Another year has gone and another ENLIT Europe (November 10-12) has come around, this time in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Attracting utilities, grid operators, tech vendors and policymaker, this event remains the largest energy-transition event in Europe.

It’s also not afraid to shy away from the big topics and 2026 is no different, under the theme of Integration, Resilience and Competitiveness. The conference program will cover everything from grid modernization to flexibility, energy storage, AI in operations and the three ‘Ds’ of decentralization, digitalization and decarbonization.

The UK Government’s new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published last week, setting out the Government’s policies for planning and decision-making on development proposals in England.

With a whole section of the policy dedicated to ‘Securing clean energy and water’, this was welcome news from a network capacity perspective. It sets out its priorities for the benefits of renewables and low-carbon energy sources, while effectively forcing local planning to actively account for local network capacity and grid connection requirements.

Meet the Board Blog Series: Mary Ann Piette, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The OpenADR Alliance is pleased to introduce Mary Ann Piette, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Technologies at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and lead of the California Load Flexibility Research and Deployment Hub (CalFlexHub).

Below are the interview highlights featuring Tobias Wöss, Product Manager Energy at LOXONE. The below piece explores how member LOXONE is utilizing building automation to address modern energy challenges and the importance of their partnership with the OpenADR Alliance.

The OpenADR Alliance is pleased to introduce Albert Chiu, Principal Product Manager for PG&E. Albert has been a member of the OpenADR board since its inception and remains a strong advocate for the OpenADR standard. Below, he addresses questions regarding his role in the industry and shares some insights on PG&E’s role and his vision for the energy sector.