Critical Issue Forums are working sessions on the operational problems utilities face right now, organized around the silos of a real utility. Each forum is convened by the Center for Operational Excellence and leaves behind something usable: a recording, a workshop summary, the practice compiled in the room.
One thread runs through every forum below: planning and operating the system as a single, integrated whole. Start here, then scroll the silos.
The forecast is the foundation under every capacity decision, and it now has its own track. Forums mapped load forecasting across transmission and distribution, and the work continues as a multi-session Workshop Series.
Part of the Integrated Distribution System Planning workstream, this workshop took on load forecasting and interconnection together, connecting long-range planning to the day-to-day operations that have to deliver it.
A two-day workshop on modernizing grid infrastructure through data-driven strategies: integrating real-time analytics, overcoming the data silos that slow utilities down, and strengthening the communication networks underneath the grid.
A two-day workshop on advancing asset health and substation modernization: adapting to capital constraints and risk-based planning while integrating predictive analytics, digital substation technologies, and cross-functional governance.
Integrating fast-growing, unpredictable data center loads into the grid: the energy demand growth and infrastructure lag straining reliability, voltage stability, and power quality, and how utilities are responding.
Two days in Denver on accelerating fleet electrification: transitioning utility internal fleets to electric with the right infrastructure readiness, smart charging design, and realistic planning for the grid behind the fleet.
As distributed generation and inverter-based resources scale, the grid has to run two ways at once. The forum worked through operationalizing DERs and battery energy storage in real operations, not just on paper.
Keeping the system dependable as weather, load, and complexity all climb at once. This virtual workshop looked at the future of grid resilience and asset reliability, and the risk-based investment that holds them up.
Safety, risk, and workforce training for resilient grid operations: building the skilled workforce and the safety culture a more complex, more electrified grid will demand. The workshop's content carries forward in two standing rooms it helped launch and support: the Workforce Development Committee and the Safety Benchmarking subcommittee.
Turning utility data into a trusted, shared asset that decisions can actually rest on. The forum took on data governance for grid resilience and reliability, the foundation the rest of the silos depend on. This workshop spawned the Data Framework Working Group, where that work now runs as a standing effort.
The plumbing and the math that make modern grid operations possible. This virtual workshop worked through optimization processes and data engineering for grid modernization, and the operational efficiency they unlock. This workshop spawned the Grid Advancement Program, where members now work the top modernization challenges as a cohort.
Unifying data, systems, and people to improve reliability, resilience, safety, and customer outcomes. The workshop charted practical pathways from siloed monitoring to coordinated, data-driven operations grounded in governance and common architecture.
One utility membership opens the Critical Issue Forums and every other committee and program to your whole organization.
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