Salt Lake City – November 05, 2026 -- POWERGEN has named executives from PacifiCorp, FirstEnergy, AEP, ERCOT, NERC and Dominion Energy among the speakers for three keynote sessions at POWERGEN 2027, set for January 18-21, 2027, at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Organizer Clarion Events built the program around load growth, grid cybersecurity and reliability performance.
Utility chiefs open the program on the next build cycle
The Opening Keynote, "Supply, Demand and the Next Build Cycle," takes place Tuesday, January 19. It covers accelerating load growth, infrastructure investment, reliability expectations and new power development.
Speakers are Dick Garlish, President of Rocky Mountain Power; Darin Carroll, CEO of PacifiCorp; Curtis Mansfield, SVP Power Delivery at PacifiCorp; Elaina Ball, Chief Strategy Officer at CPS Energy; and Jacob Tetlow, Chief Operating Officer at APS. The discussion addresses utility planning, generation development and grid readiness as electrification, manufacturing expansion and emerging technologies drive demand.
Security chiefs from FirstEnergy and AEP lead the Wednesday AI session
"Securing the Grid in the Age of AI" examines cybersecurity, reliability and artificial intelligence as utilities operate an increasingly connected grid. Brian Harrell, Chief Security Officer at FirstEnergy, and Puesh Kumar, SVP of Enterprise Security, Resilience and National Security Policy at AEP, are scheduled to speak.
They are joined by Adrienne Lotto, SVP of Grid Security, Technical & Operations Services at the American Public Power Association, and Dino DiMarino, Chief Revenue Officer at Tenable. The session addresses how utilities balance innovation and cybersecurity while serving growing energy demand.
NERC, ERCOT and EPRI address the reliability performance gap on Thursday
The closing keynote, "When the Grid Needs It Most: Reliability, Readiness and the Performance Gap," runs Thursday, January 21, at Center Stage on the exhibition floor. It focuses on operational readiness and grid resilience amid rising demand and increasingly complex system conditions.
Speakers include Mike Caravaggio, Vice President, Energy Supply-Reliability at EPRI; Mark Lauby, NERC Fellow and Chief Engineer; David Kezell, Director of Weatherization at ERCOT; and Matt Gardner, VP, Power Generation System Operations at Dominion Energy.
"The power industry is facing a defining moment," said Wayne Bishop, Executive Vice President, Energy, at Clarion Events, referring to the convergence of demand growth, emerging technologies and reliability expectations.