EnerVision 2006 Conference Highlights
"Meeting Customers' Future Energy Needs"
September 26th & 27th
Atlanta, Georgia

 CFC Article | EnergyBiz Article

EnerVision held its 2^nd Breaking the Mold Conference
at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia
on September 26^th & 27^th

Tuesday, September 26th, Agenda
After Nelson Hawk, President/CEO of EnerVision (recently promoted to EnerVision Chairman), welcomed the participants to the 2006 conference Tuesday morning, September 26^th, he introduced the Keynote Speaker — Ken Silverstein, Editor-in-Chief of Energy Biz Insider Newsletter, who started the conference by "Setting the Stage for Utility Providers."  (Ken wrote an article about some of the issues discussed at the conference — see the link to the EnergyBiz article above.)

During the next session, Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), offered insight into "Traditional Fuels/Environmental Tradeoffs — How will Natural Gas, Oil, Coal and Nuclear Fuel Options Match with Future Environmental Requirements?"  His perspectives provided a provocative discussion during the meeting.

Speaker Ray Dracker, Director of Technical Assistance & Resource Assessment, Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), related his suggestions on "Renewable/Alternate Energy Perspective — How to Consider the Pros/Cons of Renewable/Alternative Energy Opportunities."  Ray's background includes developing renewable resource programs for utilities, developers and now working with environmental organizations.

After lunch, the session's first panel, "Technology Trends — New Breakthroughs with Automation", was moderated by Robert Duval, Vice President of EnerVision.  Chris Hickman, Executive Vice President, Cellnet, provided an interesting viewpoint about the future of automatic metering infrastructure (AMI) developing with utilities.  Steven Turner, COO, International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC), offered a discussion of the opportunities with broadband over power line (BPL) technology trends.

Wednesday, September 27th, Agenda
Wednesday started off with a lively panel discussion on "Wholesale Power Supply Issues — Distribution's Perspectives" which was moderated by Elaine Johns, Vice President of EnerVision (recently promoted to President/CEO).  This panel included Hill Bentley the CEO of Tri-County EMC in Georgia, Bob Hance the President/CEO of Midwest Energy Co-op in Michigan, Darren Schauer the General Manager of Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative in Texas, and R.B. Sloan the CEO of EnergyUnited EMC in North Carolina.  This set of presentations and the group discussion that followed were well received by the attendees and felt to be the highlight of the conference.

The final session of EnerVision's 2006 Conference was a panel discussion on "Power Contracts — Identifying & Mitigating Risks" again moderated by Elaine Johns.  This panel included Bill Edwards the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs with CFC, Don Howell a Partner with Vinson & Elkins, Ashmead Pringle the President of GSC Energy, and J.W. Rayder the President/CEO of Ashby Consulting.  This group of speakers showed the benefits of experience and knowledge with power supply contract negotiations.  CFC included an article in their newsletter about Bill Edward's perspectives on this issue.  (See CFC article link above.)

After attending this meaningful and informative conference, many participants expressed interest in attending future EnerVision events.