What happens when city planners, utility leads, and EV charging station developers engage in face-to-face conversations about distributed generation? Or when policymakers and design consultants align on how to maximize resources for the greatest impact? The answer is we get closer to creating the more efficient, sustainable environments of tomorrow. The IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition, which will take place in San Diego from Jan. 21–23, 2025, provides a forum for this kind of collaboration between stakeholders actively working at the edge.
Building on the inaugural 2023 event, IEEE Power & Energy Society will once again host a collaborative forum, connecting leading organizations essential to enhancing the productivity, efficiency, and interoperability of the grid.
In addition to IEEE PES, the conference and expo is supported and planned by volunteers from the industry, including leadership from a local host utility, which helps ensure insights and solutions delivered to attendees are relevant and impactful to their day-to-day work. San Diego Gas & Electric will host the event for 2025, helping to produce a lineup of learning opportunities and experiences that can offer value to professionals at every stage of their career.
“Now, more than ever, it’s critical for industry professionals to come together to exchange ideas, discuss innovations and share lessons learned that can help increase productivity, efficiency, interoperability, and resiliency,” said Kevin Geraghty, chief operating officer and chief safety officer, at San Diego Gas & Electric. “I truly believe this conference can be the CES of the power and energy industry.”
The event will take place at the San Diego Convention Center, a 2.6-million-square-foot facility located along the waterfront in downtown San Diego, steps from the bustling Gaslamp District.
The Grid Edge conference advances new ideas for how electricity is managed at the point where it meets homes and businesses, focusing specifically on the solutions necessary to achieve increased productivity and efficiency. The future of the electric grid will not only integrate a high penetration of renewables but also accommodate the convergence of millions of diverse intelligent devices connected at the edge, making optimizing the grid essential for delivering the energy needed to support more sustainable environments.
Power Program
The IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies event will deliver a comprehensive technical program, equipping a variety of stakeholders working at the edge with key insights necessary to maximize productivity and efficiency.
“You don’t need too much convincing from me about how critical this moment is for our industry,” Geraghty said. “Our list of urgent challenges is immense: ambitious goals for net-zero energy, the continued acceleration of electrification, the relentless pressure of climate emergencies on energy safety, security, and reliability.”
Through keynote and super sessions, panel sessions, poster contest, and more, the event will explore critical topics affecting the grid edge, including:
- Decarbonization
- Electrification and EV Charging
- Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)
- Sustainability and Resiliency
- Clean Transportation
- Solar
- Offshore Wind
- Data Analytics
- Microgrids
- Energy Storage
- Artificial Intelligence
- DERMS
- Virtual Power Plants
Over the course of four days, attendees can learn about everything from artificial intelligence to electrification.
There will be five super session panels with all “C level” industry executives. Topics for the super session panels are:
- CEO Industry Roundtable: Grid Edge and the Changing Energy Landscape
- Global Perspectives on Decarbonization through Electrification
- Critical Needs for Energy Innovation: Solving for an Equitable Clean Energy Transition
- Strategy and Customer innovation at the Grid Edge
- Data Centers AI and its Impact on the Grid
Technology Features
In addition to the technical program with paper and panel sessions, the event also features an expo showcasing equipment, software and services. The exhibit floor will feature rapidly evolving services and solutions impacting the grid edge, including:
- AI/Computing Solutions
- Business Intelligence & Data Management
- Cyber Security
- Distributed Generation
- Electric Vehicles
- Energy Management and Storage
- Metering, Monitoring, and Measurement Equipment
- Microgrids
- Telecommunications
The exhibit hall will also feature an extension of the education program, with several immersive features, including:
Technology Stages
Five Technology Stages will provide an immersive experience where solution providers, municipalities, utilities, and more will engage on a number of focused topics impacting the industry.
OATI Grid Edge Technology Pavilion
Operational orchestration is central to successfully unfolding the electricity grid transformation and energy transition. An orchestrated participatory grid is a vibrant, two-way, grid-interactive environment: it leverages demand side capabilities (including DR and DERs) and harmonizes DR/DER asset owners/operators, DR/DER aggregators, distribution grid operators, the bulk power grid, and wholesale energy markets. Learn how OATI brings retail and wholesale together while maintaining grid reliability and enhancing grid resilience.
Startup Alley
Looking to meet the newest innovators in grid edge technologies? Head to Startup Alley and be the first to see the startups ready to make a big impact on the energy industry. Meet their founding members, learn about their products and services, and gain insights into how they’re addressing the latest trends and challenges in grid edge technologies. Also have the chance to meet with investors and venture capitalists looking to invest in these businesses.
To register for the event, visit https://pes-gridedge.org/.
