Registration for all 2025 IEEE PES GM Technical Tours can be paid and completed in the main event registration link.
MONDAY, 28 JULY
12:45PM - 2:45PM
Tour Duration: 2 Hours
The tour will the Pecan Street Project, a real-world testbed and commercialization lab. Attendees will visit 3 floors of the 3,800 square foot Pike Powers Lab, data center, and testing space for consumer electronics and applications that incorporate metrology, building controls, solar PV, natural gas fuel cell, machine-to-machine, vehicle charging and disaggregation technologies.
Price: $25 USD
Maximum: 30 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
2:00PM - 4:30PM
Tour Duration: 2.5 Hours
Community First! Village is a master planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. A pioneer success story, Community First! Village occupies 51 acres and is currently home to more than 370 formerly homeless neighbors and will soon provide housing and community for just more than 500 of our friends who once struggled to survive on the streets of Austin. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve our neighbors who have been living on the streets while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
Price: $30 USD
Maximum: 24 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
TUESDAY, 29 JULY
9:00AM - 2:00PM
Tour Duration 5 Hours
Quanta is the industry-leading provider of infrastructure solutions and fields the most skilled workforce in the industry. The Quanta Advanced Training Center in La Grange, Texas is dedicated to creating, developing, and teaching expertise. From training pre-apprentices, to delivering highly specialized training on-demand, to innovating tomorrow’s tools and techniques, the Quanta Advanced Training Center continually raises the bar.
Requirements: Closed-toe shoes are required. Quanta Advanced Training Center – Lazy Q will provide hard hats and high visibility vests
Note: Attendees will be required to sign a waiver.
Price: $40 USD
Maximum: 28 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
9:45AM - 10:45AM
Tour Duration: 1 Hour
Participants will have the opportunity to observe the internal components of the system, as the containers will be safely opened for viewing.
Guided by engineers, the tour will cover key features of the BESS, including battery modules, inverters, and control systems, while maintaining a secure distance from the equipment. Safety protocols will be in place to ensure a safe and informative experience for all attendees.
PPE will be provided.
Price: $35 USD
Maximum: 20 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
1:30PM - 4:00PM
Tour Duration: 2.5 Hours
Visit and observe the LCRA System Operations Control Center (SOCC) in action!
LCRA SOCC operators coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the real-time operation and control of LCRA’s transmission grid. See where the switching of LCRA TSC, customer, and leased transmission lines are performed to most safely and efficiently restore power to the end-use customer
Price: $45 USD
Maximum: 15 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
WEDNESDAY, 30 JULY
8:15AM - 11:45AM
Tour Duration 3.5 Hours
Visit and learn about LCRA’s newest peaker plant.
The new Timmerman Power Plant will include two natural gas-fueled peaker units able to ramp up and shut down in minutes. Combined, the units can provide about 380 megawatts to the Texas power grid when dispatchable power is needed. Each unit will be powered by 10 Wartsila reciprocating internal combustion engines.
The new natural gas-fueled plant in Caldwell County will help meet the growing demand for electricity and will be available to grid operators to call upon when renewable and other thermal generation are not sufficient to meet the state’s demand for electricity. An electric substation also will be added to the site to support the new generation resources.
We will be touring both a completed unit and a unit under construction.
Requirements: Closed-toe shoes are required. Timmerman Power Plant will provide hard hats and high visibility vests.
Price: $25 USD
Maximum: 30 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
9:30AM - 11:00AM
Tour Duration: 1.5 Hours
The Webberville Solar Farm, located near Austin, Texas, is a 30 MW-AC photovoltaic power plant that began operation in December 2011. Spanning 380 acres, the facility features 127,728 Trina Solar modules mounted on single-axis trackers that follow the sun’s movement to optimize energy production. The panels generate over 61 GWh annually, enough to power approximately 5,000 homes each year. Over its 25-year lifespan, it is projected to produce 1.4 billion kWh of renewable energy, offsetting over 1.6 billion pounds of CO₂ emissions.
Requirements: Shoes suitable for gravel are required
Note: Attendees will have to sign visitor release of liability as condition of entry form.
Price: $35 USD
Maximum: 20 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
1:45PM - 3:45PM
Tour Duration: 2 Hours
The University of Texas at Austin boasts one of the nation’s largest microgrids, giving students a unique edge in learning about energy solutions. Students across disciplines, from engineers to anthropologists, visit the Carl J. Eckhardt Combined Heating and Power Complex. This hands-on experience allows them to see firsthand how the facility generates 100% of the university’s electricity, heating, and cooling. Hearing protection will be provided.
Price: $25 USD
Maximum: 30 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.
THURSDAY, 31 JULY
8:45AM - 10:15AM
Tour Duration 1.5 Hours
Visit and learn about the LCRA Tom Miller Dam!
Attendees will walk the dam and hear from the LCRA water department leadership about the history and technology of the Tom Miller Dam. The dam has been built atop the remains of two earlier structures, both called Austin Dam. The first was built from 1890 to 1893, and the other from 1912 to 1915. Massive floods destroyed the first dam and heavily damaged the second.
In October 2020, LCRA completed a major project to replace the original floodgates on Tom Miller Dam to help maintain continued reliability and safety of the dam for generations to come. The $10.8 million project continues LCRA’s investment in the dam and marks the dam’s second extensive renovation since it was completed in 1940.
Requirements: Closed-toe shoes are required. Tom Miller Damwill will provide hard hats.
Price: $35 USD
Maximum: 20 Guests
Pre-registration required
Inclusions: Guided Tour, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Taxes, Gratuities, Coordination and Management.