GRID OF THE FUTURE: Embracing Change

Vacaville – On Friday, April 25, 2025 labor, business and political leaders met for IBEW 1245’s Grid of the Future conference at the Sunrise Center in Vacaville, California.

Three hundred sixty IBEW 1245 members, leaders, corporate partners and lobbyists participated, including three hundred IBEW 1245 rank and file members. Members met sisters and brothers from different properties and classifications; many had the opportunity to speak with the CEO’s of their companies for the first time.

IBEW 1245 Business Manager Bob Dean welcomed the packed room, saying, “We built the grid. Our forefathers built it. We have to adapt and learn what we have to be in the future. You’ll hear many perspectives today. Learn something you don’t know and take it back to your yards.”

IBEW 1245 senior leaders moderated panels of industry leaders, operations experts, and lobbyists.

PG&E CEO Patti Poppe, SMUD CEO & General Manager Paul Lau, and NV Energy’s Senior Vice President Jesse Murray spoke to the challenges and threats faced by the energy sector. New technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), data service centers, regionalization, the existential risks posed by wildfires, and cyber security were all discussed. Tariffs, supply chains, attacks on the Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) model and political and economic volatility were also addressed.

“The very foundations of tomorrow’s energy are being laid right here,” said IBEW 9th District Vice President Dave Reaves in his opening remarks.

“This is the most exciting time for our industry that any of us have ever experienced. There was a time when I thought we wouldn’t be part of AI growth strategy in CA due to prices. What I’ve learned over last year is that we are in the mix….We’re going to build transmission, generation resources to serve that load. The grid is working. [Though] wildfire risk is an existential threat, my forecast for the next 5 years is bright,” said Poppe.

Lau noted, “The grid is going to transform, and CA is leading the nation.” He posed key questions, including, “How do you work with the community and customers to transition from a one-way power flow to a two-way power flow and work with [emerging] technology and AI for the first time in utility history?…CA will have 6 million EVs….The market is changing. Customers are bringing change. How do we partner so that the grid works for the customer, the utility and the consumer?”

Murray described NV Energy’s Greenlink Nevada project, a large-scale transmission infrastructure initiative designed to transport renewable energy across the state. “We’re setting steel right now in northern Nevada, and building a Substation for 2 500 KV transmission lines, stretching approximately 750 miles; Greenlink West – from Las Vegas to Reno  and Greenlink North – connect points east all the way to southern Nevada and Utah.”

Rachel Koss, a partner at Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo, stated, “There’s tons of work to be done. Grid hardening to prevent wildfires; capacity upgrades for new business coming online; but it’s expensive. There is tremendous political pressure to slow down the investment/spending. The PUC {in California} has slashed more than any other time, including for undergrounding and capacity upgrades.” At the same time, heightened animosity toward Utilities from rate payers and in state legislatures is on the rise. It remains to be seen whether or not federal funds will flow.

Recruitment and training of the workforce with the skill set to meet demand and adapt to new technologies were recurring themes.

Panelists identified the biggest threats as the risk of wildfires, cyber security, and a series of legislative initiatives.

But, as Scott Wetch, a Partner at Actum and longtime lobbyist for IBEW declared, “The Good news is that you are members of best union in CA; one of the hardest working workforces; and you provide vital services.” He thanked the Organizing Stewards in the room for being a force at the Capitol to push back against some of the legislative initiatives that threaten members’ work and livelihoods.

Earl C. Duke Austin, Jr, the President & CEO of Quanta Services emphasized safety and embracing change. A 4th generation journeyman lineman, Austin leads Quanta Services, the single largest contracting firm in the United States with 65,000 employees.

Austin’s advice to the IBEW workforce, “Don’t sit on your hands and don’t wait for things to change. Change it yourself. Don’t look back. Prepare yourself for tomorrow. The more you prepare, the more you train, the smarter you get, the less issues you’ll have on the other side. This state and this union are as innovative as any. Are you going to embrace it or not?”

There’s no question that IBEW 1245 has been exercising leadership.

In 2023, after three separate attempts to regionalize energy had threatened to gut standards and safeguards for IBEW 1245’s membership, Dean spearheaded an effort to craft a new proposal for regionalization.

“Regionalization is about operations of the grid,” said Marc Joseph, Of counsel to Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo. “The idea is to coordinate efforts in order to save money, improve reliability and reduce emissions. The challenge: getting utilities across the west with different perspectives together.” At the request of Dean, Joseph delayed his retirement to convene a group of forty stakeholders from eleven states and two Canadian provinces and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to craft a proposal that safeguards the interests of IBEW’s members. In 2024 the committee completed a one-hundred-page proposal. They’ve written a bill that must be adopted by the legislature. “Just last week, we won a 17-0 vote in favor. We have another committee vote next week,” he said.

Dean closed the conference by thanking all who participated and worked to put it together. He punctuated the day saying, “There are many perspectives at IBEW. We bring them together. The most important takeaway:  the world is changing. Our job is to keep doing the work. We built the grid. We’re going to keep building the grid.”

– Eileen Purcell, Sr. Advisor Photos by John Storey