Full Agenda

Extreme Events Resiliency Workshop Agenda

Extreme Events Resiliency Workshop Presentation Materials

Extreme Events Resiliency Workshop - Day 1 Keynote

September 20: Extreme Events

Day one of Texas RE’s Extreme Events Resiliency Workshop will bring diverse voices from the ERO Enterprise and industry into conversations about planning for, and operationalizing resiliency in the face of, both natural and man-made extreme events. The format will be a series of panels where a moderator from Texas RE will lead a group of industry experts in discussions on key grid resiliency topics.

Resiliency in Response to Extreme Events

Moderator: Curtis Crews (Texas RE)
Panelists: Scott Aaronson (Edison Electric Institute), Won Choe (Consolidated Edison of New York)

The resilience of the electric grid is the foundational building block for our energy future. Grid resilience continues to be a topic of industry focus as extreme weather events are occurring more frequently and the threat of cyber-attacks grows. The electric power industry is developing resilience metrics and frameworks to guide deployment and operation of advanced technologies on the grid. The panelists will discuss their view and experience regarding technologies and techniques to improve resilience, the challenges associated with the proposals, the time factors involved, and the consequences of not addressing resiliency.

Cyber Resiliency for Extreme Events

Moderator: Kenath Carver (Texas RE)
Panelists: Ann Delenela (Entergy), Scott Smith (Bryan Texas Utilities), Shanna Ramirez (CPS Energy)

The recent SolarWinds compromise, Colonial pipeline ransomware attack, and ongoing foreign-state sponsored malicious cyber activity continue to highlight the need for an elevated cybersecurity posture. The strength of an organization’s cyber resiliency to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises is critical to maintain the reliability and security of the Bulk Power System. This group of industry-leading information security experts will review their experiences on maintaining cyber resiliency during extreme events and give their recommendations for hardening systems against persistent cyber threats. This discussion will cover themes such as fault tolerance, supply chain, cloud services, ransomware, cybersecurity incident response and reporting, disaster recovery, business continuity, cybersecurity awareness training and testing, government funding for cyber resiliency, and talent acquisition.

Keynote Address

Introduction: Jim Albright (Texas RE)
Speaker: Julie Parsley (Pedernales Electric Cooperative)

Resiliency in the Gas-Electric Interface

Moderator: Mark Henry (Texas RE)
Panelists: Liz Jones (Oncor), Sam Siegel (Vistra), Thomas Coleman (NERC), Kimberly Denbow (American Gas Association)

Interactions between the electric and natural gas industries becomes more critical as our interdependence grows with further electrification and decarbonization. The February 2021 winter storms highlighted vulnerabilities related to the gas-electric interface under extreme conditions. Industry and government have worked to improve communication and support, despite the many differences in products, delivery systems, and markets. This panel will provide a comprehensive look at the complex, multi-jurisdictional issues associated with gas-electric coordination, bringing diverse perspectives from the gas and electric industries into conversation. The panel will discuss the ongoing developments around the gas-electric interface in Texas, highlighting improvements and continuing challenges as both industries expand to meet growing needs in and out of Texas.

Planning for Resiliency

Moderator: Brad Woods (Texas RE)
Panelists: JP Skeath (NERC), Larry Collier (NERC), Kevin Carden (Astrapé Consulting)

Preparation for known threats to the electric grid is vital to mitigating or eliminating downtime due to extreme events. Long-term planning for extreme heat and cold weather events plays a vital role in grid resiliency, as the recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rulemaking projects focused on transmission planning activities related to extreme weather events have made clear. With the FERC rulemaking project serving as a point of departure, this panel will discuss the types of events to plan for, how they are modeled, the scenarios that need to be incorporated into planning processes, and the role NERC Reliability Standards play in planning for resiliency. 

September 21: Winter Weatherization

Day two of the Extreme Events Resiliency Workshop will focus more specifically on winter weatherization activities in the ERCOT Region as part of Texas RE’s annual winterization outreach. It will bring key regulators from the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), ERCOT, and other organizations together to provide updates on activities throughout the interconnection. It will also provide perspectives from both thermal and renewable generators on winterization best practices, lessons learned from the past winters, and the ongoing resiliency challenges for generators operating in the Texas Interconnection.

FERC and ERO Report-Update on Winter Weather Standards

Speaker(s): Texas RE Staff

PUCT Winterization Activities Update

Speaker: Thomas Gleeson (PUCT)

Railroad Commission Winterization Activities Update

Speaker: Natalie Dubiel (RRC)

ERCOT Winterization Activities Update

Speaker: David Kezell (ERCOT)

2022-23 Preliminary Winter Weather Outlook and Review of Historical Winter Extremes 

Speaker: Chris Coleman (ERCOT)

Thermal Generator Winter Weather Prep and Lessons Learned

Speaker: Mike Del Casale (Calpine)

Renewable Generation Winter Weather Prep and Lessons Learned

Speaker: Keith Smith (Ørsted)