PacifiCorp has been officially designated as the Host Utility for the POWERGEN International 2027 annual event, a premier global gathering for the power generation industry scheduled to take place from January 18 to 21, 2027. The event will be staged at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, a location that serves as the strategic headquarters for PacifiCorp’s Rocky Mountain Power division. This announcement marks a significant milestone for the energy sector, as the industry grapples with a transformative era defined by surging electricity demand, the rapid expansion of data centers, and a critical shift in the North American generation mix.
The selection of PacifiCorp as the host utility underscores the company’s pivotal role in the Western United States’ energy landscape. As a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, PacifiCorp operates one of the most expansive and complex grids in the nation. The 2027 event arrives at a juncture where the utility industry is facing a "perfect storm" of challenges: the need to maintain grid reliability while integrating massive amounts of renewable energy, the pressure to modernize aging infrastructure, and the necessity of addressing a widening workforce gap that threatens the operational continuity of power plants and transmission networks.
The Strategic Importance of the 2027 Host Utility
PacifiCorp serves more than 2.1 million customers across a 141,000-square-mile service territory spanning six states. The company’s operational structure is divided into two primary business units: Pacific Power, which manages operations in Oregon, Washington, and California; and Rocky Mountain Power, which serves Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. By hosting the event in Salt Lake City, POWERGEN aligns itself with a region that is currently experiencing some of the highest economic and population growth rates in the United States.
The utility’s generation portfolio is among the most diverse in the West, featuring a blend of natural gas, coal, hydroelectric, solar, and geothermal assets. Notably, PacifiCorp operates the largest owned wind fleet of any regulated utility in the Western United States. This diversity makes the company a primary case study for the themes of POWERGEN 2027, which will focus on how utilities can balance traditional thermal generation with the intermittent nature of renewables while ensuring that affordability and reliability remain uncompromised.
A Timeline of Industry Evolution and Event Significance
The journey toward the 2027 summit reflects a decade of accelerating change within the power sector. In the early 2010s, the primary focus of the industry was the initial transition from coal to natural gas and the early-stage adoption of wind and solar. However, by the mid-2020s, the narrative shifted toward "electrification of everything"—from transportation to industrial heating—and the sudden, massive load requirements of artificial intelligence and hyperscale data centers.
As the industry moves toward the 2027 dates, several key milestones are expected to shape the conversations at the Salt Palace:
- 2024-2025: Utilities across the Intermountain West began updating their Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) to account for higher-than-expected load growth, often doubling previous estimates due to data center interest.
- 2025-2026: Significant progress is anticipated in the construction of major transmission projects, such as the Energy Gateway expansion, which aims to link resource-rich rural areas with high-demand urban centers.
- January 2027: The POWERGEN International event will serve as a mid-point check for many utilities’ 2030 decarbonization and reliability targets, providing a platform for technical experts to assess the viability of emerging technologies like long-duration energy storage and small modular reactors (SMRs).
Supporting Data: The Magnitude of the Energy Challenge
The urgency of the 2027 gathering is supported by recent data regarding the U.S. power grid. According to various industry reports, electricity demand in the United States is projected to grow at its fastest rate in three decades. Grid planners have nearly doubled their five-year load growth forecasts, rising from 2.6% to 4.7% in recent assessment cycles.
In Utah specifically—the heart of Rocky Mountain Power’s territory—the demand for power is driven by a booming tech sector and a manufacturing resurgence. PacifiCorp’s own resource planning indicates a need for thousands of megawatts of new capacity over the next decade. Furthermore, the industry faces a daunting workforce reality: nearly 25% of the utility workforce is eligible for retirement within the next five years. POWERGEN 2027 will address this "human capital" crisis, focusing on recruitment, training, and the retention of the next generation of power engineers and plant operators.
The supply chain for power generation equipment also remains a critical data point. Lead times for large power transformers and high-voltage circuit breakers have extended from several months to several years in some cases. With gas turbine order books stretching into the late 2020s, the event in Salt Lake City will be essential for suppliers and developers to coordinate on procurement strategies to avoid project delays.
Perspectives from Industry Leadership
Wayne Bishop Jr., Executive Vice President of Clarion Energy North America at Clarion Events, Inc., emphasized the strategic fit of the 2027 host. "As we look ahead to POWERGEN 2027, we are thrilled to welcome PacifiCorp as our host utility," Bishop stated. "PacifiCorp operates at the intersection of nearly every issue defining our industry today—load growth from data centers and electrification, transmission expansion across the West, fleet transition, and workforce development. Their leadership and their footprint across six states make them an ideal partner as we bring the global power generation community together in Salt Lake City."
Darin Carroll, President and CEO of PacifiCorp, highlighted the regional advantages and the collaborative spirit of the upcoming event. "We’re proud to serve as the host utility for POWERGEN 2027 in Salt Lake City," Carroll said. "As our industry works to meet growing demand while maintaining reliability and affordability, this event provides an important opportunity to share ideas and solutions. We’re grateful for Utah’s supportive business and regulatory environment, which helps enable the investments needed to power one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. We look forward to welcoming industry leaders to Utah and helping shape the future of energy."
In addition to the host duties, PacifiCorp executives are slated to participate in the Opening Keynote. This session is expected to provide a roadmap for how large-scale utilities can navigate the regulatory hurdles of multi-state operations while executing on massive infrastructure buildouts.
Broader Implications for the Intermountain West and Beyond
The selection of Salt Lake City as the venue for POWERGEN 2027 carries implications that extend beyond the conference walls. Utah has positioned itself as a "pro-energy" state with a regulatory framework that encourages diverse energy development. The state’s "all-of-the-above" energy policy mirrors the diverse portfolio managed by PacifiCorp, making it a living laboratory for the energy transition.
One of the most critical topics expected to dominate the 2027 agenda is the expansion of transmission infrastructure. In the Western United States, the geography between energy generation (often in remote, windy, or sunny areas) and energy consumption (urban centers like Salt Lake City, Portland, and Seattle) requires thousands of miles of new high-voltage lines. PacifiCorp’s "Energy Gateway" project, a multi-billion-dollar investment in transmission, serves as a blueprint for the type of regional cooperation and engineering prowess required to modernize the American grid.
Furthermore, the event will likely delve into the operational realities of "firming" renewable energy. As coal plants are retired, the role of natural gas and battery storage becomes paramount. The technical sessions at POWERGEN 2027 will explore the latest advancements in gas turbine efficiency, hydrogen blending, and the deployment of utility-scale lithium-ion and flow batteries.
Conclusion: A Defining Moment for Global Power
As 2027 approaches, the power generation community finds itself at a crossroads. The decisions made by operators, developers, and policymakers over the next few years will determine the stability of the grid for the next two decades. The collaboration between POWERGEN and PacifiCorp provides a structured environment where these stakeholders can address the "trilemma" of energy: security, equity, and sustainability.
By bringing together the global community in a region defined by both traditional energy heritage and cutting-edge renewable innovation, POWERGEN 2027 aims to provide the solutions necessary to ensure the lights stay on. From the technical nuances of turbine maintenance to the high-level strategy of grid-scale AI integration, the Salt Lake City event is poised to be the most consequential gathering in the event’s history, reflecting a world that is more dependent on reliable electricity than ever before.
