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SEPA Names 2026 Power Player Award Winners for Breakthroughs in Grid Resilience, Load Growth Planning, and Global Scaling
Top Honors Awarded to Paul Lau, Pedro J. Pizarro, CPS Energy, EPRI, and PPL Electric
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) today announced the winners of the 2026 Power Player Awards, honoring Paul Lau, CEO and General Manager of SMUD, Pedro J. Pizarro, President and CEO of Edison International, and organizational innovators CPS Energy, EPRI, and PPL Electric. These winners are recognized for driving breakthrough solutions that will shape the energy sector for decades — from strengthening the grid and managing rapid load growth to scaling innovations globally.
"What sets this year's Power Player Award winners apart is that they're not waiting — they're building. Building a grid that can handle what's coming, meeting demand that's growing faster than anyone predicted, and delivering results that customers can actually feel. SEPA is proud to recognize their leadership," said Sheri Givens, President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance.
This year, SEPA received nearly 130 award nominations from across the energy ecosystem — utilities, corporations, project teams, and individuals — reflecting the depth of innovation driving the energy transition.
Winners and finalists were selected through an impartial scoring process conducted by a diverse panel of industry and subject matter experts. Judges included leaders from utilities, national and international energy organizations, and SEPA staff with deep expertise across the energy sector. The evaluation process focused on innovation, collaboration, replicability, and scalability.
Winners were honored at the 2026 Power Player Awards Dinner on May 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C., co-located with SEPA’s Energy Evolution Summit.
To learn more about the 2026 Power Player Award winners and finalists, please visit https://sepapower.org/power-player-awards/.
Individual Achievement Awards
Excellence in Leadership
SEPA is proud to honor Pedro J. Pizarro, President and CEO of Edison International, with the Excellence in Leadership Award for his transformational impact on grid resilience, electrification, climate adaptation, and industry collaboration. Since becoming CEO in 2016, Pedro has helped shape the future of the electric power sector through a strategic vision centered on resilience, affordability, decarbonization, and innovation. Under his leadership, Edison International advanced major grid hardening and wildfire mitigation initiatives, accelerated infrastructure modernization, and pioneered forward-looking technologies like SCE’s Advanced Waveform Anomaly Recognition System (AWARE). Foundational to his leadership model, Pedro has championed cross-sector collaboration through key roles with the Edison Electric Institute and the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, successfully aligning utilities, government agencies, and community stakeholders around shared clean energy goals and long-term resilience planning.
“It is an honor to receive the 2026 Excellence in Leadership Power Player Award. This recognition belongs to the teams across Edison International, Southern California Edison and Trio who turn big ideas into real progress every day. From safely delivering reliable, affordable power to helping organizations navigate energy strategy, sustainability and decarbonization, our work is grounded in strong partnerships. Together, we’re advancing practical, scalable energy solutions that support economic growth, strengthen resilience and enable a cleaner future for the communities we serve,” said Pizarro.
Lifetime Achievement Award
SEPA is proud to recognize Paul Lau with the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his nearly 45 years at SMUD, including his tenure as CEO and General Manager. Under his leadership, SMUD launched its ambitious 2030 Zero Carbon Plan—the most aggressive carbon reduction goal of any large utility in the United States—while maintaining rates approximately 50% below neighboring investor-owned utilities. A visionary champion of collaboration, Lau pioneered innovative programs, secured significant zero-carbon resources, and helped position Sacramento as a national hub for clean energy innovation. Through his strategic leadership at both SMUD and as Chair of SEPA’s Board of Directors, Lau has left an enduring mark on the industry and the communities he served with deep commitment to public service.
“It’s been the honor of my lifetime to lead SMUD and to serve our community for more than four decades. SMUD’s purpose is to improve the quality of life for our customers and community, and SMUD is positioned to continue delivering on that for the 1.5 million people we serve, through strong financial management, low rates, reliable service, visionary clean energy goals, innovative customer programs, community investment, a strong Board of Directors, and dedicated, smart and passionate employees. SMUD is well placed to continue to lead the utility industry and our region for decades to come,” said Lau.
Organizational Achievement Awards
Grid Power Player of the Year Awardee
SEPA named PPL Electric’s Smart Grid, Automation & SCADA Team the 2026 Grid Power Player of the Year for its DER Management Program, the electric industry’s first large-scale deployment of an active DER Management program in the United States. Designed to safely integrate growing amounts of distributed renewable energy while improving power quality, reliability, and hosting capacity. The program addresses the increasing voltage volatility and operational challenges created by rapidly rising DER penetration. PPL Electric implemented a comprehensive solution combining a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), utility‑installed DER Management devices, smart inverters, and telemetry via AMI or cellular networks. This enables real‑time monitoring and active management of inverter grid‑support settings, and system‑wide optimization. Since its launch in 2021, the initiative has increased DER hosting capacity by more than 98 MW, supported a 265% increase in DER applications, improved voltage performance and reliability, reduced interconnection costs, and is projected to produce net benefits of $65.5 million over the 2025-2030 period.
“It is an honor to receive the 2026 Grid Power Player of the Year Award. This recognition belongs to the teams across PPL Electric who worked incredibly hard on the DER Management Pilot Program and to those who helped turn it into a permanent program. The program has shown tremendous benefits for not only the Company, but for our 1.5 million customers.” said Aliesha Dombrowski-Diamond, PPL's Sr. Project Manager of DER Management and DSO Strategy.
Finalists: Duke Energy and Trico Electric Cooperative
Growth Power Player of the Year Awardee
SEPA named CPS Energy the 2026 Growth Power Player of the Year for its strategic acquisition of 1,632 megawatts of natural gas generation to meet the San Antonio region’s accelerating energy demand. By securing modern, dispatchable capacity at approximately half the cost of building comparable generation assets, the utility executed a proactive infrastructure strategy that saved an estimated $2 billion and avoided significant inflationary and supply chain risks. These dual-fuel capable facilities stabilize customer costs and support regional economic development while offering future hydrogen blending potential to align with the utility’s broader clean energy goals. This collaborative effort—supported by cross-functional internal teams, the CPS Energy Board of Trustees, and the San Antonio City Council—serves as a scalable model for other public power organizations to address resource adequacy through disciplined financial planning, stakeholder coordination, and long-term infrastructure strategy.
Finalists: PG&E, Southern California Edison, and CEBA in collaboration with Georgia Power
Globe Power Player of the Year Awardee
SEPA named EPRI the 2026 Globe Power Player of the Year for its groundbreaking Climate Resilience and Adaptation Initiative (Climate READi), the electric power sector’s first industry-aligned framework for physical climate risk assessment, resilience planning, and adaptation. Since its launch in 2022, this global effort has united more than 40 utilities and 150 organizations to integrate climate science directly into power system planning, producing over 60 technical resources to guide investment decision-making. By highlighting the value of proactive resilience planning, Climate READi provides a scalable, standardized model for utilities worldwide to strengthen system reliability against extreme weather. This initiative fosters the international collaboration necessary to build more resilient, reliable, and sustainable energy systems for the future.
"EPRI is honored by this recognition and shares this award with the hundreds of organizations and individuals that contributed to the Climate READi Framework. We are eager to continue implementing and advancing the Framework to show that together, we can keep the grid resilient to extreme weather events, “ said Laura Fischer, EPRI’s Principal Team Lead, Climate Resilience Analysis and Climate READi Lead.
Finalists: Octopus Energy and Kraken Technologies
About SEPA:
The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is a national nonprofit leading the future of clean, affordable, resilient power. With nearly 1,000 members spanning utilities of every business model, state commissions and energy offices, consumer advocates and the technology companies reshaping the grid, SEPA produces research, convenes the full ecosystem, and delivers practical guidance that informs some of the most consequential decisions being made in the energy sector right now. Learn more at sepapower.org.
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Makenna Gaeta Smart Electric Power Alliance (771) 240-4273 mgaeta@sepapower.org
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