Whether you’re running legacy GE “Mark” platforms or overseeing the transition to modern digital I&C systems, the Power Plant Controls Users Group (PPCUG) is the place to gain actionable knowledge and peer-tested insights on controls reliability, cybersecurity, diagnostics, and upgrade paths. This year’s PPCUG track at the Power Users Combined Conference—August 25–28, 2025 in Washington, D.C.—features the most robust lineup of controls-focused sessions to date, including OEM training, health assessments, and user case studies on fleetwide data visibility and performance.
If you’re responsible for turbine controls, DCS integration, alarm management, or I&C reliability, this is the agenda your site can’t afford to skip.
Monday, August 25 – Controls 101 to 301 and DHS Sector Briefing
GE Vernova anchors the opening day with a Mark VIe controls training series:
- Beginner 101: Architecture, configuration, and platform basics
- Experienced 301: Troubleshooting and maintenance fundamentals
Midday brings a joint kickoff with Duke Energy’s Jake English, followed by:
- A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) energy sector briefing
- “Managing the 3rd Energy Bubble” (GE Vernova)
- Joint Operator Experience panel with CCUG/PPCUG Steering Committees
- Static excitation maintenance (GE Vernova) and LCI life-cycle planning (MD&A)
Evening: User-only off-site networking event with GE Vernova and MD&A.
Tuesday, August 26 – Lifecycle Management, Cybersecurity, and Interface Enhancements
The day begins with GE Vernova Day for PPCUG, featuring:
- BOP-to-controls integration and lifecycle planning strategies
- Acoustic diagnostics with ultrasound tools (Distran USA)
- GT controls theory and model-based control updates (GE Vernova)
- Combustion system selection and logic architecture
Afternoon sessions turn tactical:
- Simulators for operational training
- Cybersecurity landscape and its effect on controls design
- Non-optical flame detection and vibration monitoring via Mark VIe
- Alarm management system design for modern control rooms
Vendor fair and networking follows.
Wednesday, August 27 – Alarm Design, Historian Data, and Reliability Analytics
PPCUG pairs vendor and user perspectives:
- Consistent and optimal CCGT operations (Emerson)
- Alarm Management Systems: Theory and case study (ABB & Emerson)
- ABB/PSM 7FA S+ system user perspective (Tenaska)
Midday and afternoon highlight data-driven diagnostics:
- Centralized relay data networks: TECO Big Bend implementation
- Historian-based vibration condition monitoring (BK Vibro)
- Machinery protection upgrades (Alta Solutions)
Thursday, August 28 – I&C Training, SCR Instrumentation, and Intelligent Actuation
Day four dives deeper into the future of I&C:
- Turbine controls health check (a.k.a. reliability assessment) by AP4 Group
- OEM training for I&C techs and generator operators (Siemens Energy)
- Redundant valve actuator innovations (iSER®)
- Field SCR instrumentation limitations (Environex)
- Data-driven LM6000 optimization case study (SISO Engineering)
- Transformer change-out and IPB considerations (EBI)
If your controls strategy includes vibration analytics, SCR tuning, flame monitoring, cybersecurity hardening, or operator interface optimization—this is your roadmap.
Why PPCUG 2025 Matters
From aging control platforms and OEM limitations to cybersecurity threats and operator overload, today’s plant controls teams are expected to do more with less—and do it flawlessly. PPCUG provides the only user forum built around these exact pressures, with sessions grounded in field experience and run by people facing the same alarms and architecture you are.
Register today at www.powerusers.org. Download the 2024 slides. Benchmark your current systems. Then come to D.C. and make your controls strategy future-ready.
