Grid Forward names SPP, Amperon and Paul Lau as 2026 Grid Innovators

Grid Forward announced its 2026 Grid Innovator of the Year Awards at its annual member meeting on June 30, honoring Southwest Power Pool, Amperon and SMUD CEO Paul Lau for work tied to grid modernization. The awards highlight tools and leadership aimed at improving reliability, flexibility and planning as utilities face load growth, weather stress and decarbonization pressure.

Why it matters: - The awards spotlight the companies and leaders shaping how utilities handle load growth, extreme weather and grid reliability. - Grid modernization is becoming a practical need, not just a policy goal, as operators add new generation and flexible demand. - The honorees represent three parts of the power system: grid operations, forecasting technology and utility leadership.

What happened: - Grid Forward announced the 2026 Grid Innovator of the Year Awards during its Annual Member Meeting on June 30. - Southwest Power Pool, Amperon and SMUD CEO Paul Lau received the top honors. - The awards recognize grid modernization efforts across the western U.S. and Canada. - A panel of prior award recipients selected the winners across three categories.

The details: - Southwest Power Pool won in the Grid Operator category. - SPP was recognized for market design work and efforts to support grid flexibility. - SPP’s CPP, CHILLS and HILLS tariff frameworks are designed to help integrate new generation and large flexible loads while supporting reliability and economic growth across its footprint. - SPP is also using AI-enabled interconnection studies with partners including Hitachi and NVIDIA. - Those studies are aimed at reducing analysis timelines by up to 80%. - Amperon won in the Solution Provider category. - Amperon’s AI-powered forecasting platform turns grid, weather and market signals into demand, renewable and price forecasts. - The platform is built to help utilities, retailers, operators and market participants plan with more confidence. - Paul Lau won the Individual Lifetime Achievement award. - Lau was recognized for nearly 45 years at SMUD. - His work at SMUD has centered on grid modernization, clean energy and utility leadership. - As CEO, Lau led development of SMUD’s 2030 Zero Carbon Plan. - The plan is designed to show that decarbonization can align with affordability and reliability. - Other finalists in the Grid Operator category were SRP and Trico Electric Co-Op. - Other finalists in the Solution Provider category were Clean Power Research and Heimdall Power. - Other finalists for Individual Lifetime Achievement were Steve Nadel and Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Between the lines: - Grid Forward is signaling that grid innovation now spans both hardware and software, from transmission planning to forecasting models. - The focus on AI and tariff design suggests utilities are looking for ways to move faster without sacrificing reliability. - The awards also reflect a broader push to make clean energy, affordability and grid resilience work together instead of competing priorities. - Bryce Yonker said Grid Forward wants to recognize leaders who are shaping the future of energy systems. - Larry Nickell said SPP is charting a path to integrate new generation, firm and flexible loads, and transmission infrastructure more quickly. - Sean Kelly said forecasting has become mission-critical as utilities face load growth, extreme weather, market volatility and rapid adoption of new technologies.

What's next: - Grid Forward will continue using the awards to highlight work that can be scaled across the western grid. - The honored approaches at SPP, Amperon and SMUD are likely to serve as reference points for other utilities and market operators. - Grid modernization efforts will keep moving around the same pressure points: reliability, flexibility, decarbonization and cost.

The bottom line: - Grid Forward used its annual awards to underline a simple message: the grid is changing fast, and the leaders solving today's reliability and planning problems are setting the template for the next phase of the energy system. - More information can be found at gridforward.org.