Distribution utilities continue to face emerging challenges, including an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, growing capacity challenges due to the integration of EVs, DERs & microgrids, as well as specialized customers such as data centers, as well as the growing risk of physical security and cybersecurity challenges – all of which undermine the utilities’ ability to manage grid resiliency, while also introducing greater uncertainty in risk management.
Sam McGarrah, Director, Distribution Planning and Asset Management, Liberty Utilities, will speak about how utilities can improve their asset management practices at DTECH (formerly known as DISTRIBUTECH) convening from March 24-27, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.
McGarrah will participate in the session, Evolving the asset management practice to manage grid resiliency & uncertainty, taking place March 25 from 3:00 PM-3:50 PM.
In order to manage both grid resiliency and uncertainty, utilities must adopt new techniques to advance their asset management practices, such that they can expand the “awareness” of the distribution grid. This awareness encompasses not only the assets themselves, but also the external risks that can impact the system over time. This includes “grid awareness”, where new forms of advanced machine learning techniques are adopted to predict the risk of extreme weather events as well as rising capacity challenges, “situational awareness” where near-real-time monitoring data is converted into dynamic operational alerts to avoid catastrophic failures, as well as “corporate awareness” where the utility is linking their top-down organizational objectives with bottom-up AM analytics.
This panel session aims to highlight the recent advancements in the asset management space to better manage and mitigate the risks associated with grid resiliency and uncertainty. In addition, this panel session will share recent efforts by two utilities – EPCOR Distribution & Transmission and Liberty Utilities – to advance their individual AM practices such that they can better safeguard their distribution grids from uncertainty, while also greatly enhancing overall resiliency of the grid and assets.
In this session, McGarrah will be joined by the following speakers:
- Brian Walsh, Founder – Beacon LLC (Session chairperson)
- Alex Bakulev, Vice President, Energy – Charles River Associates
- Robert Otal, Executive Director, Asset Management & Advisory – BBA
- Connor Thicke, Asset Engineer – EPCOR
- Shane Fraser, Manager – Grid Transformation – EPCOR
Sam McGarrah has been working in the Electric Utility Industry for over 25 years, supporting the planning of both transmission and distribution systems. Sam has led the engineering, standards, substation, transmission and distribution teams, as well as emergency response and resource optimization. Sam also managed the planning and deployment of vegetation management programs. Sam has also led outage management initiatives for the utility, exploring new forms of technology to reduce outages and increase resiliency.
Attending DTECH this year? Don’t miss these other great sessions!
- Itron’s Amanda Dixon on the future of municipal energy management
- Dominion Energy’s Aaron Winter on meeting cloud computing demands
- National Grid’s Jon Malaver on utility talent acquisition retention amid rapid industry changes
- Eversource Energy’s John Nachilly on leveraging eSIM tech for SCADA resiliency
- National Grid’s Bridget Powers Beggs on ‘right-sizing’ distribution systems and the economic, societal value of DERMS
- UConn Eversource Energy Center’s Dr. Diego Cerrai on AI for storm and damage prediction
- Evergy’s JJ Stutler on what utilities actually do with all of their private LTE data
- Alectra Utilities’ Vivek Somasundaram on building the control room of the future
- PPL’s Shelby Linton-Keddie on tackling rapid load growth
- Xcel Energy’s Marcus Johansson on building digital twins for the future grid
- Evergy’s Chad Carsten on communications networks for utility unity
- Duke Energy’s Jason Handley on utility policy impacts, grid edge investments, and more
- Liberty Utilities’ Sam McGarrah on improving utility asset management
- Southern California Edison’s Jerome Marr on long-term distribution planning and modern grid challenges
- AES’ Christian Lopez on the challenges of cultivating a skilled utility workforce
- National Grid’s Jesse Harvey on harnessing the next wave of smart meters: AMI 2.0
- Duke Energy’s John Pressley on how AI is reshaping utility work
This list will be updated as more sessions are previewed.
