2021 CUB Conference Panel Preview - Resilience: Who is it Good For?
Posted on August 31, 2021 by Sudeshna Pal
Tags, Conference & Events
CUB will be hosting its 11th annual Energy Policy Conference, Changing Climates: Reliability and Resilience in our Energy Systems, virtually on October 15, 2021. Today we’re pleased to offer a sneak peek at the breakout panel Resilience: Who is it Good For? This panel will convene experts and community members to address the need for a resilient energy system as extreme weather events become more frequent.
Unprecedented ice storms, heat waves, and wildfires have battered the Pacific Northwest in recent times. Oregonians have experienced prolonged power outages, sometimes lasting days and even weeks. Hardening our energy system is a vital part of our preparation for the new climate change realities. A resilient energy system is one that reduces possibilities of large-scale outages and can recover quickly when they do occur. While planning for a resilient grid is not new, it is now more challenging in the face of extreme weather events and as our energy system transitions from fossil fuel to clean energy resources.
As resilience planning becomes more important than ever, it is essential that we make the right investments and ensure that communities are benefitting from these investments. How do we choose the best investments for communities from an expanding array of resources offered by developers and utilities? What role do customer-owned resources such as rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and batteries play in grid resilience? What inequalities exist in resilience planning and how should we address them? How can we best maximize customer benefits and minimize costs in resilience planning, and ensure that both benefits and costs are distributed in a fair manner?
This panel discussion will help answer these and other questions for the CUB Conference audience. We are grateful to have a remarkable group of panelists for this session: Allen Berreth, Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Operations at Pacific Power, Alessandra de la Torre, Energy Justice Organizer at Rogue Climate, Robert Del Mar, Central Oregon Field Energy Analyst at the Oregon Department of Energy, and Commissioner Letha Tawney from the Oregon Public Utility Commission.
Stay tuned to the CUB Blog for continuing previews of the 2021 CUB Conference agenda, get conference news right in your inbox by joining our email list (select “Policy Conference” in the sign-up form), and join the conversation on Twitter at #CUBCon21. Early Bird pricing is in effect until Friday, September 24, so now is the time to secure your discount.
Sponsorship packages are available at a variety of levels; for information about CUB Conference sponsorship opportunities, contact Thomas Jerin at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (503) 227-1984 ext. 0. CUB is grateful to our generous sponsors for making this event possible, particularly Polar Bear sponsors NW Natural, Pacific Power, and Portland General Electric; and Media sponsor Clearing Up.
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10/14/21 | 0 Comments | 2021 CUB Conference Panel Preview - Resilience: Who is it Good For?