Tammy McLeod
Vice President and Chief Customer Officer
Arizona Public Service Company (APS)

Ms. McLeod’s responsibilities include management of statewide customer service operations, including customer marketing, research, call center, credit and collections, customer offices, aps.com, remittance processing, billing and metering. In addition, McLeod oversees the company's Corporate Communications and Community Development organizations. She joined APS in 1995, and previously served as General Manager of Marketing, Customer Service and Southern Arizona Operations.

Jerry Mechling, PhD.
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Dr. Jerry Mechling of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government is one of the nation’s leading authorities on public policy in the age of digital government. He is Harvard’s Faculty chair of the Leadership for a Networked World Program, and has recently launched a collaborative research aptly named the Tough Times Project.

Dr. Mechling is the author of Eight Imperatives for Leaders in a Networked World and is currently finishing Leadership for a Cross-Boundary World. He is a four-time winner of the Federal 100 Award, and was also named by Government Technology magazine as one of its Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers.

Nigel Hosein
Executive Directory, CARILEC

Since 2006, Mr. Nigel Hosein has been the Executive Director of CARILEC (The Caribbean Electric Utilities Association) with its Secretariat office based in St. Lucia. CARILEC currently serves 33 utility members and approximately 60 Associate Members.

Mr. Hosein holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration. He is a Registered Engineer with the Board of Engineering in Trinidad and Tobago and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience having worked both in professional and management capacities in the electric utility and construction industries for the past twenty years. Mr. Hosein is a true “Caribbean Man” with a diverse cultural experience having lived and/or worked on various projects throughout the region (in countries such as Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Dominica, St. Vincent, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana and his native Trinidad & Tobago).

Richard H. Walden
Director Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Dominion Virginia Power

Rick Walden is responsible for AMI technology selection and engineering, AMI implementation and operations, and energy data management at Dominion. His primary responsibilities are to facilitate the overall vision, direction and leadership for implementation and operation of AMI technology for Dominion.

Walden has worked for Dominion for nine years and has 22 years of electric and gas utility experience. He directed the implementation of multiple metering and communications technology programs to improve customer service and operational performance including AMI and AMR projects in Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio.

Nathaniel George
Commercial Manager, Dominica Electricity Services Ltd. (DOMLEC)

Nathaniel George is Commercial Manager of DOMLEC. George graduated from the Clifton Dupigny Community College in 1988 and has more than 21 years of management experience in Auditing, Accounting, Finance and Customer Service. He joined DOMLEC in 1999 as the utility’s Management Accountant and in October 2002 he was appointed Business Planning Manager, becoming the youngest senior manager in the company’s history. George has an MBA in Marketing from Heriott-Watt University in the UK.

Felix Julien
Commercial Engineer, Dominica Electricity Services Ltd. (DOMLEC)

Felix Julien has been a commercial engineer at DOMLEC since August 2006. His responsibilities include metering and non-technical loss reduction. Julien has been leading the utility’s drive to strengthen its metering standards and prepaid metering program, plus he is a key player in DOMLEC’s transition to AMI. Julien holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Instituto Superior Minero Metalurgico de Moa in Holguin, Cuba.

Amber Morrow
Computer Analyst - Technology Services, Salt River Project

Amber Morrow has held a technical role supporting the AMI EnergyAxis environment for the past 3 years. Her responsibilities include troubleshooting issues with communication, servers, and network - VPN connections plus the integration of the EnergyAxis system with the IT interfaces used for the meter read capture process. Morrow has worked for Salt River Project for 10 years.

The rollout of GPRS gatekeepers/collectors will allow smart meters to be installed across SRP service territory. The smart meter provides data presented to the customer via the web for a variety of information such as daily usage, average temperature, and smart meter notifications.

Ritesh Patel
Senior Engineer, Salt River Project

Ritesh Patel is an electrical engineer with several years of AMI experience in project management, system design, and analysis. In his current position he provides engineering and technical support for multiple AMI technologies in use at Salt River Project. He provides training, consultation and diagnostic support in the daily monitoring and performance analysis of smart metering devices, data retrieval communications, and associated data collection systems.

Andre Mikelakis
Manager IT Strategy & Governance, Toronto Hydro

Andre Mikelakis has spent the last year formalizing IT continuous improvement, in preparation for anticipated SmartGrid challenges facing Toronto Hydro. He is currently leading the IT SmartGrid strategy at Toronto Hydro, working to align the many competing priorities necessary to ensure customer value. Mikelakis joined Toronto Hydro in April 2009.

Joshua Wong
Smart Grid Engineering Lead, System Reliability Planning, Toronto Hydro

Joshua Wong has been leading the Toronto Hydro strategy and roadmap development of Smart Grid since 2006 and is leading the deployment of the Toronto Smart Community, which brings the benefits of Smart Grid to over 25,000 customers. He has been actively driving Smart Grid in industry and government levels and is a working group member of the Ontario Smart Grid Forum, which laid foundation policy framework for the Ontario Green Energy and Green Economy Act of 2009. Wong is a licensed professional engineering in the Province of Ontario.

Keith J. Skelly
Senior Software Engineer/AMI Project Manager, Turlock Irrigation District (California)

Keith Skelly is a Senior Software Engineer and the Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) Project Manager for the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) which is located in central California. For over 23 years, Keith has been involved with the metering and billing processes for TID, including co-writing the District’s Customer Information System (CIS). Currently, Keith is leading the deployment of AMI meters as well as building all the interfaces with TID's CIS. TID is in the second year of a four year deployment to replace 85% (approx. 74,000) of the existing electrical meters.

Matt Gillmore
Enterprise Architecture & Standards, Consumers Energy

 

 

 

David Whitehouse
Manager Customer Service, Peterborough Utilities

As Manager Customer Service, David Whitehouse has been instrumental in the mass deployment of the EnergyAxis system in Peterborough. Whitehouse continues to be an active participant in the implementation of Peterborough’s MDMR and its integration with the EA system. He has taken a lead role in looking at current business practices, how those practices will change with the introduction of EA into Peterborough Utilities business, and how best to leverage the valuable information coming from EA.

Beginning as a meter reader for the former Scarborough Utilities (now part of Toronto Hydro), Whitehouse has 26 years in the Electric and Water utility industry with experience ranging from field services and metering to Customer Service, IT and even Field Collections. Whitehouse has been the Manager of Customer Service for Peterborough for 11 years and misses the daily commute from Peterborough to Toronto like a root canal with no anesthetic. A semi-professional musician (hence the hair), Whitehouse plays in two bands and looks nothing like his bio picture.

Claude Godin
President, EnergyICT North America

Claude Godin has over 30 years of experience in metering, meter data processing, and the implementation of enterprise utility systems as the relate to meter data. The first twelve years were spent in the Rates Department at Manitoba Hydro where Godin was responsible for load research and the billing of large complex billing. The remaining twenty years have been spent in managing the specification and implementation of complex systems in support of market deregulation, interval data processing, Demand Response, Complex Billing and AMI implementation. Currently, Godin is the President of EnergyICT’s North American organization as part of the Elster Group.

Steve Pascoe
Senior Product Manager, Aclara Software

Steve Pascoe has over 12 years of experience as a software product manager focusing on utility applications. His experience includes working for CIS, E&O, AMI and MDMS vendors. Recent experience has been working as a product manager on MDMS applications with an emphasis on AMI/MDMS integration.

Tim Berson
Solution Manager for MeterSense, Harris Computer Systems

Tim Berson is the Solution Manager for MeterSense, a powerful and flexible Meter Data Management Solution designed to improve customer satisfaction, reliability and financial performance of the utility. Berson’s experience at Itron and Trilliant spans enterprise energy management, advanced metering infrastructure and demand response. His background also includes solution consulting and management in the fields of enterprise optimization and electrical engineering projects.

Al King
Director of Application Engineering, CalAmp

As Director of Application Engineering, Al King works with customers to deliver wireless communications solutions that meet their requirements and working directly with engineering on product development. King has over thirty years of communications experience in the SCADA and data communications field. He received his technical education in the US Air Force, the Community College of the Air Force, and the University of La Verne. He is also a Cisco Certified Network Associate.

Michael Brander
Vice President Sales, Utility & Industrial Vertical Markets, Verizon Wireless

Mike Brander is responsible for a team that supports strategic voice and data solutions within these enterprise accounts. His team works with large Utility and Industrial enterprises to create and deliver wireless applications and solutions to meet the customer’s unique needs. Previously, Brander supported the Finance, Insurance and Professional Services industries. He has also worked as the Data Solutions manager in the Illinois-Wisconsin Region. Brander has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from the University of Illinois and has been at Verizon Wireless and its legacy companies for 18 years.

Ed Beroset
Director of Technology and Solutions

Beroset has taken a prominent role in standards over the years – and is the Chairman of the ANSI C12.22 committee. His promotion to Director of Technology and Standards emphasizes Elster’s continuing commitment to the on-going standards activities throughout the industry. In this role, Beroset will extend his standards leadership in serving utility interests as well as those of Elster.

Carol Fisher
Product Manager, Demand Response Solutions

Carol has more than 25 years of utility experience spanning integrated resource planning, system operations, substation design, project management, new product development, solutions marketing, and business and strategic development. As Product Manager of Demand Response Solutions, Carol is responsible for supporting Elster’s utility clients’ AMI plans to “grow beyond the meter,” focusing on Elster’s demand response business strategy. Prior to joining Elster, Carol held engineering positions at Central Louisiana Electric Company. Carol holds a BS Electrical Engineering from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Northwestern State University.

Ed Gray
Vice President, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs

Ed Gray has over 35 years experience in the electricity business at Elster, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Electric Power Research Institute, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Tennessee Valley Authority. He is the leader of the Elster smart grid grants efforts that have involved some 57 applications and 19 grants awards. Gray has a BS in Nuclear Science from the US Naval Academy and an MS in Nuclear Engineering from Ohio State University.

Chris Kozlowski
Manager of Projects

Chris Kozlowski has world wide responsibility for project management and implementation of Elster AMI systems for non-IOU electricity, water and gas customers. Kozlowski brings three years of experience at Elster and 13 years as a project manager for design and implementation of various wireless telemetry applications from both a network and hardware prospective. This includes various AMR/AMI, security, chemical distribution, municipal police and fire departments as well as mobile field service applications. Kozlowski holds a BS in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry University.

Carl LaPlace
Senior Product Manager, Advanced Grid Initiative

Carl LaPlace has been involved in the development and product management of power distribution automation (DA) solutions for over 25 years. Throughout his career, LaPlace has worked closely with utilities to understand their DA requirements. As strategic Senior Product Manager for Elster’s Advanced Grid Infrastructure (AGI) initiative, he effectively leverages Elster solutions to meet evolving smart grid requirements for DA. LaPlace holds numerous related patents and has authored a number of papers. He has been directly involved in the development of DA controls and systems ranging from LTC voltage regulators, MV reclosers, DA switch sectionalizers and related DA communication protocols and system applications.
He is a long time member of IEEE.

Mike Longrie
Director, Product Management

Michael Longrie directs the EnergyAxis Product Management team at Elster Solutions. Longrie brings both vision and experience to his leadership role in Product Management—guiding the development of strategic solution roadmaps as well as ensuring the successful release of near-term product and solution deliverables such as EnergyAxis 7.0. Longrie has performed a wide range of management roles in marketing, sales, product management and international business development. Longrie has a BS in Electrical Engineering, an MA in Economics from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management.

Steve Makgill
Product Manager, Multi-Utility Solutions

Steve Makgill has managed multi-utility solutions including gas and water products for EnergyAxis since 2006. He also manages the EA_Inspector field tool as well as TRACE AMR gas products. Makgill has extensive experience with new product definition and introduction of technology products spending over a decade in the telecommunications industry.

Kenneth Jones
Product Manager, EnergyAxis Management System

Kenneth Jones is responsible for the utility enterprise portfolio for both advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and distribution automation (DA) solutions within the EnergyAxis family. Ken’s expertise lies in both carrier and enterprise system software development. His software industry expertise spans developing carrier grade services to transform network operation centers utilizing Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), Next Generation OSS (NGOSS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) reference models. Ken has written blog articles for the Wall Street Journal and is an active member of Open Smart Grid users group. He received an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Susquehanna University.

Susane Nemecz
AMI System Support Manager

Since 2004, Susane Nemecz has provided support and trouble-shooting for EnergyAxis systems in the field. She currently manages the services team that delivers day-to-day technical support for 60+ EnergyAxis customers under systems maintenance agreement. Nemecz was involved in the initial software development of EA_MS (MAS) and has performed QA testing of several releases. She has also coordinated roll-out of several of the major system upgrades of the EnergyAxis Management System (EA_MS/MAS) and EA_Gatekeeper (collector) upgrades. Nemecz has more than a decade of experience in the Utility industry.

Ron D. Pate
Senior Product Manager

Ron Pate is the product manager responsible for electrical components of the EnergyAxis AMI system, including the REX family of meters and mesh network interface cards (NICs) for gatekeepers and A3 ALPHA meters. He has worked with electric utilities extensively since 1989 and has worked for Westinghouse, ABB, Ohio Transformer, Grand Eagle and Elster. Throughout his twenty years in the business, Pate has been involved in the engineering development and marketing of instrument transformers, power transformers, electricity meters, and metering systems. He holds a BS Electrical Engineering with honors from North Carolina State University.

Victor Sitton
Vice President, Market Management

Victor Sitton is responsible for market management activities within Elster Solutions, including solutions and marketplace strategy, competitive analysis, customer outreach programs, and sales and proposal support. Sitton was VP Product Marketing for Elster Integrated Solutions between 2006 and 2009. Sitton has over 20 years of experience with smart grid solutions and electricity metering industry. During his time with Elster, he held multiple roles in marketing, sales, product management and business development. Sitton has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Kevin Cornish
Executive consultant, Enspiria Solutions

Kevin Cornish is a technical professional with over 25 years of experience in the utility industry managing complex projects, business relationships, product development, and services. Focused on Smart Meter/AMI solutions, Smart Grid applications, and related technologies, he offers expertise in strategy development, technical and business needs assessment and analysis, business process change management, and customer relationship management. Cornish worked at Pacific Gas & Electric Company in a variety of engineering and management positions over a 13 year period, then spent over 10 years with metering solution providers — CellNet Data Systems; Schlumberger RMS; BCN Data Systems; Distribution Control Systems, Inc. and Aclara. He now puts this knowledge base to use assisting customers in developing and implementing their initiatives as an Executive Consultant at Enspiria Solutions.