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Summer outages remain major concern despite CenterPoint upgrades, report shows

power report

A new UH survey shows Harris County residents fear power outages more than flooding or wind when severe weather hits. Photo via Getty Images.

A new survey from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs showed that nearly 70 percent of 2,300 Harris County registered voters polled were very worried or moderately worried about losing power this summer.

The survey asked residents questions about the potential impact of severe summer weather and to evaluate CenterPoint’s efforts to improve the electrical grid over the past year. It was conducted between July 9-18.

Among the three severe weather threats studied—being without power, high winds and flooding—loss of power was the primary concern among respondents. When asked to what extent residents were worried about being without power:

  • 42 percent were very worried
  • 27 percent were moderately worried
  • 19 percent were a little worried
  • 12 percent were not worried at all

Only 25 percent of respondents reported they were very worried about wind damage, and 20 percent were very worried about flooding.

The report also found that 63 percent of respondents held an unfavorable opinion of CenterPoint Energy.

And despite CenterPoint’s $3.2 billion Systemwide Resiliency Plan (SRP), partnerships with AI companies, and its ongoing Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative (GHRI), 44 percent of respondents said they believe CenterPoint has made only "a little bit" progress on improving the grid's overall reliability.

CenterPoint maintains that the SRP is expected to reduce storm-related outages by 1 billion minutes for its 2.8 million customers by 2029. The company also recently reported a 45 percent reduction in the duration of outages for individual customers from January to June of this year.

“We believe that these resiliency actions will help create a future with fewer outages that impact smaller clusters of customers, coupled with faster restoration times for our Greater Houston communities,” Jason Wells, president and CEO of CenterPoint, previously said in a news release.

Read the full report that includes demographic explanations here.
From Your Site Articles
A team of Texas researchers has landed a nearly $1 million NSF grant to address rural flood management challenges with community input. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-led project earns $1 million in federal funding for flood research

team work

A team from Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University have been awarded a National Science Foundation grant under the CHIRRP—or Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet—program to combat flooding hazards in rural Texas.

The grant totals just under $1 million, according to a CHIRRP abstract.

The team is led by Avantika Gori, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice. Other members include Rice’s James Doss-Gollin, Andrew Juan at Texas A&M University and Keri Stephens at UT Austin.

Researchers from Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center and Ken Kennedy Institute, Texas A&M’s Institute for A Disaster Resilient Texas and the Technology & Information Policy Institute at UT Austin are part of the team as well.

Their proposal includes work that introduces a “stakeholder-centered framework” to help address rural flood management challenges with community input.

“Our goal is to create a flood management approach that truly serves rural communities — one that’s driven by science but centers around the people who are impacted the most,” Gori said in a news release.

The project plans to introduce a performance-based system dynamics framework that integrates hydroclimate variability, hydrology, machine learning, community knowledge, and feedback to give researchers a better understanding of flood risks in rural areas.

The research will be implemented in two rural Texas areas that struggle with constant challenges associated with flooding. The case studies aim to demonstrate how linking global and regional hydroclimate variability with local hazard dynamics can work toward solutions.

“By integrating understanding of the weather dynamics that cause extreme floods, physics-based models of flooding and AI or machine learning tools together with an understanding of each community’s needs and vulnerabilities, we can better predict how different interventions will reduce a community’s risk,” Doss-Gollin said in a news release.

At the same time, the project aims to help communities gain a better understanding of climate science in their terms. The framework will also consider “resilience indicators,” such as business continuity, transportation access and other features that the team says more adequately address the needs of rural communities.

“This work is about more than flood science — it’s also about identifying ways to help communities understand flooding using words that reflect their values and priorities,” said Stephens. “We’re creating tools that empower communities to not only recover from disasters but to thrive long term.”

OpenSafe.AI, a new platform that utilizes AI, data, and hazard and resilience models to support storm response decision makers, has secured an NSF grant. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-area researchers score $1.5M grant to develop storm response tech platform

fresh funding

Researchers from Rice University have secured a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to continue their work on improving safety and resiliency of coastal communities plagued by flooding and hazardous weather.

The Rice team of engineers and collaborators includes Jamie Padgett, Ben Hu, and Avantika Gori along with David Retchless at Texas A&M University at Galveston. The researchers are working in collaboration with the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center and the Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice and A&M-Galveston’s Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas.

Together, the team is developing and hopes to deploy “Open-Source Situational Awareness Framework for Equitable Multi-Hazard Impact Sensing using Responsible AI,” or OpenSafe.AI, a new platform that utilizes AI, data, and hazard and resilience models "to provide timely, reliable and equitable insights to emergency response organizations and communities before, during and after tropical cyclones and coastal storm events," reads a news release from Rice.

“Our goal with this project is to enable communities to better prepare for and navigate severe weather by providing better estimates of what is actually happening or might happen within the next hours or days,” Padgett, Rice’s Stanley C. Moore Professor in Engineering and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, says in the release. “OpenSafe.AI will take into account multiple hazards such as high-speed winds, storm surge and compound flooding and forecast their potential impact on the built environment such as transportation infrastructure performance or hazardous material spills triggered by severe storms.”

OpenSafe.AI platform will be developed to support decision makers before, during, and after a storm.

“By combining cutting-edge AI with a deep understanding of the needs of emergency responders, we aim to provide accurate, real-time information that will enable better decision-making in the face of disasters,” adds Hu, associate professor of computer science at Rice.

In the long term, OpenSafe.AI hopes to explore how the system can be applied to and scaled in other regions in need of equitable resilience to climate-driven hazards.

“Our goal is not only to develop a powerful tool for emergency response agencies along the coast but to ensure that all communities ⎯ especially the ones most vulnerable to storm-induced damage ⎯ can rely on this technology to better respond to and recover from the devastating effects of coastal storms,” adds Gori, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice.

A Rice University study will consider how "design strategies aimed at improving civic engagement in stormwater infrastructure could help reduce catastrophic flooding." Photo via Getty Images

Houston university to lead new NSF-back flooding study

risk mitigation

Houston will be the setting of a new three-year National Science Foundation-funded study that focuses on a phenomenon the city is quite familiar with: flooding.

Conducted by Rice University, the study will consider how "design strategies aimed at improving civic engagement in stormwater infrastructure could help reduce catastrophic flooding," according to a statement.

The team will begin its research in the Trinity/Houston Gardens neighborhood and will implement field research, participatory design work and hydrological impact analyses.

Rice professor of anthropology Dominic Boyer and Rice's Gus Sessions Wortham Professor of Architecture Albert Pope are co-principal investigators on the study. They'll be joined by Phil Bedient, director of the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center at Rice, and Jessica Eisma, a civil engineer at the University of Texas at Arlington.

According to Boyer, the study will bring tougher researchers from across disciplines as well as community members and even elementary-aged students.

"Our particular focus will be on green stormwater infrastructure—techniques like bioswale, green roofs and rain gardens—that are more affordable than conventional concrete infrastructure and ones where community members can be more directly involved in the design and implementation phases,” Boyer said. “We envision helping students and other community members design and complete projects like community rain gardens that offer a variety of beneficial amenities and can also mitigate flooding.”

Rice's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, or SSPEED Center, is a leader in flood mitigation research and innovation.

In 2021, the center developed its FIRST radar-based flood assessment, mapping, and early-warning system based on more than 350 maps that simulate different combinations of rainfall over various areas of the watershed. The system was derived from the Rice/Texas Medical Center Flood Alert System (FAS), which Bedient created 20 years ago. Click here to read more.

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30+ CERAWeek events featuring Houston energy leaders

where to be

CERAWeek returns to Houston March 23-27, bringing more than 1,000 speakers, executives and energy innovators to Houston.

Under this year's theme, "Convergence and Competition: Energy, Technology and Geopolitics,” panels will tackle topics ranging from policy and global relations to the growing role of AI in the energy sector. Most of the innovation-themed events are organized under the Agora track and will feature many Houston-area startups, universities, companies and scientists. Panels will feature leaders from Fortune 500 companies and top U.S. government officials, scientists and founders pushing towards a more carbon-neutral future.

Here are some of the many events featuring Houston leaders on the Agora track you can't miss if you want to learn more about Houston energy innovation.

Monday, March 23rd


Scaling Innovation: Building the ecosystem for the next energy breakthroughs

Featuring: Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs

This event is at 10:30 a.m. Find more info here

Vaulted Deep | The Subsurface as Waste and Carbon Infrastructure

Featuring: Julia Reichelstein, co-founder and CEO of Vaulted Deep

This event is at 11:30 a.m. Find more info here

Collaboration Spotlight | Collision Course: How Houston's Ion District turns proximity into innovation

Featuring: Adrian Tromel, chief innovation officer at Rice University; Rawand Rasheed, co-founder and CEO of Helix Earth Technologies; Marc Davidson, senior technical advisor at Veriten

This event is at 1:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Methane Reduction in Practice: Field learnings

Featuring: Matt Kolesar, chief environmental scientist at ExxonMobil

This event is at 2 p.m. Find more info here.

Time-to-AI: Shrinking the data-center clock

Featuring: Robert Ott, vice president of wholesale origination at NRG Energy; Andrew Johnston, business line director, data centers at SLB

This event is at 2:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Scaling CCUS: Which industries, regions and funding sources?

Featuring: Gino Thielens, vice president of renewables and energy efficiency at SLB; Ian McIntyre, senior vice president, 1PointFive

This event is at 3 p.m. Find more info here.

Democratization of AI: Redefining where work gets done

Featuring: Rob Crane, technology scouting and venturing manager at SLB

This event is at 3:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Tuesday, March 24th


Syzygy Plasmonics | Affordable, Globally Compliant SAF Using Abundant Biogas Feedstock

Featuring: Trevor Best, CEO and founder of Syzygy Plasmonics

This event is at noon. Find more info here.

Accelerating Idea to Impact: Carving new ways to innovation

Featuring: David Sholl, executive vice president for research at Rice University

This event is at 1 p.m. Find more info here.

NRG | From the Front Lines: A deep dive into grid reliability

Featuring: Matthew Pistner, senior vice president of generation at NRG Energy; Robert Patrick, vice president of development engineering and construction at NRG Energy

This event is at 1:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Energy Efficiency: The industrial advantage

Featuring: Jason Urso, CTO of Honeywell Industrial Automation

This event is at 1:30 p.m. Find more info here.

The CEO Blueprint | Strategy

Featuring: Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO and chairman of Baker Hughes

This event is at 2:55 p.m. Find more info here.

Occidental | Beyond the Technology: Turning direct air capture into CDR credits

Featuring: William Barrett, vice president of product development at 1PointFive

This event is at 3:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Wednesday, March 25th


Innovations in Sustainable Steel

Featuring: Laureen Meroueh, founder and CEO of Heartha Metals Inc.

This event is at 9 a.m. Find more info here.

Rice University | The Science of Geologic Carbon Storage

Featuring: Sahar Bakhshian, assistant professor, earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Sparking Innovation: The impact of interdisciplinary collaboration

Featuring: Marie Contou Carrere, executive director of the Rice Sustainability Institute; Sandy Guitar, executive director of TEX-E

This event is at 10 a.m. Find more info here.

Models of Innovation, Models of Capital

Featuring: Bobby Tudor, chair of Houston Energy Transition Initiative and chairman of the board for Greentown Labs

This event is at 10:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition

This event is at noon. Find more info here. Learn more about the competing teams here.

Baker Hughes | Meeting Industrial and AI-Driven Energy Demand with Flexible, Reliable and Sustainable Power Solutions

Featuring: Daniele Marcucci, industrial power generation product director at Baker Hughes; Florent Rousset, geothermal leader, new energies at Baker Hughes

This event is at noon. Find more info here.

Thursday, March 26th


Mission-driven Minds: How space exploration inspires the next generation of energy innovators

Featuring: Trina Sadberry, head of brand & engagement in the United States at Equinor; Laura Dandridge, corporate affairs advisor at Chevron; Jack Fischer, chief integration officer at Intuitive Machines; Ginger Kerrick Davis, chief strategy officer at Barrios Technology

This event is at 9 a.m. Find more info here.

Rice University | Nature-based Solutions: A focus on biochar and enhanced rock weathering

Featuring: Carrie Masiello, director of the sustainability institute at Rice University; Mark Torres, associate professor, earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Growing Direct Air Capture

Featuring: Anthony Cottone, resident and general manager at 1PointFive

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Occidental | Advancement and Growth Opportunities for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Featuring: Vishal Gupta, president and general manager of EOR Ventures at Occidental

This event is at 9:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Geothermal: Charting progress on technological advancements

Featuring: Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, trustee professor, earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University; Florent Rousset, geothermal leader, new energies at Baker Hughes

This event is at 10 a.m. Find more info here.

Newfound Materials | Bridging the Synthesis Gap in AI-Driven Materials Innovation

Featuring: Matt McDermott, founder and CEO of Newfound Materials

This event is at 10 a.m. Find more info here.

Hertha Metals | The Future of Steel Production: Going beyond the blast furnace

Featuring: Laureen Meroueh, founder and CEO of Heartha Metals Inc.

This event is at 11 a.m. Find more info here.

Advanced Materials with Low-Carbon Intensity

Featuring: Matteo Pasquali, director of the Rice Carbon Hub

This event is at 11:30 a.m. Find more info here.

Lessons from the Lab: Common pitfalls of hard tech startups

Featuring: Jeremy Pitts, managing director of Activate Houston

This event is at 11:30 a.m. Find more info here.

TotalEnergies | Accelerating Direct Air Capture

Featuring: Isabelle Betremieux, head of R&T CO2 capture department at TotalEnergies

This event is at 1 p.m. Find more info here.

Spotlight: "NextGen" energy leaders of the future

Featuring: Renu Khator, chancellor and president of the University of Houston

This event is at 3 p.m. Find more info here.

Solidec | On-site, On-demand Production of Essential Chemicals

Featuring: Ryan DuChanois, co-founder and CEO of Solidec

This event is at 3:30 p.m. Find more info here.

Fervo secures $421M in financing for Cape Station construction

fresh funding

Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy has closed $421 million in non-recourse debt financing for the first phase of its flagship Cape Station project in Beaver County, Utah.

Fervo believes Cape Station can meet the needs of surging power demand from data centers, domestic manufacturing and an energy market aiming to use clean and reliable power. According to the company, Cape Station will begin delivering its first power to the grid this year and is expected to reach approximately 100 megwatts of operating capacity by early 2027. Fervo added that it plans to scale to 500 megawatts.

The $421 million financing package includes a $309 million construction-to-term loan, a $61 million tax credit bridge loan, and a $51 million letter of credit facility. The facilities will fund the remaining construction costs for the first phase of Cape Station, and will also support the project’s counterparty credit support requirements.

Coordinating lead arrangers include Barclays, BBVA, HSBC, MUFG, RBC and Société Générale, with additional participation from Bank of America, J.P. Morgan and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, New York Branch.

“As demand for firm, clean, affordable power accelerates, EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) is set to become a core energy asset class for infrastructure lenders,” Sean Pollock, managing director, project Finance at RBC Capital Markets, said in a news release. “Fervo is pioneering this step change with Cape Station, a vital contribution to American energy security that RBC is proud to support.”

The oversubscribed financing marks Cape Station’s shift from early-stage and bridge funding to a long-term, non-recourse capital structure, according to the news release.

“Non-recourse financing has historically been considered out of reach for first-of-a-kind projects,” David Ulrey, CFO of Fervo Energy, said in a news release. “Cape Station disrupts that narrative. With proven oil and gas technology paired with AI-enabled drilling and exploration, robust commercial offtake, operational consistency, and an unrelenting focus on health and safety, we have shown that EGS is a highly bankable asset class.”

Fervo continues to be one of the top-funded startups in the Houston area. The company has raised about $1.5 billion prior to the latest $421 million. It also closed a $462 million Series E in December.

According to Axios Pro, Fervo filed for an IPO that would value the company between $2 billion and $3 billion in January.

HETI members to take the stage at CERAWeek 2026 in Houston

The View from HETI

CERAWeek returns to Houston March 23–27, convening global industry leaders to explore the trends shaping the future of energy.

The Greater Houston Partnership’s Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) members will play a key role in this year’s program, contributing to discussions spanning digital innovation, power systems, decarbonization and workforce. Below are the sessions featuring HETI members throughout the week:

AI in Energy: Managing the Transformation
Monday, March 23 | 9:30-10:00 a.m.
Speakers: Hector Rocha, Accenture; Rebecca Hofmann, Blockchain For Energy; Paul Markwell, S&P Global

Scaling Innovation: Building the Ecosystem for the Next Energy Breakthroughs
Monday, March 23 | 10:30-11:10 a.m.
Speakers: Graham Gordon, Accenture; Carolyn Seto, S&P Global; Bernie Bulkin, Global Energy Infrastructure Plc; Georgina Campbell Flatter, Greentown Labs
Examines how partnerships across capital, policy and infrastructure can accelerate commercialization and scaling of breakthrough energy technologies.

Oil Strategies for a World in Transition
Monday, March 23 | 11:15-11:55 a.m.
Speakers: Olivier Le Peuch, SLB; Anders Opedal, Equinor; Vicki Hollub, Occidental; Atul Arya, S&P Global
Discusses how producers are adapting portfolio strategies to balance resilience, demand outlooks and transition pressures.

Gas: Growing Markets and New Players
Monday, March 23 | 12:00-12:40 p.m.
Speakers: Liz Westcott, Woodside Energy; Toby Rice, EQT Corporation; Shankari Srinivasan, S&P Global; Ryosuke Tsugaru, JERA CO., INC.

Advances in Exploration Technologies for Oil & Gas and Mining
Monday, March 23 | 1:30-2:10 p.m.
Speakers: Amy Callahan, Accenture; Hussein Shel, Amazon Web Services; Oscar Abbink, S&P Global
Highlights sensing, imaging and AI tools improving discovery efficiency and sustainability in exploration.

AI in Action: From Pilot to Profit
Monday, March 23 | 1:30-2:00 p.m.
Speakers: Shridevi Bale, Accenture; Paul Gruenwald, S&P Global
Shares lessons from scaling AI deployments beyond pilots into measurable operational value.

Power Networks: Collaborating to Meet Demand
Monday, March 23 | 2:15-2:55 p.m.
Speakers: Lawrence Coben, NRG Energy; Jim Murphy, Invenergy; Eduard Sala de Vedruna, S&P Global
Examines grid readiness and collaboration models needed to manage surging electricity demand.

New Phase of Gas: From Regional Security to Global Market Integration
Monday, March 23 | 3:00-3:40 p.m.
Speakers: Cederic Cremers, Shell; Balaji Krishnamurthy, Chevron; Kevin Gallagher, Santos; Mansoor Al Hamed, Mubadala Energy; Dave Ernsberger, S&P Global
Discusses LNG’s evolving role in global integration, energy security and future pricing structures.

Transforming Upstream: Pathways to Scaling New Technologies
Monday, March 23 | 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Speakers: Rami El Debs, Accenture; Trey Lowe, Devon Energy; Bader Al-Attar, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation
Explores adoption of advanced digital and automation technologies in upstream operations.

Leadership Dialogue
Tuesday, March 24 | 9:00-9:20 a.m.
Speakers: Wael Sawan, Shell; Daniel Yergin, S&P Global

One Grid, One ASEAN: Building a Shared Clean Energy Future
Tuesday, March 24 | 10:30-11:10 a.m.
Speakers: Akihiro Ondo, Mitsubishi Power; Gauri Jauhar, S&P Global

Harmonizing Carbon Accounting: Charting a Path Forward
Tuesday, March 24 | 10:40-11:20 a.m.
Speakers: Edward Stones, Dow; Sasha Mackler, ExxonMobil; Musaab Al-Mulla, Saudi Aramco; Kevin Birn, S&P Global
Examines efforts to standardize emissions accounting to improve comparability and market transparency.

Global Exploration Revival: Lessons and New Strategies
Tuesday, March 24 | 11:30-12:10 p.m.
Speakers: John Ardill, ExxonMobil; Dan Pratt, S&P Global; Guido Brusco, Eni

How Will AI Change the Game for Energy Profitability?
Tuesday, March 24 | 12:20-1:00 p.m.
Speakers: Rakesh Jaggi, SLB; Jim Masso, Honeywell; Atul Arya, S&P Global; Darryl Willis, Microsoft; Renata Baruzzi, Petrobras
Examines how AI and cloud technologies could reshape cost structures and performance across energy systems.

Balancing Act: Price, Reliability and the Global Call on U.S. Energy
Tuesday, March 24 | 2:35-3:15 p.m.
Speakers: Stéphane Michel, TotalEnergies; Eleonor Kramarz, S&P Global; Matt Schatzman, NextDecade; Brian Falik, Mercuria Energy America
Explores tensions between domestic supply reliability and global export opportunities.

The Future of Upstream: Matching Capital Discipline with Opportunity
Tuesday, March 24 | 2:35-3:15 p.m.
Speakers: Richard Jackson, Occidental; Philippe Mathieu, Equinor; Niloufar Molavi, PwC; Bob Fryklund, S&P Global

Transforming the Energy Industry: How Will Technology Change Business Models?
Tuesday, March 24 | 2:35- 3:15 p.m.
Speakers: Ryder Booth, Chevron; Peter Terwiesch, ABB; Atul Arya, S&P Global
Examines digital transformation and new partnership models reshaping energy value chains.

Sustainable Solutions: Partnership, Technology and Innovative Paths
Tuesday, March 24 | 3:25-4:05 p.m.
Speakers: Barry Engle, ExxonMobil; Luis Cabra, Repsol; Leanne Todd, S&P Global; Roeland Baan, Topsoe
Highlights collaborative approaches to deploying scalable decarbonization solutions.

The Future of Refining: Resilience, Innovation and Low-Carbon Pathways
Tuesday, March 24 | 3:25-4:05 p.m.
Speakers: Amber Russell, bp; Kurt Barrow, S&P Global; Martijn van Koten, OMV; Atsuhiko Hirano, Idemitsu; Magnus Heimburg, VAROPreem
Explores how refining and supply chains are adapting to policy, demand and emissions pressures.

Reinventing Business Strategies: Thriving in the New Energy Economy
Tuesday, March 24 | 4:15-4:55 p.m.
Speakers: Muqsit Ashraf, Accenture; Philippe Frangules, S&P Global; Sushil Purohit, Gentari Sdn Bhd
Discusses evolving strategies integrating new technologies and markets.

Creating AI-Ready Organizations
Tuesday, March 24 | 4:20-5:05 p.m.
Speakers: David Rabley, Accenture; Gwenaelle Avice-Huet, Schneider Electric; Dave Ernsberger, S&P Global; Rob Schapiro, Microsoft; Geoffrey Parker, Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth
Focuses on workforce, leadership and infrastructure required for effective AI adoption.

Meeting Power Demand for Data Centers
Wednesday, March 25 | 10:30-11:20 a.m.
Speakers: Karim Amin, Siemens Energy; Ed Baine, Dominion Energy; Douglas Giuffre, S&P Global; Ingmar Ritzenhofen, RWE Supply & Trading and RWE Clean Energy; Amanda Peterson Corio, Google; Jim Shield, Invenergy
Discusses strategies for aligning infrastructure, policy and markets to meet data-center load growth.

Where Agentic AI Is Now and What Comes Next
Wednesday, March 25 | 10:30-11:00 a.m.
Speakers: Tathagata Basu, Honeywell; Ben Wilson, Amazon Web Services, Bhavesh Dayalji, S&P Global

People Power: Strategic Human Capital in a New Energy Era
Wednesday, March 25 | 10:40-11:20 a.m.
Speakers: Jessica Van Singel, Accenture
Examines workforce strategy alignment with innovation and competitiveness goals.

Global Energy Pathways in the Age of Abundance
Wednesday, March 25 | 11:45-12:35 p.m.
Speakers: Gareth Ramsay, bp; Atul Arya, S&P Global; Olu Verheijen, Office of the President of the Federal Public of Nigeria

Agentic AI: Embracing Autonomy
Thursday, March 26 | 10:00-10:30 a.m.
Speakers: Trygve Randen, SLB; Uwa Airhiavbere, Microsoft; Eric Hanselman, S&P Global
Examines governance and reliability considerations as autonomous AI systems expand in energy.

The Changing Mix of U.S. Power Generation: Gas, Renewables, Coal, Nuclear and Beyond
Thursday, March 26 | 10:30-11:20 a.m.
Speakers: Bill Newsom, Mitsubishi Power; Douglas Giuffre, S&P Global; John-Paul Jones, Urenco Enrichment Company; Leslie Duke, Burns & McDonnell; Mike DeBock, NextEra Energy Resources
Explores how policy and technology shifts are reshaping generation portfolios.

Large Load Growth: Reshaping the Future of Power
Thursday, March 26 | 11:10-11:50 a.m.
Speakers: Robert Gaudette, NRG Energy; Petter Skantze, NextEra Energy Resources; Douglas Giuffre, S&P Global; Peter Lake, National Energy Dominance Council
Discusses planning and market responses to large-scale electricity demand.

Interconnecting America: The Grid’s Last Mile
Thursday, March 26 | 12:00-12:40 p.m.
Speakers: Tim Holt, Siemens Energy; Philippe Frangules, S&P Global; David Brast, TC Energy; David Rosner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

AI: Driving Performance in the Power Sector
Thursday, March 26 | 3:05-3:45 p.m.
Speakers: Dak Liyanearachchi, NRG Energy; Hanna Grene, Microsoft; Douglas Giuffre, S&P Global
Explores AI use cases improving grid management and forecasting.

Digital Twins: The AI Enabler for Multiple Sectors
Thursday, March 26 | 4:30-5:10 p.m.
Speakers: Sacha Abinader, Accenture; Oscar Abbink, S&P Global
Examines digital twins enabling predictive maintenance and AI training environments.

View the full CERAWeek agenda.

———

This article originally appeared on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. For more information about the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.

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