Virtual System Protection and Digitization for Substation and Grid Performance
September 1, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM ET | 1:00 PM CT | 11:00 AM PT
Duration: 60 minutes
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Summary
As the energy landscape rapidly evolves, grid modernization has become essential for delivering greater resilience, efficiency, and sustainability. Facing rising demand, increasing distributed energy resources, and climate-driven challenges, utilities are turning to advanced technologies to future-proof the grid.
Join SCE to explore the transformative impact of intelligent substations, real-time data analytics, and virtual system protection. Attendees will discover how cutting-edge sensors and digital technologies enable proactive monitoring, faster fault detection, and dynamic response capabilities—dramatically improving grid stability, reducing downtime, and strengthening system security.
The webinar and discussion will also highlight the critical role of digitization in optimizing grid operations, from predictive maintenance and data-driven decision-making to the seamless integration of renewable energy sources, all while lowering operational costs and enhancing overall performance.
Join us for an insightful, forward-looking conversation on how these innovations are reshaping the industry and accelerating the transition to a smarter, more resilient, and sustainable power grid.
Speakers
Mike Beehler
National Spokesperson
Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative
Mike Beehler P.E. is the national spokesperson for the Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative and the chief opportunity officer for Mike Beehler & Associates LLC. He started his career designing and building transmission lines and substations for Tucson Electric Power and the Hawaiian Electric Co. and then spent more than 20 years designing T&D infrastructure and consulting on emerging trends at Burns & McDonnell. He has written, presented, and consulted on reliability-centered maintenance, critical infrastructure protection, and program management.
In addition, he is a well-known industry writer and speaker on the early definition of the smart grid, 3-D and building information modeling applications in T&D, and development plans for smart cities. Most recently, he is sought for his strategic leadership and vision on the application of emerging technologies in changing business models to include the integration of distributed energy resources, augmented/virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. He authored the book, The Science of the Sale.
Beehler is a registered professional engineer in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Georgia, and Alabama. He also is a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of IEEE and CIGRE.
Vik Trehan
Vice President, Transmission, Substations & Operations
Southern California Edison
Vik Trehan is Vice President of Transmission, Substations & Operations, with responsibility for the safe and reliable operation of Southern California Edison’s electric system. He oversees grid operations, as well as the construction, maintenance, and modernization of SCE’s transmission, substation, and telecommunications assets, ensuring system performance, reliability, regulatory compliance, and effective emergency response and restoration.
Vik joined Southern California Edison in 2004 as a protection engineer and has progressed through a broad range of engineering, operations, and executive leadership roles, building deep experience across system operations and infrastructure management.
He has been honored with several of the energy industry’s most prestigious awards, including the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Award, the Public Utilities Fortnightly Nikola Tesla Top Innovator in AI Award, and the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies President’s Award for outstanding leadership and innovation in the energy sector.
Vik is a licensed Professional Engineer and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Nagpur University and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from California State University, Fullerton. He also holds a certification in Distributed Energy Resources from Kaplan University.
