In an industry changing so much, so quickly, there’s no such thing as too much information.
But that didn’t stop Electrify Indiana 2024 – presented by Hoosier Energy, Wabash Valley Power Alliance and Indiana Electric Cooperatives to promote beneficial electrification – from pushing the limits of possibility.
With over 300 attendees representing over 120 companies, 48 sponsors and 44 tradeshow booths during a day that featured nine total sessions, including options for three different tracks – residential, transportation and utility/commercial and industrial – there was a whole lot of something for everyone on August 26 at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis.
One of those tradeshow booths belonged to BAM Weather, and they heard the comments.
“Everybody’s coming out (of the sessions), and the one thing I keep hearing is, ‘That’s a lot of information,’” BAM’s Lauren Thomas said. “When you do a short conference, that’s what you want. You want people to feel like it was the most productive day possible.”
That productivity started with a Utility Leader Roundtable featuring Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA), Wabash Valley Power Alliance, AES Indiana, NIPSCO, CenterPoint Energy and Hoosier Energy’s CEO and President Donna Walker, which Indiana Electric Cooperatives CEO John Cassady moderated.
It drew rave reviews, even from other utility companies.
“The whole day had excellent classes, beginning with the panel discussion,” said Vincent Literal, Business Energy Advisor for Duke Energy. “That’s always enjoyable to listen to the people that are running things and realize we’re all approaching the same things, but maybe in a different way. It gives you an idea about how other people do it. You seldom see that kind of conversation.”
Things just snowballed from there. National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association’s Jennah Denney provided an overview of the changed and unchanged perspectives of electrification before everyone split off for their chosen track in two morning sessions.
Even the speakers in these sessions found them informative, not to mention connective in the case of CoServ’s Stephen Meers and FlexCharging CEO Brian Grunkemeyer, who presented Rural Roadmap in the Transportation track on electric vehicle program development in rural communities.
“This is the first time we’ve actually met in person,” Grunkemeyer said with a laugh.
“We’ve been on some calls together, but this is the first time in person,” added Meers.
Personal connections aside, both saw perspective as another useful piece of information.
“Programs like these are great because there’s so much of a different perspective depending on who you’re chatting with,” Grunkemeyer said. “It’s not just where but also the scale of the organization.”
Meers, coming from a cooperative in Texas, agreed.
“Everybody’s in a different spot on (electric vehicles) — that’s the amazing part,” he said. “Depending on the size and demographics, every utility is in a slightly different spot. I kind of viewed CoServ as maybe a little behind, but again, it’s those perspectives. You hear what other people are doing and realize maybe we’re right where we need to be.”
Speaking of electric vehicles, there was also an EV Showcase with everything from a sporty Ford Mustang to a bucket truck to digging equipment and more to provide a welcome distraction between sessions.
Even beyond electric vehicles, Meers found a lot to like about Electrify Indiana.
“For me, (the best part) is the networking,” he said. “Getting outside of Texas and getting different perspectives on what’s going on in the energy markets and what other distribution co-ops are going through in other areas. This has been really interesting for me.”
With a total of five networking breaks, plus breakfast and lunch, there was plenty of time for everyone to make connections.
“We have accounts with 70% of the cooperatives, but some of the vendors we wouldn’t normally have the chance to meet face-to-face,” said Steve Pascoe of National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC). “The vendor conversations are good with the distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS).”
Those conversations continued within the sessions themselves, such as the one on Empowering Efficiency: Jobsite Energy Management, Fleet Electrification and Altec Solutions by Altec Industries’ Donald Hensel.
“Any time you do a presentation, it’s always good to have some interaction,” he said. “It feels like you’ve reached out and touched some people, sparked some conversations around it. With new technologies, to me it’s the more you know, the more it will stick with you. Knowing is half the battle and knowing how it’s going to work. There was some good interaction.”
Glen Dunkerson of Mr. Cool agreed. As a vendor in the world of geothermal water heaters, mini split heat pumps and more, Dunkerson says events like Electrify Indiana provide an ideal collision of worlds.
“We started looking to reach more people at local co-ops or utilities this year,” he said. “It seems to be reaching more of our target audience, the people in the trenches doing things and who might have more influence in making decisions.”
Making decisions requires gathering information, and there was no shortage available during Electrify Indiana 2024.
Jim Aelick of Rudd Equipment used the analogy of cell phones. As the benefits of technology in the world of electrification become more well-known, the advancements will come in leaps and bounds.
“I use that analogy because every time there’s a step forward, it’s doubling or tripling what was done before,” Aelick said. “The biggest issue is the grid, and this group here is better positioned to talk about that than anybody else.”
In the end, everyone had plenty of information and enjoyed themselves in the process.
“We love this event,” Thomas said. “This is fun.”