UTILITY TESTIMONIALS
See What Our Utilities Are Saying About The Summits:
“I really enjoyed networking with different people from other utilities. I got a chance to see how our organization measures up to others and also how other organizations handle similar situations. I also enjoyed seeing what the vendors have to offer. the speakers did an outstanding job relaying their message to the crowd."
— Marques Gamble, Clarke-Washington EMC
“The interactive, small group atmosphere of the boardroom approach is an excellent way to learn about new and exciting technologies. The condensed time frame for each presentation ensures the most effective utilization of both the presenter’s and the utility executive’s time”
— Michael Bristol, Electrical District No. 3
“I have attended six summits and I continue to learn more about products and technology. The Summits are well organized and pack with information in 2 days. It is also a great opportunity to meet others from different states and hear about their utility experiences.”
— Hugh Richardson, City of College Park Power
“The SUS does a great job of providing you with as much beneficial information you can absorb within 2 days. Every utility should attend this summit!”
— Mackenzie Phillips, Garden City Electric Utilities
“This years summit was spot on in the boardroom presentations. Each participating vendor brought a wealth of knowledge that will help make major decision in our future goals”
— Jeremy Konkle, Tipmont REMC
“The boardroom sessions were excellent. The small group settings and fast pace maintained interest and focus. Interacting with other utilities of similar size allowed new and similar ideas to be discussed.”
— Richard Baldwin, City of Lawrenceville
“Great method of bringing so many varied business promotion in quick effective presentations”
— Garth Turley, Navopache Electric Cooperative
“Innovative summit to learn about upcoming and advanced technology among smart grid applications”
— Brandy Miller, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative
“The vendor’s presentation were very informative. I’ve gain some new friends and a clearer vision of the electrical utility future”
— Keo Bounpaseuth, Garden City Public Utilities
“Wonderfully eye opening to all the products and technology available”
— Lisa Goppert, City of Leesburg
“The Summit was very well organized and well ran”
— Michael Brighton, City of Carrollton
“Adequately timed to get presenters information across without any pressure.”
— Jim Jones, Tri County Electric
“The format provided at SUS is great for those who value their time and who want solutions without the excess”
— Christopher Blaisdell, Tipmont REMC
“Great format for supercharged learning. It is awesome to have that much information packed into two days.”
— Martin Dahl, McLean Electric Cooperative
“A great forum to see the latest technology as well as interacting with the vendors and seeing what our peers are implementing at their utility.”
— Todd Garrett, Pioneer Electric Cooperative
“For me, I am relatively new to the utility industry. Having spent the last 10 years in the IT sector in system and network engineering, I loved the abundance of information and knowledge transfer across the board, from other summit attendees as well as the vendors. I’m eager to adopt what I’ve learned at our coop and look forward to attending in the future.”
— Eric Braxton, Central EMC
“The information from vendors and what they have to offer is always great and I always walk away with new information on the needs of our Utility. The networking with other Utility attendees is always great also as we can discuss problems and solutions to the problems that others may have to encountered.”
— Frank Cervone, Chicopee Electric
“Was a perfect environment to have 1 on 1 interactions with the vendors whose products we use. Also, a great way to hear about new technologies and tech I never knew existed. The way the summit was structured made the day go by easier plus the best part it put you in a room of like minded individuals which was perfect for networking”
— Christopher Terrell, Wake Forest Power
“The summit was very informative and engaging. I recommend every utility partake in this experience.”
— Sherry Crewe, City of Richmond, Virgina Department of Public Utilities
“The amount of information and the way it was presented was great”
— Clayton Crump, City of Centralia, MO
“Great format for supercharged learning. It is awesome to have that much information packed into two days.”
— Ryan Joswick, Artesian Water Co.
“Great opportunity to get direct information from many vendors we currently use today or in some cases never even heard of”
— Tim Applegate, Consolidated Cooperative
“I believe the format was excellent to connect with similar utilities to discuss and relate past experiences and future goals.”
— Jeffery Oleson, City of Ottawa, Kansas
“A very informative and eye-opening summit this year. The speakers were straight forward and offered timely perspective into the utility industry.”
— Kris Williams, Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corp.
“I have attended this summit in years past and this one far exceeded any of the others by a long shot. The vendors presented exciting and new information while the keynote speakers were spot on in sharing the direction of the industry. Casino night was as fun as ever while the showcase was engaging as well. Just fantastic. Would liked to have seen more attendance from the western half of the US since it was in AZ this year”
— Chris Sharek, Southwest Florida Utilities
“This is a great event. It allows you or your utility to get in front of vendors that may or may not fit into your utilities business model or may help your utility accomplish goals that have been set. Seeing new products are always great to review and bring back information to the appropriate personnel at the utility.”
— Ryan Marquette, Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative
“This holistic approach to smart grid technologies is the perfect environment for vendors, clients, and governmental entities to breech the information overload that comes with having a multitude of options and initiatives occurring so quickly in the industry. The gathering of experts in one location in a facilitated environment makes for the best atmosphere for decision makers to make decisions important to the direction of the industry.”
— Kirk Warren, Alaska Energy Authority
“I liked the boardroom format. The speed dating" model is very efficient and I learned about a variety of vendors as well. The size of the even was cozy, and I made personal connections with several other participants.”
— Ken Lalonde, BC Hydro
“Received a great deal of information on what all the advantages of AMI and all the applications you can do with it”
— Jeff Greeno, Lebanon Utilities
“The Summit provides an opportunity for like minded utilities to network and receive information that is pertinent to their organization”
— Larry Cisneros, Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative
“The Smart Utility Summit is an outstanding opportunity to keep up with the latest trends in the electric industry. The combination of the boardroom presentations and the Solutions Showcase allow the utility partners to gather both high levels concepts and detailed information about a wide variety of service providers."
— Roger Gough, West Ky Rural Electric Coop.
“The Summit gave me the opportunity to have some one-on-one time with a large number of vendors in two days who were very clear and concise in their presentations of their products. I would highly recommend this event to other utility executives.”
— Brad Hicks, Habersham EMC
“Amazing chance to interconnect with and learn from utilities of all sizes across the nation. A great opportunity to see more about what products and services are available to the company that we would not otherwise have been exposed to”
— Emily Backels, Liberty Utilities
“I found the Summit to be an intense, yet highly informative representation of the major technological changes required in the utility industry. (If it is to keep pace with the changing environment.) This allowed me to give further thought on how to go about disrupting yourself before you are disrupted.”
— Joan Bourne, Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd.
“I enjoyed the Board Room presentations and was able to learn about some products, processes, and technology I may not have learned about in a normal vendor booth style set-up at a different conference. Plus, the members in my Board Room; Board Room 2, kept it fun, entertaining, and enjoyable the entire time!”
— Nathan Bruns, City Utilities of Springfield
“I found the format to be very beneficial. It allowed the participants to gain a clear and concise understanding of the vendor's solutions in managed presentation. This then allowed participants to schedule follow up discussions with only targeted vendors.”
— Bob Sandberg, Wright Hennepin Electric
“The "Smart Technology" is far more advanced than I realized. Eye opening to say the least. The Summit was a great experience and allowed me to walk away with a lot of knowledge and insight."
— Deirdre Blackard, Rockdale Water Resources
“The board room format allows close contact with a variety of vendors allowing me to see many new products and/or services that I would not run across in my normal day-to-day schedule.”
— Ken McGee, Joe Wheeler EMC
“The rapid-fire/speed-dating approach for vendor presentations in the Board Room sessions was different approach than other similar conferences. It was a good & efficient way to see a large number of vendors in a short period of time. I personally liked the approach."
— Bill Menge, Evergy / Kansas City Power & Light
“Excellently orchestrated by your group, the group sessions were great and very informative. I always walk away with a different perspective and a new learning experience also a great networking opportunity.”
— Frank Cervone, Senior Network Engineer, Chicopee Electric Light
“Excellent opportunity to strengthen your knowledge about Smart Grid technology, and how the electric utility industry should be preparing now to meet customer expectations for today and the near future.”
— Jim Weeks, Michigan Municipal Electric Association
“The Board Room approach was an effective way to introduce a broad spectrum of Utility functions and solutions. Friendly environment for working on vendor relationships”
— Matt Cragg, Supervisor of Radio/Cable, Board of Public Utilities
“Very seldom will you find one place where you can learn from and interact with the industry’s leaders, as well as the networking opportunities were invaluable too!”
— Bret Reid, Director of Engineering, City of Piqua, Ohio Power System
“I could not have imagined an event better planned and better executed. The event was a stellar example of an outstanding plan and flawless execution”
— Robert Day, San Jose Water Company
“The boardroom atmosphere left little time for the pressure of the old “How many can I put you down for?”. I was presented with a very concise overview of the newest trends and technologies, and then left to pursue only the ones that would have the greatest impact on my organization”
— Stephen Justice, Electric Meter Technician III, Lakeland Electric
“This conference provides us smaller utilities with valuable information on where our industry is heading. The vendors understand our business and bring innovated technology to us that is extremely relevant. Like the phrase, “you don’t know what you don’t know; we may have not found these on our own”
—Lynn McKinstry, Manager, Electric System Operations, Lansing Board of Water and Light
“The Smart Utility Summit is an outstanding opportunity to keep up with the latest trends in the electric industry. The combination of the boardroom presentations and the Solutions Showcase allow the utility partners to gather both high levels concepts and detailed information about a wide variety of service providers.”
— Mark Brown, Fayetteville Public Works Commission
"In the 10 years I have been in the utility industry, this is by far the best event I have ever attended. The format, the content, the amount of information and the delivery method is a fresh new approach on allowing a utility to be exposed to a vast wealth of information. This is the one-stop event to learn about and expand the Smart Grid movement in our nation"
—Matthew Jones, Information Technology Director, Hannibal Board of Public Works, Hannibal Missouri
"Great to see so many vendors in a short time. Worth the use of your time to learn about a lot of technologies and information in two days. You cannot find anything better than this."
— Falguni Shah, Acting Vice President, Operations, Veridian Connections Inc
"I have attended several Summits and found each one to be an extremely profitable experience. The ability to introduced to over 15 products and services in a two day period is simply unmatched."
— Doug Peters, President, TVPPA
"The structured agenda was exactly what is needed to keep attendees focused and on schedule. Very positive experience."
—Jim Wallace, Director of Operations and Engineering, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative
"The Summit was a great opportunity to see the latest developments in Smart Grid Technology. Very fast pace with high energy presenters. Great opportunity to network with other Utility leaders, and vendors, interested in Smart Grid investment."
—Mark Rothmier, Engineering Supervisor, Independence Power & Light
"I attended the Summit to get the information I need to make the best decision for my City concerning the need to modernize our meter reading and data collection systems. The Summit supplied all that to me and I will be sending some of my key staff to future Summit’s if possible.”
— Lawrence Heinrich, City of Castroville, TX
"It was the most informative event I’ve attended in years. Well organized and first class service. Well done"
—Kent Houpe, Assistant Director of Electric Utilities, City of Statesville
"The Summit provides an opportunity to view the latest ideas on the market. You can also visit with employees from other utilities and learn from their experiences"
—Michael Dowdy, Staking Tech, Central Electric Membership
Anderson Municipal Light & Power
"The format with the board presentations is tremendous.. It does two things with a 30 min presentation, forces the vendors to focus on their presentation instead of having a two hour meeting at my place and it keeps me from getting bored because there is a new topic every 30 min.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in productivity, efficiency , reducing their power supply costs and especially to my colleagues because it is very informative. I picked up half a dozen ideas."
— Tony Pochard, Director, Anderson Municipal Light & Power
City of Chanute
The City of Chanute, Kansas, Public Power Utility
"It's like drinking from a firehose, you get a lot of information in a short period of time.. but it's well worth it."
— Rick Willis, IT Manager & Finance Director, City of Chanute