Dr. Ake Almgren
Former Chairman of the Board, PJM
For more than 30 years, Dr. Almgren has led business entities providing electric equipment and systems. During a 25-year career with ABB he was president of several ABB companies, involved in electric transmission, including HVDC, and electric distribution worldwide.
Dr. Almgren was President and CEO of Capstone Turbine Corporation from 1998 to 2003.
Since 2003, he has headed his own consulting company, Orkas Inc., focused on new energy technologies. As board member/CEO/senior advisor Dr. Almgren has collaborated with companies in the fields of fuel cells, Stirling engines, biomass, flywheels, lithium-ion batteries, electric conductors, and data analytics.
Dr. Almgren served on the Board of Managers of PJM Interconnection, the largest power grid in North America and the largest wholesale electricity market in the world, 2003 – 2021, chair of the Board 2018 – 2021.
Dr. Almgren served on the Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Council 2014 – 2017.
Dr. Almgren graduated with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden. He achieved a PhD in Engineering Sciences at Linköpings Tekniska Högskola, Sweden.
Neil Bhagat
Director, Distributed Generation Engineering, Duke Energy
Neil Bhagat is currently the Director of the Distributed Generation Engineering team; in this role he leads the organization responsible for conducting system impact studies for solar and microgrid projects that seek to connect to Duke Energy’s distribution grid. Neil holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University, a Master’s in Engineering and MBA from North Carolina State University.
Neil has been in the energy sector for 18 years holding various leadership roles in; manufacturing, engineering, marketing, and business development. Additionally, he is the Utility Chair for the IEEE Smart Grid Technology conference held annually in Washington DC.
Tonya L. Berry
Senior Vice President, Transformation and Engineering, CMS Energy
Tonya L. Berry is senior vice president of transformation and engineering for CMS Energy and Consumers Energy. She was named to this position in 2022. She is responsible for renewables and major projects, electric and gas engineering and quality.
In this role, Berry applies her more than 20 years of experience deploying lean methodologies to enhance quality and improve work management in gas and electric groups.
Previously, Berry was vice president of gas operations for Consumers Energy. Her responsibilities included gas transmission, distribution and gas system integrity.
Berry previously served as vice president of operations performance for Consumers Energy. She was responsible for implementing the Consumers Energy Way, lean principles, metrics analysis and reporting, in-process standard verification and work management improvement.
Berry joined Consumers Energy in 2015 as a member of the quality team. After briefly serving as manager of strategic initiatives with Massachusetts-based Energy Federation, Inc., she returned in 2017 to successfully lead Consumers Energy’s Lean Office and company’s adoption of the CE Way.
Previously, Berry served as lean consultant with a Michigan-based industrial engineering staffing and lean management consulting company. Berry integrated lean methodology and led kaizen workshops to identify process improvements among client organizations.
Berry previously held several increasingly responsible roles with Chrysler, LLC, including industrial engineer and financial analyst in Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant, productivity team lead in its Jeep/truck division and industrial engineering manager in its car/minivan division.
Berry began her career as an operations engineer with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, where she worked with process improvement teams to improve productivity and quality while reducing cost.
Berry was featured in Black Enterprise Magazine’s July 2008 issue and named among Chrysler, LLC’s Leaders of Today & Tomorrow in 2007, and was Black Engineer of the Year’s Modern-Day Technology Leader in 2007. Berry was a Michigan Chronicle Women of Excellence honoree in 2019 and received the Women of Color Presidents Award that same year.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from Wayne State University.
Robert Bradish
Senior Vice President, Regulated Infrastructure Investment Planning, AEP
Bob Bradish is senior vice president, Regulated Infrastructure Investment Planning for American Electric Power, where he is responsible for identifying and implementing advanced infrastructure solutions for AEP’s regulated Generation, Transmission and Distribution businesses. Bob is responsible for providing the strategic direction for the planning and development of an integrated energy grid, ensuring the transmission and distribution grids are enhanced in a way that anticipates customer and system needs. He is also responsible for developing a resource plan to transition AEP’s generation fleet towards a net-zero carbon portfolio.
Previously he was vice president, Transmission Planning and Engineering, where was responsible for managing activities related to the planning and engineering of the transmission grid, the development of engineering standards, advanced technical/analytical studies, and asset management functions. He was also responsible for managing AEP Transmission’s technology research and development program.
Prior to returning to AEP Transmission, Bob led the Market Operations group within AEP’s Commercial Operations organization. He was responsible for the development and execution of AEP’s day-to-day commercial strategy within the RTO wholesale markets.
Bob holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University in New York. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The Ohio State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio. He has completed the Tuck School of Business Leadership and Strategic Impact Program at Dartmouth College.
Bob is a member of the Engineering Advisory Council of Clarkson University, the Dean’s External Advisory Council for the Ohio State University’s College of Engineering, a member of the U.S. National Committee of CIGRE, a member of EPRI’s PDU Sector Council, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Bob is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts.
Dan Bradley
Principal, Guidehouse
Dan has more than 25 years of consulting experience. Since joining Guidehouse in 1999, his work has spanned a wide range of ‘first of its kind’ engagements around renewables and distributed energy resources, sustainability, new business models, program design and execution. Today, Dan leads the Customer Engagement team at Guidehouse that delivers growth and business model strategy, program design, execution and program evaluation to clients seeking success in the energy transition. In 2019, Dan was named a Top 25 Consultant in the management consulting industry by Consulting Magazine for his leadership of the REV Connect program with the State of New York. Dan received his M.B.A. from Clemson University and his B.A. from Rutgers University.
Daniel Brooks
Vice President, Integrated Grid and Energy Systems, EPRI
Daniel Brooks is EPRI’s Vice President of Integrated Grid and Energy Systems. In this role, he leads teams responsible for EPRI’s research, development, and demonstration of integrated energy systems planning, delivery systems planning, grid and market operations, and the integration of renewables, energy storage, and distributed energy resources.
Brooks joined EPRI in 2004 as manager of the renewables integration research and power system studies teams. From 2011 to 2019, he managed the Grid Operations and Planning research area as a Senior Program Manager and Director responsible for transmission and distribution system operations and planning research.
Prior to joining EPRI, Brooks was Manager of Power System Studies for Electrotek Concepts, managing power quality and renewables integration research, and consulting services addressing transmission and distribution planning and operations for electric utilities, equipment vendors, and other stakeholders.
Brooks earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, Martin. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Tennessee and is a Senior Member of the IEEE Power Engineering Society.
Dana Cabbell, P.E.
Director, Transmission System Planning and Strategy, Southern California Edison
Dana Cabbell, P.E has worked for Southern California Edison (SCE) for 40 years in the areas of transmission, subtransmission, and distribution long-term planning.
Presently, Dana is the Director of the Transmission System Planning & Strategy (TSP&S) in the Asset Strategy & Planning (ASP) organization. She is responsible for translating electric system regulatory policies and SCE’s long-term Pathway 2045 vision into transmission and subtransmission strategic project-development plans. TSP&S accomplishes this via the development of long- term scenario analyses to perform 10+ year system assessments to determine system capabilities, needs, and grid architectures in support of clean grid strategies.
TSP&S’s responsibility also includes overseeing the annual 10-year system planning processes and grid planning assessments of new demand growth, generation, transmission, and new customer interconnections to the SCE grid, performing joint studies with neighboring utilities to identify mitigation projects to address the grid needs, and maintain compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, while ensuring SCE’s transmission and subtransmission systems are safe, reliable, resilient, clean, and affordable through well-informed, strategic decisions regarding grid investments, integration of renewable/energy storage resources, enabling grid modernization, resiliency efforts, and reaching a carbon neutral electric grid.
Dana graduated from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1982. She became a Registered Professional Electrical Engineer with the state of California in 1989.
Archie Collins
President and Chief Executive Officer of Tampa Electric Co
Archie collins is President and Chief Executive Officer of Tampa Electric Co. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining Tampa Electric, Collins served in leadership roles at Nova Scotia Power and Emera Energy, as President and CEO of Grand Bahama Power Co., and as President and COO of Emera Caribbeam. Most recently, he served as COO of Tampa Electric. Collins currently serves on the Board of Directors for AEIC. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, the Florida Council of 100, Florida Chamber of commerce, Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, Enterprise Florida, and Tampa Theatre.
Richard Donaldson
Vice President, Digital Transformation, Duke Energy
Richard Donaldson serves as Duke Energy’s vice president of digital transformation and enterprise data. He is responsible for the company’s digital strategy, delivery and architecture across all business-facing applications, including mobile, data, analytics, software engineering and emerging IT domains. His current focus is on leveraging digital capabilities and artificial intelligence to transform the company’s internal operations, customer experiences and clean energy goals.
Donaldson joined Duke Energy in 2001 as an engineer in enterprise applications. He took on progressively expanding roles, including leading application infrastructure/architecture for the corporate applications domain until 2010, when he joined the telecom organization. While in telecom, Donaldson had responsibility for the company’s wireless communications systems, including land and plant mobile radio systems used by Duke Energy’s operations fleet. In 2013, Donaldson joined the Program Management Office (PMO), where he was named division manager in 2014. After leading the PMO through the Progress Energy merger integration projects, Donaldson assumed his current position leading the digital transformation function.
Before joining Duke in 2001, Donaldson spent four years practicing civil and environmental engineering at a consulting firm in Charlotte. He earned a Master of Science in environmental engineering and a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of North Carolina.
Donaldson serves on the boards of directors for Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont and Charlotte Joules, an energy innovation accelerator. He is also a board member of Apparo, a nonprofit in Charlotte that assists local nonprofits with leveraging technology to improve business processes to expand their social change in the community.
He and his wife, Aimee, along with their three daughters, live in Huntersville, N.C. In his spare time, Donaldson enjoys coaching and cheering on his daughters’ sports teams, hiking and skiing in the Banner Elk/Sugar Mountain area, and visiting Holden Beach.
Bill Fontenot
President and Chief Executive Officer, Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC
Bill Fontenot is president and chief executive officer of Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC, a regional energy holding company that conducts its business operations through its subsidiaries, Cleco Power LLC and Cleco Cajun LLC. Fontenot became a member of Cleco’s Boards of Managers in 2008 and current serves as a member of the Asset Management committee, Business Planning & Budget Review Committee and Governance & Public Affairs Committee.
During his 30 plus years in the energy industry, Fontenot has managed the development and restructuring efforts of generation projects valued at over $900 million, including Cleco Power’s $1 billion generating unit, Madison 3. He also has worked in marketing and helped develop Cleco’s merchant power businesses. Fontenot serves on the board of AEIC, currently as President. He also serves on the boards of the Council for a Better Louisiana, Southeastern Electric Exchange and the Central Louisiana Community Foundation.
R. Matthew Gardner, Ph.D., P.E.
Vice President, Transmission, Dominion Energy Virginia
Dr. R. Matthew Gardner (“Matt”) is vice president, Transmission, Dominion Energy Virginia.
He is responsible for over 6,700 miles of electric transmission lines and more than 800 substation assets providing service to the company’s 2.7 million customers. These responsibilities include transmission and substation planning, engineering, project development, construction, operations and maintenance, compliance and the Electric Transmission System Operations Center.
Since Gardner joined the company in 2008, he has held numerous roles in planning, operations, maintenance, and engineering. In 2022, he was named general manager, Transmission for Dominion Energy Virginia. Gardner assumed his current post in February 2023.
Prior to joining Dominion Energy, Gardner worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority, ABB Corporate Research Switzerland, Grenoble Institute of Technology in Grenoble, France, and did event analysis consulting for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) through Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). He previously served as a lead engineer in key projects with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and served on the Leadership Team of the North American Synchrophasor Initiative (NASPI) as a liaison to the broader research community.
Gardner is active in several industry groups, including the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), where he serves as a senior member of its Power and Energy Society (PES); Cigré; the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and the North American Transmission Forum. He is also involved with a number of academic institutions and consortia, including serving as Executive Engineer in Residence at Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as advisory and advocacy roles at George Mason University, University of Tennessee (Knoxville), Virginia State University, and Virginia Tech. He has previously served on Virginia Tech’s Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks as chair and vice-chair.
Gardner received his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, where he was a Bradley Fellow. He also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Ryan Gerbrandt
Chief Operating Officer, Anterix
Ryan Gerbrandt is the Chief Operating Officer for Anterix and oversees the company’s sales, product development, marketing, operations, technology and engineering efforts. Prior to Anterix, Ryan served at Trilliant where he pioneered their Smart Grid Deployment efforts and served as Managing Director for their Global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Smart Cities businesses. Prior to Trilliant, Ryan was responsible for utility communications and control systems at Manitoba Hydro, an electric power and natural gas provider in Canada, where he specialized in Utility Communications Systems, Network Operations, SCADA, HVDC Controls and System Protection.
Ryan Gerbrandt joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer in March 2020 where he oversees Anterix’s Sales, Product Development, Marketing, Operations and Technology & Engineering efforts. Prior to Anterix, Ryan served 13 years at Trilliant where he pioneered their Smart Grid Deployment efforts and most recently served as Managing Director for their Global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Smart Cities businesses.
Prior to Trilliant, Ryan was responsible for utility communications and control systems at Manitoba Hydro, an electric power and natural gas provider in Canada, where he specialized in Utility Communications Systems, Network Operations, SCADA, HVDC Controls and System Protection. Mr. Gerbrandt received his education in Communications Engineering Technology from Red River College and in Utility Management from the University of Manitoba.
Kevin Geraghty
Chief Operating Officer, San Diego Gas & Electric
Kevin Geraghty is the chief operating officer and chief safety officer for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), one of Sempra Energy’s regulated California utilities. He is responsible for the safe and reliable engineering, construction, operations and maintenance of the company’s gas, electric and generation resources. He is also responsible for customer service and programs, workplace safety and public safety, including emergency management.
Previously, Geraghty served as both chief safety officer and as senior vice president of electric operations responsible for all aspects of electric transmission, distribution and substation operations, enterprise engineering and major capital projects.
Geraghty has been in the gas and electric utility business for more than 35 years. Prior to joining San Diego Gas & Electric, he was senior vice president, operations at NV Energy.
Geraghty holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
He is a board member of the San Diego Habitat for Humanity.
Koustuv Ghoshal
Vice President & Head, Utilities & Energy, Ericsson
Koustuv is Vice President and Head of Ericsson North America’s Utilities & Energy business. He brings over 30 years of experience in the utilities, telecom and mission critical industry verticals. His domains of expertise and areas of focus have been driving digital transformation strategies via private networks in areas such as grid modernization at utilities, DER & Microgrids, and smart cities. He has been increasingly engaged in the evolving confluence between electric power, telecommunications, and electrification of transportation.
Prior to Ericsson, Koustuv served in strategy leadership positions at firms such as Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, and IBM. He received his BS in EE and Masters in Power Systems Economics from University of Texas.
Paul Gogan
Director, Electric Distribution Asset Managment, WEC Energy Group
Paul Gogan was named director – electric distribution asset management for WEC Energy Group in January 2020.
In this role, Gogan is responsible for the design, maintenance, operation and construction of electric distribution and transmission facilities, and in particular the Deliver the Future program at We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service and Upper Michigan Energy Resources. Deliver the Future is an effort to modernize the electric infrastructure through asset replacement, equipment hardening, undergrounding, advanced communications, sensors, substation upgrades and smart devices over a 10-year period. The program is rebuilding more than 600 miles of distribution lines annually, including the conversion of 100 miles of overhead distribution lines to underground and the replacement of all “active” line equipment with communications.
Gogan joined the company in 1989 as senior electrical engineer and was promoted to project manager and then to supervising engineer during the following decade. From 1999 to 2003, he served as project engineer, with additional responsibilities as major projects manager for engineering from 2002 to 2003. He was named operations manager – substation construction and maintenance in 2003; and manager – substation engineering, asset management and transmission support in 2007. Before his current role, Gogan served as manager – electric distribution engineering, asset management, reliability and planning from 2010 through 2019.
Before joining the company, Gogan was an electrical engineer with Sargent & Lundy for three years.
Gogan earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1986 and a Master of Business Administration in 2000 with a Beta Gamma Sigma honor, both from Marquette University. He is a registered professional engineer in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Gogan is the chairman of the Edison Electric Institute Electric Distribution Executive Committee, chairman of Marquette University’s Electrical Engineering Industry Advisory Board, member of the Electric Power Research Institute Power Delivery and Utilization Sector Council, senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and adviser to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Grid Connected Advanced Power Electronics and Connected System Institute. He is a board member of the Midwest Energy Resource Consortium.
In 2020, Gogan was presented the “Outstanding Contributor to Reliability Award” from PA Consulting for his work on the Deliver the Future program.
Cedric Green
Senior Vice President, Generation, Dominion Energy
Dr. Cedric F. Green Senior Vice President – Generation Dominion Energy Virginia Dr. Cedric F. Green is senior vice president – Generation, Dominion Energy Virginia. He is responsible for the operations, engineering, and maintenance of Dominion Energy’s fossil, hydro, and renewable generating facilities and its energy storage portfolio, as well as solar generating facilities housed at Contracted Assets. Prior to the merger with Dominion Energy, Green started his career at SCANA in 1994 as an intern.
For the next 25 years, he held several leadership roles in electric and gas operations, in both North and South Carolina. He was named the Southeast Energy Group’s vice president – Gas Services in 2019, and later that year became vice president – Gas Transmission & Storage Technical Services. In 2020, he was named vice president – Technical Services for Dominion Energy Virginia. He assumed his current position in 2022.
Green has served on the Board of Directors for the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and served as Chairman of the Leadership South Carolina Board of Trustees. In 2021, he joined the boards of the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, Thrive Birth to Five for the Richmond region, and the Henrico Education Foundation. Green is a graduate of University of South Carolina, where he earned all his degrees: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, MBA, M.E. Mechanical Engineering, and Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the state of South Carolina.
Jim Heilbron
Senior Vice President and Senior Production Officer-West, Southern Company
Jim Heilbron is Senior Vice President and Senior Production Officer of Southern Company’s West Production Group. In this role, he oversees electric power generation of 14,303 megawatts and also sits on the management councils of Mississippi Power and Alabama Power Company.
Previously, Heilbron was senior vice president and senior production officer for Alabama Power Company, where he was responsible for the company’s generation functions, including 24 fossil and hydro units totaling about 12,200 megawatts of electric power generation. He also served as senior vice president and senior production officer for Southern Power. In this position, he oversaw the operations of more than 8,000 megawatts of electric power with faciIities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas.
Alex Hoffs
President, Power Systems Mfg. (PSM)
Alex Hoffs is President of PSM, a Hanwha company, and Head of the Gas Turbine Service Group for Hanwha H2 Energy. In this role, he leads the global service business with subsidiaries in the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
Hoffs has more than 25 years of gas turbine experience and held various leadership roles in new units and service, both in Europe and the United States. He is Chair of the ASME Industry Advisory Board and has been an active member of the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean’s Advistory Board.
Jesscia Hogle
Vice President, Federal Affairs, Tennessee Valley Authority
Jessica, along with a strong and well-connected government relations team, serves as TVA’s liaison with federal officials within the United States Senate, House of Representatives, executive branch and other federal agencies. Prior to joining TVA, Hogle served as Vice President of Federal Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer at PG&E Corporation. In this dual role overseeing both federal government relations and corporate sustainability, she was responsible for building relationships at the national level with NGOs, trade associations, advocacy organizations, and other key stakeholders, and integrating sustainability into the company’s business strategy. Hogle has held several other roles of national significance, including as Director of Political and Legislative Affairs for the Portland Cement Association. She also serves on several boards of directors, including Future Forum Foundation and Running Start, an organization dedicated to encouraging more young women to pursue political office. Hogle has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. Jessica and her husband have two children and make their home in Arlington, Virginia just outside Washington, D.C.
India James
Director, Security Policy, Exelon
India leads Security Policy for Exelon, our nation’s largest energy delivery company shaping the future of clean and sustainable energy for its more than 10 million customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities. As Director Security Policy, she oversees cybersecurity and physical security policies that protect the company’s assets, including power distribution systems, information technology infrastructure, and sensitive business and customer information.
India has a proven track record of leading organizations that interface with key stakeholders, including high-profile commercial customers such as real estate and energy developers, data centers, hospitals, food processors, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. She has overseen departments managing a growing portfolio of large commercial and industrial accounts and critical customers, including the US Capitol and the White House.
India’s experience also includes leading both renewable and non-renewable energy teams, developing and financing generation assets such as wind, solar, gas, battery storage, and oil. She has been instrumental in developing and implementing strategies to increase customer satisfaction and retention, including approaches to clean energy, electric vehicles (EVs), energy efficiency, power quality, and reliability.
India earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Dillard University and a law degree from The University of Tulsa School of Law.
Michael Jarro
Vice President, Distribution Operations, Power Delivery, FPL
Michael Jarro is vice president of distribution operations. In his current role, he is responsible for the operation and maintenance of Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL’s) electric distribution infrastructure, including control center operations that serve the more than 5.7 million customer accounts in the company’s Florida service territory. He leads a workforce of more than 1,650 engineers, technicians and union employees. Previously, Mr. Jarro served as vice president of Transmission and Substation (T&S), responsible for T&S system operations, technology, compliance, reliability, construction, maintenance and restoration of service for all of FPL’s service territory, as well as T&S operations for NextEra Energy Resources, NextEra Energy Transmission and Lone Star Transmission in Texas.
Mr. Jarro joined FPL in 1997 and has held several leadership positions in distribution operations and customer service, including serving as distribution reliability manager; manager of distribution operations for the South Miami-Dade Area; control center general manager; director of network operations; senior director of customer strategy and analytics; and senior director of central maintenance and construction.
Mr. Jarro earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Miami and a master’s degree in business administration from Florida International University. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. He is a member of Southeastern Electric Exchange Executive Committee, the University of Miami MS in Construction Management Advisory Board and Florida International University College of Engineering and Computing Executive Advisory Council.\
Jason Kalwa
Director, Projects, Public Service Enterprise Group
Jason Kalwa is a PSEG Director of Projects. He is responsible for the development and execution of transmission projects, including those supporting offshore wind. PSEG is a diversified energy company established in 1903 and its family of companies include PSE&G, PSEG Long Island, and PSEG Power.
Jason joined PSE&G in 2006 as an intern while attending college. Upon graduating in 2008, he joined the company as an engineer in the Transmission Construction & Maintenance Department, which is a group responsible for the overhead and underground transmission lines of PSE&G. Jason later held several positions of increasing responsibility from Supervising Engineer to Project Manager before becoming a Director. Over his career the transmission projects he has been responsible for range from 138kV to 500kV, both overhead and underground, and from reconductoring to complete rebuilds.
Jason has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Rutgers University.
Michael Lamb
SVP, Transmission, Xcel Energy
Michael Lamb is Senior Vice President, Transmission where he is responsible for all aspects of Xcel Energy’s transmission system including lines and substations across 10 states. He also serves as President, Xcel Energy Transco which is engaged in competitive transmission growth opportunities. Michael has worked for Xcel Energy since 1985 and was previously the Vice President ETO & Operating Services where he led the corporate-wide SAP deployment and started an enterprise-wide continuous improvement effort. Prior to that, he was the Assistant CIO where he was responsible for IT operations and application support and development. Michael also has extensive experience in electric distribution, gas, and energy supply including engineering, operations, both electric and gas emergency response, and involvement in several major projects.
Michael serves on several non-profit Boards including the Midwest Reliability Organization, AEIC (Association of Edison Illuminating Companies), the EPRI Transmission Sector Council, JDRF Minnesota, and the Minnesota Independent School Forum.
Michael earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, holds both a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Minnesota, and is a graduate of the Minnesota Executive Program at the Carlson School of Management.
Mark Lauby
Chief Engineer, North American Reliability Corporation
Mark G. Lauby is senior vice president and chief engineer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Mr. Lauby joined NERC in January 2007 and has held a number of positions, including vice president and director of Standards and vice president and director of Reliability Assessments and Performance Analysis.
In 2012, Mr. Lauby was elected to the North American Energy Standards Board and was appointed to the Department of Energy’s Electric Advisory Committee by the Secretary of Energy in 2014. Mr. Lauby has served as chair and is a life member of the International Electricity Research Exchange, and served as chair of a number of IEEE working groups. From 1999 to 2007, Mr. Lauby was appointed as a member of the Board of Excellent Energy International Co., LTD, an energy service company based in Thailand. He has been recognized for his technical achievements in many technical associations, including the 1992 IEEE Walter Fee Young Engineer of the Year Award. He was named a Fellow by IEEE in November 2011 for “leadership in the development and application of techniques for bulk power system reliability,” and in 2014, Mr. Lauby was awarded the IEEE Power and Energy Society’s Roy Billinton Power System Reliability Award. In 2020, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) elected Mr. Lauby as a member, citing his development and application of techniques for electric grid reliability analysis. He is also a member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Executive Advisory Committee, focused on providing strategic support to the PES Board of Directors.
Prior to joining NERC, Mr. Lauby worked for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for 20 years, holding a number of senior positions, including: director, Power Delivery and Markets; managing director, Asia, EPRI International; and manager, Power System Engineering in the Power System Planning and Operations Program. Mr. Lauby began his electric industry career in 1979 at the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His responsibilities included transmission planning, power system reliability assessment and probabilistic evaluation.
Mr. Lauby is the author of more than 100 technical papers on the subjects of power system reliability, expert systems, transmission system planning, and power system numerical analysis techniques. Mr. Lauby served as chair and is a life member of the International Electricity Research Exchange and served as chair of a number of IEEE working groups. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. In addition, Mr. Lauby attended the London Business School Accelerated Development Program as well as the Executive Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.
Patricia Lombardi
Senior Vice President of Project Delivery, New York Power Authority
Patricia Lombardi is the Senior Vice President of Project Delivery at the New York Power Authority. Patricia has over 15 years of experience in the project and construction management and electric utility industries. She is an experienced project management leader with a strong emphasis on strategic planning, financial and schedule performance, project controls, employee and vendor safety, and continuous improvement. She has been with NYPA for 15 years, with increasing levels of responsibility. Her staff currently manages a diverse portfolio of multiyear generation, transmission, infrastructure and energy efficiency programs and projects in excess of $5 billion.
In her current role she oversees the Facility Management, Engineering, Project Management, Construction Management and Energy Efficiency Implementation divisions.
Curtis Mansfield
Senior Vice President, Power Delivery, PacifiCorp
Curt Mansfield is senior vice president, power delivery at PacifiCorp He oversees operations, maintenance, construction, engineering, asset management and support organizations for Rocky Mountain Power and Pacific Power operating divisions with PacifiCorp, which serves approximately 2 million retail customers in Utah, Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, Oregon, northern California, and Washington. He has held this position since May 2021.
Mansfield has 40 years of experience in the electric utility business. He has held a variety of craft, line, staff, supervisory and senior leadership positions. Mansfield began his career in 1981 with Utah Power & Light, which later merged with PacifiCorp in 1989 and is currently a holding company under Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
He currently serves on the board of directors of NeighborWorks-Salt Lake City and a member of the Utah governors cybersecurity task force and previously was on the board of directors of Utah Clean Cities Coalition and a member of the Utah governor’s Alternative Transportation & Fuels Advisory Group. He is a graduate of the University of Idaho’s Utility Executive Course, and currently a trustee of the IBEW Western Utilities Pension and Health & Welfare Trust Funds.
Raynetta Marshall
Chief Operating Officer, Jacksonville Electric Authority
In August 2021, Marshall joined JEA to lead utility operations and the teams that provide reliable, affordable, safe utility services to more than one million Northeast Florida residents. Marshall has more than 35 years of experience in utility management. During her career, she has conducted planning analyses for water and wastewater systems; managed the design, engineering and construction of various capital improvement projects; directed large-scale utility programs and provided administrative oversight for water utility system planning and new development.
Before coming to JEA as COO, Marshall served as general manager of the Underground Utilities & Public Infrastructure Department in Tallahassee, Fla. Prior to that, she served in several leadership roles at JEA from 2011 to 2019, including director of water/wastewater planning and development and director of water/wastewater project engineering and construction. Marshall is a registered Professional Engineer in Florida and holds a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Howard University.
Yvonne McIntyre
Vice President-Federal Affairs, PG&E
Yvonne McIntyre is the Vice President of Federal Affairs for PG&E Corporation where she was responsible for developing, managing, and implementing the federal legislative and regulatory strategies for the company
Prior to PG&E, Yvonne was the Director of Federal Electricity and Utility Policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) where she was responsible for development and advocacy of NRDC’s federal power sector climate change, clean air, and clean energy policies. She has had a long advocacy career in the power sector most recently as Vice President of Federal Affairs at Calpine Corporation. She also held the positions of Director of Federal Affairs for Mirant Corporation, and Washington representative for Kansas City Power and Light and for DTE Energy. She has worked extensively on issues relating to national energy policy, electricity markets, natural gas, climate change, the Clean Air Act, renewable energy technologies and tax incentives.
Yvonne began her professional career with Detroit Edison as an electrical engineer working in power plants and distribution systems service centers. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Oakland University in Rochester, MI and a Master of Business Administration Degree with a concentration in International Business from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Yvonne is a member of various professional and community organizations and serves on the boards of the DC chapter of the Women’s Energy Network and the Washington Government Relations Group Foundation.
Lanny Nickell
Chief Operating Officer, Southwest Power Pool
Lanny Nickell is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Southwest Power Pool, a FERC-approved Regional Transmission Organization. He leads engineering, operations, markets, and information technology teams and is responsible for overseeing reliable operation of the bulk electric power system, administration of wholesale energy markets, development of transmission expansion plans, and administration of resource adequacy policies within the SPP region.
Mr. Nickell has also served as Vice President of Engineering, Vice President of Operations and in various management and engineering roles since joining SPP in 1997. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tulsa and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.
Kevin Perkins
Chief Security Officer, Exelon
Kevin Perkins is Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer, Corporate and Information Security Services for Exelon. Kevin joined Exelon in September 2016 and has responsibility for security services throughout the enterprise.
Prior to joining with Exelon, in a career that spanned 31 years with the FBI as a Special Agent, Mr. Perkins held a wide range of operational and leadership positions. Mr. Perkins served as Associate Deputy Director of the FBI. As the number three overall executive in the FBI, he oversaw the management of all FBI personnel, budget, information technology, administration, and infrastructure.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Perkins also served as Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, where he maintained executive oversight of all FBI criminal investigations; he served twice as the Special Agent in Charge of field office operations in Maryland and Delaware; as well as the FBI’s Chief Financial Officer.
Before joining the FBI, Mr. Perkins was employed with an international accounting firm and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baylor University. Mr. Perkins is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Russ Ragsdale
Director, Business Planning & Technology Strategy, Southern California Edison
Russell Ragsdale is the Director of Program Management for the Distribution organization at Southern California Edison (SCE). In his current role, he is responsible for managing a ~$3B portfolio of annual investments on the Distribution system including infrastructure replacement, wildfire resiliency, and pole replacements.
Russ has 20 years of experience at the electric utility in the areas of system planning, grid modernization, strategic planning, performance management, and asset management. In prior roles, Russ stood up SCE’s Grid Modernization program, led the development of the Clean Energy and Electrification strategy, established a corporate business planning and performance management function, transformed inspection practices, and paved the way for data quality improvements.
Russ holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and an Executive MBA from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is also a registered professional engineer.
With a love of the outdoors, Russ enjoys camping, hiking, backpacking, and vacationing with the family.
Clay Rikard
Vice President, Southern Company Operations
Clay Rikard joined Southern Company in 2003 performing financial analysis on wholesale power projects. Since then, he has progressed through various leadership roles in operations, planning, fuels, and environmental affairs. He is currently the Vice President of System Planning where he leads Resource Planning and Retail Generation Development on behalf of all Southern’ s retail electric operating companies.
Clay attended the University of Alabama where he received a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA.
Al Rudeck
Safety and External Affairs Officer, ALLETE Clean Energy
Rudeck currently serves as ALLETE safety and external affairs officer with responsibility and broad oversight for the company’s safety and government affairs areas. He previously served as president of ALLETE Clean Energy. Under Rudeck’s leadership, ALLETE Clean Energy grew to be ALLETE’s second-largest company with a strong reputation as a respected wind developer and operator focused on customers and partnerships across eight states.
Before that he was Minnesota Power vice president of strategy and planning and held a variety of other roles at Minnesota Power. He serves on the Minnesota Chamber Board of Commerce, the Lignite Energy Council, the AEIC Board of Directors, the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD)/Natural Resources Research Institute Advisory Board, the UMD Swenson College Advisory Board, and serves as chair of the Northland Region Board of Thrivent Financial.
Werner Schweiger
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Eversource
Werner J. Schweiger is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Eversource. He is responsible for all Engineering and Operations of Eversource’s Transmission, Electric Distribution, Gas Distribution, Aquarion Water, Off Shore Wind, Operations Services and Emergency Preparedness organizations. In this role, Schweiger ensures the delivery of high-quality water, reliable electricity and natural gas to over 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
With more than 40 yea rs of uti I ity industry experience, he has held management positions in Gas and Electric Operations, Engineering, Construction and Operations Services. A transformational leader, Schweiger has led a number of initiatives following mergers and acquisitions achieving cultural, financial and operating performance enhancements. He currently serves on AEIC’s Board of Directors as First Vice President and will assume the role of President at the 2022 Annual Meeting.
Carol Sedewitz
Vice President, Electric Asset Management and Engineering, National Grid
Carol Sedewitz serves as Vice President, Electric Asset Management and Engineering at National Grid in New England. The areas of responsibility include planning, asset management and engineering of the transmission, substation, and distribution assets, work plan development and initiatives to modernize the grid. The work her teams do are key in identifying safe, reliable, and efficient ways to achieve our net zero objectives. Throughout her career she has held progressively more responsible engineering leadership roles at National Grid focusing on technical, policy and regulatory matters.
Ms. Sedewitz serves on the Board of Directors for the Northeast Power Coordinating Council and chairs the NPCC Board’s Pension Sub-committee. She has also been appointed as a member on the Grid Modernization Advisory Council for the State of Massachusetts.
Ms. Sedewitz is a registered professional engineer in the state of Massachusetts, holds a certificate in asset management from the Institute of Asset Management, is a member of the Society of Women Engineers, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Ms. Sedewitz holds a Master of Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Harry Sideris
Executive Vice President, Customer Experience, Duke Energy
Harry Sideris serves as executive vice president of customer experience, solutions and services for Duke Energy. In addition to focusing on transmission, customer delivery and enhancing the customer experience, he is responsible for the development of mass-market products and services and the company’s electrification efforts, including continued development of long-term grid strategies and solutions. Sideris also has responsibility for the supply chain organization, including sourcing and supply chain functions for the company’s regulated and commercial operations.
Sideris has more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry. Previously, he served as Duke Energy’s chief distribution officer. In this role he oversaw the safe, reliable and efficient operation of Duke Energy’s electric distribution systems for the company’s six-state service area, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
He has served as state president of Duke Energy’s utility operations in Florida, which serves approximately 1.8 million electric retail customers in central Florida, including metropolitan St. Petersburg, Clearwater and the Greater Orlando area. He was responsible for the financial performance of Duke Energy’s regulated utilities in Florida and managing state and local regulatory and government relations, and community affairs.
Prior to that, Sideris served as the company’s senior vice president of environmental health and safety. In that role, he led the groups responsible for developing and advancing corporate policies, programs and strategies to ensure the company’s compliance with environmental health and safety laws and regulations. He was named to this role in August 2014.
Sideris began his career at Progress Energy (formerly Carolina Power & Light) in 1996 and served in numerous operations, maintenance, technical and leadership roles across Progress Energy’s generation fleet in the Carolinas and Florida at both the plant and corporate levels. Following the merger between Duke Energy and Progress Energy in July 2012, Sideris served as vice president of power generation for Duke Energy’s fossil/hydro operations in the western portions of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Sideris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Campbell University. He also completed the Advance Management Program at the University of Chicago.
He currently serves as a trustee of the Duke Energy Foundation and as a board member of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the N.C. State Natural Resources Foundation Inc. and co-chairs the National Utilities Diversity Council. Sideris grew up in Asheville, N.C. He and his wife, Catinna, have two daughters.
Mahesh Sudhakaran
General Manager, Grid Software, GE Digital
Mahesh Sudhakaran is the General Manager of Grid Software at GE Digital. He leads an outstanding global team shaping and leading the energy transition, with our customers and partners, by transforming the electric grid to orchestrate carbon-free electricity with mission-critical software and AI.
Mahesh has spent over two decades in the Energy and Software Industry across IBM and Schneider Electric. Before joining GE, Mahesh served as the General Manager for IBM’s multibillion Energy Portfolio (Utilities and Oil & Gas Industries). In his decade-long career at IBM, he served in several transformational leadership roles in Product Management, Strategy, Sales, and R&D across hardware, software, and consulting services businesses. He is credited with creating IBM’s Clean Energy and Sustainability business and transforming the energy portfolio into software-driven growth.
Mahesh is a recognized thought leader in Clean Electrification and Industrial AI. He is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and an active member of the Forbes Technology Council. He also serves on the US Gridwise Infrastructure Advisory Council and the Board of Directors for Gridwise.
Mahesh has a BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, India, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.
Jacob Tetlow
Executive Vice President, Operations, Arizona Public Service
Jacob Tetlow is Executive Vice President, Operations at Arizona Public Service Company where he oversees safe, reliable and efficient operations of the company’s non-nuclear generation and power delivery systems. His team also includes resource management, supply chain, corporate safety, enterprise security, customer to grid solutions, facilities, transportation and environmental services. Tetlow has a wealth of experience in both transmission and distribution operations and fossil generation at APS. He previously served as senior vice president of Operations, vice president of Transmission and Distribution, and general manager of T&D Operations. Prior to that, he spent 11 years in Fossil Generation, working his way up the ranks from boiler inspector to roles such as director of Gas and Oil Generation, director of Coal Generation and in various frontline and leadership positions at Four Corners Power Plant and Challa Power Plant.
He currently serves on the AEIC Board of Directors as well as various boards and committees for regional organizations and industry-related groups. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for The Nature Conservancy Arizona Chapter.
Bryan Vorndran
Assistant Director, Cyber Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Bryan Vorndran is the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. Bryan joined the FBI as a Special Agent in 2003. His previous assignments include Washington Field Office, the International Contract Corruption Task Force in Afghanistan, and Counterterrorism Division. He was named a Deputy Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division in 2018. In 2019, Bryan was named the Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Office. Before joining the Bureau, he was an engineer for The Procter & Gamble Co. and for Merck & Co. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College in 1998 and a Master of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2012.
Luke Wollin
Vice President, Transmission Engineering and Construction, Ameren
Luke Wollin is the Vice President, Engineering and Construction for Ameren Transmission. His responsibilities include leading the engineering design, project management, and construction organizations, and the overall execution of the Ameren Transmission capital project portfolio.
Luke has 21 years of utility experience and nearly 20 years at Ameren. He joined Ameren in 2003 as an engineer in Transmission Substation Design, and in 2011, moved to the Transmission Project Management group. In 2015, Luke was promoted to Director of Transmission Design, leading the substation, transmission line, civil, system protection, and drafting design groups. In 2019, he was promoted to Senior Director, Transmission Operations and Maintenance, leading the control center, operations and maintenance, vegetation management, and reliability efforts. In June 2021, Luke was promoted to his current role.
Luke earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Luke is a licensed Professional Engineer in Missouri and Illinois. He is active in many industry groups including the NATF, EEI, and EPRI. Luke also serves the community as an Advisory Board member of the St. Louis Crisis Nursery and SIUE’s school of Electrical Engineering, as well as a coach of youth sports.
Bob Yeager
President, Emerson’s Power and Water Solutions Business
Robert Yeager is president of Emerson’s power and water solutions business. Yeager brings decades of industry experience to his role of overseeing the company’s strategy and digital transformation initiatives for the electric power, water and wastewater industries, helping customers to optimize operations, protect personnel and reach sustainability targets.
Yeager is instrumental in creating customer value by driving innovation and growth of Emerson’s industry-leading Ovation™ digital control platform and Ovation™ Green portfolio of software and automation solutions for renewable energy.
Yeager has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility throughout his career. In 2001 and 2022, he was named president of Emerson’s Intellution business and president of Emerson’s process systems and solutions business. He was named to his current role as president of the power and water business in 2004.
Yeager holds a bachelor’s degree in data and systems analysis from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pittsburgh.