Artificial intelligence is still looming large at Distributech, this week’s conference for the electricity transmission and distribution sectors.
At a session on how policymakers can tackle rapid load growth, the moderator Tanuj Deora, executive director of the Flex Coalition, asked his panelists to each close with a hot take. Most weren’t that hot, or at least not memorably so. But Sarah Freeman, commissioner at the Indiana Regulatory Commission, took a breath and asked with the kind of frankness that comes naturally to a regulator, whether all these data centers and the AI systems they house are really worth it, and if we keep investing in them, how will they impact our culture. There was a bit of nervous laughter, then applause. Hot take, achieved.
But her skepticism is just one of many perspectives on AI that were on display at Distributech in Dallas, this week. Keynotes and presentations called out the imminent gigawatts of AI-driven load growth, while vendors demonstrated the ways in which AI is increasingly underpinning advancements in grid operations, asset management, wildfire detection, and workforce tools.
AI isn’t the only word on everyone’s lips, though. Walking the show floor, you notice resilience is also a key theme this year — though given today’s political climate you’d be hard-pressed to see that term accompanied by the word “climate.” AI feels a bit less buzzy than last year, but the demos are getting more impressive.
GE Vernova, for instance, talked me through its GridOS platform for utility control rooms. It incorporates a set of generative AI tools that used OpenAI’s GPT-4o to train on both historical grid data and synthetic forecast data to give control room operators a set of applications to better utilize their grids and increase resiliency. Utilities are understandably concerned with their data being sent to a cloud-based AI, so we talked about instances where utilities may have on-premise servers host much of this.
There’s also an interesting discussion underway around how much these tools can automate the control room. GE believes it can achieve full automation, but the realities of the regulatory environment, security concerns, data availability and quality, and integration with current systems will keep this theoretical for some time.
As always, there has been no shortage of announcements. And while AI wasn’t plastered all over every booth at DTECH like it was last year, it is certainly becoming a core part of product rollouts and grid initiatives.
For instance, Schneider Electric announced its One Digital Grid platform, which incorporates AI, including tools from AiDash, to aid grid planning, asset management, predictive analytics, and DER integration. It also joined EPRI to collaborate on flexible data center architectures, and said it would invest over $700 million in its US operations. And Sense and Landis+Gyr described their collaboration around on-meter AI and one-megahertz processing frequencies for new levels of grid visibility.
But some of the most impactful things I observed weren’t flashy releases, but rather the accumulation of short conversations and impressions. A small sampling of my observations:
- GridRaven is worth keeping an eye on. It’s an Estonian dynamic line ratings company that built ML models to help accurately forecast weather and wind with enough specificity that it doesn’t need any hardware or sensors in the field.
- Dell talked through innovations such as real-time digital twin technology and AI-connected worker solutions, as well as modular data centers that can be deployed to support AI application development for utilities.
- Managed EV charging is big again this year, and Southern Company walked through its pilot programs at Alabama Power and Georgia Power with WeaveGrid, which had 1,448 customers as of March 13.
- There were rumblings around about GRIP funding going cold, with implications for utilities and vendors alike. I heard references to projects being stalled, but nothing specific or on the record yet.
A version of this story was published in the AI-Energy Nexus newsletter on March 26. Subscribe to get pieces like this — plus expert analysis, original reporting, and curated resources — in your inbox every Wednesday.
