Executive Summary: August 7th AEG Philadelphia 25Q3 Stakeholder Challenge: Grid Optimization
Overview
Held on August 7th, 2025 at WSP USA in Philadelphia, PA, sixty public and private industry leaders convened for the AEG Philadelphia Stakeholder Challenge: Grid Optimization. The purpose of this challenge was to: 1.) Agree on a critical obstacle preventing achievement of Greater Philadelphia’s climate, health and energy goals; 2.) Align on a 90-day sprint and 12-month objective to best address this obstacle; and 3.) Enable stakeholders to create a volunteer Task Force accountable for delivering the agreed solution.
Craig Connelly, VP, Energy Transition & Innovation, Advisory & Planning, WSP USA, Elizabeth Lankenau, Director, Office of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia, and Kimberly Barrow, Vice Chair, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission provided opening remarks to frame the discussion surrounding grid optimization for Greater Philadelphia.
Opening remarks were followed by the Speaker Challenge, where each speaker provided an 8 minute and 5 slide presentation that concluded with this completed statement: "Regarding Grid Optimization, to achieve Philadelphia's climate, health & energy goals, a critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is …”
5 Key Themes
1. Reform Market Structures for Equitable Resource Adequacy
Philadelphia’s growing energy demand and projected capacity shortfalls require a reexamination of existing market incentives and regulatory frameworks. Stakeholders emphasized the need for long-term commitments to new generation that ensure reliability without disproportionately burdening vulnerable customers.
“Stakeholders need to recognize that existing market and regulatory structures should be reviewed to ensure that resource adequacy is being assured in a manner that is equitable for customers.” — Tom Bonner, Sr. Manager, State Government Affairs, PECO
2. Scale Rooftop Solar in Underserved Communities
Expanding distributed solar access in disadvantaged neighborhoods is critical to achieving both affordability and resilience. The Philadelphia Energy Authority stressed that deploying 2,500 solar rooftops within the next year is possible with coordinated action and local funding.
“A critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is to develop 2,500 solar rooftops in vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. With funding and collaborative action, we have the tools to make it happen.” — Emily Schapira, President & CEO, Philadelphia Energy Authority
3. Deploy Microgrids and Broadband for Safety Net Hospitals
Safety net hospitals are vital to Philadelphia’s health infrastructure but lack resilient energy and digital systems. A unified framework is needed to deploy microgrids and broadband that protect these institutions and surrounding communities from outages.
“Safety net hospitals face energy and digital fragility. Fragmented planning among utilities, city agencies, and regulators delays solutions—we must deploy neighborhood-scale microgrids with broadband to protect these essential institutions.” — Wayne Barnett, Head, Public Policy & External Affairs, Cordia
4. Overcome Institutional Inertia and Project Delays
Delays in infrastructure upgrades are driven by fragmented planning and slow regulatory processes. Participants called for urgent cross-sector coordination to unlock funding and accelerate grid modernization.
“One of the most critical challenges to grid optimization is the inertia that comes from lack of coordination.” — AEG Philadelphia 25Q3 Attendee
5. Leverage Local Solutions to Improve Resilience and Control Costs
Philadelphia’s climate and equity goals demand targeted load management, smart infrastructure, and community-driven initiatives that ease grid strain while lowering household energy burdens. Liz Lankenau emphasized that neighborhood-scale efforts—like energy efficiency, distributed energy, and demand response—are critical to both resilience and affordability in the face of rising energy demand and costs.
While efficiency and decarbonization are fundamental, targeted load distribution and optimization initiatives also represent big opportunities to improve resilience and control costs.” — Elizabeth Lankenau, Director, Office of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia
Inspired by the statement provided by Emily Schapira, President & CEO, Philadelphia Energy Authority, participants agreed to prioritize her obstacle statement to also catalyze long term market restructuring and win/wins with data centers driving high load growth. Participants then designed, pitched, and selected a 90-day sprint and 12-month objective to best address this critical obstacle. 21 leaders came together to form a volunteer Task Force to complete this 90-day sprint and 12-month objective.
Task Force Volunteers: Sweekratha Shetty, Exelon (Co-Lead), Keith Henderson, PECO (Co-Lead), Trace Allen, Rewiring America (Co-Lead), Craig Connelly, WSP USA, Gary Leatherman, Alvarez & Marsal, Dominic McGraw, City of Philadelphia, Megan Clarkin, City of Philadelphia, Wayne Barnett, Cordia Energy, William Tate, Exelon BSC, Nick Vardalos, Landis+Gyr, Chris Patton, Landis+Gyr, Nicolette Brown, PECO, Tom Bonner, PECO, Keith Henderson, PECO, Emily Schapira, Philadelphia Energy Authority, Rishika Ghosh, Philadelphia Green Capital Corp, Elizabeth Freeman, Reap Energy, Jake Sikkema, Sikkema Electric, Janean Gardner, The JPI Group, Christine Knapp, US Department of Energy, Willa Hightower, WJ Hightower Associates, Andrew Schwab, University of Pittsburgh
To join this group of volunteers, please contact us at info@goadvancedenergy.com.
Conclusion
The AEG Philadelphia 25Q3 Stakeholder Challenge on Grid Optimization brought together city leaders, utility experts, hospital resilience advocates, solar equity champions, and market reform strategists to address urgent energy challenges facing Greater Philadelphia. The challenge emphasized the need to expand distributed solar in disadvantaged communities, deploy resilient microgrids at safety net hospitals, and reform market structures to ensure equitable resource adequacy. Key themes included overcoming institutional inertia, coordinating stakeholder action, and leveraging local, data-driven solutions to reduce grid strain and energy costs. As volunteer task force members advance a 90-day sprint and 12-month roadmap, their efforts will be vital to building a cleaner, smarter, and more resilient grid for Greater Philadelphia.
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