It has been more than 18 months since the United States locked-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses have reopened, people are traveling again for work and pleasure, and conferences and trade shows are beginning to return. This is all great news, but we’re still not seeing business as normal. This is especially true for many engineers and operators within electric utilities who have been unable to meet face-to-face with those offering the industry’s latest emerging technologies and solutions. It has been difficult not only for utilities but also for the solution providers with which they partner.
Many businesses and industries experienced slowdowns early in the pandemic and some are still experiencing slower than normal activity; however, that has not been the norm for electricity providers. Not only have these utilities had to deal with huge load shifts as many people, including their own employees, moved from working in offices to working from home. Some utilities also have had to deal with extreme weather events and other natural disasters, as well as increasing cybersecurity threats. These challenges coupled with normal day-to-day operations, maintenance activities and capital projects have made the need to source and purchase new products and services during these past 18 months more important than ever.
Endeavor’s Smart Utility Summit, a hosted event launched in 2018, was created to connect utility employees who are sourcing and purchasing solutions with the companies that are providing those solutions. This event, which was held virtually in 2020, is coming back as an in-person event next month. It follows closely on the heels of Endeavor’s Smart Water Summit that was deemed a success by both the water utility attendees and the sponsors with whom they met. Those who attended Smart Water Summit were happy to finally be at an in-person event and were hungry for knowledge about the latest technology available. We expect the same for Smart Utility Summit, which will be held Nov. 7-9 at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
So far, more than 70 utility employees from 60 different utilities are registered to attend the event. In addition, nearly 30 more utilities are highly interested and will likely register in the coming weeks. These individuals are attending because they are ready to network with other utility representatives and, even more importantly, learn about the solutions the Summit’s sponsor companies are offering and showcasing.
Utility employees attend for free, but that doesn’t mean this event mimics a timeshare scheme. It is far from it. The utility attendees are ready to talk business and meet one-on-one with the sponsors offering solutions. The Summit is valuable to all.
Smart Utility Summit covers solutions from transmission to distribution to advanced metering to customer service – everything involved in electricity delivery and customer engagement. It is an ideal event for electric utilities of all sizes.
Smart utility summit is fast approaching, but there is still time for utilities, as well as sponsors to make plans to attend. Anyone interested in sponsoring the event and getting in front of the event’s highly qualified utility audience can contact David Valle at 920-212-2214 or [email protected]. Utility employees interested in learning about and sourcing the latest emerging technologies and solutions can contact James Wingate at 404-226-3756 or [email protected].
