South Dakota Regional Power Conference and Annual Awards Banquet
The South Dakota Regional Power Conference and Annual Awards Banquet brings together students, educators and industry professionals to explore current developments in the power and energy field. Hosted by South Dakota State University, the event provides opportunities for learning, networking and recognizing outstanding achievements within the region.
Attendees can register for the conference, participate in scheduled activities and join the annual banquet celebrating individuals and organizations that have made meaningful contributions to the industry.
WEK Award Recipient: Thomas J. Heller
Thomas J. “Tom” Heller is the recipient of this year’s WEK Award. Heller currently serves as executive director of the Transmission Access Policy Study Group, where he works on regulatory and transmission policy issues for transmission-dependent utilities nationwide. He previously served as president and CEO of Missouri River Energy Services and has held numerous leadership positions within the public power industry. Throughout his career, Heller has been recognized for his exceptional leadership, service and commitment to public power.
Conference and Banquet Information
The Biennial South Dakota Regional Power Conference will begin at 8 a.m. with presentations and sessions scheduled throughout the day. The Annual Awards Banquet will begin at 6 p.m.
Please note that conference registration and banquet registration are separate and require separate registration fees. Attendees may register for the conference, the banquet or both.
Registration
Morning Session
8:15-9:15 a.m.
More Connected, More Exposed: A Utility’s Path to a Modern Hardened Network and Mature Security Program
- Stuart Anderson, Professional Engineer, Chief Information Officer for L&O Power Cooperative, Project Manager at DGR Engineering, Rock Rapids, Iowa
The systems responsible for keeping the lights on are more connected than ever. Utilities must balance reliability, security, compliance and affordability while managing increasingly complex technology environments with lean teams and limited budgets. To meet that challenge, L&O Power Cooperative began with an operational technology cybersecurity assessment that revealed opportunities to improve in asset management, access control, patch management and documented policies.
Those findings guided a multiphase program spanning a full overhaul of security policies and procedures, multifactor authentication, centralized domain and account controls, security awareness training, and incident response planning. Later phases carried that foundation into the field with a modernized operational technology network built on software-defined networking, network segmentation, centralized flow control and redundant communications.
This hardened architecture improves visibility, enforces tightly controlled communication paths and enables rapid isolation of suspicious devices — reducing exposure while creating a more secure, resilient and manageable network. L&O’s experience offers practical lessons in prioritizing limited resources, securing leadership commitment and advancing cybersecurity maturity from initial findings to a hardened system in the field.
9:30-10:30 a.m.
Wildfire Mitigation (Engineering and Planning)
- Brad Sylliaasen, Senior Distribution Engineer, Xcel Energy
With many wildfire risk areas from Texas to Northern Wisconsin, Xcel Energy has spent the last four to five years developing a planning and engineering approach to mitigating the risk of wildfires. This presentation will review how we have developed, planned and engineered mitigation strategies to help minimize the risk of wildfires across Xcel Energy.
10:45-11:45 a.m.
Marshall Solar Plus – MRES Solar and Battery Project
- Austin Hoekman, Director of Energy Supply and Operations, Missouri River Energy Services
Missouri River Energy Services recently installed a 10 megawatt solar plus five megawatt/20 megawatt-hour battery at its member Marshall Municipal Utilities. The project was installed as a behind the meter generation project that required close coordination with Missouri River Energy Services member MMU and to ensure reliability on the distribution system with a large nearby industrial load.
This presentation will discuss the project details, interconnection study requirements and a look back at operations since going commercial. Hoekman will review the market performance discuss the outlook of these projects and technology in regional real-time operating systems in the future.
11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch
Afternoon Session
1-2 p.m.
Interconnection Process for a Large Data Center Load
- Will Lovelace, Supervisor of Transmission Planning, Minnkota Power Cooperative
- Kasey Borboa, Senior Manager of Power Delivery Engineering, Minnkota Power Cooperative
The planning and construction of a large load located in Harwood, North Dakota, will be presented. The interconnection process that Minnkota developed as well as some of the advancements that are going on in industry today will be discussed. Includes the schedule, cost and resources required on the construction side of the project.
2:15-3:15 p.m.
AI Data Centers on the Grid: Cascading Failure Risk and a Practical Path to Mitigation
- Junjian Qi, Ph.D., Harold C. Hohbach Endowed Associate Professor, McComish Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, South Dakota State University
Hyperscale artificial intelligence data centers are landing on Midwest transmission systems in gigawatt-scale clusters, concentrating voltage- and frequency-sensitive load at single buses. This talk presents a cascading failure simulation that represents data centers through four UPS-driven operation modes and applies it to a modified Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers RTS-96 system with high wind penetration.
Results show that data center load can meaningfully elevate cascade risk and that a ramp-rate limit offers an effective mitigation. Ongoing work extends the framework with more realistic dynamic modeling of data center load to capture its response under grid disturbances.
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Ensuring Proper Substation Grounding though Consultant Studies
- Brian Turner, Substation Engineer, Nebraska Public Power District
When working with consultants on substation design, how can you verify that the grounding study meets your standards? This presentation will address that question by examining soil and rock resistivity characteristics that are often overlooked during ground potential rise analyses. Attendees will learn the key information needed to effectively review and question consultant designs, along with practical approaches to mitigating common grounding challenges.
Awards Banquet Keynote Speaker
Scaling the Grid: Strategic Development of 765 kV Assets in the United States
- Blake Fletcher, Burns & McDonnell
Starting in 1969, 765 kV had been operated in the U.S. as a novel voltage in a specific geographic footprint. However, that changed in 2024 when both Southwest Power Pool and Midcontinent Independent System Operator approved new 765 kV projects in their territories. Similar approvals followed in 2025 in both Electric Reliability Council of Texas and PJM Interconnection. There is little sign of slowing as Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, PJM Interconnection and Southwest Power Pool all now have active 765 kV projects in the queue with planned in-service dates between 2029 and 2034.
During this 45-minute presentation, Fletcher will deliver a 765 kV state of the market, covering the past, present and future of the voltage in the U.S. In addition to explaining the drivers behind the inclusion of this voltage in International Organization for Standardization's and Regional Transmission Organization's transmission planning portfolios, Fletcher will focus on current planning activities, upcoming portfolios and market realities affecting supply chain, resourcing and policy at 765 kV.