Conference Program

With the changing technology and the aging infrastructure Power Utilities are required to evaluate the threat of a plant due to: aging plant assets and their expected life, cascading events and the potential for a High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP). These types of risks can all be mitigated via non-destructive examinations of components, probability and mitigation of risks, and methods to block a HEMP attack. Learn how to build resiliency in your power plant to mitigate risk from high impact, low probability hazards, as well as preparing all parties for the unexpected.

This session touches on current challenges and issues the electric power workforce faces today, such as turnover in the workforce, impact of stress impeding safety and HR’s role in talent management.

The fact is that something will go wrong, sometime. It is often how you react that makes the difference. Emergencies happen…those who are prepared deal with it better and those who are not often contribute to the problem. This session is intended to familiarize all attendees with significant fire risks within a coal-fired power plant and provide valuable information how to safely mitigate the risks.

Energy markets constantly strive to efficiently respond to changes in technology and new environmental regulations. In this session we will review some of the current challenges and opportunities facing the market.

Cyber Security is a hot topic in today’s internet based environment. Government regulations and internal utility management are driving the new cyber security efforts to protect the critical electric power infrastructure from cyber-attacks. This session will address some of the industry’s best practices. Cyber-attacks have become more prevalent than ever before and the need to establish a robust cyber security initiative in the utility market is more crucial than ever before.

This session will review the EPA’s Clean Power Plan and speculate on the impacts it will have on the electric generating industry. Facts on CO2 emissions and case histories will be presented. The Clean Power Plan is a proposed regulation to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent from electric generating plants by 2030. And, there are very aggressive interim targets for CO2 reductions beginning in 2020. Each state faces different CO2 targets. And, states must develop implementation plans by 2016 or 2017 if in conjunction with other states. The EPA has proposed four “building blocks” to meet the CO2 reductions. These “building blocks” are improved power plant efficiency of 6 percent, use of natural gas combined cycle plants in lieu of coal plants, increased use of renewable and nuclear generation, and increases in demand-side efficiency.