Affordability Still the Watchword for Utilities at DistribuTECH 2026

Speakers at DistribuTECH International 2026, Feb. 2 – 5 at the San Diego Convention Center, agreed that a trio of dilemmas now face utilities: how to deliver electricity that is sustainable, reliable and affordable. However, when pressed, many attendees, speakers and vendors will tell you that affordability is their top priority in 2026.

This fact was underscored by a handful of protesters who gathered outside a keynote event held at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, holding signs stating the rates charged by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) were too much for ordinary customers to bear. Protests are a rare sight at these events, and the speakers made attempts to address their concerns while on stage.

“Consumers are frustrated with the cost of everything right now. We are working with policymakers to make sure energy stays affordable,” said Scott Crider, president of SDG&E.

Crider spent most of his opening remarks discussing the impact of new technologies, however, given that DTECH is in many ways a technology conference. Part of the challenge, he said, is getting utility employees to embrace the power of data and getting our employees to understand that data is no longer just the purview of the IT department.

One area where technology can be brought to solve a pressing problem is wildfires, he said. The utility uses an artificial intelligence-powered camera network as well as hundreds of weather and climate stations and AI weather models to craft their disaster response from a mountain of raw data.

While delivering a presentation on advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), Katie Richards, director of meter technology and automation with Arizona Public Service (APS), said utilities need to be honest with customers when it comes to rates and what they pay for.

"I'm not going to take my kid to the doctor and tell them that it won't hurt. I'll tell them it will hurt, but just for a little bit,” Richards said, adding that like a vaccine, new technology investments provide valuable protections for ratepayers that they might not even notice, which makes it a utility’s responsibility to communicate to customers about. 

“Telling customers that their bills aren’t so bad will only make them not trust you,” Richards told her audience.

Ben Wilson, director of product and business development – energy at Amazon Web Services (AWS), said we are now seeing the most growth for electricity transmission in 30 years. This is a trend mostly driven by the technology sector, he said.

“You are the ones who power Amazon. Amazon matched 100% of its energy usage with renewable energy. Industrial reshoring is bringing energy intensive industries back to North America,” Wilson said.

He added that Big Tech simply demanding more power is not a solution. This is why the technology sector needs to be obsessed with efficiency.

“Because we know the cheapest megawatt is the one you don’t use,” Wilson said.

Jim Robb, president and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), said many policies currently guiding the electricity sector were written for a different era than the one in which we currently operate.

“There is so much in the interconnection queue that will never get built. A lot of it was conceived at a different interest rate time. There is a need for a quality cleanse so we can look at what stands a good chance of getting built,” Robb said.

The SunZia transmission project, which stretches from New Mexico to Arizona, took 17 years from its inception to delivering power, Robb said, adding that the timeframe for power projects will necessarily need to speed up if the industry has any chance of meeting this moment.

“We're building a grid over time that is very different than the one we inherited from our grandfathers,” he said.