grid edge innovation summit 2018

Gil C. Quiniones has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the largest state-owned electric utility in the nation, since 2011. He is responsible for developing and implementing the statewide utility's mission and strategic vision to serve customers and mission. He also supervises its operations, legal and financial matters and relationships with external stakeholders. Under his leadership, NYPA is currently playing a key role in fulfilling Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s landmark energy policies, Reforming the Energy Vision and the Clean Energy Standard. This is seen through NYPA’s stewardship of its clean generation and transmission assets, leadership in energy efficiency, the practice of environmental justice and sustainability initiatives, and advancement of innovative technologies to become the first digital utility, end to end. Quiniones serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; is a board member of the Large Public Power Council and the Alliance to Save Energy and NYPA's principal representative to the American Public Power Association. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Gridwise Alliance and the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council.

Quiniones was Co-Chairman of the New York Energy Highway Task Force, which helped carry out Governor Cuomo's blueprint for reimagining New York State's transmission system through partnerships between the public and private sectors. In 2015 he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute the electric power industry's international research and development organization. Before joining NYPA in 2007 as Executive Vice President of Energy Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Quiniones served in several positions in the administration of City of New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, including more than four years as Senior Vice President of Energy and Telecommunications. He previously worked for Con Edison for 16 years and was one of four co-founders of Con Edison Solutions, the utility's unregulated energy services company.

Mark McGranaghan is Vice President of the Integrated Grid Sector for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He leads the teams responsible for EPRI’s research involving technologies, systems, and practices for the power distribution system and customer systems, as well as the related information, communication and cyber security infrastructure and systems. Mark has been with EPRI since 2003 and has had a strong influence on EPRI’s research in the areas of power quality, advanced distribution systems, and the smart grid. He has worked closely with government and industry research organizations, both in the United States and around the world. Prior to joining EPRI, Mark was with Electrotek Concepts (1998-2003) and McGraw-Edison/Cooper Power. Mark has BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of Toledo and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught seminars and workshops around the world and is very active in standards development and industry activities. He is an IEEE Fellow.

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.

Dr. Sonja Glavaski is a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) overseeing  portfolio of projects developing innovative and disruptive technologies that would facilitate cost-effective building energy audits, more efficient renewable energy generation, and enable electricity grid to be more responsive and resilient. Her technical focus area is data analytics, and distributed control  of complex, cyber-physical systems with emphasis on operations and security of energy systems.  Dr. Sonja Glavaski spearheaded development and is currently helming ARPA-E Network Optimized Distributed Energy Systems (NODES) Program that aims to develop transformational grid management and control methods to create a virtual energy storage system based on use of flexible loads and distributed energy resources (DERs).

Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Glavaski served as Control Systems Group Leader at United Technologies Research Center advancing knowledge and technology in the area of control & intelligent systems. Before being at UTRC, Dr. Glavaski led key programs at Eaton Innovation Center and Honeywell Labs. During her 20-plus-year career, Dr. Glavaski has contributed significantly to technical advancements in numerous product areas, including energy systems, hybrid vehicles, energy efficient building HVAC/R systems, and aircraft systems. Dr. Glavaski received Ph.D. and MS in Electrical Engineering from California Institute of Technology, and Dipl. Ing and MS in Electrical Engineering from University of Belgrade.

Mark’s work focuses on several topics related to the changing nature of the electricity grid. Mark has contributed to RMI’s work on new approaches to grid resource planning that better account for the expanding role of renewable energy and distributed energy resources. Mark also helped lead RMI’s analysis of the potential of demand flexibility to reduce grid emissions and costs, and has engaged with several industry partners to launch new business models that take advantage of that potential.

BACKGROUND
Prior to joining RMI, Mark worked at Ascend Analytics, helping deploy software for grid dispatch optimization and financial modeling to several large energy companies. Mark has also held research positions at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory working on improving regional electricity system planning models, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working on analysis of the potential for aggregated demand response programs to provide ancillary services.

Robert F. Lurie is the New York Power Authority's executive vice president and chief financial officer. He joined the Power Authority in 2012, leading the management team in creating NYPA’s visionary strategic plan that includes becoming the first digital utility in the U.S., and accelerating the adoption of clean energy in New York State. He added the role of chief financial officer in 2014, bringing innovative financial structuring, new technology and process efficiencies to the financial function.  Mr. Lurie is also a member of the Transformation Advisory Council advising the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority on the future electric system for the island, and is a member of the board of the Building Energy Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to building energy efficiency education and knowledge sharing.
Prior to joining NYPA, Mr. Lurie was vice president of North America business development for Ocean Power Technologies, a wave energy company in New Jersey, and directed mergers and acquisitions for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. in Pennsylvania. He served as the Chief of Strategic Planning at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 2003-2007, leading the development of a 10-year, $20 billion strategic capital plan.
Mr. Lurie began his career in public finance. He served as the director of public finance for the State of New Jersey, managing over $8 billion in infrastructure funding and overseeing the financial activities of 15 state authorities, and as a vice president of investment banking in the public finance department at Lehman Brothers.
Mr. Lurie holds a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in finance from the State University of New York at Albany, and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics from Union College in Schenectady, New York.

Leslie Sibert is the Vice President of Grid Edge Technology & Development for Southern Company. In this position, Sibert is responsible for advancing the deployment of grid edge technology for Southern Company* to maintain a clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy system for its electric customers.
Prior to her current position, Sibert served as Georgia Power’s vice president of Distribution and vice president of Transmission. She is active in organizations such as the Electric Power Research Institute Power Utilization Sector as vice-chair, the Southeastern Electric Exchange Board of Directors, the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies Power Delivery committee, the Business Executives for National Security as co-chair of the Energy Council, the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute as board chair, and the Georgia Tech Electrical and Computing Engineering advisory board.
Sibert is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree.  She completed the Harvard Professional Management Development Program in 2001, the Atlanta Regional Leadership Institute program in 2003, Leadership Georgia in 2011, and the International Women’s Forum Fellows program with executive studies at Harvard University and Cambridge University in 2011.