The 2026 7F Users Group Annual Conference is scheduled for May 18-22 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center in The Woodlands, Tex. The agenda combines offsite shop tours, vendor solutions presentations, user-only technical sessions, and GE Vernova sessions addressing outage execution, controls modernization, casing condition, TILs, and RCAs.
2026 steering committee
Chair: Brian Richardson, Florida Power & Light
Vice chair: Edwin Rivera Hernandez, Dominion Energy
- Luis Barrera, Calpine
- Jacob Boyd, CAMS
- Scott Chapin, AES
- Alex Fortman, PE, Xcel Energy
- Sam Graham, Tenaska
- Carroll Gunter, ExxonMobil
- Clinton Lafferty, TVA
- Dennis Long, Duke Energy
- Justin McDonald, Southern Company
- Dan McQuade, Vistra Corp
- John Rogers, SRP
Program opens with tours and vendor solutions
The conference program starts Monday, May 18, with boxed breakfast for tour participants and offsite tours of Allied Power Group, Doosan, EthosEnergy, MD&A, and Sulzer. The afternoon moves to lunch, a vendor fair, and two blocks of simultaneous vendor solutions presentations. Topics include 7F performance and reliability upgrades, DLN combustion tuning, exhaust-train R3 options, heat-exchanger predictive maintenance, and controls TIL implementation.
Vendor solutions continue Tuesday afternoon with sessions on operational flexibility, replacement exhaust silencing systems, compressor bleed valves, water-wash drain valves, wet-compression tuning, turning-gear overhaul, and exhaust thermowell design. The agenda also includes a Tuesday evening social event for users and exhibitors.
User-only sessions emphasize operating experience
The Tuesday user program opens with general-session remarks by Richardson, followed by an LTSA best-practices panel and a presentation on hexavalent chrome in the No. 2 bearing tunnel. Compressor content follows, including a 7F compressor Wheel 11 dovetail crack presentation, wet-compression experience, high-flow R0/S0 user experience, and a compressor roundtable. A parallel 7FA.05 compressor session focuses on general and emerging fleet issues, including several TILs.
After lunch, the auxiliaries and controls session covers optimized cooling, Bently Nevada 3500 versus Orbit 60 vibration monitoring, and an owner/operator roundtable. Edwin Rivera of Dominion Energy chairs the session.
Wednesday covers upgrades, combustion, rotors, and turbine hardware
Wednesday morning starts with an upgrades session chaired by Clinton Lafferty of TVA. Presentations address affordable and reliable power needs, centralized outage coordination, and Mark VIe upgrade experience, followed by an upgrades roundtable. The combustion session, chaired by Scott Chapin of AES, includes presentations on high-dynamics combustion failure, gas-control-valve stability, and GTOP 4/Flame Sheet 2.5 implementation and results.
The Wednesday afternoon program shifts to rotor and turbine content. Dan McQuade of Vistra Corp. chairs the rotor session, which includes rotor life-extension planning, 7FA vibration variability, and a rotor panel with Vistra, Southern Company, and Calpine. Alex Fortman of Xcel Energy chairs the turbine session, which includes S1B tip-cracking fleet experience and an S3B failure after AC power loss.
GE Vernova sessions run Thursday and Friday
Thursday is organized around GE Vernova content for users and GE Vernova attendees. The morning includes a customer portal update, 7F history and evolution, a non-negotiable scorecard update, and a steering-committee panel on thermal plants in a tight market. Three simultaneous breakout blocks address outage roles and duration goals, auxiliaries reliability and liquid-fuel solutions, plant modernization, bottoming-cycle and generator outage coordination, next-generation gas-turbine technology de-risking, and aging 7F casings.
Thursday afternoon continues with GE Vernova breakouts on 7F-200 versus 7F.05 flange-to-flange upgrades, controls modernization through synchronous condensing, and big-data applications. The day returns to general session with a panel on top technical issues for 7F users, including TILs and RCAs, followed by a user-feedback session to the steering committee with GE Vernova out of the room.
Friday closes with broader fleet and market topics, including data-center load growth, federal-policy perspectives, and how plants may operate after 2030. The program ends with a feedback survey, closing remarks, and grand-prize drawings.
Takeaway for 7F owner/operators
The hallmark of the 7F Users Group 2026 agenda, consistent with the organization’s mission, is its emphasis on practical reliability, maintenance, controls, and outage issues rather than broad policy or market discussion. Don’t forget to register and be heard.
The program provides multiple forums for peer-to-peer exchange, including roundtables, user-only sessions, a formal feedback period with the steering committee, and GE Vernova sessions addressing fleet-specific concerns. For owner/operators managing aging 7F assets, upgrade decisions, outage execution, and the need for greater operating flexibility, the meeting offers a focused week of practical, experience-based discussion. CCJ
