Andres Carvallo Joins Grid Net as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
Former Austin Energy CIO and Chief Architect of the first Smart Grid Chooses Grid Net
San Francisco, CA – March 16, 2010– Grid Net (www.grid-net.com), a global leader of real-time Smart
Grid and Smart Home platform software for utilities and their customers, announced that it has appointed
Andres Carvallo as executive vice president and chief strategy officer. Andres will work closely with Grid
Net chief executive officer Ray Bell to help shape and drive the company‟s product strategies, and will
work closely with Ray and the rest of the leadership team to propel the already rapid and successful
establishment of Grid Net and its products and solutions into new customer engagements and markets.
Andres is responsible for the company‟s branding, messaging, partnerships, marketing,
commercialization, support and solutions efforts, worldwide.
”Grid Net is at an exciting inflection point: we have launched what our partners acknowledge is the
leading Smart Grid solution with unprecedented capabilities, and we welcome the addition of Andres
Carvallo, a highly regarded, well-respected Smart Grid thought leader with deep industry expertise,” said
Ray Bell, Grid Net founder and chief executive officer. “Andres‟ insights and stature in this industry, along
with his expertise, experience, and background, make him the perfect chief strategy officer for Grid Net.”
Andres brings to Grid Net more than 24 years of experience in the energy, telecommunications,
computer, and software industries. Having held executive management positions since 1992, he has
been responsible for the successful development and commercialization of over 40 products, in
companies ranging from start-ups to market leaders such as Philips Electronics, Digital Equipment
Corporation, Borland, and Microsoft.
Most recently, Andres was the chief information officer at Austin Energy, the 9th largest public power
utility in the nation providing low cost reliable power to the capital city of Texas, with annual revenues
over $1.3 billion, servicing 410,000 premises representing approximately 43,000 businesses and 1.2
million consumers. At Austin Energy, he was responsible for the utility‟s technology vision, planning,
development and operations, and a member of both the eight-person executive team and the Innovation
and Opportunity Development executive board. While at Austin Energy, Andres defined and promoted
the term “Smart Grid”, was the chief architect of the first Smart Grid to be fully deployed in the U.S.,
became the premier Smart Grid industry thought leader, and led a comprehensive, highly lauded
technology transformation of the utility.
“I am excited to join the Grid Net team: it‟s one of the easiest career decisions I‟ve ever made,” said
Andres Carvallo. “Deriving meaningful returns from Smart Grid deployments goes far beyond smart
metering. Grid Net is the onlycompany that addresses the end-to-end integration of my visions of „Smart
Grid 1.0‟ and „Smart Grid 2.0‟: a secure, reliable, scalable, open standards-based, real-time solution for
substation automation, distribution automation, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), demand
response, distributed generation, energy storage, electric vehicles and smart building and home
applications. Moreover, Grid Net has the critical strategic partnerships with both technology and industry
leaders to deliver this solution reliably and cost-effectively to utilities today. I look forward to working with
Ray and the rest of the team to propel Grid Net to the next level, and to helping my friends across the
industry realize their own real-time, all-IP Smart Grid implementations.”
During his seven-year tenure at Austin Energy, Andres has also made many industry-wide contributions:
he was a contributor to the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act‟s Title XIII Smart Grid: Sections
1301 -1309; he served as a key advisor and contributor to NIST and EPRI in the creation of the Smart
Grid Interoperability Standards; and he has advised the DOE, FCC, EPA, and NERC in their Smart Grid
policy initiatives. Andres also continues as an advisor to GE Energy, AT&T, Cisco, Oracle, The University
of Texas, The University of Kansas, UCLA and several start-ups.
“Andres‟ entire career has been characterized by involvement in high-impact technology innovation,” said
Scott DePasquale, partner at Braemar Energy Ventures. “After an incredible experience at Austin Energy
building the Utility of the Future, and a storied career at leading technology companies, we welcome
Andres‟ passion, knowledge and deep experience to help shape Grid Net‟s strategy, and to drive industry
awareness and adoption of Grid Net‟s solutions.”
Andres is a requested speaker at industry events featuring Smart Grid, Clean-Tech, Service-Oriented
Architecture, Wireless, and Running IT as a Business. He is the recipient of many awards, including IT
Executive of the Year by the Association of Information Technology Professionals in 2005, Premier 100 IT
Leader by Computerworld in 2006, Best in Class of Premier 100 by Computerworld in 2006, CIO 100
Award by CIO Magazine in 2006, InformationWeek 500 by InformationWeek Magazine in 2007, 2008,
and 2009, Computerworld‟s Top 12 Green IT Companies in 2008 and 2009, Hispanic Information
Technology Council‟s HITEC 100 in 2008 and 2009, UTC Apex Finalist in 2009, Computerworld Honors
Laureate, Finalist, and 21st Century Award Winner in 2009, Top 100 Influential by Hispanic Business in
2009, CIO Hall of Fame Finalist by CIO Magazine in 2009, and CIO of the Year by Energy Central in
2009.
Andres received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas with a concentration in
Robotics and Control Systems. Andres has also completed executive management programs at the
University of Idaho, Stanford University, and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
About Grid Net
Grid Net is a leading global real-time Smart Grid and Smart Home platform software provider for utilities,
partners, and customers. The Grid Net platform is designed to integrate substation automation,
distribution automation, smart meters, demand response, load management, and home automation
capabilities to increase grid reliability, energy efficiency, renewable energy use, and customer satisfaction
while reducing operating costs. Grid Net‟s all-IP platform is utility-grade reliable, scalable and built to
meet regulatory and governmental Smart Grid interoperability and cyber-security standards.
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, with offices in Sydney, Australia, Grid Net is backed by world
class investors Braemar Energy Ventures, Catamount Ventures, GE Energy Financial Services and Intel
Capital. To learn more, visit www.grid-net.com.