Utility Innovation Summit Panel

The Utility Innovation Summit Panel brought together four grid innovation stakeholders at The Grove’s July 2026 event series in Philadelphia: city government, an electric utility, a climate tech founder, and a corporate investor. Featured on The Grove, the climate tech interview podcast from Earth Onward hosted by Blake Newcomer, the panel examined what it actually takes to move new technology from pilot to utility operations.

Eric Rosenberger represented PPL Electric Utilities, drawing on 15 years across transmission maintenance, engineering standards, and asset management. PPL operates major utility businesses in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Rhode Island, and Rosenberger discussed the company’s work deploying dynamic line ratings, a system for measuring how much current transmission lines can safely carry under real conditions. He explained why PPL’s move from pilots to live operations matters for grid capacity and data driven asset management.

The founder of Love spoke from the startup side, describing more than 12 years working with utility companies, including energy audits and infrastructure upgrades in South Africa, and the hard work of building technical tools while securing utility partnerships. Chris Jacob, a product manager at Exelon focused on solar adoption, represented Exelon’s 2c2i investment fund, which backs clean tech startups and helps deploy their technologies across operating companies. The Philadelphia Commerce Department moderated, grounding the discussion in how public institutions can support practical deployment across the Mid Atlantic grid.