This past spring, Gurobi co-hosted the inaugural Powering Decisions Optimization Summit with Black & Veatch.  

Held in Denver, CO, the summit assembled optimization practitioners and applied researchers from across the energy industry. The event highlighted how optimization leaders shape the power and utilities sector by examining practical applications in operations and planning. 

The summit was the first of its kind, dedicated entirely to mathematical optimization and advanced AI in power and utilities. Here, we’ll explore key highlights from the event, with insights from leaders across industry, research, and academia. 

Summit Agenda

The Powering Decisions agenda prioritized practical applications over theory, with three quarters of attendees working in industry and the remainder split between academia and research.  

Over the course of the two-day conference, 39 speakers led 23 sessions, with a mix of high-level keynotes and in-depth breakout discussions. The sessions highlighted sustainable innovation in power and utilities, as well as practical applications of optimization and other artificial intelligence technologies. 

Sustainable Innovation in Power & Utilities 

Presenters at the summit covered a wide range of topics related to modern sustainability issues, including changing demands on the grid, the transition to renewables, and distributed utilities.  

Dr. Owen Wu (Associate Professor, Indiana University) delivered a special keynote, “Grand Challenges and Opportunities in Energy Sustainability,” that highlighted three focal points for innovation: internal systems management, firm-level financing challenges, and strategic partnerships. 

A common trend across the sustainability-focused sessions was co-optimization. For example, in his talk, “Co-Optimizing Capacity and Day-Ahead Markets for Grid Reliability and Affordability Considering Large Electric Loads,” Nawaf Nazir (Senior Research Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) discussed frameworks for optimizing short-term operational adjustments and long-term capacity planning to adequately account for changes in daily and seasonal demand driven by AI, electric vehicles, and other emerging consumer preferences. 

Another major focus was on open-source tools and their role in navigating grid changes. For example, the session “Modern Electric Grid Challenges: Recent Developments in Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization” featured a panel discussion with five participants from government, academia, and private sector research. They discussed how the grid is changing, opportunities and challenges ahead, and how open-source and commercial tools play a role in progress.  

In addition, Alice Yake (VP of Grids, Breakthrough Energy) gave a talk titled “Open-Source Grid Modeling as Public Good: Breakthrough Energy's Vision for Modernizing Energy Planning.” She spoke about how the rapid growth of electrical demand means that grid planning itself is a roadblock and how the OpenGrid initiative aims to accelerate that process.

Finally, multiple speakers emphasized reliability for supply and demand. On the supply side, Michael Blonsky (Senior Control and Optimization Engineer, EnergyHub) delivered a presentation titled “Robust Virtual Power Plants: Turning Customer-Sited Resources into Grid Assets,” where he discussed how EnergyHub leverages optimization to manage distributed, customer-sited generation and storage to deliver reliable capacity.  

Focused on demand, Rachel Moglen (Research Scientist, EPRI) explored the use of stochastic optimization in long-term planning when large loads, such as data centers, remain uncertain.  

Optimization and AI: Practical P&U Applications 

Presenters also shed light on the diverse ways in which optimization professionals leverage AI. Dr. Pascal Van Hentenryck, Head of Gurobi’s AI Innovation Lab, delivered the second keynote address, “Reliable AI for Energy Systems: AI in Optimization.” Dr. Van Hentenryck spoke about using AI and optimization in tandem to speed up and strengthen analyses. 

Another major trend is modernization and the transition from old models. For example, Dr. Richard O’Neill (former Chief Economic Advisor, FERC) gave a talk titled “Power Market Design and Computing” about the transition to independent system operator (ISO) energy markets, and optimization models that support ISOs operating in regulatory environments designed for older structures. 

Meanwhile, in the “Battery Dispatch Optimization” session, Kendra Williamson (Senior Principal Optimization Engineer, Key Capture Energy) spoke about the role of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) models in ERCOT’s modernization process.  

Danielle Labruzzo (Director of Analytics, BrightNight) expanded on this trend in “Optimizing Hybrid Energy Systems with Scalable Scenario Modeling and Decision Intelligence.” She discussed how dynamic growth and shifting regulatory requirements drove BrightNight to shift to planning for hundreds of scenarios in parallel. 

Finally, Kathryn Walter (Senior Operations Research Analyst, Avista) spoke about the practicalities of implementing optimization and AI solutions in her talk “Optimizing Optimization: Building Trust and Adoption for Prescriptive Analytics at Avista.” Participants learned about how Avista developed a digital twin for its generation portfolio and encouraged users across the company to use optimization tools in their workflow. 

Takeaways 

In addition to a wide range of plenary and breakout sessions, attendees of the Powering Decisions Summit had plenty of opportunities to connect with peers during lunches and a networking reception. This delivered the combination of technical insights and community building that attendees were looking for. 

As one participant shared, “Not only did I learn the current challenges and opportunities in the energy industry and how optimization can help, but [I also got] connected with researchers and practitioners in industry and academia for collaboration. I highly recommend this event to my colleagues and industry collaborators in the energy industry.” 

Another attendee echoed this sentiment, noting that it was particularly helpful to attend a conference focused on power and utilities: “This is one of the best conferences we could ever go to, just the right level of expertise in optimization, power markets, economics, and risk-optimization.” 

Looking Forward 

Other attendees remarked that the summit was an impressive inaugural event, and that they are already looking forward to next year’s lineup.  

Details for the 2027 Powering Decisions Summit will be announced later this year. Interested in speaking or sponsoring next year’s event? Apply here to be a speaker, and learn more about becoming a sponsor here.  

And if you’re located in the EMEA region, don’t miss the Energy Innovation Summit taking place November 17-18 in Zurich. Learn more about the event here.