Distribution utilities continue to face emerging challenges, including an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, growing capacity challenges due to the integration of EVs, DERs & microgrids, as well as specialized customers such as data centers, as well as the growing risk of physical security and cybersecurity challenges – all of which undermine the utilities’ ability to manage grid resiliency, while also introducing greater uncertainty in risk management.

In order to manage both grid resiliency and uncertainty, utilities must adopt new techniques to advance their asset management practices, such that they can expand the “awareness” of the distribution grid. This awareness encompasses not only the assets themselves, but also the external risks that can impact the system over time. This includes “grid awareness”, where new forms of advanced machine learning techniques are adopted to predict the risk of extreme weather events as well as rising capacity challenges, “situational awareness” where near-real-time monitoring data is converted into dynamic operational alerts to avoid catastrophic failures, as well as “corporate awareness” where the utility is linking their top-down organizational objectives with bottom-up AM analytics.

This panel session aims to highlight the recent advancements in the asset management space to better manage and mitigate the risks associated with grid resiliency and uncertainty. In addition, this panel session will share recent efforts by two utilities – EPCOR Distribution & Transmission and Liberty Utilities – to advance their individual AM practices such that they can better safeguard their distribution grids from uncertainty, while also greatly enhancing overall resiliency of the grid and assets.