emPOWER Arkansas Conference & Expo: Arkansas Advanced Energy Association Highlights
The Arkansas Advanced Energy Association and the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation welcomed more than 100 Arkansas and national leaders in energy and workforce development to its annual emPOWER Arkansas Conference & Expo on Monday, October 20, and Tuesday, October 21, 2025, in North Little Rock. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Invenergy; Champion Sponsor Google; Host Sponsor North Little Rock Tourism and others for making the event possible.
Conference Highlights
The opening reception, sponsored by Invenergy, was a beautiful night of networking, lively discussion, local food and libations, and live music by country music duo Cliff & Susan at Rockwater Marina.
Conference sessions were packed with valuable content from respected leaders in the energy sector.
The keynote luncheon featured an all-star lineup of Arkansas decision-makers across the policy and business spectrum. Arkansas Senator Clint Penzo; Mike Ross, Officer and Senior Vice President for External Affairs for Southwest Power Pool; Danni Hoefer, Chief of Staff for the Arkansas Public Service Commission; Ryan Norris, State Director for Americans for Prosperity - Arkansas, and Brent Stevenson of Brent Stevenson Associates engaged in a lively conversation about how reliability, resilience, and thoughtful policy design come together to meet the state’s growing energy demand.
The breakout session “Solutions: Transmission & Storage Innovations”, sponsored by Walmart, was standing room only for panelists Gary Moody, Program Officer for Connected Grid Initiative; Lisa Perry, Director of Utility Partnerships for Walmart, and Eric Austin, Senior Manager of Utility Partnerships for Walmart.
The closing session, “Powering Progress: The future of Energy Generation”, was sponsored by Southern Renewable Energy Association and focused on how Arkansas can meet rising demand while balancing the role of traditional fuels with emerging technologies. Simon Mahon, Executive Director of Southern Renewable Energy Association; Lauren Waldrip, Executive Director of Arkansas Advanced Energy Association, and David Stitt, CEO of The Stitt Group fielded questions and encouraged conversation about innovative solutions.
“Powering Growth: Data Centers, Manufacturing and Industrial Solutions”, sponsored by Google, featured insights from Katie Ottenweller, Lead for Energy Market Development & Policy in the U.S. Southeast for Google and Dr. Carlos Gamarra, Vice President of Energy, Air and IT for Houston Advanced Research Center, explored how Arkansas’s industrial and manufacturing sectors, including the rapidly expanding data center industry, are shaping the state’s energy and economic future.
For the full schedule of sessions, go here.
The conference included a workforce development track and was held across the hall from the expo, which featured 14 interactive booths and hosted 250 students and job seekers throughout the day. Conference attendees enjoyed breaks, networking, and meeting expo attendees in the expo hall throughout the day.
