Come Monday: Microgrid 2024 Expanding Three-Day Schedule this April

Jan. 24, 2024
Make those Sunday travel plans: Altogether, Microgrid 2024 will offer about seven hours of Monday kickoff sessions to get the momentum rolling at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

The home of the Microgrid 2024 Conference this April 22-24 is the Baltimore Inner Harbor, land of the "dawn’s early light" and other heroic couplets made famous by Francis Scott Key and the “Star Spangled Banner.”

Microgrid Knowledge itself is eager to get an early start this spring and truly make Microgrid 2024 a fuller three-day event beginning Monday, April 22. In years past, our first day really consisted only of the highly engaging Think Microgrid gathering.

For this April, the Think Microgrid Policy Workshop remains an anchor of the early conference content, but now will happen after three additional and deep-dive content sessions focused on specific elements of the microgrid experience. Make those Sunday travel plans: Altogether, Microgrid 2024 will offer about seven hours of Monday kickoff sessions to get the momentum rolling at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

Building your own microgrid and other fun things

Distributed energy resource (DER) integration technology firm Spirae will lead a two-hour panel session and workshop beginning 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, April 22. “Introduction to Value Creation with Microgrids” will unite leaders from various aspects of the microgrid and DER sectors giving an overview into the processes involved in making microgrids happen, but then shifts into something uniquely hands-on: a workshop where attendees can participate using a zero-coding microgrid configuration and validation tool.

In short: you can build your own microgrid, even if it’s just in theory and on screen. It should be a lot of on-site fun, however.

Think Microgrid Policy Workshop

Following Spirae’s workshop event is the annual Think Microgrid Policy Workshop. The industry advocacy group has been busy this year, putting together a state-by-state scorecard on how microgrid policies are moving forward — or not. The Think Microgrid event always brings together thought leadership experts and industry practitioners hashing out recent developments and plotting best moves forward.

Both the Spirae and Think Microgrid events are included as part of the full Microgrid 2024 registration. Seating is limited for these specific sessions, secure your spot now by registering for the Microgrid Knowledge Conference 2024, and adding the Spirae and Think Microgrid workshops to your custom agenda during the registration process.

Case studies on microgrids for universities and EV charging

The Monday, April 22 offerings at Microgrid 2024 do not end there. Starting at 1 p.m. ET in a different room, the thriving movement of placing microgrids at university campuses will class it up with a use case and research-oriented interaction during “Big Plan on Campus: University Microgrids and Research Learnings for the Future,” with speakers from Gallaudet University, Scale Microgrids and the Center for Microgrid Research at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Campuses all over the country and globally have always installed on-site energy systems such as combined heat and power plants, but the move toward greater sustainability and resiliency is driving more diverse microgrid adoption across the facilities.

Following the University Microgrid session, beginning at 2 p.m. ET Monday, April 22, EV charging project experts from Xendee, AlphaStruxure, ARUP and others will combine knowledge in a panel on “How to Optimize Microgrids for Commercial EV Charging Success.”

All these Monday sessions are included in the full Microgrid Knowledge 2024 registration pass. The event continues Tuesday and Wednesday with a variety of content sessions featuring leaders in microgrid development, utilities, state and federal energy policy experts and service firms.

We will have exciting news to share on our plenary keynote sessions quite soon.

The diverse array of companies, utilities and policymakers presenting at MGK 2024 will include PXiSE Energy Solutions, Rove Charging, CPower Energy, Cobb EMC, Distributed Sun, UL Solutions, AutoGrid, Exelon, Enchanted Rock, Black & Veatch, Mesa Solutions, Maryland Energy Administration, PowerSecure, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Pacific Gas & Electric, Duke Energy, Slipstream, EPB of Chattanooga, Together Louisiana, Smart Electric Power Alliance, and energy policy leaders from the states of Colorado, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Microgrid 2024 will end with a special panel session looking at equitable energy solutions in society, followed by announcement of winners for the Greater Good Awards. Submission deadline for Greater Good Awards is Feb. 12.

Sponsors for Microgrid 2024 currently include Spirae, Power Engineers, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Ameresco, PowerSecure, Honeywell, UL Solutions, PXiSE Energy Solutions, Xendee and Powerside.

Other exhibitors include Eaton, Sapling Financial Consultants, Concord Engineering, New Sun Road, RTDS Technologies, Ageto Energy, Clark Energy, DEIF, 2G Energy, Trystar, Piller Power, Northeast-Western Energy Systems USA, CPower Energy Management, OPAL-RT Technologies, Syncris (Renew Power Systems) and AZZO.

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Have you secured your spot for the 2024 Microgrid Knowledge Conference? Act now and save $465 using code SUPERSAVER! Microgrid Knowledge Conference 2024 is the hub for education, advocacy, and collaboration on the path to NetZero unity. Join stakeholders from various sectors in Baltimore, MD, for three days of learning, knowledge sharing, and connections. Don't miss out, register before February 9th to save! microgridconferences.com/2024

About the Author

Rod Walton, Managing Editor | Managing Editor

For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

I’ve spent the last 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023. 

I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 33-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future. 

Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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