GCPA Fall Conference & Exhibition 2026

The 41st Annual Fall Conference & Exhibition is the Gulf Coast Power Association's yearly fall meeting on ERCOT and Gulf Coast power markets. It ran September 28 to 30, 2026, at the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center in Austin, Texas. The 2026 theme was "Building the Grid of 2050: One Decision at a Time." GCPA projected 850+ attendees, based on 875 attendees at the 2025 fall conference. About one-third of 2025 attendees held titles from vice president to CEO. September 28 carried a half-day workshop and a welcome reception, and the main program ran September 29 and 30. Large loads and data centers came up in most sessions.

Programming Focus

• Preview of the 2027 Texas legislative session, with sitting House members on data center growth and transmission costs
• Falling spark spreads from solar and storage, and the effect on new gas and battery investment
• Three paths to power for large loads: grid connection, behind-the-meter generation, or a hybrid
• Large-load interconnection after ERCOT's Batch Zero process, the statewide audit, and "Bring Your Own Generation"
• Point/counterpoint debate: does ERCOT need a 765kV backbone?
• Cooling water competition between power plants and data centers, citing Corpus Christi restrictions
• Rate affordability, cross-subsidization between customer classes, and low-income protections
• Live recording of S&P Global's Energy Evolution podcast on capacity markets and the Texas Energy Fund
• Pre-conference workshop on the 4-CP to 12-CP transmission cost allocation shift (PUCT Project No. 58484)

Featured Speakers

Keynotes and fireside chats:

• Robert Gaudette, President & CEO, NRG
• Pat Wood III, former FERC Chairman
• Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy, Google
• Brian Lloyd, Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Oncor, and GCPA Board President
• Zach Dell, Co-Founder & CEO, Base Power

Data center and large-load voices:

• JohnBinh Vu, Vice President, Electric Utilities, Stack Infrastructure
• Cameron Poursoltan, Director, Energy Policy - Texas, Data Center Coalition
• Stephanie Kroger, President & CEO, Hunt Energy Network
• Juan Arteaga, PhD, Principal Analyst, Enverus

Legislators and policy:

• Rep. Ken King, Chair, House State Affairs Committee
• Rep. Ana Hernandez, Vice-Chair, House State Affairs Committee
• Brent Bennett, Ph.D., Policy Director, Life:Powered, Texas Public Policy Foundation
• Beth Garza, Senior Fellow, R Street Institute

Utilities and generators:

• Liz Jones, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Oncor
• Jason Ryan, Executive VP, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs, CenterPoint Energy
• Elaina Ball, Chief Strategy Officer, CPS Energy
• David Dardis, SEVP & Chief External Affairs and Growth Officer, Constellation
• Trip Doggett, former ERCOT CEO

Sponsors

Diamond: Baker Botts, Goff Policy, Google, NRG, Tenaska Power Services, Texas Competitive Power Advocates, Vistra

Platinum: Austin Energy, Constellation, Customized Energy Solutions, Dynamis AMP, EPAM, Greenberg Traurig, Habitat Energy, Liberty Power Innovations, McAdams Energy Group, MidDel Consulting, NextEra Energy Resources, O'Melveny & Myers, Spencer Fane, Stack Infrastructure, Texas Electric Cooperatives, Troutman Pepper Locke, Wilkinson Barker Knauer

Gold: Bildmore, ElectronX, ENGIE, Grounded TS, Guidepost Energy, Husch Blackwell, ITC Tax, Kindle Energy, LCRA, National Grid US, Orion Strategies, Sunairio, Yes Energy

Media partner: RTO Insider

Who Should Attend

• Data center developers and operators siting large loads in ERCOT
• Utility, generator, and retail electric provider executives
• Regulatory attorneys and government affairs staff tracking the 2027 Texas session
• Investors and analysts assessing ERCOT market economics

Logistics

• Early-bird rates were $1,000 for members and $1,300 for non-members.
• Credits offered: 9.0 PE hours, 10.8 CPA hours, and 4.75 CLE hours for the main conference.