Announcing

Our friends at Southern California Edison are proud to host the Fall 2012 Western Load Research Association (WLRA) meeting and conference in Long Beach, California, October 10 – 12, 2012.

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Conference Registration

Please register by September 24, 2012. Conference registration is $430. Conference registration and payment can be completed by clicking the “Register” button below.  You can pay by credit card through PayPal or by check (payable to Southern California Edison).  Please send checks to:

Southern California Edison
Attn: Nicole Reichenberger
8631 Rush Street
Rosemead, California 91770

Location

The WLRA Fall 2012 meeting and conference will be at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel:

Renaissance Long Beach Hotel

111 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, California 90802
(800) 468-3571 or (562) 437-5900
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lgbrn-renaissance-long-beach-hotel/

Hotel Reservations

You must make your hotel reservations by September 18, 2012 to guarantee room availability and to secure the
conference rate of $139 (plus taxes) per night. Reservations can be made by either of the following ways:

1. Call (800) 468-3571 or (562) 437-5900 and use the Group Code “SCESCEA” (showing in Marriott’s reservation system as “SO CAL EDISON WRLA”)
   ** it is actually WRLA – Marriott has it that way in their system **
2. Online at http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lgbrn-renaissance-long-beach-hotel/. Use the reservation app on the main page of the website, and enter “SCESCEA” in the Group Code field (click on “Special Rates & Awards” for the “Group Code” option).

Transportation

Distances from nearby airports to the conference hotel:

• Long Beach Airport (LGB) – 11 miles
• John Wayne Airport (JWA) – 24 miles
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – 24 miles

The conference hotel does not offer any complimentary shuttles to or from any airports, but recommends SuperShuttle at (800) 258-3826. If you arrive at the conference by car, note that the conference hotel will charge $16 per day for self-parking and $20 per day for valet parking.

Special Evening Event Aboard the Queen Mary

Come aboard for cocktails, dinner, and a one-hour tour of the Queen Mary, the Grand Lady of the Seas. You will have an opportunity to look behind the scenes, and learn the fascinating history of what makes this ocean liner a legend of the high seas. Additional guest tickets may be purchased for $75.

Call for Papers

Presentations at the conference will continue to demonstrate that load research and load forecasting are great tools for dealing with the newer challenges of the modern electric utility industry. This includes smart grid implementations, demand response, renewable energy, dynamic pricing programs, and time-of-use rates, as well as the traditional regulatory needs. Papers and discussions can focus on innovative new technologies and methodologies or the traditional principles of statistical analysis.

WLRA will accept papers on any subject related to load research or load forecasting, including but not limited to, least-cost sampling, end-use research, integrated resource planning, program evaluation, load profiling, innovative rate design, energy efficiency measures, and peak-demand forecasts.

WLRA is continuing to expand utility involvement, and special priority consideration will be given to utilities wishing to make presentations. The continued success of the WLRA conferences depends on participation from utility members. It is for this reason that utility presentations are particularly encouraged, but utility-vendor partnership presentations are also welcomed, and vendor presentations will be considered.

Presentations don’t need to be extravagant and can be as short as fifteen minutes in duration.

If you would like to make a presentation, please fill out the attached “Call for Papers” form and e-mail it to Candice
Churchwell, WLRA Co-chair. Please submit your paper by September 26, 2012.

Roundtable Discussions

The Fall Conference will continue to feature roundtable discussions. If there are topics you would like to discuss during the roundtables, please make sure to note them on your Conference Registration Form.

Vendor Reception

We are in need of a vendor coordinator for this meeting. Vendors who would like to participate should contact WLRA Co-chair Candice Churchwell. If any vendor is willing to coordinate the reception this time around, we would be thrilled to have a volunteer. It is fairly easy, and you get to pick the food!

Pre-Conference Workshop on Load Forecasting

WLRA vendor EnerNOC Utility Solutions is pleased to sponsor a one-day forecasting workshop at the conference hotel the day before the conference begins, titled 100 Years of Load Forecasting: Classics, Challenges, and Best Practices with Smart Grid Information. The workshop will be presented by Dr. Tao Hong, head of Energy Forecasting at SAS and Chair of the IEEE Working Group on Energy Forecasting. The workshop will discuss the fundamentals and evolution of load forecasting methodologies in the past century, today’s challenges in load forecasting for the utility industry, opportunities and best practices to leverage smart grid information, and examples of using SAS for load forecasting.

Join us on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm! The training session fee is US $300.00. For more information, contact Kelly Marrin at [email protected].

Register separately for it by going here: http://loadresearch.com/event/pre-conference-load-forecasting-workshop/

Note that since this training is from SAS, registration and payment for it are separate from the WLRA Conference.

For more information, please contact:

Conference Host:

Nicole Reichenberger
626-302-4617
[email protected]

WLRA Co-Chairs:

Kristy Patteson
208-388-2982
[email protected]

Candice Churchwell
858-636-5561
[email protected]

Notes:

1. Prices include a nominal handling fee to cover the cost of credit card transactions incurred by Load Research Online.
2. Your credit card statement will show a charge from “NICNAT NET” which is the parent company of Load Research Online.