Energy Events

Top 6 Houston energy events to attend in February 2025

Here are five events Houston's energy community should attend in February. Photos by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Editor's note: February is here, and the month is buzzing with forums, conferences, and the largest AI in Energy event. Here are six Houston energy events that you won't want to miss this month. Mark your calendars now, and plan ahead for the rest of Q1 via this guide.

February 4 — 2025 Brazil Summit: Energy at a Crossroads 

The Brazil Summit, held at Rice University's Baker Institute, will explore Brazil’s evolving energy sector, including recent progress in energy transition regulations, as well as the 2024 U.S. election's implications for Brazil's future. Participants from Brazil and the U.S., including policymakers, energy leaders, financial experts and more, will join the summit, which is free to attend and open to the public.

This event takes place Tuesday, February 4, at 7:30 am. Registration is required. Click here to register.

February 10-11— 6th American LNG Forum

Join LNG industry professionals, innovators and policymakers to discover groundbreaking technologies that are driving the future of liquified natural gas. From market dynamics to decarbonization strategies, this is your chance to connect, learn and become part of the LNG revolution at American LNG Forum.

This event begins Monday, February 10, at the Westin Galleria Houston. Click here to register.

February 11-12 — Oil & Gas Automation and Technology Week 

Oil and Gas Automation and Technology Week brings together oil and gas operators to share best-practice strategies for accelerating business transformation, decarbonization, and energy transition with disruptive technology. Expert speakers from the automation and technology space include Jack Hu, Dow; Partha Chatterjee, Shell; and Philippe Daroux, Chevron.

The two-day event takes place at the Sonesta Houston Hotel IAH Airport. Click here to register.

February 19-20— 7th Global Energy Forum 2025

The Global Energy Forum brings a bipartisan collective of U.S. Congressmen together with top energy executives to convene for off-the-record discussions in order to explore the energy strategies and solutions for a sustainable, clean, reliable and affordable energy future. Policymakers and executives from energy, finance, and technology will engage in dialogue on energy infrastructure, technological innovation, policy and regulation reform needed to respond to the global energy crisis.

This event begins Wednesday, February 19, at 7:30 am at the Petroleum Club of Houston. Click here to register.

February 24-25 — AI In Energy

Join 150+ senior operations, digital, data and AI leaders in Houston for the industry's largest AI in Energy event, and unlock the potential of AI within your operations. Key points of discussion include how to pair digital twins and gen AI, know when your critical assets need maintenance, move beyond pilot program to scale AI across the enterprise, and leverage generative AI and data intelligence to unlock asset reliability.

This event begins Monday, February 24 at 7:30 am at Norris Conference Centers' City Centre. Click here to register.

February 25-27 — 2025 Energy HPC Conference

The 18th annual Energy High Performance Computing Conference, hosted at Rice University by the Ken Kennedy Institute, is the premier meeting place for the energy industry to engage in conversations about challenges and opportunities in high-performance computing, computational science and engineering, machine learning and data science. Attended by more than 500 leaders and experts, this is a unique opportunity for key stakeholders to engage and network to help advance HPC in the energy industry.

This event begins Tuesday, February 25, at Rice University. Click here to register.

Trending News

A View From HETI

NRG Energy has partnered with Sunrun to grow its virtual power plant and support the ERCOT grid. Photo via Pexels.

Houston-based NRG Energy recently announced a new long-term partnership with San Francisco-based Sunrun that aims to meet Texas’ surging energy demands and accelerate the adoption of home battery storage in Texas. The partnership also aligns with NRG’s goal of developing a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant by connecting thousands of decentralized energy sources by 2035.

Through the partnership, the companies will offer Texas residents home energy solutions that pair Sunrun’s solar-plus-storage systems with optimized rate plans and smart battery programming through Reliant, NRG’s retail electricity provider. As new customers enroll, their stored energy can be aggregated and dispatched to the ERCOT grid, according to a news release.

Additionally, Sunrun and NRG will work to create customer plans that aggregate and dispatch distributed power and provide electricity to Texas’ grid during peak periods.

“Texas is growing fast, and our electricity supply must keep pace,” Brad Bentley, executive vice president and president of NRG Consumer, said in the release. “By teaming up with Sunrun, we’re unlocking a new source of dispatchable, flexible energy while giving customers the opportunity to unlock value from their homes and contribute to a more resilient grid

Participating Reliant customers will be paid for sharing their stored solar energy through the partnership. Sunrun will be compensated for aggregating the stored capacity.

“This partnership demonstrates the scale and strength of Sunrun’s storage and solar distributed power plant assets,” Sunrun CEO Mary Powell added in the release. “We are delivering critical energy infrastructure that gives Texas families affordable, resilient power and builds a reliable, flexible power plant for the grid.”

In December, Reliant also teamed up with San Francisco tech company GoodLeap to bolster residential battery participation and accelerate the growth of NRG’s virtual power plant network in Texas.

In 2024, NRG partnered with California-based Renew Home to distribute hundreds of thousands of VPP-enabled smart thermostats by 2035 to help households manage and lower their energy costs. At the time, the company reported that its 1-gigawatt VPP would be able to provide energy to 200,000 homes during peak demand.

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