Microgrid Global Innovation Forum - North America 2026

The Microgrid & Energy Storage Innovation Forum is a two-day conference run by The Smart Grid Observer. It brings together utilities, microgrid developers, energy managers, storage suppliers, regulators and investors to cover microgrid deployment, energy storage and resilience.

Microgrid Global Innovation Forum - North America 2026

Microgrid Global Innovation Forum - North America runs December 1–2, 2026 in Chicago.

What it is

The Smart Grid Observer runs this two-day conference, which its own site titles the Microgrid & Energy Storage Innovation Forum. It is aimed at the people building and buying distributed energy: "global leaders, utilities, developers, and innovators" working on microgrids and energy storage. The organizer's list of who attends includes microgrid project owners and developers, utility and renewable energy professionals, energy managers at municipal and C&I end-user organizations, power control system and software vendors, battery suppliers and energy storage companies, regulatory and policy professionals, researchers, financial and VC professionals, and system integrators.

The Smart Grid Observer describes itself as an online information portal and weekly e-newsletter for the smart energy industry that hosts several conferences a year.

The program

Both days start with an 8:00 am breakfast. Day one runs until 5:00 pm and ends with a 5:00–6:30 pm reception.

Day two is shorter, with its last session at 2:15–3:30 pm. The organizer notes the agenda is subject to change.

• December 1: microgrid feasibility and ROI; utility, community and resiliency deployments; energy storage integration, EMS platforms and controls; campus, healthcare and mission-critical microgrids; AI infrastructure and data centers
• December 2: microgrid economics and financial modeling; community microgrid policy, with Michigan as the case study; industrial microgrids and battery storage; solar-plus-storage and hybrid systems; grid-edge diagnostics; resilience against extreme weather and outages

Exhibiting

Exhibitors get tabletop display space, with room for floor-standing banners and equipment. The exhibit package includes one pass to all sessions on both days, the attendee list, and a listing as a Bronze-level sponsor.