Monday, October 19th - System Protection Day

      7:30a: Welcome & Registration

      8:00a: Housekeeping Announcements and Utility Reports

      8:30a: Increasing Quality of the Electric Grid by Living in the Spirit of Continuous Improvement by Adrian Genz, SEL

      9:30a: Protection Challenges with Generation Connections Both Large and Small by Lowell Dolney & Camden Schefus, NPPD

      10:20a: BREAK

      10:35a: Advancing Condition Monitoring Capabilities and Quality Through Improvements in IED Hardware Design by Austin Wade, SEL

      11:35a: NPPD 2026 Outage Highlights by Steve Wadas & Camden Schefus, NPPD

      12:25p: Lunch

      1:25p: Developing an Efficient and Economical Relay Replacement Program by Pranav Datar, SEL

      2:25p: Omaha Public Power District Substation Automation by Brandon Figge, OPPD

      3:10p: BREAK

      3:25p: Designing Systems to Avoid Delayed Zero Crossings and Using Point on Wave Control to Mitigate Asset Stress by Josh LaBlanc, SEL

      4:25p: Case Study: Application Considerations for local and remote breaker failure protection from a utility's perspective by Yash Shah, SEL & Freat River Energy

      5:00p: Closing Remarks

Tuesday, October 20th - Substation Day

      7:30a: Welcome & Registration

      7:30a: Vendor Fair Open

      8:00a: Housekeeping Announcements and Utility Reports

      8:30a: DOE 2029 Transformer Efficiency Standards by Logan Howell, Hitachi Energy (PDS)

      9:30a: VFTO - Very Fast Transient Over-Voltage by Chris Zaphiris, Ritz Instrument Transformers, Inc.

      10:30a: BREAK

      10:45a: 800kV Circuit Breakers by Michael Allen-Lan, Hitachi Energy (PDS)

      11:45a: Grounding Design Case Study with Generic vs. Site-Specific Parameters by Aidan Schieuer, Omaha Public Power District

      12:30p: Lunch

      1:30p: Flexible AC Transmission Systems/STATCOM by PDS

      2:30p: Engneering Ethics: Professional Responsibilities and Emerging Challenges by Andrew Downs, Benedictine College - School of Engineering

      3:30p: Am I Ethical by Brian Turner, Nebraska Public Power District

      3:45p: BREAK

      4:00p: Lightning Protection by PDS

      5:00p: Capacitor Bank Topic by Jon Benson, Omaha Public Power District

      5:30p - 7:00p: Hospitality Night

Wednesday, October 21st - Generation Day

      7:30a: Welcome & Registration

      8:00a: Housekeeping Announcements

      8:10a: Back-up Fuel Options for Natural Gas Fired Power Generation by Chris Hamker & Sara O'Dell, Burns and McDonnell

      8:40a: From Reserved Space to Operating Capacity: Lessons from the South Powerblock Expansion Design by Andrew Nelson, Lincoln Electric System

      9:10a: BREAK

      9:25a: Alternative weld repairs without post-weld heat treatment for ferritic steels by John Siefert, EPRI

      10:25a: Affects of pedestal settling for the Nebraska City 2 Steam Turbine Train by Joe Mise, Omaha Public Power District

      10:55a: Gas Market Update by Michael Cesena, Burns and McDonnell

      11:25a: Lunch

      12:25p: Flexible Operation Challenges for Gas Turbines: Effects on Performance, Maintenance, and Life by Bobby Noble, EPRI

      1:25p: The Rest of the Story by Antony Davies, CFC

      2:25p: BREAK

      2:40p: Industry challenges with Grade 91/92 steel by John Siefert, EPRI

      3:40p: Animal Damage to Generator Breaker by John Hosch & Angoua Konan, Lincoln Electric System

      4:10p: Aging Generator Circuit Breakers by Raj Nayar, PE, Siemens Energy

      5:10p: Closing Remarks