We will kick off with a welcome and share an overview priorities and goals for the day.

We will begin with a “lay of the land” overview from CTG on the changing energy investment landscape, covering inter alia, perspectives on where investments have been flowing; what company types and technology areas have been attracting investment attention; and from which investor types. CTG will then share a few ideas on who and what you might wish to pay attention to.

CTG will then invite pre-identified “conversation starters” to help kick off a group exercise to build up a more complete picture of the opportunity sets that different investors and different investor types see today, across the transitioning energy landscape. Against that picture, together we’d then look to address these “reality check” type questions, with our “conversation starters” being invited to have a first go:

• • Is the opportunity set actually as attractive as we, the believers, might like to think?
• • What will it take to unlock more capital – from the big asset owners to the major family offices, from philanthropic and development capital to major corporations’ balance sheets?
• • What are the macro-shocks that could upset this picture?

The energy and utility sectors have experienced epochal change over the past decade, largely driven by technological innovation driving energy costs lower and faster than most observers thought possible. The list of “revolutions” is familiar: abundant gas, energy efficiency, transmission connected renewables, and distributed energy resources (DER), with energy storage on the horizon. While many new players and business models have entered the fray, few appear to be returning money to their investors so far, or achieving the scale or coverage of their initial promise. How and when can investors actually profit from this rapidly emerging new energy sector?

Enovation Partners will kick off this session with perspectives from their work serving leading participants in the energy and power sectors, sharing views on:

• • How abundance of energy through innovation and policy is shifting value from commodities to distribution, control, and sustainability, and from volumetric mindset to one of optionality
• • Where DER will be “in the money” and when
• • Cost and value trajectories for the major use cases of energy storage

We will then open the floor to stimulate wider discussion, giving attendees the opportunity to agree/disagree with what they have heard. Topics may include:

• • How can the current incumbent models of utilities, retailers and power producers survive? What will separate winners from losers?
• • What will it take for ‘energy as a service’ models to rival traditional distribution?
• • Which business models and technologies are under/over-valued today?
• • Can the business model stars of the early 2010s (YieldCos, MLPs, Solar Finance) return to their former glory?
• • Will better business models for deploying capital emerge to challenge traditional commercial banks, regulated utilities, venture/PE/infra funds, and project finance?
• • What is the potential for innovation to substantially lower commodity prices and disrupt these business models?

We will hear from six innovation companies who will share their perspective on what 1-2 major impacts they see as likely to happen in 2017-18 in their particular field of operation and why their innovation matters.

Are you ready to dive deeper? The focus of these small group discussions will be to share views on how rapidly changing opportunity areas may develop in 2017 and beyond, what opportunities and threats that could bring, and for whom.

Each “Roundtable Host” will quickly highlight their topic to the room before facilitating an insightful conversation with 10-12 interested participants. The final line-up of topics are:

• • Implications of a maturing grid energy storage market
  Energy storage has the potential to transform the electric grid and the exponential growth experienced in the last several years appears poised to continue. How will states and utilities shape the grid storage market? What are the likely factors that will dictate the winners and losers in the coming “business model” challenge? Will new players influence the market, and if so, how?
• • Innovation for a majority-renewable electric grid
  Generation from solar and wind has grown rapidly in the last decade, but overall levels of penetration remain below 10%. With a positive outlook for continued growth of renewables, integration of renewables is becoming an increasingly pressing question. This roundtable discussion, led by David Henshall (ARPA-E), will cover the technological implications of an electric grid with greater reliance on renewables. What new technologies are needed to reach higher levels of renewable penetration? What innovation opportunities does this create, and how is ARPA-E fostering innovation in this space?
• • How the C&I customer experiences energy
  Change is already evident for the C&I energy customer, but we believe the journey has only just begun. This roundtable discussion, facilitated by Kristin Barbato (Edison Energy), will share viewpoints on how that journey might evolve. The discussion will explore both the short and long term implications, ranging from how energy is managed by large consumers (and who will be in charge) to what strategies they may implement. What kind of services and support will be needed for large energy consumers? How might this look and feel – for the utility, customer, and any intermediaries?
• • How grid modernization will change the economics of DERs
  Grid modernization initiatives, most notably in New York, California, and Texas, may enable new value creation mechanisms for distributed energy resources (DERs). Led by Josh Gould, the discussion will explore the impacts that New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program will have on DERs. What technology innovations are needed to enable a smooth transition? Which of today’s distributed technologies are well-positioned to succeed in which future constructs, and why? What policy developments should investors and innovators be monitoring, and why?

In small groups, participants will dive a bit deeper into specific subjects. The “Roundtable Host” will help guide the discussion, raise hard questions, and facilitate a spirited conversation. Every attendee will be expected to actively contribute to the discussion.

The goals for these sessions are to generate market intelligence, begin forming relationships among participants who may not often collaborate, and bring insights and differing perspectives within the ecosystem.