ERCOT says Fintan Slye, CEO of Great Britain’s National Energy System Operator, will join ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas to kick off the Texas grid operator’s third annual Innovation Summit.
Slye leads the publicly owned NESO, which manages Great Britain’s electric system and is responsible for planning the nation’s energy systems and markets. He has held leadership positions with the country’s Electricity System Operator and EirGrid, Ireland’s transmission system operator.
“NESO is at the heart of Great Britain’s energy system, and innovation is at the heart of everything we do,” Slye said in a statement. “At NESO, we are always looking to use innovation to help drive value for consumers and improve security of supply.”
He said it is “brilliant and timely” to participate in the summit and to collaborate with U.S. industry peers on grid upgrades, new data center demand, and other learnings and solutions that can benefit Great Britian’s energy system. The 2026 Innovation Summit, to be held March 31 at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in Round Rock, Texas, will bring together industry stakeholders and thought leaders to share technological advancements and innovative solutions that advance grid transformation in Texas and beyond.
“Collaboration with our industry peers in the U.S. and across the globe is essential as we work toward building more resilient and intelligent solutions for rapidly evolving grids,” Vegas said.
The grid operator announced in September a Grid Research, Innovation and Transformation (GRIT) initiative designed to improve industry collaboration through expanded shared research and technology prototyping. The program’s technology initiatives focus on a range of areas, including smart controls for distributed energy resources, machine learning models to improve power flows and improvements to large load modeling.
ERCOT says between 850 and 950 participants attended each of the first two summits, either in person or virtually.
PJM CEO Manu Asthana highlighted the 2025 summit, also held in Round Rock.
