Power Player Awards Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 2025 Finalists and Winners 2024 Finalists and Winners 2025 Finalists and Winners SEPA is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 SEPA Power Player Awards. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding individuals, organizations, and projects that have advanced the transition to a clean, affordable, and resilient energy system through bold leadership, collaborative partnerships, and replicable solutions. Resilience Power Player Winner: PPL Electric Utilities Summary: PPL Electric Utilities’ commitment to safety and reliability is demonstrated through its “Predictive Failure” project. At the heart of this project is the utilization of novel Early Fault Detection (EFD) technology. The implementation of EFD utilizes the Internet of Things, edge computing, and machine learning to help detect and pinpoint equipment defects on the distribution network, allowing for intervention and outage prevention in previously inaccessible locations. The project has been shown to improve public safety, service reliability, operational efficiency and mitigate the potential of wildfire ignition. As of December 2024, PPL had installed enough sensors to prevent nearly 300 outages that would have impacted more than 150,000 customers. PPL Predictive Failure For further information, please contact: Corey Eyerman, Supervising Engineer – DER Standards and Emergent Technologies, [email protected] Quotes “On behalf of PPL Corporation, I want to thank you for this wonderful award. We are deeply honored to receive this recognition, and I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone at PPL who contributed to this achievement. The award is a testament to the innovation, dedication, and hard work of our team. At PPL, we are committed to delivering excellence and sharing with our peers in the industry. Your award will inspire our team to keep striving for greater success. Thank you also for this great avenue where leaders from across the country gather to discuss matters that are critical for building the grid of the future,” – Corey Eyerman, Supervising Engineer – DER and Emergent Technologies Standards Finalists Powder Watts Sustainable Living Innovations Emerging Technology Power Player Winner: Arizona Public Service Summary: Arizona Public Service pioneered a virtual power plant (VPP) model that reduces energy demand through a network of customer-owned devices. Their Cool Rewards program uses residential and small to medium-business customers’ smart thermostats and battery storage systems to reduce the grid’s overall energy demand. Recently the program was able to reduce energy demand by 160 megawatts, while providing financial benefits to participating customers. This location-based demand response program demonstrates how the intersection of data and VPPs can enhance resilience during extreme events, making this model scalable for broader use. APS Virtual Power Plants For further information, please contact: Ann Porter, Communications Consultant, [email protected] Quotes “This recognition validates the dedication, collaboration and forward-thinking of our Customer to Grid Solutions team at APS. We serve as the bridge between what customers want and what the grid needs. Through our Virtual Power Plant, we work with customers to deliver innovative programs that help them find savings while strengthening the grid to deliver the reliable energy all of our customers count on,” – Kerri Carnes, Director of Customer-to-Grid Solutions Finalists Paces Sparkfund Mara Holdings Transportation Power Player Winner: Patricia Monahan Summary: The Honorable Patricia Monahan, Commissioner Emeritus of the California Energy Commission, has led the charge on the nation’s most robust zero-emission vehicle infrastructure program. Commissioner Monahan secured grant funding for the CALeVIP 2.0 initiative, EnergIIZE, and National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure – programs that advanced charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure throughout California. Since their implementation, these initiatives have expanded to accommodate medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles through inductive and megawatt charging. California’s cutting-edge lessons provide a guide for other states looking to expand electric vehicle adoption. Patty Monahan, CEC Integrated Energy Report Quotes “I am honored to receive the Transportation Electrification Power Player Award, which is a testament to the state of California’s leadership on zeroing out harmful air pollution from cars and trucks. The staff of the California Energy Commission is committed to accelerating the build-out of chargers and hydrogen stations for zero emission vehicles, while ensuring all Californians benefit from cleaner air and lower fuel prices.” – Patricia Monahan, Honorable Commissioner Emeritus For further information, please contact: Laura Renger, Executive Director, California Electric Transportation Coalition Finalists Edison International El Paso Electric EVgo Policy Power Player Winner: Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) Summary: With the enactment of the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) demonstrated its commitment to clean energy through initiatives that included streamlining interconnection processes, improving customer support and education, providing financial incentives, and increasing stakeholder collaboration. Last year ComEd interconnected more than one gigawatt of distributed energy resource capacity to their grid, provided analysis and oftentimes same-day approvals of interconnection applications, and offered near-real-time information for solar projects in high-fidelity hosting capacity maps. These initiatives can be replicated by adopting ComEd’s practices related to customer engagement, communication, and utilization of digital tools to streamline education and installation processes. ComEd 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) For further information, please contact: Feng Huan, Manager of DER Interconnection, [email protected] Quotes “ComEd is honored to be named a winner of this year’s SEPA Power Player Awards for our teams’ incredible work in connecting distributed energy resources to the grid in northern Illinois. This work supports a more reliable and resilient grid for our customers, and it advances the state’s goal of transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2050,” – Melissa Washington, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations and Strategic Initiatives at ComEd. Finalists WeaveGrid (Pacific Gas & Electric-Clean Energy Transportation Team) Frontwood Strategies (Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition) Energy Storage Power Player Winner: Ampt Summary: Ampt has emerged as a leader in power management in response to Australia’s strict grid compliance codes. The organization has developed a “Direct-to-Battery” (D2B) system replicating the responsiveness of standalone storage in renewable generators. By utilizing Ampt’s innovative DC-coupled design, where DC/DC conversion occurs in the photovoltaic system, instead of a battery converter, substantial performance and cost advantages are realized. D2B architecture provides an integrated PV+ storage solution that optimizes clean power generation that outperforms existing infrastructure while reducing consumer costs. For more information, please contact: Galilea Matias, Senior Account Executive (Antenna Group), [email protected] Quotes “Energy storage has become essential to building a more flexible and resilient energy infrastructure, and we are grateful to be recognized by SEPA for our contributions to this critical sector. This award is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the Ampt team and the strong collaboration with our customers and partners who entrust us with optimizing their renewable power plants. We look forward to continued innovation in solar and energy storage designs to meet the advancing needs of developers and utilities alike,” – Mary Adam, Vice President of Global Sales at Ampt Finalists Echogen ESS Inc Energy Equity Power Player Winner: ConnectedSolutions – EnergyHub, National Grid, Eversource, Cape Light Compact, Rhode Island Energy, and Unitil Summary: ConnectedSolutions is a collaboration between EnergyHub, National Grid, Eversource, Cape Light Compact, Rhode Island Energy, and Unitil to form a virtual power plant. ConnectedSolutions’ open access, device-agnostic program encourages participation from customers across all socio-economic backgrounds through behavioral programs or technology-intense devices, such as battery storage. Customers can maximize the program benefits by participating in other programs, such as regional energy markets. Amongst all distributed energy resource technologies, over 650 megawatts of flexible capacity was available in 2024. ConnectedSolutions For more information, please contact: Sophia Hadecka at [email protected] Finalists Philadelphia Energy Authority Vote Solar