January 20-22, 2026 | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

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2025 Conference Sessions

Weatherization and the Future Resilience of Power Generation in Texas

12 Feb 2025

10:15 AM - 11:15 AM

Exhibit Hall Booth 3030

Center Stage

In response to the catastrophic Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 3, mandating weatherization requirements for power generation, natural gas, and transmission facilities. This legislation set specific standards and timelines for compliance, prompting ERCOT and these facilities to undergo major weatherization initiatives to safeguard the grid.

The new weatherization law requires power generation and transmission facilities to protect Weather-Critical Components and implement various measures to secure their facilities against summer and winter weather emergencies. These sweeping reforms prioritize grid reliability and resilience in the face of extreme weather events.

This panel will explore the impacts of these legislative changes, focusing on:

The implementation of weatherization preparedness laws
The effectiveness of emergency preparation measures
Outcomes of these changes and their impact on grid reliability and resilience

Industry experts will discuss the results of these initiatives and provide actionable insights on preparation and planning to enhance grid reliability and resilience in Texas.

Panel Moderated by Diane Fischer

Panel Moderator

Diane Fischer, Director, Generation Services - Kiewit

Speakers

Raihan Khondker, Manager, Weatherization and Inspection - ERCOT

Garry Waggoner, Vice President, Generation Services - Fossil and Renewables Generation - Vistra

Richard Sake, Operations Manager, Fleet Support - Constellation

"This is my first year at POWERGEN and so far I can just say, wow, this event is huge. I never thought I would have access to so many different vendors and so many different experts in the energy industry by coming to an event like this."

Caitlyn Watkins

Cleco

"It's my first time at POWERGEN. I'm having a great time walking around and seeing all of the booths in the exhibit hall and everything that everybody's trying to sell me, as well as a lot of very useful technical presentations. My particular favorite has been the carbon capture track, but they've all been good that I've attended so far."

Janelle Dana

Entergy

"Hi, I’m Chad Lemoine with Entergy... here as a corrective actions program specialist. It’s my first time at POWERGEN, so it’s been great for networking. I’ve met personnel at our plants I’d only talked to on the phone, so that face-to-face interaction has been really good. I’ve enjoyed meeting new people, learning about what they do, and how it interacts with my work... Overall, it's been a really good time."

Chad Lemoine

Entergy

"I think my favorite part of the conference has been essentially the Smarter Power Plant Track. There's been a lot of good [takeaways] for us because our plans are quite old, so there's a lot of manual readings and things, but me being the IT generation, I think it could be done better. So having a lot of these [takeaways] from companies who have [accomplished what] we are wanting to do is great. It's been really eye opening networking with all of the exhibitors [as well]. It's my first time here, but I don’t think it's going to be my last."

Jonathan Hellborg

Svensk Kraftreserv

“Nel’s chosen to sponsor and be part of POWERGEN because it's one of the more important shows in the hydrogen market, also the power generation market in general. Over the years, we've seen a shift in POWERGEN from more traditional power generation to a greater presence with renewables, and now with hydrogen, as an energy source, moving into the future.”

Chris Van Name

Nel Hydrogen

“We're here today at the conference because I believe this is the largest power generation conference there is in the country. One, it's a way to get our name out and that's why we're sponsoring it. But two, it's also a great way to connect with other groups, other organizations and, you know, meet the people who are actually important for our own progression as a company.”

James Walker

Nano Nuclear Energy, Inc

“We come to POWERGEN every year because it's a great show you can make great contacts in the renewable space, great contacts in the data center space, great contacts in the commercial industrial space. So that's why we're here every year. You should be here too.”

David D’Escoto

Maddox Industrial Transformer