View the 2018 Winners

Honoring Excellence

SEPA Power Players Awards recognize collaborative and innovative efforts by utilities, their industry partners, and individuals that accomplish the following goals:

  1. Expand knowledge of and access to distributed energy resources
  2. Transform the worldview of the electric industry
  3. Furthers progress towards an integrated clean and modern energy future

Award winners come in many forms: from groundbreaking enterprise, project or program design, unique partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and more.

To best align with SEPA’s expanded mission, the SEPA Power Players Awards (formerly the Solar Power Players Awards) continue to go beyond solar, encouraging nominations featuring diverse technologies, partnerships and innovations.

Award Categories

Investor-Owned Utility of the Year
Category description
This IOU has demonstrated energy industry leadership through unique or thought-provoking innovation in an effort to significantly advance knowledge of or access to distributed energy resources and expand its value as a resource to help meet the needs of electricity consumers.
Electric Cooperative Utility of the Year
Category description
This cooperative has demonstrated energy industry leadership through unique or thought-provoking innovation in an effort to significantly advance knowledge of or access to distributed energy resources and expand its value as a resource to help meet the needs of electricity consumers.
Change Agent of the Year
Category description
A change agent is a catalyst for transformation. Whether through developing technological standards, business development, regulation, research and more, this new category is open to outstanding groups or individuals that through any number of means have significantly impacted the direction of the clean energy future. Those looking to submit in this category should examine what the results have been of such catalytic actions.
Innovative Partner of the Year
Category description
Judged on innovation, collaboration and replicability, this category recognizes one non-utility partner for a product or service, that in partnership with one or more utility and during the 2017 calendar year, has aided in significantly advancing the expansion of or access to distributed energy resources through unique methods, projects, leadership, or innovation.
Public Power Utility of the Year
Category description
This public power utility has demonstrated energy industry leadership through unique or thought-provoking innovation in an effort to significantly advance knowledge of or access to distributed energy resources and expand its value as a resource to help meet the needs of electricity consumers.
Power Player of the Year
Category description
For an individual who, while working at an electric utility or utility organization, has demonstrated above-and-beyond leadership and innovation to significantly advance an integrative perspective of distributed energy resources for utilities, the electric power industry, and for the benefit of the customer. The individual’s ‘body of work’ can span a longer period of time, but should include activity and accomplishments during the 2017 calendar year.
Visionary of the Year
Category description
This category will judge nominees based on forward-thinking products, services, regulations, roadmaps and more which may not have brought results to fruition yet. SEPA is looking for dynamic and prominent groups and individuals that are imagining and inspiring how the electric industry envisions the future of clean energy.

The Awards Ceremony

The 2018 Power Players Awards winners will be celebrated during an Awards Dinner on  July 10, 2018 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., co-located with SEPA’s Grid Evolution Summit. Dusty Baker, former Washington Nationals manager and future Hall-of-Famer turned energy entrepreneur will keynote the event. To reserve your seat or table, click here.

View the 2018 finalists.

Register for the Grid Evolution Summit