Redefining Grid Resilience in an Era of Uncertainty
Paul Damiani is an advanced manufacturing expert in semiconductors and silicon PV with deep experience across the full solar value chain. His career includes solar cell and module design, capital raising production, optimization and rapid product introduction. He has established three PV production lines and brings hands on expertise from silicon crystal growth through system installation.
Gary Walia is a power & energy executive at Southwire with over 20 years leading energy infrastructure, grid modernization and data center initiatives.
Currently leading Southwire’s Grid of the Future, Walia’s work is disrupting the global energy transition toward a smarter, more sustainable and resilient Grid of the Future.
Stanton Lanham is a meteorologist at Duke Energy providing forecasting and weather intelligence across service territories in the Carolinas Midwest and Florida. He supports forecast product development data analysis and air dispersion modeling for the company’s nuclear sites helping strengthen operational readiness safety and informed decision making.
Jared Leader is Senior Director of Resilience at SEPA, advising utilities, policymakers, developers NGOs and end-use consumers on flexible, resilient and clean energy strategies. He previously worked with utility, municipal and industry stakeholders across the energy and water sectors. Jared holds an MS from Johns Hopkins University and a BS from the University of Virginia and was named to PUF’s Fortnightly Under Forty.
Cristina is Executive Director of SC Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy, South Carolina’s TechHub with 20+ years in economic development, she has led nationally recognized growth initiatives, major industrial expansions and inclusive business programs.
Formerly leading Tallahassee-Leon County’s economic development, she delivered thousands of jobs and impact, while advancing energy resiliency through cross-sector collaboration nationwide.
The panel explored grid resilience as a shared systems challenge involving nuclear base load, distributed solar, batteries, forecasting, regulation, cybersecurity, data centers and industrial load growth. Participants emphasized that resilience is no longer only about repairing infrastructure after storms. It now requires better prediction, smarter use of existing assets, flexible behind-the-meter resources, stronger testing environments and updated policy models that reward performance.
The discussion made clear that resilience is not simply having extra power available during emergencies. It is about knowing where power is, when it is needed and how assets should behave under stress.
Participants connected resilience to forecasting, controls, demand response, batteries, solar, nuclear base load and behind-the-meter systems. The deeper point is that the grid must become more adaptive rather than merely larger.
Extreme Weather is Redefining What Infrastructure Must Withstand
The panel grounded resilience in lived operational experience with major rainfall, flooding and storms. One example showed how a previously extreme flood scenario became real within a decade. This reframed climate risk as a design problem: infrastructure built around historical assumptions may no longer be sufficient. The caveat is that hardening assets is costly, so utilities and regulators must decide how to value preparedness before disasters occur.
Participants repeatedly emphasized that the grid is underutilized for much of the year because it is built around peak demand. Technologies such as dynamic line ratings, storage, demand response and virtual power plants were presented as ways to extract more value from existing infrastructure. This insight matters because new transmission is difficult, slow and expensive. Smarter utilization can create near-term capacity while larger infrastructure catches up.
Distributed Resources Require Visibility Before They Can Deliver Full Value
Behind-the-meter solar and batteries were discussed as major opportunities but also as operational blind spots. Utilities need better visibility into customer-owned assets before they can forecast load accurately or dispatch resources effectively. The nuanced point is that distributed resources can support customers, feeders and wholesale systems but one unit of energy cannot serve every purpose at the same time. Control systems and operating agreements determine what value gets delivered.
Solar was described as dependable in pattern but variable in output. Better forecasting allows utilities to use more solar, reduce reliance on other generation and optimize batteries more effectively. The panel showed that forecasting is not a side function. It is a bridge between renewable generation and grid operations. The caveat is that poor forecasts create real operational risk because utilities must either find missing power or manage unexpected surplus.
Regulation Must Evolve From Least-Cost Planning to Performance-Based Resilience
The panel repeatedly returned to the limits of traditional utility regulation. Historic models focused on least cost and reliable service, while the current grid must also address sustainability, resilience, equity and load growth. Participants pointed to performance metrics, utilization targets and resilience frameworks as ways to align utility incentives with modern needs. The insight is that technology adoption will remain slow unless regulation rewards the outcomes the grid now requires.
The discussion highlighted real-world testing environments for batteries, grid emulation, cybersecurity and transmission systems. These facilities matter because utilities, hospitals, industrial sites and critical infrastructure cannot simply shut down power to test resilience. The key insight is that credible deployment requires proof under realistic conditions, especially when dealing with storage, cyber risk, disaster response and grid-scale interoperability.
Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Risk Are Now Part of Energy Resilience
The panel expanded resilience beyond storms and outages to include software, hardware and remote-control vulnerabilities. Distributed energy systems rely on inverters, communications and products that may introduce new risks. This adds a modern layer to grid resilience: the system must withstand not only physical stress but digital disruption. The caveat is that cyber-resilient energy systems require continuous monitoring, testing and coordination across vendors.
The presentation framed the enduring grid as a coordinated ecosystem rather than a single utility asset. Participants showed that resilience depends on weather intelligence, modern regulation, distributed assets, cybersecurity, testing infrastructure and smarter use of existing capacity. The shared conclusion was that the Super South’s energy future will require collaboration across utilities, technology providers, regulators, researchers and large energy users.
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