About This Episode
Michelle L. Palmer, PE, AMP Vice President of Technical Services and Compliance, shares information on the 2026 AMP Technical Services Conference.
Transcription
The Public Power Line Minute – E1
2026 AMP Technical Services Conference
Zachary Hoffman: Welcome to The Public Power Line Minute, quick conversations on timely topics that are important to AMP Members. I am Zachary Hoffman, Manager of Communications and Publications with American Municipal Power, and in five minutes or less I will help you to stay up to date on the latest issues of importance.
Zachary Hoffman: Today we are joined by Michelle Palmer, AMP’s Vice President of Technical Services and Compliance. Michelle, thanks for joining us.
Michelle Palmer: Thanks for having me.
Zachary Hoffman: So, you are here today to talk to us about the 2026 AMP Technical Services Conference, which is scheduled for April 21st and 22nd. Michelle, could you tell us a little bit about what the Technical Services Conference is and what sort of Member staff and utility professionals would benefit from attending?
Michelle Palmer: Yes, so the Technical Services Conference is an event that we have been holding for the past few years. It is geared specifically for the operations folks involved with the kind of day-to-day operation of their utility. We have a variety of topics geared toward them, so utility directors, line superintendents, village administrators, and others are all encouraged to attend.
Zachary Hoffman: And would this just be beneficial for utility personnel or would this also be helpful for, you know, elected officials like a mayor, say?
Michelle Palmer: Anyone is welcome to attend. It is a great way to network and to learn about the operations at the utility.
Zachary Hoffman: Okay, so open to pretty much anybody. What are some of the sessions that attendees could expect to see during the conference this year?
Michelle Palmer: We try really hard to have a variety of sessions. We have a couple of case studies, as well as we always have a safety topic session on cybersecurity and one on a new program that is going to be offered at AMP.
Zachary Hoffman: So, the conference also includes a vendor expo on day one. Could you tell us a little bit about what the expo is like and what sort of vendors might be present during the conference?
Michelle Palmer: A lot of them are geared toward the distribution system, so vendors who have either products or services that can help our Member communities. I want to say it is 22 to 25-ish vendors is normally what we have, and it is a pretty informal process. We have got a couple different opportunities throughout the day to interact with those vendors and learn more about the types of services and products that they offer.
Zachary Hoffman: Now day two of the conference is quite a bit different than the first, so could you tell us a little bit about what the second day of the conference is like?
Michelle Palmer: So, this year we will be hosting the mutual aid exercise at our new training center. There will be a scenario that will be posed. It is some type of large outage, and we will walk through a series of questions on how you react — when do you call mutual aid, how do you handle the mutual aid event from your own community perspective — and it really gives those participating different ideas on what things that they might be able to utilize back in their community. It really kind of helps outline best practices and what folks are doing if and when that large event unfortunately impacts your community.
Zachary Hoffman: Excellent, well that all sounds great. Where can Members go to learn more?
Michelle Palmer: So, there is information posted about it on our website. They can register online. If they have specific questions, they can reach out to any of the safety staff. Jennifer Flockerzie is a great resource as well and will be providing agendas out as soon as they are finalized.
Zachary Hoffman: Well that all sounds great and I am looking forward to it myself. So, Michelle, thank you so much for joining us today.
Michelle Palmer: Thank you.
Zachary Hoffman: I am Zachary Hoffman, your host for The Public Power Line Minute, brought to you by American Municipal Power. Thank you for joining us. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to share it and subscribe so you do not miss future conversations on the issues most important to AMP Members. You can find The Public Power Line and The Public Power Line Minute wherever you get your podcasts.