The 2026 edition of DISTRIBUTECH arrived at a pivotal moment for the utility sector, serving as a high-tech crossroads where the pressing need to build new utility infrastructure to support new large loads meets the practical challenges of aging infrastructure. Across the showroom floor and keynote stages, the message was clear: modernization is no longer a concept—it’s happening, with smarter, more resilient, and sustainable grids taking shape with over a trillion dollars of investment expected in the United States alone.
Brad Bowness / Systems with Intelligence (SWI)
Brad Bowness, CIO of SWI, advocates for moving from manual inspections to continuous, touchless monitoring. Their AI-powered thermal and visual IoT sensors can be deployed in 20 minutes to identify hotspots, corrosion, or animal intrusion in real time.
Get started… Pick a substation to do a substation of the future. Try things out and push yourself to change how you’re doing your business, Bowness advises.
These hardened, substation-grade devices integrate directly into enterprise business processes, providing the 24/7 visibility modern utilities demand.
Deia Bayoumi / Hitachi Energy
Deia Bayoumi, Vice President of Installation and Components at Hitachi Energy, describes the transformer as the “heart” of the grid, noting that “insulation doesn’t get the spotlight, but is super essential” for long-term reliability.
He highlights major investment in manufacturing capacity, including new and expanded facilities in South Boston, Virginia, and Alamo, Tennessee, aimed at strengthening supply chain resilience and bringing critical components closer to demand. “We are expanding our manufacturing facilities… and building another facility next to it to expand the portfolio,” he explains, focusing on delivering equipment “that can really last for decades without any risk.”
The transactional kind of mode of operation is not what serves us in the future right now, Bayoumi notes.
Amanda Freick / Creative Intelligence Group
Amanda Freick, founder of Creative Intelligence Group, works to help technically excellent firms navigate the complex utility sales cycle by translating engineering solutions into business value. She emphasizes the need for innovation grounded in reality:
Politics do not equal physics. You can mandate all of the data centers you want… but the grid will still operate as the grid does, said Amanda.
Her firm implements stakeholder-specific messaging, ensuring engineers and technical experts have a meaningful voice in strategic decisions.
Mike Adams / Osmose, Eric Easton / CenterPoint Energy, Robert Brook / Neara
Adams (Osmose), Eric Easton (CenterPoint Energy), and Robert Brook (Neara) highlighted how partnerships leverage data to “buy down risk.” Using LiDAR and digital twins, CenterPoint Energy analyzes 30,000 miles of overhead transmission in minutes, identifying high-risk assets like wood poles in residential areas.
We want to make sure every time we roll a truck… we are indeed deploying that capital efficiently and buying down risk for you, says Adams.
This approach automates design processes, moving engineers from data collection to strategic analysis, and allows utilities to demonstrate smart capital use to regulators.
H-J Family of Companies
Keith Johnson of H-J Family of Companies introduced highvoltage epoxy bushings for distribution transformers. Replacing traditional porcelain, these smaller-footprint components simplify installation and reduce leakage risk: Historically, the pullout distribution transformer bushings have always been made out of porcelain. Now we can offer it in the epoxy version.
Historically, the pullout distribution transformer bushings have always been made out of porcelain. Now we can offer it in the epoxy version, says Johnson.
Delvor Group
Svante Storbjörk of the Delvor Group highlighted over a century of expertise in electrical insulation. Their diamond dotted paper (DDP) provides excellent impregnation for distribution transformers. Partnering with the H-J Family of Companies, these insulation products—including active transformer components and prep tubes—are distributed across the U.S. and Latin America:
We couldn’t be happier with how things are going forward in this industry at the moment, says Storbjörk.
Qualitrol
Oscar Gonzalez, North American Sales Director for Qualitrol, showcased QTMS, a modular platform that allows utilities to customize monitoring needs. With cards for DGA, partial discharge, and AI-powered “smart breathers,” the system manages transformer moisture and health in a single integrated solution:
Qualitrol QTMS is a modular solution in where we can incorporate different kind of cards… for different kind of customer needs, explains Gonzalez.
RESA Power
Jim Neilsen of RESA Power introduced a digital tool for utilities to visualize and map substation needs, replacing traditional brochures. Customers can explore components like oil processing and breakers to understand how RESA’s solutions fit their infrastructure:
This new tool is going to allow us to explain to our customer in depth exactly what RESA’s capabilities are… whatever industry it is, says Neilsen.
G&W Electric
G&W Electric, led by VP of Marketing John Gounaris, addresses the “3Ds” of grid evolution: Digitalization, Decarbonization, and Decentralization. Global Product Managers Jeff Turnbull and David Carera highlight innovations like solid dielectric, maintenance-free Viper HV reclosers that enable remote switching at 72.5 kV without SF6 gas.
By integrating compact capacitive divider (CVD) sensors, utilities gain high-accuracy visibility in a smaller footprint, shifting from reactive to proactive grid management:
We’re shifting from a reactive power grid… to a more proactive future where we’re able to sense, ‘hey, something’s going to happen over here, start paying attention’, asserts Gounaris.
Camlin Energy
Under Keith Redfearn, Camlin Energy has evolved from a hardware provider to a comprehensive intelligence partner, achieving 70% year-over-year growth. VP of Business Development Zlatan Fazlic explains the shift from “sensor-only” solutions to platforms that turn raw data into actionable insights. Their Sapient platform offers a unified source of truth, providing prescriptive guidance to operators. Dr. Nathan Jacob, an asset specialist, notes its importance in monitoring high-risk components like bushings, detecting defects before catastrophic failures. Senior VP Jerry Utecht adds that these tools support a younger workforce navigating grid complexity:
The software and our experts almost become that kind of decision support tool for these new individuals who then over the time, they will gain their own experience, says Fazlic
The Takeaway
The future of the grid is not theoretical—it is actively being built. Across companies, innovations range from prescriptive analytics and AI-powered monitoring to epoxy bushings and solid dielectric equipment. The industry is moving from reactive to proactive, integrating intelligence into every level of operations while addressing workforce training, supply chain challenges, and sustainability. As digitalization, decentralization, and decarbonization advance, utilities must move beyond planning and begin implementing these technologies. Success requires more than better sensors—it demands strategic vision and actionable solutions that turn technical innovation into scalable, sustainable growth.
This article was originally published in the March 2026 issue of the Power Systems Intelligence From Core to Grid Edge magazine.
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