PowerUp 2026 Agenda Expands with PG&E Keynote and Utility Executive Leaders
The agenda for PowerUp 2026 continues to take shape as utility leaders from across North America prepare to gather in Atlanta, Sept. 22–24, for Chartwell’s annual conference on outage communications, outage operations, emergency management, and business continuity.
One of the newest additions to the program is a Day Two keynote from Angie Gibson, Vice President of Emergency Preparedness and Response at PG&E.
In her presentation, “Building the Utility of the Future: How PG&E Is Advancing Resilience Through Innovation, Integration, and Preparedness,” Gibson will share how one of the nation’s largest utilities is strengthening its ability to anticipate, withstand, and recover from major events. Drawing on experience managing wildfire risk, severe weather, emergency operations, business continuity, and enterprise preparedness, she will discuss how utilities can build more proactive and integrated resilience strategies while balancing safety, reliability, and evolving customer expectations.
Gibson brings extensive experience in emergency management, having played leadership roles during Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Maria, and major California wildfire events. At PG&E, she oversees emergency preparedness and response, business continuity, all-hazards planning, training and exercises, the company’s 24/7 Hazard Awareness Warning Center, and its Geoscience team.
PowerUp’s executive content has also expanded with the addition of senior utility leaders to “The Resilience Equation: Balancing Infrastructure, Demand, and Mutual Assistance,” an executive panel moderated by Carlos Torres.
Confirmed panelists include:
- Rick Anderson, Senior Vice President and Senior Production Officer, Georgia Power
- Zoraya Oliver-Griffin, Chief Climate Resiliency and Emergency Management Officer, LADWP
- Mike Jarro, Vice President, Distribution Operations, Florida Power & Light
Together, these leaders will examine how utilities are balancing three of the industry’s most significant challenges: strengthening infrastructure through large-scale resilience investments, maintaining robust mutual assistance capabilities, and preparing for unprecedented demand growth driven by electrification and data center expansion.
The discussion will explore how utilities are translating grid hardening investments into measurable resilience outcomes, coordinating resources across regions during major events, and planning for a future in which reliability expectations continue to rise even as risks become more complex.
These additions build on an already strong program that includes a keynote from Taryn Sims, executive discussions on public-private partnerships during crises, presentations from Chartwell Best Practices Award winners, and sessions covering weather intelligence, outage communications, emergency management, business continuity, and emerging legal and regulatory challenges.
As resilience becomes an increasingly strategic priority for utilities, PowerUp 2026 will provide a forum for utility leaders to share practical lessons, emerging strategies, and innovative approaches for preparing their organizations for the challenges ahead.
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