Workshop Overview
This is a focused, collaborative professional workshop for utility distribution planners and related engineering leaders. We emphasize practical application through intensive peer discussion and structured decision-making frameworks. The program is designed to deliver immediate relevance to the daily complexities of utility planning work, moving beyond theory into defensible, real-world utility architecture.
Who Should Attend
Distribution System Planners
Professionals focused on the technical design, long-term capacity requirements, and future needs of the distribution system.
Planning Engineers
Engineers responsible for developing, evaluating, and defending planning recommendations while ensuring the quality, accuracy, and technical rigor of proposed solutions.
Asset Management Professionals
Professionals responsible for balancing risk, performance, cost, and asset health to support long-term infrastructure investment decisions.
Engineering Managers
Managers overseeing planning programs and capital portfolios while aligning engineering recommendations with organizational priorities and executive objectives.
Public Power Professionals
Municipal and POU professionals managing regional infrastructure with a focus on reliability and long-term value.
IOU Participants
Selected professionals from investor-owned utilities seeking practical planning approaches, peer discussion, and perspectives across different utility environments.
What Participants Will Learn
Outcome-focused insights and practical frameworks designed for immediate relevance to the challenges of modern utility infrastructure management.
Prioritize Distribution Needs
Learn how to prioritize distribution needs under capital, workforce, and supply chain constraints while maintaining system-level performance.
Connect Decisions to Value
Connect planning decisions to reliability, risk, customer impact, and long-term value to ensure sustainable infrastructure growth.
Communicate Tradeoffs Effectively
Master the communication of complex tradeoffs to managers, executives, and boards using structured and defensible evidence.
Deploy Structured Frameworks
Use structured decision frameworks to support and defend planning recommendations under regulatory and operational scrutiny.
Learn From Peer Challenges
Gain insights from peer utilities facing similar distribution challenges, fostering a collaborative ecosystem of practical knowledge.
The Roadmap
Workshop Agenda
Day 1
Utility Planning Context & System Thinking
- Day 1 – Utility planning context, emerging pressures, and system-level thinking.
- Identifying foundational constraints in the electric utility landscape.
- Framing the methodology for defensible decision-making.
Day 2
Data, Load Growth, Reliability, and Risk
- Day 2 – Data, load growth, reliability, condition, and risk inputs.
- Structuring fragmented data for engineering clarity.
- Analyzing technical risk factors and consequence modeling.
Day 3
Prioritization & Decision Frameworks
- Day 3 – Prioritization methods, capital planning, and decision frameworks.
- Allocating resources under capital and supply chain constraints.
- Creating defensible justifications for board-level review.
Day 4
Exercises, Discussion, & Planning
- Day 4 – Case exercises, peer discussion, application planning, and takeaways.
- Applying theoretical frameworks to real-world utility scenarios.
- Finalizing immediate relevance plans for your local utility work.
Workshop Format
25 SEATS ONLY
To ensure high levels of peer interaction and personal attention, enrollment is strictly limited to 25 distribution planners and utility engineering leaders.
Collaborative Format
Move beyond passive lectures. This session focuses on structured peer-to-peer discussions and interactive group exercises developed for senior engineering minds.
Utility Case Studies
Analyze real-world utility case discussions. Bridge raw technical data with strategic, defensible capital planning frameworks used by leading IOUs and public power agencies.
Immediate Application
Designed for distribution planners who need results. Every framework and decision tool presented is built for immediate application to your current capital planning cycle and risk management work.
Decades of Specialized Utility Engineering Expertise
Practical Utility Perspective
This workshop is designed and led by practitioners who have developed capital plans, prioritized infrastructure investments, managed engineering programs, and presented recommendations to utility executives and governing boards.
Participants will work through planning approaches that can be applied immediately within their organizations.
SPS Institute brings a deep institutional perspective to electric utility engineering and T&D planning. Our approach is grounded in real-world operational constraints and rigorous asset management principles. Having worked extensively within IOU, POU, and public power environments, we provide facilitators who understand the nuances of capital planning, wildfire resilience, and the structured decision-making required for defensible infrastructure investments.
Our Expert Sectors
Electric Utility Engineering
T&D Planning & Design
Asset Management Frameworks
Capital Planning Optimization
Public Power & IOU Strategy
Registration Fees
To maintain an interactive learning environment, attendance is limited. Utility participation is prioritized.
Public Utilities, Municipal Utilities & Cooperatives
$2,300
Investor-Owned Utilities
$3,200
Industry Participants (Software Providers, Consultants & Vendors)
$7,500
Registration includes:
- Four days of workshop instruction
- Workshop materials
- Breakfast and lunch each day
- Networking reception
- Certificate of completion
Industry participation is intentionally limited to maintain a utility-focused learning environment.
Build stronger planning decisions with practical, structured methods.
contact@spsinstitute.com