EMPOWER Virtual Summit: Powering Through the Storm
On-Demand Virtual Summit
ARCOS is bringing together utility leaders, innovators, and technology experts for a half-day virtual summit focused on operational resilience, workforce transformation, and cutting-edge emergency response strategies. Reserve your spot to hear from CAO Bonnie Titone of Duke Energy, Paul Bernard of ARCOS, and utilities realizing real-world success by leveraging ARCOS solutions.
- Explore real-world success stories from utilities leveraging ARCOS solutions
- Hear from industry trailblazers like Bonnie Titone of Duke Energy and Paul Bernard of ARCOS
- Gain insights into ARCOS’ vision for a unified utility operations control center
11:00am – 11:45am
Addressing Workforce Challenges in Electric Utilities: A Fireside Chat With Bonnie Titone
Bonnie Titone, Chief Administrative Officer, Duke Energy
Paul Bernard, Chief Executive Officer, ARCOS
As senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Duke Energy, Bonnie Titone leads a team that enables the company’s broader efforts to transform and deliver a smarter, more reliable energy future. She’ll join ARCOS CEO Paul Bernard to provide a perspective from her front-row seat for today’s energy transformation.
11:45am – 12:30pm
Our Vision for Utility Operations
Frank Iannotti, Chief Revenue Officer, ARCOS
Lindsey Artman, Chief Product Officer, ARCOS
Every day, in communities large and small, utilities plan and execute an enormous amount of work, deploying some of the most skilled and dedicated workers in the country. Yet even with utilities spending massive amounts annually on technology, operational gaps remain. Join us as we articulate our vision for bringing your work and crews into a single operational control center, empowering you to make decisions with total real-time visibility, saving you money and time, whether during brutal weather events or under the bluest of skies.
12:30pm – 1:00pm
How Technology Can Improve Emergency Response
Jamie Conover, Duke Energy
Michael Armour II, FirstEnergy
With new technologies such as AI, drones, mobile workforce solutions, and automation, the potential to transform emergency response for electric utilities is massive. How can utilities choose the right solutions to help them make the biggest impact? And with storms continuing to grow in frequency and severity, how can utilities implement these technologies while ensuring adoption from back-office teams and field crews? In this session, utility IT and operations leaders will share their perspective on how to drive selection and adoption for these cutting-edge solutions.
1:00pm – 1:30pm
Utility Spotlight: Vegetation Management
Emmett Albertson, AEP
Hear from your peers at other utilities about implementing and executing effective vegetation management, using a single solution to help plan proactive strategy that reduces outages and improves regulatory compliance. Learn how these utilities achieved significant ROI while strengthening grid reliability and customer satisfaction.
1:30pm – 2:00pm
Building a Bridge Between IT and Operations
Nicole Fealy, American Water
Brian Hurst, Slalom
There’s no single blueprint for mapping out a productive relationship between IT and operations in your utility. Some organizations have a team crossing the territory between the two departments; in other cases, it’s more informal. In either case, it’s critical to build that relationship of mutual respect and shared goals. Join experts from both the operations and IT sides of the equation to hear about the advantages and pitfalls of bridging the gap.
2:00pm – 2:30pm
Utility Spotlight: Real-time Communications
Jef Gray, Kissimmee Utility Authority
Join utility operations experts as they share firsthand experiences of how real-time text messaging has delivered cost savings, operational efficiency gains, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Discover actionable insights and proven results from your peers who have made real-time text communications a cornerstone of their customer engagement strategy.
2:30pm – 3:00pm
Storm Recovery in Hurricane Helene
Glenn Edwards, AEP
Hurricane Helene in September 2024 offered unprecedented challenges for American Electric Power (AEP), leaving approximately 282,000 customers without power across Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. Join us as we sit down with AEP’s Glenn Edwards for an in-depth look at the most destructive storm to impact their Appalachian territory since the 2012 derecho. This webinar will examine the strategies and operational excellence that earned AEP recognition from EEI for their recovery efforts following this historic weather event.
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Unlocking Hidden Value from ARCOS: From Resistance to Results
Cameron Hoffman-Brown, PG&E
Discover how teams are transforming ARCOS from a behind-the-scenes system into a strategic asset. This session explores how Pacific Gas & Electric is using ARCOS data to improve quality and drive insights with minimal resources. We’ll also highlight the force-multiplier effect of small teams, the surprising visualization capabilities of ARCOS, and how to rethink integration to unlock value you didn’t know you had.