ion, flow, thermal options and fuel cells as well as how and when to pair energy storage with renewable energy. 

Large companies, utilities and startups have invested significant funding and resources to investigate ways blockchain technologies could disrupt traditional energy distribution models and services. This session will explore real-world blockchain deployments across regulated and non-regulated markets focused on applications including transactive energy, supply traceability and other use cases.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that the global offshore wind market will grow sixfold by 2030. This discussion will cover what corporate buyers should really know about purchasing electricity from offshore farms including the financial, technological, environmental and social benefits/challenges.

An exploratory discussion led by Sam Jammal, Senior Manager, Governor Relations at BYD North America — one of the world's largest EV makers — about how companies, advocates and individuals can work together to support clean energy before federal, state and local government — focusing on how to build coalitions and identify the different voices to share this message. 

About VERGE Guru Lunches: Join like minded attendees for interactive moderated lunch discussions around a particular topic. Each table discussion will be led by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants.

In commercial-scale electricity generation, the 'duck curve' is a graph of power production over the course of a day that shows the timing imbalance between peak demand and renewable energy production. In many energy markets the peak demand occurs after sunset, when solar power is no longer available. As renewable electricity becomes more and more plentiful at midday, what strategies could to be considered next to solve the daily generation/consumption mismatch, and what are the next challenges coming after we solve the duck curve problem? Join David Kaneda, Principal and Thought Leader at Integral Group, in this substantive, solutions-oriented lunch discussion.

About VERGE Guru Lunches: Join like minded attendees for interactive moderated lunch discussions around a particular topic. Each table discussion will be led by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants.

Learn about the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s InSPIRE study into low-impact solar development and pollinator-friendly solar from two leaders involved in the work. Meet previous VERGE presenter Rob Davis of the Center for Pollinators in Energy at Fresh Energy and Organic Valley’s Stanley Minnick and discuss the NREL study’s results to date and opportunities for new partners.

About VERGE Guru Lunches: Join like minded attendees for interactive moderated lunch discussions around a particular topic. Each table discussion will be led by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants.

Corporate energy and sustainability managers are faced with the continued challenge of meeting reduction and optimization targets, but often are limited by the availability of information to identify opportunities or create long-term strategic plans.  While the digital revolution presents significant opportunities for access to more information, infrastructure and resources are not always in place to support this transformation.  Ari Kobb, Director, Energy & Sustainability Solutions at Siemens Building Technologies, will address the different types of energy data that is typically available, and how leaders can leverage this information to make informed decisions.

About VERGE Guru Lunches: Join like minded attendees for interactive moderated lunch discussions around a particular topic. Each table discussion will be led by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants.

You already know that one of the best ways your organization can reduce its impact on the environment is to reduce your energy use — via energy efficiency and renewables. The good news is, consumers, customers, employees and others expect the companies they buy from or work for to do right by the planet — and they expect you to use clean energy as a major piece of that effort. The bad news is, packaging up a sexy, compelling story about energy consumption reduction is hard. So what's the best way to tell that story?  This Guru Lunch will be facilitated by Suzanne Shelton, President and CEO of Shelton Group, the nation's leading marketing and communications focused exclusively in energy and the environment.

About VERGE Guru Lunches: Join like minded attendees for interactive moderated lunch discussions around a particular topic. Each table discussion will be led by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants.

This table discussion will be led by Rick Mihelic, Director Future Technologies Studies for the North American Council for Freight Efficiency — who works to scale technologies for efficiency and is now guiding future change in electric and automated trucks.  There are many arguments for and against electric trucks, some very loud and persuasive, but the success of these innovative trucks will occur under the scrutiny of the marketplace who is charged with delivering our goods every day.  The benefits and challenges of adoption are broad and difficult to monetize. Rick will facilitate a pragmatic discussion on commercial battery electric trucks.

About VERGE Guru Lunches: Join like minded attendees for interactive moderated lunch discussions around a particular topic. Each table discussion will be led by an expert or thought leader, held at roundtables of up to 10 participants. These are freeform discussions, so bring your own challenges, questions, and ideas to talk through and get to know your fellow conference participants.

Which are more effective: ambitious strategies that prioritize a carbon-free future vs. those that create low-carbon transition paths? Some policymakers promote a 100 percent renewable vision while others believe there needs to be a better bridge to the future, one that embraces low-carbon options such as nuclear power, natural gas and hydrogen. Perspectives from utilities, cities and the corporate world.

Our experts will discuss ways to promote various financing tools across clean energy and transportation initiatives. Specifically, we'll review challenges and opportunities in providing funding to urban, rural and international communities and discuss ways to engage communities directly via market-based, utility-led and government-based options. 

The first wave of electric vehicle batteries are just beginning to reach the end of their useful life on the roads, and are now being tested out to store energy for buildings and the power grid. Automakers, utilities, energy storage service providers and battery manufacturers are trying to figure out how to develop a supply chain and system that enables affordable reuse and recycling of electric vehicle batteries at scale. What are the challenges and opportunities for this circular economy of energy storage?