Session 3: Drivers and Value Propositions for Microgrids in a Macrogrid World


1:15 - 2:30 pm | Tuesday, January 19, 2016             


This discussion will center on why utilities are pursuing microgrids and what they expect to accomplish with them. The focus will be on the challenges that utilities face, what attributes they value in microgrids, and to what extent they see microgrid penetration in their systems in five and ten years.
  • What are the reasons that utilities are considering microgrids?
  • What barriers do regulatory authorities represent?
  • How do the speakers see the market growing?
  • What are the key attributes that utilities look for in microgrid applications?
Speakers:

grid modernization expert
Dr. Shay Bahramirad
Director of Smart Grid
ComEd

Dr. Shay Bahramirad, IEEE Senior Member, serves as ComEd's Director of Smart Grid and Technology. She is a strategic business leader in energy industry working on the transformation to the modern power grids and the new energy economy. Her major responsibilities include leading smart grid organization across ComEd, and developing business case and performance measures for emerging technologies, microgrids and smart city deployments. She also leads the development of the vision, business models, and investment strategy of the grid of the future initiative. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, teaching microgrids, elements of sustainable energy, and smart grid.

Dr. Bahramirad holds multiple advanced degrees, including a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is the Chair of the board of IEEE PES Women in Power, Technical Chair of the 2016 IEEE PES T&D Conference, Advisory Committee Member of the Great Lakes Symposium on Smart Grid and the New Energy Economy, Guest Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, and Guest Editor-in-Chief of the Electricity Journal, special issue on Energy of the Future - Applications to Illinois.

grid modernization expert
Nathan Adams
General Manager, Microgrid Solutions, North America
ABB

Nathan Adams leads ABB's microgrid group for North America and the Caribbean which focuses on providing microgrid solutions for high renewable penetration applications. Prior to joining ABB, Nathan was Vice President of Strategy and Development for Green Mountain Power where he developed solar and microgrid projects for the utility. Before Green Mountain Power, Nathan led the corporate development group at Puget Sound energy where he developed a number of wind, solar, natural gas and energy storage projects. Nathan holds a BA from the University of Vermont and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

grid modernization expert
Paul Wyman
General Manager, Smart Grid
Lockheed Martin Energy

Mr. Wyman leads Lockheed Martin's Smart Grid Solutions Line of Business. Under his leadership he has brought to market Lockheed Martin's Smart Energy Enterprise Suite (SEEsuite) Smart Grid Command & Control products and services that provide an integration framework of smart grid applications and integration services focused on the efficient and effective use of energy on the grid and customer side of the meter. These Smart Grid Command & Control applications and integration services include Conservation Voltage Regulation, Demand Response/Load Management and Enterprise Energy Management.

Mr. Wyman has more than 20 years of domestic and international experience in technology, software and engineering. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.

grid modernization expert
Peter Asmus
Principal Research Analyst
Navigant Research

As a Principal Research Analyst, Peter Asmus has emerged as a leading global expert on microgrids and virtual power plants. With 25 years experience, Peter is author of four books on energy and environmental issues, and has served as a consultant to many leading corporations (General Electric, Sunpower, Clipper Wind), government agencies (California Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board) and non-profit agencies (Center for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Technologies, Governor's Wind Energy Coalition, Independent Energy Producers, Center For Resource Solutions.) His prime expertise is integration of renewable energy to the grid, public policy analysis, writing and public speaking.