May 20-22, 2019 (NEW 2019 MONDAY-WEDNESDAY DATES) Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel Phoenix, AZ Book your room in RMEL's room block at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel Travel Information The room block deadline is April 27, 2019.
PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE AGENDA AT-A-GLANCE *These preliminary topics are subject to change.
MONDAY, MAY 20, 2019
	8:30 a.m., Golf Outing at Raven Golf Club
	6:00-9:00 p.m., Reception, Sponsored by RMEL Champions
TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
7:00-8:00 a.m.,  Networking Breakfast
8:00 a.m.	Opening Remarks Welcome to Arizona
8:30-9:30 a.m.	Keynote: Merril Hoge, Retired NFL Running Back, ESPN Analyst and Author of Find a Way; Three Words That Changed My Life
9:30–10:00 a.m., Networking Break
	Generation Track	T&D Track	Management Track
10:00-11:30 a.m.	Generation Planning Panel    Panelist #1: Vernon "Buddy" Hasten, Vice President of Engineering and Construction, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.  Panelist #2: Phil McLaughlin, General Manager, Resource Management, Arizona Public Service  Panelist #3: Jill Dvareckas, Director of Development, Florida Power & Light Moderator: Curt Brown, Central Region Director – Power Gen Services, Black & Veatch Corp. & Chair, RMEL Generation Committee	Aging Infrastructure Panel Panelist #1: Susan Franklin, Transmission Program Manager, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association Panelist #2: Jack Murray,  Vice President of Transmission System Asset Management DSW, Western Area Power Administration Panelist #3: Wesley Knuth, Manager, Asset Optimization, SRP Moderator: Brent Gerling, Distribution Engineering and Design Supervisor - Northland, Evergy, & Vice Chair, RMEL Distribution Committee	IT/OT Panel              Panelist #1: James Ball, Chief Information Security Officer, Western Area Power Administration  Panelist #2: Dave Webb, Director Enterprise Technology and CIO, Nebraska Public Power District Panelist #3: Charles King, Chief Information Officer, Evergy Moderator: Elaina Ball,  Sr. VP & Chief Administrative Officer, El Paso Electric Company
11:30 a.m. – 12:40 p.m., RMEL Emerging Leader Awards Luncheon
12:40-1:20 p.m.	Distributed Energy Resources	Dual Use Streetlight / Communication Poles: Developing Technical Requirements, Working with Cellular Companies, Deploying Dual Use Poles and Lessons Learned  Travis Johnson, Manager, Electric Distribution Standards, Xcel Energy	To be Announced
1:30-2:10 p.m.	Grid Management Aspect of Renewables  Sandip Sharma, Manager, Operations Planning, ERCOT	Maximizing PV Value to the Grid through DER Aggregation Jeffrey J. Cook, Energy Analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory	EPC and Alternative Contracting Models - What Really Drives Success James K. Needham, President, Kiewit Power Engineering
2:10–2:40 p.m., Networking Break
2:40-3:20 p.m.	Cycling - Getting to Know Your Units Capabilities  Nick Miller, Principal Engineer, Colorado Springs Utilities Chad Swope, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Burns & McDonnell	SPP Challenges Going Forward (DERs, Storage, etc) Casey Cathey, Manager, Reliability Planning & Seams, SPP	The South Texas Project Performance Journey with a Consistent Leadership Model Charles T. “Tim” Bowman, Organizational Effectiveness Director, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company
3:30-4:10 p.m.	Technical Considerations for Optimizing Steam Turbine Start Ups Thomas Reid, Manager of Engineering, TG Advisers, Inc.	The Evolving Grid Chris Pink, Senior Manager, Transmission Planning, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association	Excellence Now: Strategic Human Performance Systems  Vincent Vincek, Performance Assessment Principle Specialist, ComEd Chris Overman, Director of Safety and Human Performance, Nebraska Public Power District
6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Reception, Sponsored by the RMEL Champions and Networking Dinner
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
7:00-7:45 a.m., Networking Breakfast
7:45-8:00 a.m.	Welcome Back
8:00-9:00 a.m.	Electric Utility Executive Leadership Panel Panelist #1: Susan Gray, Sr. VP & Chief Operating Officer, UNS Energy Corporation Panelist #2: John Coggins, Associate GM & Chief Power System Executive, SRP Panelist #3: Daniel Froetscher, Executive VP, Operations, Arizona Public Service Panelist #4: Ken Wilmot, Sr. VP & Chief Operating Officer, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.
9:00-9:20 a.m., Networking Break
	Generation Track	T&D Track	Management Track
9:20-10:00 a.m.	Battery Storage Insights from the Field Jon R. La Follett, PhD, Energy System Integration & Storage Program Lead, Shell New Energies Dustin R. Rogge, Microgrid Solutions Manager, Black & Veatch	EV Programs & Impacts Speaker: To be Announced	Trends in Customer Management  Evelene Ricci, Major Accounts Director, NV Energy
10:10-10:50 a.m.	Planning and Preparing a Power Plant for Decommissioning – Lessons Learned Steven Yazzie, O&M Manager – Engineering, SRP	Lessons Learned From SRP's Advanced Inverter Project Juan Cardona, Principal Engineer, SRP	An Overview of APS’ Residential Rates Leland Snook, Director, Rates & Rates Strategy, Arizona Public Service
11:00-11:40 a.m.	Efficient Electrification Tom Wilson, EPRI	Aligning Asset Management with Long Term System Planning Chris Lindsey, UNS Energy Corporation Clark Bryner, UNS Energy Corporation	SRP’s Rotational Engineering Program Chris Janick, Senior Director, Power Delivery, SRP

The Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference has been a tradition since RMEL’s early beginnings. Known for providing outstanding continuing education and networking opportunities, this conference is a must attend event for engineering, operations and management personnel in the electric energy industry. With 30 presentations, this conference covers issues in generation, transmission, distribution, safety, customer service, human resources and other management topics. The timely topics and breakout structure of the conference allows attendees to customize their education experience to focus on presentations and resources that address their needs. Ample time is also provided to network with industry peers and visit with exhibitors. Maximize your time and training budget with this value priced and content rich event. Continuing education certificates are provided for the sessions attended.

Who Should Attend

The Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference attracts over 300 management as well as engineering and operations personnel from the many electric energy companies (utilities) and supplier and service companies that are members of RMEL. Utilities of all types of ownership participate including IOU, G&T, municipal, cooperative, and others. Companies from outside RMEL’s membership will also be in attendance. 

Continuing Education Certificate
All attendees will be mailed a continuing education certificate upon completion of the course. The continuing education certificate will award the following:

Full Convention registration: 14.0 PDHs
Monday only registration: 8.0 PDHs
Tuesday only registration: 6.0 PDHs