Great Transformation 2026: The Rise of Distributed Energy Resources conference announces speaker list

Three-day executive summit in Bend, Oregon, convenes AI, cleantech, and energy leaders to solve the infrastructure crisis July 8-10, 2026

BEND, OR, UNITED STATES, June 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Technology Association of Oregon and Outfit today announced speakers for the Great Transformation 2026: The Rise of Distributed Energy Resources, a premier executive summit bringing together 250+ C-suite leaders, policymakers, and cleantech innovators at the Riverhouse Lodge in Bend, Oregon, July 8-10, 2026. The event addresses one of the most urgent infrastructure challenges of the century: the collision of AI-driven power demand with a grid built for a different era.

As data centers and AI workloads push the limits of centralized power infrastructure, Great Transformation 2026 cuts through the gridlock — convening the engineers, executives, and elected officials who can actually move the needle on distributed energy resources, microgrids, solar-plus-storage, and AI-optimized grid management. “The challenge is no longer awareness — every expert in this space knows the grid is under pressure,” says Robert Cross, Principal at Outfit. “What’s missing is the room where the disruptors sit down with the people responsible for regulating and operating the grid to build the actual roadmap toward a grid flexible and reliable enough for modern demand."

Great Transformation 2026 centers high-stakes facilitation and cross-sector workshops across three impact pathways: Collaborative Innovation (AI, cleantech, and renewable energy), Grid Modernization & Resilience (Infrastructure and microgrids), and Energy Metamorphosis (Rapid, scalable solutions).

Confirmed sessions feature senior representatives from Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Portland General Electric, and MIT, among others. Panel topics range from scaling AI colocation and financing microgrid infrastructure to implementing Oregon’s AR 681 grid blueprint and the geothermal frontier.

Attendees leave with a concrete framework for aligning their organizations with 2026–2030 regional energy and technology benchmarks, direct access to Pacific Northwest decision-makers, early visibility into microgrid and AI-driven resource management pilot programs, and an exclusive post-event intelligence briefing distributed only to participants. “Oregon sits at the center of one of the most consequential infrastructure conversations in the country,” explains Skip Newberry, President and CEO of the Technology Association of Oregon, “Great Transformation brings together the people who are actually doing the work on the ground to build the next generation electrical grid.”

Registration and the full program agenda are available at great-transformation.energy, and the full list of speakers is below:

Developers/hyperscalers
Google — Ellen Zuckerman
Amazon Web Services — Nate Hill
Akaysha Energy — Mike Wietecki
Cascadia Renewables — Markus Virta
Mazama Energy — Pete Lumley
Quaise Energy — Matthew Houde
ELM Microgrid — Aron Bowman
Novitium Energy — Wissam Balshe
Colectric — Uday Varadarajan

Manufacturers/service providers
Schneider Electric — Jenny Roehm (moderator)
Hyve Solutions — Rami Khouri
Group14 — Rick Constantino
Xendee — Adib Nasle (moderator)
Olivine — Beth Reid
Piclo — Dain Nestel
Elexity — Casey Miller
Utility API — Josh Keeling
GridCARE — Shanna Brownstein
Energy Changemakers - Elisa Wood
Garobi — Pascal Van Hentenryck (moderator)
Hubbell Communications — Zach Hyder (moderator)
Flux & Foundry — Robert W. Cross
Ascend Education Group — Devyn Pizzo
Sulis Energy — Callum McSherry
VTeamLabs — Madhup Verma
AHG — Tess O'Donnell

Utilities and municipalities
Portland General Electric (PGE) — John McFarland, William Messner
UEC — Lisa McMeen
PNUCC — Crystal Ball (moderator)
ODCAC — Michael Jung (moderator)
Mayfield Renewables — Jon La Follett, Lucas Miller (moderators)
Energy Trust of Oregon — TBD
City of Prineville — Jason Beede, Mayor

Capital and finance
J.P. Morgan — James Ebert
Beneficial State Bank — Reed Mayfield
Foss & Co — Claire Behar

Academics and industry organizations
MIT Consortium — Alexandra Degher
EPRI — Nils Johnson
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) — Kendall Mongird
OSU Energy Innovation Center — Zach Taie
Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) — Skip Newberry
Cleantech San Diego — Jason Anderson
PNWBC — Grayson Shor (moderator)

Keely McNeme
RenewComm
keely@renewcomm.com

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