From planning to practice: How utilities are modernizing gas programs
Gas utilities are being pulled in multiple directions: shifting regulatory expectations, rising pressure to balance affordability and emissions reduction, and growing demands around system reliability. Keeping your portfolio viable, relevant, and ready for what’s next requires a strategic view and concrete pathways forward.
Join ICF, PSE&G, Elizabethtown Gas, and South Jersey Gas for an interactive, in-person workshop focused on where the gas industry is headed and what it will take for demand-side management (DSM) and energy efficiency (EE) programs to remain effective and defensible in a rapidly changing market.
Over a single day at the PSE&G headquarters alongside utility peers facing similar challenges, we’ll move beyond near-term program adjustments to work through what modernization actually takes, including redesigning portfolios, testing emerging technologies, and identifying realistic actions for the next two to three years. The focus is on implementation—not just strategy.
What you’ll gain:
- Foresight into where the gas industry is headed. Explore the key market signals shaping future DSM and EE priorities, and what they mean for your portfolio.
- Strategies for designing tenable programs under uncertainty. Work through shifting cost-effectiveness standards, regulatory expectations, and portfolio strategy to keep programs defensible as conditions shift.
- Knowledge of innovative technologies and emerging approaches. Examine solutions showing early promise, including hybrid heating strategies, advanced retrofit pathways, and scalable pilot concepts.
- Actionable next steps. Identify realistic steps your utility can take in the short- to medium-term to position programs for long-term success.
Please RSVP by September 15. There is no registration fee to attend, and more lodging and venue information is forthcoming. Please contact Kelly Schneider at Kelly.Schneider@icf.com for more details.
Agenda
PSE&G Headquarters
80 Park Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102
1st floor conference room
8:30 AM | Arrivals and breakfast
9:15 AM | Welcome and framing: Why this workshop, why now?
We’ll open the workshop by defining the shared challenges facing gas DSM and EE portfolios and set up what success looks like for participants.
9:45 AM | Modernizing gas DSM & EE programs
As DSM objectives evolve beyond therm savings, utilities are rethinking portfolio design from the ground up. This session explores deep efficiency, weatherization, non-pipeline alternatives, and hybrid approaches, with utility leaders sharing real lessons from recent program cycles.
11:00 AM | Emerging technologies & pilots
What does it take to move a promising idea into a working program? This session explores gas DSM/EE pilots across hybrid gas-electric heating, deep retrofits, weatherization, and thermal networks, along with the practical work of scaling pilots from concept to implementation.
12:15 PM | Lunch
1:15 PM | Threading the needle
Modernization, pilots, and alternatives don’t advance in isolation. This session connects the threads, showing where resilience fits and how to articulate it, and what realistic actions utilities can take in the next two to three years.
2:15 PM | What we heard & what’s next
We’ll surface key takeaways and common themes from the day and explore opportunities for follow-on collaboration and pilots.