TechAdvantage, the foremost technology conference for electric cooperative professionals, occupied the Gaslamp district of San Diego last week. Landis+Gyr, along with more than 5,000 attendees and 300 vendors gathered for four days to share solutions and new technologies focused on improving performance, increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving member services for the electric co-op.

This year’s tone was dominated by a theme of – well, cooperation. Co-op utility companies interact as if they are a part one large family, sharing the deepest details of their successes, failures, and pain in hopes their experiences might be useful in making someone else’s life better.

The first general session presenter held true to this principle when a short but heart-tugging talk was delivered by Heath Martin of Oklahoma’s Northfolk Electric Cooperative. In 2016, Heath joined seven other co-op volunteers from the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives and the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives to bring electric service, for the first time, to two remote villages on the outskirts of Riberalta, Bolivia. Since the local co-op did not have the materials or resources to install the needed distribution infrastructure, the volunteers stepped in. For 15 days they worked a 10-mile area, forever changing the lives of 361 families.

THE POWER OF ONE LIGHT

After Heath sat down to a vigorous applause, the Keynote, Dr. Scott Tinker (Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin) shared his vision for America’s energy future, based on the belief that energy security requires a reasoned balance among energy, environment, and the economy. Dr. Scott combined the perfect mix of data driven correlations and humor to deliver his conclusions:

• Access to energy is a necessary condition to achieve prosperity
• Energy efficiency is underappreciated and the behavior of individuals matter
• Natural gas and uranium are the premier power fuels of the 21st century while oil being abundant and at the right price is difficult to replace as a transportation fuel
• Renewables will require advanced energy storage integration to expand beyond regional supplement

Subsequent to the general session, over 70 breakout sessions were offered over the following two and a half days. The topics spanned the entire spectrum of a utilities operations and management needs. From energy storage, microgrid, supply chain optimization, support for C&I, rate design, and many others. Individual cooperatives shared their first-hand experiences, and post project experiences so the entire group could learn and improve the lives of their employees and customers. We at Landis+Gyr look forward to another full and exciting week of sharing at the 2018 TechAdvantage in Nashville!