WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Five organizations — ComEd, National Grid, Southern Company, TS Conductor, and Veolia — have been named winners of the 2026 Fortnightly Top Innovators Awards. Their winning projects demonstrate practical, high-impact innovation across some of the utility industry’s most pressing challenges, including grid modernization, resilience, AI and cybersecurity, resource stewardship, and load growth.
For the first time in the award program’s history, ceremony attendees selected one of the five category winners as the Top Innovator of the Year through a live vote, awarding the distinction to National Grid (with Viridi Parente and Good Carbon Co.).
Presented by Public Utilities Fortnightly (PUF), and powered by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), these awards recognize innovations with measurable results and potential for broader industry application.
“For ten years, Fortnightly Top Innovators has reflected PUF’s role as a trusted source among industry insiders on the sector’s latest innovations, recognizing the organizations and individuals advancing our industry through ingenuity, leadership, and results,” said Rachel Bryant, PUF's Executive Editor. “This year's honorees reflect the breadth of innovation underway to build a more flexible, reliable, and affordable energy system — from modernizing critical infrastructure to developing new approaches to customer service and resource management. We're proud to celebrate the people and organizations turning ambitious ideas into meaningful progress.”
“The energy industry is navigating extraordinary change, from rising electricity demand to growing expectations for reliability, resilience, and affordability. What makes this year's Top Innovators stand out is that they're not simply identifying challenges. They're delivering solutions that work, with lessons and applications that can benefit the broader industry. That's the kind of leadership and practical innovation we need to recognize, share, and build upon,” said Sheri Givens, President and CEO of SEPA.
A panel of energy executive leaders, technical subject-matter experts, and PUF editorial leadership determined this year’s winners and finalists. Nominations were evaluated on a 100-point scale across four criteria: business impact and ROI, technological boldness, scalability and viability, and category alignment.
Winners were honored at the Fortnightly Top Innovators awards ceremony and dinner on October 29, 2026, in Washington D.C.
To learn more about the 2026 Fortnightly Top Innovators winners and finalists, please visit pufinnovators.com/winners-2026/.
2026 Fortnightly Top Innovators
This year’s awards honor measurable progress across five categories, each named for a pioneering historical figure:
Top Innovator of the Year
Clean Baseload, Gas Generation & Load Shaping — Lisa Meitner Award
National Grid’s (with Viridi Parente and Good Carbon Co.) From Housing to Grid Resource: The Good Carbon / Viridi Demand Flexibility Project
The Good Carbon–Viridi project demonstrates a new model for meeting growing electricity demand: transforming customer buildings from passive loads into flexible resources that can actively support the grid. At Good Carbon’s Peace Bridge Apartments, Viridi’s 3.75 MWh battery system integrates with smart thermostats and intelligent controls to reduce peak demand, lower operating costs and respond to National Grid dispatch signals during periods of grid stress. During demand-response events, the system can reduce net building consumption below zero, turning the property into a temporary energy resource for the local network. By pairing building electrification with dispatchable demand flexibility, the project demonstrates how customers can adopt technologies such as electric heating and EV charging while also helping utilities manage peak demand and congestion. The result is a replicable Building-to-Grid model that makes customer electrification part of the solution to grid capacity, affordability and decarbonization challenges.
“As electricity demand grows, we need innovative ways to make the most of existing grid infrastructure while keeping service reliable and affordable for customers. The Good Carbon–Viridi project shows what’s possible when customers, technology providers, and utilities work togther—using smart controls, battery storage, and demand flexibility to turn buildings into active grid resources. It offers a replicable model that creates customer value while reducing pressure on the system,” said Sabina Zafar, VP of Connections and Strategic Accounts.
Leadership in Innovation — George Westinghouse Award
ComEd’s Beneficial Electrification Electric Vehicle Dealer and Service Provider Networks
ComEd’s Beneficial Electrification Electric Vehicle (EV) Dealer and EV Service Provider Networks represent a market-driven, scalable approach to accelerating transportation electrification. By integrating education, incentives, and qualified provider support directly into vehicle purchasing and charging infrastructure development, ComEd addresses critical customer barriers and expands access to clean transportation solutions. ComEd has engaged more than 180 dealerships and 150 service providers, supported over $44 million in dealer-assisted rebates, enabled the deployment of more than 14,700 charging ports, and incentivized over 4,000 fleet EVs. Notably, 94% of dealer-supported rebates benefited Low-Income or Equity Investment Eligible Communities. Collectively, these investments contributed to reducing more than 460,000 metric tons of carbon emissions while expanding equitable access, reducing customer friction, and strengthening market capacity.
"This recognition reflects ComEd's commitment to making it easier and more affordable for customers to adopt electric vehicles by simplifying access to incentives and connecting customers with qualified service providers," said Melissa Washington, senior vice president of government, regulatory and external affairs. "We're honored to receive this award and remain focused on expanding transportation electrification opportunities that help customers, support Illinois’ clean energy goals and deliver lasting benefits to the communities we serve.”
Grid Infrastructure, Safety & Resilience — Edith Clarke Award
TS Conductor’s Aluminum Encapsulated Carbon Core (AECC) Technology
Electricity demand is growing faster than new transmission lines can be built. Under CEO Dr. Jason Huang, TS Conductor developed Aluminum Encapsulated Carbon Core (AECC) conductors to expand capacity on existing corridors without the tradeoffs that held back earlier advanced conductors. A seamless aluminum layer protects a pre-tensioned carbon fiber core, delivering 2-3x the capacity of traditional conductors and up to 50% lower line losses while installing with standard fittings, tools, and crew practices. Results are proven in the field: Montana-Dakota Utilities raised line capacity 75%, cut construction costs about 40%, and finished a year early, while Salt River Project gained roughly 80% capacity under budget. With thousands of miles installed since 2016, no field failures, and a new South Carolina plant scaling production toward 13,000+ conductor miles a year by 2029, AECC strengthens grid resilience, supports worker safety, and helps utilities meet demand faster and more affordably.
"Utilities can't wait a decade for new lines to meet today's demand. AECC lets them double or triple capacity on the corridors they already have, safely, affordably, and in months instead of years. This recognition is a tribute to our team and our utility partners, who are proving every day that the fastest path to a stronger, more resilient grid runs through the infrastructure we already own,” said CEO Dr. Jason Huang.
AI, Digital Grid & Cyber Defense — Nikola Tesla Award
Southern Company’s Design Once, Deploy Many: Accelerating the Utility Industry’s Transition to Digital Substations
As utilities work to meet growing energy demand, they need ways to modernize the grid while maintaining the reliability, resilience and affordability customers expect. Southern Company developed a repeatable "design once, deploy many" approach to digital substations that simplifies how critical grid infrastructure is designed, tested and deployed. By moving much of the testing and validation process from the field to a controlled laboratory environment, the company reduced deployment risk and established a more efficient path for future projects. In December 2025, Southern Company successfully placed its first fully operational digital distribution substation into service. The project creates a scalable framework that can support faster infrastructure deployment, strengthen grid performance, improve system visibility and help utilities serve customers more efficiently as energy needs continue to grow.
“Meeting customers’ growing energy needs requires a grid that is reliable, resilient and ready for the future,” said Southern Company Chief Operating Officer Stan Connally. “This recognition highlights our commitment to practical innovation that strengthens grid performance, accelerates speed to power and supports the delivery of safe, reliable and affordable energy. Our ‘design once, deploy many’ approach creates a scalable path to modernizing the grid and meeting the needs of the customers and communities we serve.”
Water, Hydropower & Resource Stewardship — Nora Stanton Barney Award
Veolia’s Predictive Watershed Management: Data-Driven Innovation for Source Water Protection and Operational Excellence
Veolia’s Watershed Team created a predictive system to protect drinking water for nearly 900,000 residents in New Jersey. Managing 4,000 forested acres and eight billion gallons of reservoir storage in a densely populated region requires proactive responses to harmful algal blooms, invasive species and development pressures. Launched in 2022, the initiative combines NASA satellite imagery, continuous buoy and profiler monitoring, treatment-plant sensors, weather forecasts and artificial intelligence. It forecasts bloom risks and pinpoints when and where targeted treatment is needed, helping reduce chemical use and protect beneficial aquatic organisms. Science-based fish management controls overabundant species and supports ecosystem balance. Operational gains include filter run times above the three-year average in 2024 and 2025. The stewardship program includes wetland restoration, forestry management and education reaching 35,000 students annually. This approach shows how innovation can strengthen water quality, treatment performance and ecosystem health.
“This award is a tremendous recognition of our team’s innovation. By integrating NASA satellite imagery, continuous water-quality monitoring and artificial intelligence, they’ve developed a more predictive, precise approach to watershed management — helping us respond to harmful algal blooms while protecting beneficial aquatic life and improving treatment performance. This work shows how innovation can advance both environmental stewardship and operational excellence,” said CEO Kendra Morris.
About Public Utilities Fortnightly
A member association since 2016 and founded nearly a century ago, Public Utilities Fortnightly is the energy sector's trusted journal of record. Circulating inside nearly every state public utility commission nationwide and read across all major investor-owned utilities, PUF unites utility leadership, regulators, technology pioneers, and policymakers to shape the industry's critical debates on resilience, reliability, and affordability through full-length executive Q&As, member perspectives, year-round convenings, and a print and digital publication read by thousands of decision-makers across the United States and internationally.
About the Smart Electric Power Alliance
The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is a national nonprofit leading the future of clean, affordable, resilient power. With nearly 1,000 members spanning utilities of every business model, state commissions and energy offices, consumer advocates and the technology companies reshaping the grid, SEPA produces research, convenes the full ecosystem, and delivers practical guidance that informs some of the most consequential decisions being made in the energy sector right now. Learn more at sepapower.org.
