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Electric cooperative CEOs and directors will gather at NRECA's Regional Meetings this fall to exchange ideas and best practices, explore the latest industry trends and gain insights on issues affecting their communities.
The meetings will be held in five cities over a two-month period that begins in early September in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and ends in late October in Kansas City, Missouri.
“This year, we continue to lean into local by addressing the unique issues that cooperatives are facing at a regional level.” said Erin Pressley, NRECA's senior vice president of Education, Training and Events.
“We’ll be exploring regional insights for future load growth, and we’re excited to host local cooperative CEOs to discuss their board relationships. In addition, we’ll be discussing the hot topic on everyone’s minds these days: AI.”
Key speakers
Michael McCrea, director of U.S. accounts at the Electric Power Research Institute, will share insights on what future load growth might look like in each region as electrification increases and businesses with a high demand for power—such as data centers—pop up more and more in rural areas.
NRECA President Tony Anderson will talk about “generation, cybersecurity and people.” He’ll discuss how the challenges in these three areas have evolved and how solutions can be found through innovation, cooperation and a focus on co-op members.
At each opening session, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson will focus on how co-ops can maintain reliability and affordability today while preparing for future energy needs.
Phil Irwin, president and CEO of Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange, will reinforce the importance of safety and its impact on insurance issues crucial to co-ops.
Breakout sessions
New at Regionals this year will be two breakout sessions. The first will focus on how to be a good practitioner of politics and how co-ops can increase their political engagement. The second session will examine the growing cybersecurity threats to co-ops and how NRECA’s programs and strategies—including Project Guardian—can help.
Also debuting this year is a special CEO-only preconference workshop titled “How to Make Optimal Investments for a Reliable and Sustainable Electric Grid.”
In addition, there will be sessions that prepare NRECA’s voting members for meetings of their Regional Resolutions Committees, which make recommendations on the Compendium of Proposed Resolutions. The resolutions provide NRECA with direction and guidance as the association advocates for co-ops in Washington, D.C. There are 12 proposed resolutions this year including: support for natural gas-fired generation, support for the rural heritage and values of electric cooperatives, and support for electric vehicle policies.
Registration info
Registration is open for all five Regional Meetings:
Early-bird discounts for registration and hotel reservations end at least seven weeks before the start of each meeting. After that, regular registration fees apply online and on site.
For more information about logistics, check out a list of frequently asked questions.
