EBC Energy Seminar: Smart Grid Pilots in New England
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Foley Hoag Emerging Enterprise Center
Bay Colony Corporate Center
1000 Winter Street, Suite 4000, North Entrance
Waltham, Massachusetts
AGENDA
8:00 a.m.
Welcome – Daniel K. Moon, President EBC
Moderator - Michael Ernst, Esq, Vice Chair, EBC Energy Committee
Director, Regulatory Affairs, Tetra Tech EC, Inc.
8:15 a.m.
Introduction to Smart Grid and FERC Smart Grid Policy
 Shiv Mani, Office of Energy Policy and Innovation on FERC Smart Grid Policy
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
8:30 a.m.
Utility Smart Grid Program Plans
 Bill Pratt, Smart Grid Customer Program Director, National GRID
 Larry Gelbien, Director, NSTAR's Smart Grid Program
 Camilo Serna, Director of Strategic Planning and Energy Productivity
Northeast Utilities
Networking Break
10:00 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
Smart Grid Technologies - Panel
 Gary Rackliffe, Vice President Smart Grid for ABB North America
 Byron Flynn, Technical Solutions Leader, GE Energy Smart Grid
 Bruce A Sher, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Viridity Energy
 Weston J. Sylvester, Director, Distribution Solutions/Smart Grid
Siemens Energy, Inc.
12:00 a.m.
Adjourn
Environmental Business Council
375 Harvard St, Suite 2
Brookline, MA 02446
617-505-1818 www.EBCne.org
Our carbon footprint for this event will be offset using:
SPEAKERS
Michael D. Ernst, Esq., Director, Regulatory Affairs
Tetra Tech EC, Inc., Energy Program
617-457-8276 Michael.Ernst@tetratech.com
Mr. Ernst has 30 years of energy experience as an environmental and energy attorney for state
agencies, a law firm, an independent transmission development company, and an environmental
consulting firm. As Director of Regulatory Affairs for Tetra Tech EC, Inc., Mr. Ernst is supervising siting,
permitting and electrical studies for generating plants and transmission interconnections from coast to
coast across the United States. Mr. Ernst has led the siting of proposed new Beacon Power flywheel
energy storage and frequency regulation facilities in New York and Ohio. Mr. Ernst has helped develop a
grid integration plan to import 400 MW of wind energy from another island into the Oahu transmission
system. He also has supported the siting of proposed Bluewater Delaware and New Jersey Offshore
Wind Parks and interconnections and is helping permit their met towers. Mr. Ernst served as General
Counsel and Legislative Director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Hearing Officer for
the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, and Counsel to the Joint Committee on Energy of the
Massachusetts Legislature. He graduated from Davidson College with a Bachelor of Sciences degree
and from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston with a Juris Doctor in 1980.
Byron Flynn, Technical Solutions Leader
GE Smart Grid
208-336-3886 byron.flynn@ge.com
Byron Flynn currently serves as Smart Grid Technical Solution Leader with GE Energy. In this role, Mr.
Flynn leads a team of Technical Solution Directors responsible for supporting electric utilities’
development of Smart Grid solution architectures, roadmaps and business cases. Over the last decade,
he has instructed several industry classes, published dozens of papers and delivered hundreds of
presentations on automation and smart grid technologies. Mr. Flynn joined GE in 1999 with the
acquisition of Stellar Dynamics, formerly part of Idaho Power Company where he served in Sales and
Marketing. His service to Idaho Power began in 1981 and includes working in the Communications,
Substation Design, and Operations Departments. Mr. Flynn is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the
State of Idaho and has been a member of IEEE for over 19 years. Mr. Flynn holds a BSEE from the
University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho and a MBA from Boise State University in Boise, Idaho.
Lawrence J. (Larry) Gelbien, Vice President, Engineering
NSTAR Electric & Gas Corporation
781-441-8987 lawrence.gelbien@nstar.com
Lawrence “Larry” Gelbien is Vice President of Engineering at NSTAR Electric and Gas Corporation.
NSTAR is an electric and gas utility servicing 1.4 million customers in Massachusetts including the City
of Boston. As Vice President of Engineering, Larry is responsible for electric system planning,
transmission, substation, and electric distribution design. Larry is presently heading up NSTAR's Smart
Grid Program and has done evaluation on electric battery storage technology. Prior to joining NSTAR
Larry worked 21 years at Long Island Lighting Company, an electric and gas utility located on Long
Island, New York and which is now presently a National Grid Company. At Long Island Lighting
Company, Larry held a number of positions with responsibility for Distributed Generation, Distribution
Automation, and System Control and Protection, to name a few. Larry holds three patents in Distribution
Automation, which is commonly known as “Grid Self Healing.” Larry has a Masters Degree in Business
Administration from Nichols College and a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from New York Institute of
Technology.
William M. Pratt, Smart Grid Customer Program Director
National Grid
401-335-8802 William.Pratt@us.ngrid.com
Bill Pratt is a marketing, sales and business development professional with extensive experience in the
energy, banking and insurance sectors. Mr. Pratt is currently Smart Grid Customer Program Director for
National Grid. In this capacity, he is part of a team responsible for developing and executing a business
and regulatory plan to introduce smart metering and grid technology into National Grid’s US footprint.
Before assuming this role, Mr. Pratt held a variety of senior marketing positions in National Grid and was
responsible for profitably growing the Company’s regulated and non-regulated revenue base by adding
new residential and commercial natural gas customers. He was also in charge of the Company’s Fleet
Services, Facility Maintenance and Security departments. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Pratt held a leadership
position in ProvEnergy Oil Inc. – Rhode Island’s second largest home heating oil company. He has
worked in a variety of marketing and strategy positions at Fleet Financial Group and AIG Insurance. Mr.
Pratt also has extensive merger and acquisition experience and has led all aspects of the M&A process
from candidate identification through to transaction closing. Mr. Pratt holds a BA in Economics from
Trinity College in Hartford, CT and a MBA with a concentration in Marketing and International Business
from Columbia University, New York, NY. He is a past President of the Trinity Club of Providence and
currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and GrowSmart
Rhode Island. He is the Cubmaster for Jamestown Cub Scout Pack One. He has lived and traveled
extensively in the People’s Republic of China.
Shiv Mani, Office of Energy Policy and Innovation
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
202-502-8240
Shiv.Mani@ferc.gov
Shiv Mani is Group Manager in the Office of Energy Policy and Innovation at the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission. He is an expert in the analysis and development of the North American
wholesale and retail electricity and natural gas markets with over 17 years of experience across the
energy spectrum. He has played a leading role in analyzing and developing competitive wholesale and
retail markets in New England. Most recently, Mr. Mani led Constellation Energy’s Markets Pricing and
Structuring group in New England as Director. Prior to Constellation Mr. Mani was Director in the North
American Power group at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) where he provided analysis
and advice to private and public sector clients across the energy spectrum. Prior to CERA Mr. Mani was
Senior Analyst at ISO New England where he developed innovative features of wholesale electricity
market design and played an instrumental role in integrating demand resources into system dispatch.
Previously, at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Mr. Mani was a lead analyst in the
restructuring of the Massachusetts electricity industry. He advised the Commission on retail pricing,
securitization, generation divestiture, transmission pricing, ratemaking, and utility regulatory policy. Mr.
Mani has a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Delhi (India) and a M.S. degree in
Environmental, Energy and Regulatory Economics from the University of Wyoming.
Gary Rackliffe, VP Smart Grids
ABB Inc.
919-807-5054 gary.rackliffe@us.abb.com
Gary is the Vice President for Smart Grids and was recently appointed to lead ABB’s Smart Grid
development in North America. He is responsible for ABB's Smart Grid initiative, including the strategic
partnerships and ABB’s marketing and product strategies. He has over 25 years of industry experience
in both transmission and distribution and has worked for ABB for 17 years in Raleigh, NC. Gary has
Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute and a MBA degree from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Senior Member of
IEEE, member of the DistribuTECH Advisory Committee, Registered Professional Engineer in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, member of Gridwise Smart Grid Implementation Committee, and coauthor of a book on T&D Planning.
Camilo Serna, Director of Strategic Planning and Energy Productivity
Northeast Utilities
56 Prospect Street Hartford, CT 06103-2818
860-728-4846 sernac@nu.com
Camilio joined Northeast Utilities as Director of Strategic Planning & Energy Productivity in November
2008. He works closely with the operating units in developing and implementing the company’s annual
strategic planning process, including development of NU’s energy productivity vision, which includes
smart grid, energy efficiency and electric transportation. Prior to joining NU, Mr. Serna was a consultant
with Oliver Wyman (formerly Mercer Management Consulting) as part of their Energy & Utility practice
helping clients developing new strategies, achieving improvements in performance and implementing
change through process redesign, organizational transformation and workforce strategies.
Bruce A. Sher, Senior Vice President of Business Development & Sales
Viridity Energy
617-721-3142
bsher@viridityenergy.com
Bruce Sher has twenty-six years of executive energy management experience on both the utility and
customer sides of the meter, and is currently SVP of Business Development & Sales for Viridity Energy.
Mr. Sher has served in business leadership positions at several utility companies including PSEG,
Northeast Utilities and Constellation. He has substantial experience with building control systems and
has owned and operated a successful energy management business in the Boston area. Bruce earned
his bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Michigan and holds a Master of Science degree in
Energy Management from the University of Pennsylvania.
Weston J. Sylvester
Director, Distribution Solutions/Smart Grid
Siemens Energy, Inc.
704-576-6981 weston.sylvester@siemens.com
Wes Sylvester is Director, Smart Grid/Distribution Solutions at Siemens Energy, Inc. In this role,
Sylvester is responsible for solution vision, direction, strategy, definition, design, sales and marketing for
distribution products and services, with an emphasis on Smart Grid solutions. Wes helps to lead the
cross-divisional Smart Grid team within Siemens, and is a company representative on both GridWise™
and EPRI’s IntelligridSM, where he serves as chair of the Intelligrid Technology Transfer Committee. He is
also member of IEEE PES. Wes comes to this role from the Distribution Products Division of Siemens
Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc, where he held the role of Recloser Product Manager leading the
local contribution for the development of the Siemens Distribution Recloser product and has been a key
player in Siemens’ developments in the medium voltage sector globally. Prior to working at Siemens,
Wes held various roles of increasing responsibility at Cooper Power Systems in Waukesha, WI and
Charlotte, NC in both sales and marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering
from Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI.
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