8:30 AM – 5:00 PM | Symposium Registration
9:00 AM – 9:50 AM | Welcome and Keynote
9:50 – 10:30 AM | Geothermal TENs 101
The thermal energy opportunity is vast and untapped, with geothermal heat sufficient to provide all heating needs in North America according to the IEA’s recent Geothermal Report. To kick off our Symposium, this session aims to provide foundational understanding of what geothermal energy is and how it enables ground-source heat pumps to work in single building installations and more efficiently in buildings networked together to share heating and cooling loads. We will review terminology and how the technology works in different kinds of deployment, to lay the foundation for two days of learning about how geothermal heating and cooling, and (geo)thermal energy networks (GENs or TENs) have the potential to provide significant economic, employment, resilience, and security benefits across the country.
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM | Networking Break
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Session 1: Community Organizing
Clean thermal energy networks serve as both a model of and a metaphor for community. We are all connected in ways we can see and can't see. We all have a role to play and we are stronger because of our connections. We all have something to give to and we all need to receive from the community. Community organizing, therefore, is an integral part of the process of building a thermal energy network. It is particularly critical in overburdened and underserved communities, where there is understandably eroded trust in energy systems. This session will discuss the importance of grassroots community organizing and provide examples of how organizing around TENs can build on community connections and environmental justice organizing that is already underway in many overburdened and underserved communities.
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Networking Lunch
1:00 PM – 1:20 PM | Keynote Presentation
1:20 PM – 2:45 PM | Session 2: New Technological Advances and Novel Applications
Development of new and innovative technologies is critical to the successful growth of any aspiring technology but equally important is the inventive manner in which those components are integrated into an overall solution and ultimately applied in the real world. In other words, driving innovation requires more than just developing breakthrough technologies—it also demands creative integration and practical application. This panel will explore both dimensions of innovation: showcasing cutting-edge technologies shaping geothermal systems, examining how these components are woven into system design, and highlighting how these advancements are being deployed in real-world projects.
2:45 PM – 3:15 PM | Networking Break
3:15 PM – 4:30 PM | Session 3: Where are the Utilities? Discussing Piloting Projects
This session aims to provide a space for updates on the utility pilot projects underway around the country and dive into some of the progress made over the past year. Lessons learned, challenges, and next steps will be explored in order to promote cross pollination of approaches by the project development teams. These important demonstration projects are helping to answer some of the fundamental questions around the various regulatory environments, scaling of thermal energy networks, and what future applications of the technology could look like.
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM | Daily Wrap-Up
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM | Symposium Registration and Information
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Welcome and Opening Discussion
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM | Session 4: Policy and Regulatory
Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) are rapidly ascending as a cornerstone of building decarbonization, community resilience, and grid flexibility. With more than a dozen states now advancing legal frameworks and utility pilots, this session will unpack the policy and regulatory foundations that are accelerating or constraining deployment.
In this moderated panel, we’ll explore:
- Ownership and utility roles: What regulatory structures allow gas, electric or water utilities to own and operate TENs? How are states defining “thermal energy networks” and where does oversight lie?
- Cost recovery and rate design: What mechanisms are enabling cost recovery or pilot funding? How are states protecting ratepayers while funding innovation?
- Equity, workforce, and community benefits: How are new laws ensuring that TENs promote high-road jobs, benefit LMI communities, and avoid renewing inequities?
- Enabling scaling and non-pipeline alternatives: With gas infrastructure aging out, how are TENs being recognized as a replacement pathway under clean-heat or non-pipeline statutes?
Attendees will leave with actionable insights on how to engage with regulators, shape enabling policy, and prepare for the transition from pilot to scale-up in their jurisdictions. Whether you are a utility executive, municipal leader, regulator, developer, or community advocate, this session will help you understand what it takes to turn regulatory possibility into real-world TEN deployment.
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM | Networking Break
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Session 5: Workforce
This panel will examine the workforce required to scale Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) in Maryland and across the United States. Panelists will explore what it will take to build a skilled, ready, and equitable workforce capable of designing, installing, and maintaining TEN projects at scale.
The discussion will include opportunities for workers in adjacent industries - such as gas utility workers, HVAC technicians, drillers, and construction trades and how their existing skills can translate to TENs deployment. Panelists will also address key barriers, including gaps in training, certification, standards, labor availability, and regulatory alignment.
Finally, the panel will consider what policies, training pathways, labor standards, and institutional coordination are needed to ensure workforce readiness, support high-quality jobs, and meet the growing demand for TEN projects in Maryland and nationally.
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Geothermal Conservation and Culture
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM | Networking Lunch
1:15 PM – 2:15 PM | Session 6: Cost Drivers & Finance
Scaling modern thermal energy technologies will tap a vast energy opportunity and increase state (and national) energy independence, make energy more affordable, enhance public health, and advance a reliable and secure source of heating and cooling. Generally speaking, you can expect that half of your utility bills are dedicated to heating and cooling, so there’s real value in making your solutions more efficient. This session will help you better understand the financing of a thermal energy network, exploring major cost drivers in each phase, typical ownership models-- small and big organizations, co-ops, utilities--and how they distribute costs and benefits over time, including scale and cost reduction strategies, risks and benefits, and geothermal’s positive impact to the electric grid.
2:15 PM – 3:00 PM | Session 7: Decision Making: Installing a TENs
How do we move beyond the feasibility study? With the momentum gained in the recent months, many projects have completed studies and are waiting to make the jump to implementation. This panel will focus on how to take that next step and overcome obstacles and concerns that lead to a successful project.
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Networking Break
3:15 PM – 4:30 PM | Session 8: How TENs Become a Reality
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM | Symposium Wrap-Up: Final Thoughts and Open Discussion
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Optional Field Trip (Details and confirmed timing forthcoming)
