The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) is preparing for one of its most pivotal Annual Member Meetings yet. As the region faces accelerating load growth, rising affordability concerns, and the urgent need for a more flexible and resilient grid, SEEA’s 2026 gathering is designed bring members together to align priorities, share insight, and move decisively into action.

Executive Director John Silkey describes the meeting as a rare opportunity for members to step away from day‑to‑day pressures and work collectively on the Southeast’s most complex energy challenges. As he puts it, the Annual Member Meeting is “a chance for members to come together in a more intimate setting and make deeper connections with their peers across sectors by working together on hard problems.”

This year’s event is more than a convening. It’s a strategic inflection point for the region.

At its core, the Annual Member Meeting is about connection, shared learning, and building a stronger regional network. Silkey emphasizes that the value of the gathering goes far beyond presentations or updates. It’s about the kind of deep, meandering conversations that simply can’t happen in virtual settings.

“Build trusted relationships and have meandering, curious conversations together… You don’t get that over a one-hour zoom.”

This meeting creates space for:

Silkey notes that when members have both time and a facilitated process, they can “move quickly from ideas to collaboration”, something that rarely happens in the normal place of work.

This year’s meeting reflects a shift in both SEEA’s strategy and the region’s needs. According to Silkey, “SEEA, and the region, are gaining a sharper focus on what’s needed now and over the next five to 10 years… to create a reliable, flexible, and affordable grid for all.”

Several elements distinguish the 2026 meeting:

SEEA’s members aren’t just participants, they’re essential architects of the region’s path forward.

As Silkey puts it, “Members are the key! The challenges and opportunities we’re facing as a region are more and more complex, which means we need more cross-sector collaboration. No one organization has the answer anymore – we all have a piece of the puzzle and what SEEA can do is bring those pieces together so we can see what the picture looks like.”

SEEA’s role is to synthesize these perspectives into actionable knowledge. As Silkey explains, SEEA is most effective when it “asks rich questions, listens, and pulls together the important insights, connections, and new questions its members come up with.”

Rather than back-to-back presentations, SEEA structures the Annual Member Meeting to prioritize hands-on collaboration—giving a small group of cross-sector partners the time and space to tackle complex challenges together, shape programs and policy, leave with clear next steps, and new contacts.

He describes the gathering as “an intimate setting with 50-70 of our most proactive members… It gives us the space to leave the day-to-day behind for two days and work on the hard things together.”

Silkey hopes attendees leave with more than inspiration. He wants them to walk away with concrete next steps.

“Collaborative projects that move us toward a shared vision of what we’re working for together.”

SEEA hopes the 2026 Annual Member Meeting is a catalyst where cross-sector partners turn ideas into programs, policy, and research that help the Southeast lead in energy optimization.

As SEEA continues to evolve, this meeting reflects where the organization, and the region, are headed: toward deeper collaboration, sharper focus, and a shared commitment to a resilient, flexible, and affordable energy future.