When: Thursday Sept. 25, 2025 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM

Where: 515 Madison Ave, Floor 10, Manhattan, New York

Electrification, AI, and data centers are driving unprecedented demand growth—165% increase by 2030—while the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) has fundamentally changed the economics of developing new generation. U.S. electricity demand is expected to increase 15.8% by 2029, creating a significant supply side challenge (and inflationary cost pressures).

Utilities are exploring all available resources. Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are a critical piece of the solution as they are a scalable, reliable technology that can deploy faster than and more affordably than traditional generation.

VPPs are already delivering meaningful grid resources today – providing 33+ GW of dispatchable capacity and proven reliability that’s catching the attention of grid operators. The question isn’t whether VPPs work—it’s how we can deploy them faster and at scale.

Join us for a special Climate Week NYC conversation examining the role of distributed resources and the near-term future of VPPs in a volatile policy environment.

What You’ll Learn

• VPP deployment strategies and realistic scale: How utilities are developing meaningful grid resources, with honest assessments of current capabilities, challenges, and growth potential.
• The role of distributed resources in grid planning: Where VPPs fit alongside traditional generation, storage, and transmission in meeting demand growth and how they are being incorporated into utility planning cycles.
• Building customer programs that scale: How successful VPP deployments balance grid needs with customer value and experience.
• Policy frameworks for technology-neutral solutions: How uncertain FERC policy implementation is being reconciled with state policy, and what the outlook looks like for the deployment of grid resources, including VPPs.

Panelists

Seth Frader-Thompson, Founder and CEO, EnergyHub

Twenty-year industry veteran who built the leading Edge DERMS platform managing 650+ MW across 80+ utilities. Seth has orchestrated the evolution from basic demand response to sophisticated grid resources that operate like traditional power plants.

Radina Valova, Commissioner New York State Department of Public Service

Former IREC regulatory chief turned utility commissioner, Radina led the national organization’s state regulatory program overseeing interconnection policy alignment across utilities while advancing grid modernization for distributed energy integration. Previously at Pace Energy and Climate Center, she coordinated the Center’s participation in New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative and developed breakthrough policy frameworks for decarbonizing buildings and expanding clean energy access for underserved communities.

Amy Heart, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Sunrun

Over twenty-year clean energy advocate shaping national and local policy to expand access to home solar and battery storage. As SVP of Public Policy at Sunrun, Amy leads efforts to scale home energy  solutions that support grid resilience and customer choice, including dispatchable, distributed power plant program development. Previously with the City of Milwaukee and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, she’s built coalitions and crafted legislation to accelerate distributed energy adoption. A trained attorney, Amy now chairs the board of Advanced Energy United, where she champions market-driven distributed  energy transformation.

Vicki Kuo, Senior Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions, Con Edison

Vicki Kuo oversees Con Edison’s clean energy programs, including energy efficiency, demand management, electrification, and distributed resource planning. She leads efforts to scale customer-side solutions like non-wires and non-pipeline alternatives, integrating them into grid operations to meet system needs and climate goals. With prior roles in engineering, IT, strategic planning, and emerging technologies, Vicki has helped shape Con Edison’s transition toward a more flexible, decarbonized grid while mentoring the next generation of energy professionals through WISE and the Building Energy Exchange.

Micah Kotch, Partner, Blackhorn Ventures Moderator

Former grid modernization leader turned climate tech investor, Micah led NY Prize, a $40M community microgrid initiative at NYSERDA, giving him deep experience with distributed energy challenges. Now a Partner at Blackhorn Ventures, he backs digital infrastructure solutions that can scale rapidly to transform how we build, power, and move our world.

 

Session Format – 60 mins

• Opening Context (5 min): The post-OBBB energy landscape
• Panel Discussion (40 min): Moderated conversation covering deployment, policy, and scale
• Audience Q&A (15 min): Q&A with panelists