Innovation Monthly

Summer is here and we've been busy compiling resources from thought leaders that we thought you'd find interesting including two recorded webcasts with speakers from Exelon/PECO, Liberty, National Grid, PGE, PG&E and Southern and a podcast with InnovationForce's Kim Getgen who was featured in "With Great Power." We were also honored to partner with Utility 2030 in their Future Thinking Master Class hosted at Oracle Innovation Labs. This month we got a postcard from the future and we share real life learnings and examples in this month's update!

It's also a great time to recognize #WINNERS - check out all the award highlights below. Finally, we are excited to see so many new solution partners joining the Hanger, read on to see what innovative solutions they have to offer!

Highlights:?

--> Resources: Podcasts, on-demand webcasts, workshop recaps, and articles!

--> Award winners: Energy Central and InnovationForce recognitions

--> Lee Krevat: joins InnovationForce as an advisor!

--> Solution Spotlight: 4 new innovative solutions are highlighted in The Hangar!

Featured Podcast

Kim Getgen joins Brad Langley's With Great Power Podcast

In a recent episode of the popular podcast "With Great Power," our very own Kim Getgen shares invaluable insights to drive successful innovation in the utility sector. Tune in to learn how to turn challenges into opportunities and accelerate your journey toward a sustainable energy future.

Listen here.

InnovationForce Webcast Featuring Owen Clarke from PECO, Exelon and Jason Wild

Recording available!

Our recent webcast, hosted by Kim Getgen and Jason Wild of InnvationForce featured industry expert Owen Clarke from PECO, Exelon. Listen to the recording to learn more about out top 5 tips to balance risk at the intersection of innovation and regulation:

1. Be Customer-Centric: Ensure innovations offer clear benefits like reliability, affordability, and sustainability for customers.
2. Collaborate Across Ecosystems: Partnering with others reduces risks and speeds up the adoption of new solutions.
3. Standardize Your Innovation Process: Use methods like design thinking to streamline and improve innovation.
4. Share Learnings: Embrace failures and iterate rapidly to create cultures of learning and problem-solving.
5. Documented Test Plans and Report: Maintain transparent communication with regulators and employees with learnings and data-driven insights.

?And be sure to stick around for Owen's presentation where he shares real-live examples from Orlando's Utility Commission (OUC) - floating solar, lasers and EV charging from statues - you'll think you are in a post card from the future! Utility-based human-designed innovation is here today. The future is now!

Watch here.

Utility2030 Master Class Workshops

InnovationWorks is used at Utility2030 Design-Thinking and Future Thinking Workshops

InnovationForce was excited to partner with the incredible team from Utility 2030 and help facilitate their Master Class Workshops in two topics: 1.) Design-Thinking and 2.) Future-Thinking. These workshops hosted by Georgia Power and Oracle, were well attended with transformational leaders and industry experts from Southern, Georgia Power, PG&E, BGE, and NiSource.

?Have you heard of these workshops? If not, we encourage you to check out the Utility2030 website to learn more! We'd love to see you at a future event!

See the event recap here.

"Our members rely on CEATI to support their innovation efforts, but at the same time they want to mitigate risks and costs by working together. The InnovationWorks platform helps us achieve this by enabling real-time collaboration across our membership and reinforces our commitment to collectively shape the future of energy." - Alex Johnston, CEO of CEATI

CEATI Strategy and Innovation Conference Recap

InnovationForce launches partnership with CEATI, and shares at their Strategy & Innovation Conference

At the CEATI Strategy & Innovation Conference, we announced our partnership with CEATI. Our founder and CEO, Kim Getgen, took the stage alongside Central Hudson’s Michael Lauchaire for an inspiring fireside chat on accelerating decarbonization through innovation.

Key takeaways included the importance of aligning innovation with strategic objectives, fostering a culture that supports creativity, and leveraging ecosystems like InnovationWorks Hangar to drive industry transformation. We are thrilled to help utility-based member ecosystems collaborate more efficiently and lead the way in industry innovation.

Congratulations to Energy Central's 2024 Leaders of Innovation!

Allegra Hodges 2024 Innovation Champion!

Congratulations to Allegra Hodges, Head of Strategic Innovation at Portland General Electric, for being recognized as an Honorable Mention in Energy Central's 2024 Innovation Champions. Allegra's leadership in grid modernization and strategic innovation, working together with InnovationForce, has significantly advanced PGE's efforts to deliver reliable, sustainable energy. Check out the full interviews with all Energy Central Leaders and learn more about their transformative projects.

Read more here.

Enline Awarded Most Innovative Solution Provider of June

InnovationWorks Hangar spotlight: Enline Energy Solutions!

This month, our "Most Innovative Solution Provider" is Enline, who revolutionizes the energy sector with digital twin technology for grid optimization and predictive maintenance.?

Challenge: Upskilling field crews to operate in an AI-driven environment.?

Current State: Significant skills gap with traditional training programs,?

Solution: Enline?offers a comprehensive web platform that integrates data visualization, predictive alerts, and 3D visualization. Their solution ensures efficient handling and analysis of large data sets, provides intuitive and rapid understanding of complex data, and enhances proactive maintenance and operational efficiency.

Click the link below to learn more - ensure you are logged in to The Hangar first to be taken directly to the test flight.

See the Enline Test Flight here.

ICYMI: "De-risking and Accelerating Innovation" Webcast Recording

Hear from Dr. Linda Hill and representatives from Liberty, National Grid, PGE, PG&E and Southern

ICYMI, you can watch a recording of our wildly popular webcast that brought together a brilliant mix of innovation and utility experts who shared on strategies to harmonize technological advancements with regulatory compliance and foster ecosystem collaboration. Don’t miss out —watch the full Energy Central Power Session recording now!

Watch the webcast here.

New Energy Central Article Series

How to overcome innovation barriers in utilities

Check out Kim Getgen's three part series on innovation in utilities at Energy Central - here's a short recap.

Part 1: Unlock the Power of Innovation

When innovation is aligned with core business needs and involves operational teams, it drives significant operational improvements, growth through strategic projects, and higher customer satisfaction, unlike untethered innovation which often fails to produce real value.

Part 2: Innovating for the Future

Innovation in utilities drives value when it addresses core business needs, but to avoid "pilot purgatory," utilities should standardize their pilot processes, define clear challenge statements, create detailed test plans, gather user feedback, and establish clear decision criteria for moving pilots into production.

COMING SOON - Part 3: Customer-Centric Innovation

The final article delves into how utilities can innovate on behalf of their customers, leveraging regulatory frameworks and collaborative ecosystems to drive decarbonization, efficiency, and grid modernization. ?

Read series.

Lee Krevat Joins InnovationForce as an Advisor

Welcome to the team, Lee!

InnovationForce is thrilled to welcome Lee Krevat to our Board of Advisors!

?Founder and CEO of Krevat Energy Innovations, Lee brings four decades of expertise in energy and technology. His leadership in climate change mitigation and smart grid initiatives at SDG&E marks him as a key influencer in the smart grid market. We're excited to leverage his experience and commitment to ClimateTech solutions to scale InnovationForce.?

He recently interviewed our CEO Kim Getgen on his industry leading podcast; 'Climate Champions' - have a listen below!

Listen here.

Check Out These Exciting New Solutions in The Hangar!

From wildfire mitigation to a better way to onboard customers - we've got it all covered in the Hangar!

We're excited to introduce four new solutions in our InnovationWorks Hangar that address key challenges in utility management, including customer engagement, load forecasting, energy optimization, and wildfire risk mitigation. Follow the links to read their Test Flights (solutions) in the InnovationWorks Hangar - ensure you are logged in to The Hangar before accessing.

• Athena Intelligence: Provides proactive wildfire risk mitigation with a geospatial prefire algorithm that predicts risks up to a year in advance.
• InfoSlips: Enhances customer onboarding by delivering interactive Welcome Packs that include all essential information post sign-up.
• WhyGrene Inc.: Optimizes distributed energy resources for Virtual Power Plants, offering real-time DER scheduling and comprehensive cost-benefit analyses.
• Engineered Intelligence Inc.: Leverages AI-driven load forecasting to help utilities accurately predict and manage future system demands.

Explore these solutions in The InnovationWorks Hangar and join us in leading the clean energy transition.

Visit The InnovationWorks Hangar here.

Learn more and book a demo with us!

Ready to see InnovationForce in action? Want to discuss how to speed up your innovation processes? Be sure to book a video call by reaching out at [email protected].

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Together, We’re Building Better Futures,

Thank You From the InnovationForce Team!