This conference provides electric utility engineers and consultants the opportunity to stay abreast of today's power system technology. The conference emphasizes the unique challenges faced by electric utilities in the Midwest.

PSE’s Rick Schmidt will be presenting on home automation programs and another presentation on communications for DA and AMI.

Emerging Home Automation Programs - Opportunities and Challenges: This session will provide a fresh overview of the state of the industry for home automation programs and utility-driven energy savings and demand response programs. The communication networks common to these programs and related challenges will be explored. Topics include: latest product capabilities by leading vendors, value proposition, review of lessons learned from early deployments, and future trends for home automation.

Communications for Distribution Automation and Fixed Wireless AMI: This session will provide an update of the emerging communications infrastructure architectures and technologies being used for utility automation such as for the backhaul of AMI, DA, and substations. Utility application level requirements will be reviewed, as well as bandwidth sizing tactics by application.