grid edge live 2015

Susan Ackerman is an attorney and was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission in March 2010 by Gov. Kulongoski. 

Prior to her service on the OPUC, she was in the private practice of law representing a variety of clients in electricity and natural gas regulatory matters, including electric and natural gas rate cases, pipeline and wholesale power rate cases, transmission matters and contracts, wholesale power sales and contracts, natural gas contracting, competitive procurement, and integrated resource planning, among others.  Her clients included public preference customers of a federal power marketing agency, independent power producers, a local natural gas distributor, and the Bonneville Power Administration.  She has represented clients before the OPUC, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the National Energy Board of Canada.    
 
She currently serves on the EPRI Advisory Council, Executive Committee to EPRI Advisory Council, Co-chair of Residential Retrofit Working Group of SEE Action.

Kris Bowring was named director of business and channel development, smart home business unit in 2013. Bowring leads the smart home business unit business and channel development, bringing together a unique set of partnerships across multiple industry ecosystems, such as, the insurance industry, utility industry, service providers, senior care and other relevant partnerships. Prior to Lowe’s, Bowring was vice president of Navitas Partners a strategic consulting firm specializing in energy, strategy and the retailing experience working closely with both big box retailers, utilities and federal government agencies.  Bowring also was platform lead and general manager of the Home and Energy Management connected home platform at Best Buy. Bowring is a nationally recognized thought leader on consumer acceptance and market evolution of connected home technologies and services. Bowring has led significant primary research studies on customer attitudes and adoption of the Connected Home and has also initiated and led research forums with major technology manufacturers, utility companies and service providers. Bowring also received the Chairman’s innovation award for his innovation and growth acceleration work in retail. Bowring was also a founding member of the EPA’s Retail Action Council. Bowring brings over 18 years leadership experience in telecommunications, home appliances, consumer electronics products and retail marketing. Bowring has a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Cardinal Stritch University. Bowring also served on the boards of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, the Continental Automated Builders Association, and was an industry advisor to the Pecan Street Project smart grid initiative.

John Carrington, CEO, has over 25 years of proven leadership in technology, energy and industrial companies. John joined Stem from his role as CEO of MiaSole, the largest CIGS-based solar company with over $550 million in investment, where he oversaw its sale to Hanergy. Prior to MiaSole, John served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at First Solar where he grew the company from $400 million to $2 billion in revenue, opening markets in the US, Asia and Europe. John spent 16 years at General Electric, most recently as General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer of the $7 billion GE Plastics global organization where he lead innovation and product strategy for 30,000 customers and executed its $12 billion sale to SABIC. With GE, John led innovation efforts in healthcare, electronics, business equipment, transportation, aviation, solar, wind, defense, telecommunications, security and media sectors. He is an alumnus of the University of Colorado.

Raj Chudgar as Vice President of Sale and Business Development for Power Generation Services Inc.  Mr. Chudgar brings extensive experience in the wholesale (operations and markets), TDSP (Transmission and Distribution Providers), demand response, and retail energy space, and has lead numerous client projects covering all aspects of system and lifecycle development, ISO development and wholesale energy business solutions. He has spent more than 20 years in the electricity market and utility business with a focus on software development, renewables generation, market strategy, and Smart Grid solutions. He has spent nearly 20 years working with end use customers, regulatory bodies (PUCT, FERC, ERCOT), and deep background in retail, wholesale, T&D, and regulatory affairs. Mr. Chudgar holds Bachelor and Masters of Engineering degrees in Chemical Engineering from the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville (Kentucky). He has published a number of technical articles, white papers and presentations on implementation best practices in energy procurement, and has been a distinguished speaker on solutions and market trends at several technology and engineering conferences.

Dr. David Danielson leads the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). As Assistant Secretary, he oversees a broad energy portfolio that is intended to hasten the transition to a clean energy economy. Previously, he was the first Program Director hired by DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). At ARPA-E, he developed and led R&D programs with a budget of more than $100 million that focused on high-risk, high-reward, disruptive clean energy technologies. Prior to joining ARPA-E, he was a clean energy venture capitalist at General Catalyst Partners, a Boston-based venture capital fund. He co-founded the firm's clean energy investment practice and helped build and grow startups in various clean energy technology areas including solar power, wind power, advanced biofuels, bio-gas, carbon capture and storage, and advanced lighting. He was a co-founder of the New England Clean Energy Council. He has authored more than 20 scientific articles in the field of advanced materials. While at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was the founder and President of the MIT Energy Club and a founding Director of the MIT Energy Conference. For his work in building a strong multidisciplinary energy community at MIT, he was awarded the Karl Taylor Compton Prize, MIT's highest student award. He holds a Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As CODA Energy’s first CEO, Paul Detering brings over 20 years of leadership experience in clean technology, networking and software industries to the company. Detering’s deep knowledge of the renewable energy space and proven expertise in driving growth at early stage technology companies is leading CODA Energy through the next critical stages of development. His past successes in raising significant capital for a number of start-ups is a complement to the strength of CODA Energy’s product and investor base, including funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group and a European Family Office. Prior to CODA Energy, Detering founded Redwood Insights to provide advisory and interim executive services to early stage and midsize companies and funds in the renewable energy and communications industries. During this time he also served as interim CEO and CFO of REC Solar, a $100MM commercial DG solar developer, where he spearheaded dramatic sales acceleration in the first half of 2014. Before launching Redwood Insights, Detering founded and led Tioga Energy, one of the early pioneers and most experienced independent power purchase agreement (PPA) providers in the United States. At Tioga, Detering applied his extensive telecommunications experience during a period of rapid transformation to the power industry. Tioga Energy secured over $400 million in corporate and project capital and was sold to sPower in 2013. Previously he led Larian Communications, which produced a next-generation voice messaging system. Detering was also Chief Executive of Blueleaf Networks, an early stage optical networking and components company; Wildfire Communications, which he successfully sold to Orange Plc; and IQ Labs. Detering began his career at Nortel Networks and has worked at Raychem, Raynet Systems, and McKinsey and Company. He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Engineering Physics from the Royal Military College of Canada and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar.

Chad Eckhardt is President and CEO of GridBridge, Inc., which is revitalizing power delivery systems within a variety of critical applications through combining breakthrough technology that enables distributed resources, enhances reliability and resilience, and improves efficiency.  Chad has spent over a decade leading various businesses within established Original Equipment Manufacturers in the electrical distribution and power quality markets. He offers a proven track record of commercializing technology from advanced R&D centers, transforming early stage concepts into customer-driven, state-of-the art solutions with convincing value propositions. Chad’s distinguished product launch experience is extensive. His education includes electrical engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr. Hague serves as Senior Director of Marketing & Technology Partnerships for Gehrlicher Solar America Corp (A Company of M+W Group). His charter is to integrate market ready grid stabilization and storage solutions into commercial and utility scale PV systems. Mr. Hague's experience in renewable energy spans the value chain from device design though project development. Highlights include inventing a demand response controller to balance load against available sun, developing capital equipment for polysilicon, CDTE, and CIGS production lines, utility scale PV project development, and market analysis. He co-authored the U.S. Smart Grid Vendor Ecosystem report for the US-Department of Energy and lead research for US-Environmental Protection Agency, Shaw, Navigant Consulting, and F1000 companies to assess markets and technologies.  Mr. Hague serves as Vice-Chair for the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) Grid Integration Task Force, an advocate for the expansion of solar with integrated storage, co-gen, and stabilizing technologies. Mr. Hague holds a B.S in Engineering from Santa Clara University.

Julia Hamm has more than 15 years of experience advising and collaborating with utilities, manufacturers and government agencies on renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies and programs.  The knowledge and experience she has gained as the President and CEO of SEPA since 2004 makes her one of the world’s foremost experts on the nexus between utilities and solar energy.  Julia guides and oversees all of SEPA’s research, education, and collaboration activities for its 1,000 member companies.  She has expertise on the business models and programs of utilities throughout the U.S., as well as utilities in Europe and Asia.  Prior to joining SEPA, Julia worked for ICF International where she supported EPA’s implementation of the ENERGY STAR program.  Julia - a graduate of Cornell University - walks the talk, living in a PV powered energy efficient home in Northern Virginia.

Brent Harris is the Chief Technology Officer and a co-founder of Eguana Technologies, the leading supplier of power control systems for residential and commercial energy storage systems. Brent is an inventor of the Company's key technologies and has led the commercialization of the Company's products. He has a passion for decentralized energy in general and for solar power in particular. He is an active proponent of changes to the management and regulation of our electric system that will enable greater adoption of decentralized and renewable energy technologies and has been actively engaged in various industry organizations in Canada and the US.  Brent is a graduate of Queens' University in Applied Science, Electrical Engineering.  He is currently the chair of Decentralized Energy Canada, an industry association supporting innovation and commercialization in Canada’s decentralized energy sector.

Mr. Hes, a graduate of Czech Technical University in Prague (Czech Republic), faculty of electrical engineering, has five years’ experience in topics related to smart grids. He started his career in Telefonica O2 (telecommunications), where he worked at the network capacity department. In 2010 he joined CEZ OZ development team (renewables) and was also responsible for RES integration into distribution networks. After three years he became a Specialist for new technologies in CEZ Distribuce (the major DSO in Czech Republic with more than 3,5 mil. customers). Now he is a Demo5 leader within Grid4EU project. Demo5 project on demonstration site Vrchlabi in Czech Republic, deals with implementation and testing of smart grid functionalities (MV automation, LV automation, island operation, power quality measurement, implementation of charging stations for E-vehicles, and distributed energy resources integration).

Todd is directly responsible for all aspects of Dominion Voltage Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Energy Holdings.

Todd started with Dominion in August of 2012.  Prior to joining Dominion, Todd had 12 years of executive management experience in the Smart Grid Technology industry and has worked with hundreds of utilities all over the world.

Todd was the CEO of Hunt Technologies, one of the pioneers of the AMI industry that was sold to Landis+Gyr in 2006.  Todd was also the CEO and visionary of Silent Power, one of the early leaders in the small scale energy storage / distributed generation industry where he successfully closed both a Series A and Series B financing round and secured over a dozen demonstration projects with utilities in the North America.

Todd received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering in 1990 from North Dakota State University.

Joe develops new businesses for Time Warner Cable’s IntelligentHome platform, specifically in energy management, retail electricity and residential solar.  Prior to Time Warner, he managed Southern California Edison's strategic alliances with residential energy management service providers, and before that negotiated long-term energy contracts and PPAs.  Joe has also held leadership positions in the private equity, HVAC manufacturing and management consulting industries. He holds BA, MBA and MPA degrees from Stanford, USC and Harvard, respectively.

Derek is a Principal Supervisor in Demand Side Management at DTE Electric Co.  In this role, he is responsible for managing approximately 580 MW of Demand Response resources ranging from a residential direct load control air conditioning program to a number of commercial and industrial interruptible tariffs.  He is charged with expanding DR capacity through both existing programs and integration of new technologies and rate design, while increasing DR integration with existing energy efficiency programs.

In addition to the Demand Response programs, Mr. Kirchner manages the Dispatchable Customer Generation program at DTE which allows for customer owned generators to offset peak demand.

Mr. Kirchner has worked in several areas at the company over his 15 years including Marketing, Generation Optimization, Major Account Services, Integrated Resource Planning, and Regulatory Pricing.  He has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Detroit-Mercy and is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM).

Lee is director of new ventures for PXiSE Energy Solutions, LLC, evangelizing PXiSE Advanced Controller Technology (“ACT”), a patented, high-speed advanced grid control technology developed to meet the evolving needs of the modern energy ecosystem. PXiSE ACT software enables the energy industry to extract greater value from energy storage and increase the amount of renewables on the grid with its unique functionality, enabling zero spinning inertia and reserve, cost-optimized island energy production, blinkless carbon-free microgrids, and fast SCADA for utility-scale renewable energy.

Previously, Lee was director of new ventures for Sempra Renewables, a leading developer of clean energy solutions in markets throughout the U.S. The company jointly owns and operates nearly 3,000 megawatts of wind and solar generating capacity, including two of the largest photovoltaic solar plants in the U.S., and an energy storage facility that provides ramping capability to a wind farm in Maui. He was responsible for leading the development of distributed energy solutions including solar, load optimization, bio-methane, electric vehicle charging, energy Blockchain, and microgrids.

Lee has over three decades of experience in the energy and technology industries While working at San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, he founded and served as director of smart grid and led SDG&E’s smart grid and electric vehicle initiatives. Lee was twice named one of the top 100 movers and shakers influencing the smart grid market by GreenTech Media and twice recognized as a Top 12 “Mover and Shaker” in the utility industry by Intelligent Utility Magazine. He has also been recognized as a Privacy Ambassador by The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

Lee is a champion for sustainability on a national level. He serves on the Board of Directors of the GridWise Alliance, where he led the development of the GridWise Alliance Grid Modernization Index (GMI). The GMI has been used since 2013 to evaluate the status of electric grid modernization in the United States, to identify and promote best practices, and to provide insights to state policy makers, regulators, and other stakeholders regarding the progress of their grid modernization.

Lee currently serves on the Board of GridX, a startup that has developed the industry’s first revenue grade, utility scale, cloud-based billing engine, as a business advisor to PI Energy, a startup commercializing nano-photonic materials, and as an advisory member on the UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center's Leadership Council.

Prior to joining the Sempra Energy family of companies, Lee led several software development teams at Tandem Computers, and was a partner at TransPac Software, a startup in Silicon Valley. He received a bachelor’s degree with university honors in applied mathematics/computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. Most weekends he performs in improv and musical improv comedy shows.

Steve McBee is the President & CEO of NRG Home, the first-ever large energy business to organize entirely around the consumer. Steve is passionate about creating solutions for global energy and climate challenges through new technologies, new business models and the creation of new consumer markets. Prior to joining NRG, Steve was founder and CEO McBee Strategic Consulting, one of Washington's largest and most diverse advisory services firms, serving as a trusted advisor to corporate leaders of Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs and innovative growth companies. Drawing on his deep networks inside large corporations, Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Washington, Steve built McBee Strategic into one of the most diverse and disruptive consulting firms in Washington. Prior to founding McBee Strategic Consulting, Steve was a partner at the consulting firm, Denny Miller McBee Associates, and before that, served for almost a decade on Capitol Hill as a senior aide to three members of the United States Congress.

Dr. Peter Muhoro is the Vice President, Strategic Industry Research and Analysis at the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). Peter brings technical knowledge and strategic planning expertise to electric cooperatives, and is responsible for strategic technical and industry research, business intelligence and advanced technologies trends analysis. Prior to joining CFC in 2017, Peter held several positions working for, and with electric cooperatives. Most recently, he served as the Chief Strategy Officer at Pedernales Electric Cooperative, the largest distribution electric cooperative in the U.S. Prior to that, he was an Advisor at the Cooperative Research Network, the technology research arm of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He has previously launched several small businesses focused on energy analysis, bottom of the pyramid issues and poverty reduction through beneficial electrification. He serves on the boards of the Energy Storage Association and the Smart Electric Power Alliance, as well as other advisory committees. He is a sought-after speaker both nationally and internationally. Peter holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from Hampton University, a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Michigan.

Bojana Popovic is Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at EDF Energy Services. In her current role, Bojana is responsible for group strategy, structured product and new business development. She works with retail and wholesale clients to develop solutions for managing risk and portfolio optimization, as well as advises clients on energy markets, renewables and demand response. Prior to this role Bojana led EDF Trading’s North American Power and Natural Gas Fundamentals team as well as held roles in structuring, asset management and portfolio optimization. Prior to joining EDF, Bojana traded exotic derivatives at Lehman Brothers and held business development role at GE Oil and Gas. Bojana holds M.B.A. degree from Bocconi University (Italy) as well as degree in Statistics and Economics from University of Belgrade (Serbia).

Chief Technology Officer Oliver Pacific joined Spirae in 2006, bringing more than 29 years of power generation experience in manufacturing, engineering, and field commissioning to the Spirae team. As CTO Mr. Pacific led the technical design of the Renewable and Distributed Systems Integration (RDSI) and FortZED projects, which successfully modernized and transformed the electrical distribution system of the downtown area of Fort Collins, Colorado, with a coordinated and integrated system of mixed distributed resources. Oliver also led the development and integration of an innovative grid management technology for Energinet.dk, the Danish transmission system operator. This project demonstrates hybrid system operation of a high penetration of wind and distributed energy resources with advanced distribution functions, such as self-healing and islanded operations. Oliver’s previous experience includes extensive work with Allison, GE, Kawasaki, and Yanmar gas turbines from 1MW to 300MW in size, and diesels from Detroit Diesel (DDC/MTU), Electro Motive (EMD), and Caterpillar from 250KW-35MW. Mr. Pacific also worked for Valley Power Systems for 13 years, where he served as Operations Manager for the power products division and managed manufacturing and engineering with more than 100 employees and annual sales of $30 million. Oliver received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Idaho State University.

Naimish Patel is the Founder and CEO of Gridco Systems, a leader in agile grid infrastructure solutions, enabling utilities to more effectively integrate renewable and distributed generation, increase energy efficiency, manage peak capacity, and improve system reliability. Previously, Naimish was an EIR at General Catalyst Partners.  Prior to joining General Catalyst, Naimish was one of the four founding team members of Sycamore Networks. Naimish holds B.S., M.S., and M.Eng. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT and is the holder of 18 patents. He serves on the Advanced Energy Economy Board of Directors and on the President’s Council at Olin College.

Russell Ragsdale is a Strategic Planning Principal Manager of Grid Modernization at Southern California Edison.  In his current role, he is working to develop strategy for and implement distribution grid modernization.  This effort includes enhanced distribution and substation automation, advanced communications networks, IT system architecture and cybersecurity, as well as a suite of planning and operations tools to enable integration of DERs into planning and operations.  In addition to deployment of technology, grid modernization will result in an evolved workforce and streamlined processes that can complement technology to provide safe, reliable service to electric customers. Russell has over 10 years of experience in distribution system planning, distribution operations engineering, system planning software development, and strategic planning.  Most recently, he led several efforts as part of SCE’s Distribution Resource Plan team where SCE outlined their plan to facilitate the integration of DERs and modernize the distribution Grid.  Russell holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.  He is currently pursuing an Executive MBA from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.  Russell lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California with his wife and their 2 children.  When not working, he enjoys hiking, camping, and family vacations.

Heather Rosentrater joined Avista Corp in 1996 while studying Electrical Engineering at Gonzaga University.  She graduated from Gonzaga in 1999 and was hired on full-time with Avista as an Engineer. Heather has held several engineering and leadership positions during her 19 years at Avista.  She is currently Avista’s Director of Engineering and leads the Transmission and Distribution Engineering groups as well as the company’s Smart Grid and Smart City efforts. Heather is a registered Professional Engineer, leads the Engineering / Applied Science Alumni Council (EASAC) at Gonzaga University, and is on the Advisory Council for Washington State University’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

At Intel Geoff helps energy and industrial companies develop solutions to business challenges by applying “Internet of Things” technologies in their operations.  Throughout his career, Geoff has combined technical, operational and business understanding to bring new technologies to market. 

He has worked for a US and a European utility, internet and enterprise software companies, as well as wind and solar companies including such companies at Google, EDF and PSE&G. Roles have included finance, engineering, supply chain and sales.

Geoff holds an MBA from Cornell University and degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Jigar Shah is the President and Co-Founder of Generate Capital. Jigar was the founder and CEO of SunEdison (NASDAQ: SUNE, TERP), where he pioneered “no money down solar” and unlocked a multi-billion-dollar solar market, creating the largest solar services company worldwide. He is the author of Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy. After SunEdison, Jigar served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change. Generate Capital, the Carbon War Room and SunEdison all follow from Jigar’s vision that business model innovation will unlock the largest wealth creation opportunity – resource efficiency. Jigar is committed to helping entrepreneurs and large companies alike implement resource efficiency solutions using “pay as you save” project finance models. Jigar holds an MBA from The University of Maryland and BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He sits on the boards of sPower and the Rocky Mountain Institute.  Jigar lives in New York City and is trying to find the perfect cocktail.

Mr. Carmine Tilghman is the Senior Director of Energy Supply for UNS Energy, parent company for Tucson Electric Power and UNS Electric, Inc. His primary responsibilities are to oversee all aspects of wholesale marketing & power trading activities, fuel contracts and procurement, and renewable energy procurement. Mr. Tilghman has over 30 years’ experience in the energy production and procurement industry; including conventional and renewable energy. Prior to joining TEP, he spent 9 years as a nuclear reactor operator in the United States Navy submarine service.

Rémy Garaude Verdier is a Smart Grids Project Manager within Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF). He is a civil engineer with an MBA from Lausanne IMD (Switzerland). He has worked in a variety of jobs during a 10-year career at EDF Group. His previous roles include managing the integration of the EDF Group’s SAP solution to its new nuclear build division in the UK and the US, and managing the purchase and engineering domains in the biggest SAP deployment completed to date (more than 80,000 users). Prior to joining EDF Group, he managed several large construction projects around the world for VINCI Group.

As EPB’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, David Wade leads the company’s effort to operate one of the country’s most sophisticated smart electric distribution systems.

Using a 100% fiber optic network as its backbone, EPB has constructed a Smart Grid that is already providing reduction in power outage duration for the Chattanooga, TN community – up to 100% in some instances.

The Smart Grid’s fiber optic communications backbone is also allowing EPB to offer its customers the fastest Internet speeds in the Western Hemisphere, adding another advantage for Chattanooga area homes and businesses alike.

Jon Wellinghoff is known for his international expertise and thought leadership in energy policy, electric markets and the interface of disruptive energy systems with traditional utility structures. His firm GridPolicy, Inc. is dedicated to furthering the deployment of and investment in clean sustainable distributed energy resources (DERs). Jon works to remove regulatory, policy, and institutional barriers to the widespread adoption of cost effective DER technologies and systems, assisting companies, governments, and consumers who market and/or operate such resources. In 2006, Jon received his first of two Presidential appointments to serve as a Commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and was FERC’s longest serving Chairman (2009- 2013). During his FERC tenure, he led efforts to make the U.S. power system cleaner and more efficient by promoting and integrating renewable energy, demand response, energy efficiency and storage.

Bradley Williams is Vice President of Oracle Utilities Product Management, and is responsible for outage management, distribution management, mobile workforce management, work and asset management, and load analysis utility applications and smart grid strategy. Mr. Williams has more than 24 years of utility technology innovation experience. Prior to joining Oracle, he was a research director for Gartner's Energy and Utilities Industry Advisory Services, focusing on utility applications of GIS, SCADA/EMS/DMS, outage and work management, and transmission and distribution asset management research. Prior to that, he directed PacifiCorp's T&D asset management and was responsible for long-term asset strategies and business technology that developed and implemented comprehensive IT investment programs. As Director of T&D Infrastructure Planning, he was responsible for PacifiCorp's subtransmission planning, telecommunications, and operations technology development groups. Mr. Williams also worked at Southern California Edison for 10 years, where he was involved in transmission system planning, distribution automation, and reliability programs.

Ilén leads the Enphase Energy Management System product team, and is responsible for advancing this Enphase technology solution across all target business segments. Previously, Ilén served as Enphase’s director of product management for the residential segment and prior to that role was the principal software manager of the Enphase Enlighten product, where she led the cross-functional team of software engineers, product managers and technical writers. With 15 years of combined e-learning software, SaaS and website development expertise, Ilén has enhanced the overall Enlighten platform and its mobile installer tools that measure the output and efficiency of solar energy systems. Ilén holds a B.A. in humanities from New College of the University of  South Florida.

Rick Thompson co-­founded Greentech Media in 2007, leading the company from unknown upstart to the authoritative information services provider covering the transformation of the global electricity system.

Prior to GTM, Thompson spent 15 years at leading technology start­ups, incumbent networking and telecommunications companies, and technology media and market research firms. Rick was senior telecom analyst at Light Reading/Heavy Reading, the dominant online media & research firm in the telecommunications market, acquired by CMP Media in 2005. Mr. Thompson previously served as the vice president of marketing at PanGo Networks, a wireless software startup, and as director of product management and marketing at Sycamore Networks Inc., where he defined the product strategy and launch of the industry’s first intelligent optical switching platform through their IPO in 1999. Under his leadership, Sycamore deployed several of the world’s largest intelligent optical network infrastructures. Prior to joining Sycamore, Rick held product management positions with Packet Engines, a pioneer of Gigabit Ethernet switching that was later acquired by Alcatel; and FORE Systems, a leader in ATM networking that was later acquired by Marconi and, subsequently, Ericsson. Mr. Thompson earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Stephen Lacey is Editor-in-Chief of Greentech Media. He manages a team of writers focused on solar, storage, efficiency, mobility, and grid modernization. He’s also host of the Energy Gang podcast, a weekly roundtable on the latest energy and environmental news.

Ben is the Director of Grid Research for Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables (Formerly GTM Research), specializing in Distribution Automation, Network Management and Renewables Integration markets. He previously worked as a research analyst for Knwldg Houston, formerly a green energy and healthcare consulting firm, where his research focused on AMI deployment and smart grid regulatory policy. Prior to Knwldg Houston, Ben was a policy intern with Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates where he performed research for energy, transportation, and defense clients.

He has authored multiple studies on the smart grid market, concentrating on policy evolution, technology innovation, the market's competitive landscape and project economics. Ben has delivered keynote presentations for multiple industry conferences, moderated and participated in panels covering a variety of topics, and regularly hosts industry webinars with GTM Research / Greentech Media. Ben has been a smart grid contributor on CNN Money, NPR, and the Texas Tribune. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science.