NEW DELHI | 19th November 2020: The 4th edition of ISGF’s Annual Conference and Exhibition – Distribution Utility Meet (DUM 2020) will be held from 27 – 28 November 2020 on a Digital Platform this year. DUM 2020 is supported by Ministry of Power (MoP), Govt of India (GoI). It will be hosted by BSES Yamuna, BSES Rajdhani, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited and Tata Power Company Limited, Mumbai. DUM 2020 will provide a unique platform for the DISCOM community to share each other’s experiences in dealing with COVID-19 challenges and efforts towards fast track automation and digitalization. As the world is struggling to cope with the new-normal and preparing for the next-normal, it is imperative that utilities do not make the same mistakes but learn from each other’s experiences and also bring global expertise and experiences to India. Experts from leading Utilities and experts from USA, Europe, Japan, Bangladesh and Srilanka will participate in DUM 2020 and share their experiences.
Our Hon’ble Minister Shri RK Singh, Minister for Power, MNRE and Skill Development is invited to inaugurate the event. Other eminent speakers invited during the inauguration of DUM 2020 will be SN Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power; Karen Klimowski, Indo Pacific Coordinator & Acting Deputy Director, USAID /India; Kapil Mohan, Principal Secretary – Energy, Karnataka; Anshu Bhardwaj, CEO, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation; Akash Tripathi, Managing Director of MP Power Management Company and Secretary, Energy, Govt of MP & Chairman of MPKVVCL and Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, TPDDL.
ISGF has been spearheading the movement towards digitalization of utilities in India. Although the actual implementation in many utilities may still be not be significant, there is already a unanimous voice for taking this journey to full digitalization. In the aftermath of COVID-19, digital platforms have become the coveted assets for utilities in their business continuity and resiliency. Government of India is about to launch a new program that is going to mandate smart meters for all the 250 million+ electricity customers in the country. Besides smart metering, utilities are expected to leverage digital platforms for many of their operations. All these new initiatives towards digitalization which in the business as usual scenario in the pre-COVID world would have taken well over a decade are now going to happen in the next 2-3 years on fast track. This is going to create data driven smart utilities which will open up new business opportunities for organizations providing tools and services to host and manage the enormous amounts of data utilities are expected to generate in the coming days.
The key themes of DUM 2020 are Digitalization in DISCOMs; Policies and Regulations for the Digital DISCOMs; DISCOM Privatization Plan; DISCOMs after COVID-19; and 250 million Smart Meters. DUM 2020 will also have a Plenary Session on New Revenue Opportunities for DISCOMs. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) – JAPAN, The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Florence School of Regulation (FSR) and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have joined DUM 2020 as Knowledge Partners. DUM 2020 will have the Projects and Technology showcase by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Accenture, BSES Yamuna; BSES Rajdhani; Tata Power – DDL; and Tata Power Company Ltd, Mumbai; S&C; isMobile; Schnider and many other DISCOMs and Technology Companies.
Confirmed Speakers at DUM 2020 includes Raj Pratap Singh, Chairman, UPERC; Anand Kumar, Chairperson, Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC); MK Goel, Chairman, Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC); Richard Schomberg, IEC Ambassador & Chairman, IEC Smart Energy Systems Committee; Mark McGranaghan, Vice President, Innovation EPRI; Roberto Zangrandi, Secretary-General, E.DSO; Jean Michel Glachant, Director, Florence School of Regulation; Karen Klimowski, Indo Pacific Coordinator & Acting Deputy Director, USAID /India; Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Joint Secretary (Transmission, Information Technology and Discom Privatization), Ministry of Power, Govt of India ; Arun Kumar Mishra, Director, NPMU, NSGM; AK Verma, Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power; Praveer Sinha, CEO & Managing Director, The Tata Power Company Limited; Amal Sinha, CEO, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited; Prem R Kumar, CEO, BSES Yamuna Power Limited; Bikash Dewan, Managing Director, Dhaka Power Distribution Company; Sanjay Banga, President, Tata Power; Apurva Chaturvedi, Senior Clean Energy Specialist, Indo Pacific Office, USAID/India; Anshu Bharadwaj, CEO, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation; Mahesh Patankar, Senior Advisor And Consultant Interim India Program Director, RAP India and Ajay Kaul, Head – States & Local Govt, Amazon Internet Services Pvt Ltd and Deepti Vikas Dutt, Head – Strategic Initiatives, Public Sector, Amazon Internet Services Pvt Ltd
ISGF has been organizing Distribution Utility Meet (DUM) since 2017. The first edition of DUM in 2017 was hosted by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) in November 2017 in Bangalore and the second edition was hosted by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (Tata Power – DDL) and Tata Power Company Ltd (TPC) in Mumbai in Nov 2018. The Third Edition of DUM was organized in New Delhi and was co-hosted by BSES Rajadhani Power Ltd (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), Tata Power Company Ltd, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd. All the previous editions of DUM were huge success that attracted the attention and participation of majority of the distribution utilities in India. Leading utilities from USA, Canada, Japan and Europe also participated in DUM and shared their experiences in implementing Smart Grid Technologies.
Please register for participating in DUM 2020 at www.dumindia.in or contact Ronkini Shome for more details at ronkini.shome@indiasmartgrid.org.
