Keynote speakers

Suzanne Shelton
President and CEO, Shelton Group

Shelton Group, an advertising agency entirely focused on motivating mainstream consumers to make sustainable choices, was founded by Suzanne eighteen years ago.

Shelton Group conducts four consumer opinion studies annually—Utility Pulse, Eco Pulse, Green Living Pulse and Energy Pulse—to continuously track shifting consumer perceptions on these topics. Shelton uses those insights in work the agency performs for its clients, which include the American Institute of Architects, BP Solar, Cree Lighting, e3 Bank, Scana Gas and Vectren Energy. Suzanne draws on these studies to provide insights into what consumers are thinking about energy efficiency and green products and how utilities can effectively communicate with them.

Tom Ayers
President and CEO, Tropos Networks

Tom Ayers drives the company vision for Tropos Networks and is establishing the company as the market leader in highly reliable multi-use wireless networks for smart grids. A key element in Tropos strategy is building relationships with industry leaders such as Elster, providing utilities with complete end-to-end wireless networks and management for their smart grids, simplifying rollout and operations.

Simon Beresford-Wylie
CEO, Elster Group

Simon Beresford-Wylie has been the CEO of Elster Group since November 2009. Beresford-Wylie is the former President and CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), one of the world’s largest telecommunications infrastructure and network solutions companies, where he was also a member of the Nokia Group Executive Board. He joined the Nokia Group in 1998 and led NSN since its inception in 2007. From 1998 to 2007, he held a variety of senior leadership positions with the company in Asia-Pacific and Europe. From 1995-1998, Simon was CEO of Indian mobile network operator Modi Telstra, and prior to this was an executive with Australia’s Telstra Corporation. He holds a degree from the Australian National University, and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program of Stanford University/National University of Singapore.

Sandra Arnold
AMR System Operator, City of Georgetown

Sandra Arnold has over 15 years experience with the AMR system. She originally worked for C3 Communication which was responsible for the initial installation and configuration of the AMR system for the City of Georgetown. For the last 13 years she has been responsible for operating, monitoring and troubleshooting the AMR system. She was also instrumental in the testing and implementation of the MDM system. Sandra also participated in the evaluation and selection of the EnergyAxis system.

John Cheeseman
AMI System Administrator, Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power

John Cheeseman is responsible for operating the EA_MS system for Cheyenne, including monitoring and troubleshooting networked elements such as meters and gatekeepers using EA_MS and the CIS system. John also works directly with customers and uses EnergyAxis to investigate and resolve questions. John has over 18 years of utility experience with Cheyenne Light and formerly with Keyspan Energy.

Elvys Radhamés Collado Sabater
Project Manager, Importadora MGS

Elvys Collado assumed the position of Project Manager in 2008, for the Reduction of Energy Losses Project as a service to several Electricity Distribution Companies in the Dominican Republic. He started working for Importadora MGS since 2004 as the Manager for Billing and Metering. Elvys holds a degree in Electromechanical Engineering with a major on Electrical Engineering where he was graduated with honors from PUCMM in 2004. He also holds a Master in Business Administration with an emphasis on Finance since 2010.

Amy Erwin
Manager, Program Office – Federal Stimulus Project, Salt River Project

Amy Erwin manages SRP’s Program Office that is responsible for AMI deployment, Meter Data Management System integration and various smart grid related pilots. In this position, she helps to facilitate SRP’s vision for business integration with smart grid technology, and leadslarge scale planning, implementation and risk management efforts for SRP’s Smart Grid Improvement Grant.

Amy has worked for SRP for five years and has more than 20 years of business process improvement and technology integration experience. She directed the integration of SRP’s integration of AMI system technology with its CIS system, allowing SRP to recognize significant operating efficiencies and Customer Services improvements.

Lindee Gable
Leader Specialized Metering Group, Arizona Public Service

As leader of the Specialized Metering Group, Lindee Gable is responsible for all Polyphase AMI Deployment for APS. She and her team perform all troubleshooting of wireless gatekeeper communications including the new gatekeepers with the WAN interface card (WIC). In addition, Lindee and her team troubleshoot all AMI non communicating meters and coordinate all firmware upgrades. Lindee has been in the utility industry 12 years and has completed a 4 year apprenticeship for a Journeyman Meterman.

Mike Gurganus
Manager - Advanced Metering Solutions, Dominion Virginia Power

Mike Gurganus is Manager of Advanced Metering Solutions at Dominion Virginia Power. He is responsible for overall project management of smart meter deployment and customer communications for AMI meter capabilities. Mike has 21 years of electric utility experience in various departments at Dominion Virginia Power, is a licensed electrical and mechanical contractor, and hold BS and MBA degrees from East Carolina University.

Kevin Heimiller
Director, Smart Grid, Westar Energy

Kevin Heimiller is currently co-leading Westar Energy’s SmartStar smart grid project. The project, located in Lawrence, Kansas, will include installation of “smart” meters, interactive Web access, technology enhancements and improved customer service. Kevin has been with Westar Energy for over 36 years, including 29 years in the Meter Operations group. In addition to the SmartStar project, Kevin has participated and led many efforts in advancing electric metering technology including automatic meter reading.

Gary Kohama
Meter Services Manager, Black Hills Power

As Meter Services Manager, Gary Kohama is responsible for the meter deployments and LAN performance of the EnergyAxis System in the Rapid City, South Dakota area. Gary has been in the utility business for over 34 years and has experience in gas and electric metering as well as distribution.

Walter Koopmann
Technical Services Manager, City of Georgetown, TX

Walter Koopmann has worked in automation his whole career. For the last 11 he has been taking care of the City of Georgetown’s SCADA and AMR systems. He currently serves on the Southwest Electric Metering Association (SWEMA) Planning committee, Texas State Technical College (TSTC) Instrumentation Department Advisory board, and is a Senior member of the International Society of Automation (ISA).

John Ledet
IT Project Manager, Entergy

John Ledet is responsible for managing IT Projects at Entergy and specialized in AMI/Smart Grid technology evaluation, deployments, and operational support. He manages applications for the electric distribution departments at Entergy and evaluates the need for enhancement or replacement of legacy products. In addition to his technical responsibilities, John is manages all aspects of IT projects including development of business cases, negotiations, budgets, resources, communication, product quality, and delivery. John has 25+ years information technology experience including support and development of energy and utility service applications.

Mark A Legleiter
Manager, Applications Systems, Westar Energy

Mark Legleiter is the AMI deployment Project Manager for Westar Energy’s SmartStar Lawrence project. Mark is responsible for managing the roll out their eMeter MDM system, the IT/back office infrastructure and other related integrations. Mark has 20+ years in Information Technology field and has worked in various application development roles including managing a Java development group.

Miguel Angel Muñiz Patin
President and CEO, Importadora MGS

Miguel Muñiz is President and CEO of Electrical Engineering and Materials, SA since 1995, a service company dedicated to providing operation and maintenance of electrical substations to companies in the Dominican Republic. He is also President and CEO of Electrical Equipment Supplier company since 2002 dedicated to sale of Electric Power. And he is President and CEO of Importadora MGS dedicated to the import and sale of electrical materials in the areas of transmission, distribution and electric metering. Miguel is also an energy consultant, who in recent years has been devoted to reduce the electricity losses as a service to distribution companies. Miguel an Electrical Engineer graduated with honors from UNPHU. He was an active participant in the process of privatization of the Dominican Electricity Company CDE.

Kevin Myers
Manager, Wholesale Settlements, Veridian Connections

Kevin Myers has been working in the electric utility business for 24 years. He had a lead role in preparing Veridian for a successful market opening in 2002, and has been managing wholesale settlement activities since then. Kevin has represented Veridian on numerous industry groups including the IESO Market Commissioning Task Force, Revenue Metering sub-committee, Ministry of Energy TOU Working group, and most recently was appointed to the SME (Smart Metering Entity) Operational Working Group. For the past 24 months, Kevin has managed Veridian’s Smart Meter and TOU back office implementation and integration with the provincial MDM/R.

Joe Noel
Supervisor – Resource Management, City of Ocala Utility Services

Joe Noel has worked for the City of Ocala, Florida for the past 10 years. He and his team are responsible for the information systems used by the utility. He currently serves as the project manager for the City's Smart Grid Vision. In October 2010 they completed the first phase of their project with the successful system wide smart meter implementation, comprised of 100% of their meters (54,000 electric and 21,000 water).

Ritesh Patel
AMI Manager, Salt River Project

Ritesh Patel has several years of AMI experience in AMI deployment, implementation, system design, and analysis. In his current position, he manages AMI network operations, leads engineering and business operations for SRP’s metering and AMI initiative. In this capacity, Ritesh drives documentation of technical specifications and requirements for business processes and automation efforts. During his tenure, he has managed technology evaluation, deployment, and operations of a wireless AMI network, with 580,000 smart meters (60%) presently deployed.

Eric Sisco
Supervisor, Electric Measurement, Black Hills Energy

Eric Sisco has worked in the electric utility industry for over 16 years as a Lineman, Serviceman, Power Quality Analyst, and Construction Estimator. The last 3 years he has served in his current role as Supervisor of Electric Measurement for Black Hills Energy Colorado Electric. Black Hills Energy serves over 95,000 electric meters in the Southern Colorado area. Eric has served as a team member on the Black Hills Corporation AMI Installation Project from the early stages. Eric also served as the Team Lead for the Meter and Collector Install team. In this role he was responsible for planning all meter installations for the 3 year project. Black Hills Energy successfully completed the AMI Installation Project in late 2010. Eric continues to work on the Black Hills Corporation Process Improvement Team related to AMI initiatives.

Keith J. Skelly
Customer Service Dept. Manager/AMI Project Manager, Turlock Irrigation District (TID), Turlock CA

Keith Skelly is the Customer Service Dept. Manager and the Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) Project Manager for the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) which is located in central California. For over 24 years, Keith worked as a Software Engineer working on programming and process design dealing 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 designing work processes for TID’s Customer Service Department. TID is in the third year of a four year deployment to replace 85% (approx. 74,000) of the existing electrical meters.

Matt Stormoen
Information Systems Administrator, Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Lighting Commission

Matt Stormoen has two years of experience as a Project Manager augmented by over 16 years of experience in government IT. Matt started as Project Manager for the Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Lighting Commission’s AMI project in 2008 when the utility transitioned from AMR to AMI. With the help of the Utility Staff, the electric AMI system was fully implemented by early 2010. He also fills the roll of Information Systems Administrator for the City and the Utility which is a position he has held since 2001. Current projects include water AMI, GIS, and bar-coding.

Kim Trujillo
EnergyAxis AMI System Administrator, Black Hills Energy, Colorado

Kim Trujillo was a key player in cross-departmental team that successfully rolled out the Colorado Black Hills Energy deployment in 2008 and 2009. She is responsible for monitoring and troubleshooting EA_MS, testing and coordinating upgrades and patches, and working across multiple departments to interface EA_MS to enterprise information systems. In addition, Kim is providing support for two more EnergyAxis AMI deployments at Black Hills business units in Rapid City, South Dakota and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Prior to working for Black Hills, Kim worked as a Lead Computer Operator for Scientific Games Int. Kim has a degree in Computer Information Systems from Colorado State University.

Rudolf Vorster
Research and Development Manager, Metrix – A division of Mighty River Power Limited

Rudolf Vorster has over 29 years of international engineering and business experience in scientific, industrial, radio communications and metrology environments. Over the last 12 years, Rudolf has focused on metrology and communication solutions for high consumption and domestic electricity users. Delivering customized metering and data communications solutions to meet New Zealand specific energy retailer and electricity network distribution industry requirements is a key part of Rudolf's role.

Brian Ahern
President, Industrial Defender

A seasoned technology executive with a demonstrated track record of success, Brian Ahern founded Industrial Defender to address a significant unmet market need of securing the nation’s critical infrastructure. He has grown the company to become the leader in global Cyber Risk Protection, and completed three acquisitions to significantly grow the company footprint. Brian plays an important role in evangelizing the challenge of protecting our nation’s infrastructure on behalf of the private sector, demonstrates leadership to unite the public and private sector on critical issues impacting the industry, and is frequently called on for testimony in Washington, DC with Congress, the Senate and other legislative bodies on the subject of Critical Infrastructure Cyber Security.

Tony Bamonti
VP Business Development, Tendril

Tony Bamonti has been with Tendril for over 4 years overseeing strategic business development, industry partnerships and Utility channel sales. He has over 25 years of executive management, business development and operational experience in early and mid-stage high-tech software and service companies serving the telecom and utility markets. His expertise encompasses corporate and business development with an emphasis on core strategy conception, technology assessment, new market development and OEM/channel alliances. Prior to joining Tendril, Tony was Senior Vice President at Jabber, Inc., a recognized leader in real-time messaging and collaboration solutions serving multinational and Fortune 500 companies. Jabber was acquired by Cisco Systems in late 2008.

Tom Damon
Assistant VP Smart Grid Practice, Science Application International Corporation (SAIC)

Tom Damon has spent over 27 years assisting utilities with developing strategies and tactical requirements pertaining to workforce automation technology selections; process change management and systems integration options and their impact on people, data and technology management in solving business process issues for Electric, Gas and Water Utilities. Tom’s areas of expertise include decision support solutions, business and data process automation, enterprise data management and systems integration for creating the Smart Grid including: Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Advanced Distribution and Transmission Operations (ADO/ATO), Demand Response (DR), Direct Load Control (DLC), Home Area Networks (HAN), Meter Data Management (MDM), Outage Management (OMS),Geospatial Information (GIS), Distribution Automation (DA), and business intelligence implementations for the Utility industry.

Brian Dawson
CEO, Calico Energy

Brian Dawson co-founded Calico Energy in 2009 and serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Calico, Brian was the Director of Product Development for StrataGen Systems, a business unit of DDS Wireless. Brian has also worked for Microsoft in the SQL Server group. His project was one of Microsoft’s top four core architectural projects within SQL Server. Brian actively participates as an executive board member for Peak Load Management Alliance.

David Hyland
Manager, Business Development Manager, Schneider Electric

David Hyland joined Schneider Electric in 2010 and has over 32 years of sales management and marketing experience spanning the energy, software, long distance telecommunications and chemical industries. His expertise involves both regulated and un-regulated industries. David holds memberships in the Peak Load Management Alliance (Board Member), the Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP) and the Demand Response Smart Grid Coalition.

Rita Mix
Lead Marketing Manager, Utilities, AT&T

Rita Mix is Lead Marketing Manager for Utilities at AT&T. Rita has twenty years experience in marketing with ten years of focus on various vertical markets including utilities as well as previous experience working for a gas and electric provider. Prior to AT&T, Rita has worked for other telecommunications companies and has a wire line and wireless background. She has also been a marketing professor at several universities. Rita holds a B.S. from Capital University and an M.S. from Central Michigan University.

Bill Rambo
VP Product Marketing, Survalent

Bill has worked in the energy industry with all types of enabling technologies for over 22 years. He started his energy career with ConocoPhillips as an engineer. Someone in management discovered he was a "people person" and thus moved him over to "the dark side" (sales and marketing). Discovery by Bill that all career paths lead to Houston resulted in an exit from CP and setting foot in "high-technology". He founded one of the first Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) in the Northwest and has worked for companies providing technology to solve problems for customers ever since. Bill is Vice President of Product Marketing at Survalent and holds a Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering from Montana State University.

Geoffrey Salter, P.Eng.
President and CEO, Aztech Associates, Inc.

Geoffrey Salter is a Professional Engineer with +25 years of experience in engineering, operations and corporate management, and the development of hardware and software solutions for the utilities, medical and natural resource extraction industries. At Aztech, Mr. Salter provides the vision and inspiration behind the company’s strategic direction and its research and development efforts. Geoff is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Innovation Network (ELORIN) and was a competitive cyclist at the Canadian national level.

Walter Sikora
VP of Security Solutions, Industrial Defender

Walt Sikora has more than 29 years of experience with Security for SCADA, DCS and ICS systems. In his current role, Walt is responsible for Industrial Defender’s security and compliance solutions and is a member of DHS-ICSJWG, NERC CIPC, and many other security groups. Walt previously spent 21 years with Invensys, Inc. as Director of Service Engineering and Development, where he was responsible for developing services and security solutions for the Foxboro IA platform. He holds an Associate Degree in Engineering and, a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, and is currently an MBA candidate at the Gordon Institute of Tufts University.

Weston Sylvester
Sales/Business Development – Smart Grid, Cisco

Wes Sylvester is a Sales Business Development Manager in Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group (ETG), focused on Smart Grid. Wes’ expertise is substation and distribution automation in the North American market. Before joining Cisco, Wes was Director of Smart Grid for Siemens Energy, leading efforts around the development of a Smart Grid go-to-market, partnering, and customer facing strategy. Prior to that, Wes worked in a variety of product management, sales and marketing roles at both Siemens Energy and Cooper Power Systems. He is degreed Mechanical Engineer, a member of IEEE Power Engineering Society, and is a past Chair of the EPRI Intelligrid Technology Transfer Committee.

Joshua Wepman
AVP Infrastructure Technology Commercial Business Services, SAIC

Mr. Wepman works within SAIC’s Smart Grid division as the manager of the Information Systems & Technology group, and as the Practice Lead for their Smart Grid and Critical Infrastructure Security consulting organization. Mr. Wepman brings seven years of Energy and Critical Infrastructure experience from numerous Oil and Gas and Utility operations. His present work includes security programs across NRC and NERC compliance programs, as well as organizational risk management support for Smart Grid transformation programs.

Elster speakers

Gavin Cato
Director of Strategic Alliances

As Director of Strategic Alliances, Gavin employs his extensive knowledge in advanced technology with leadership experience to quickly identify and diagnose complex multi-faceted business and technical challenges that extend beyond immediate organizational and functional areas. Prior to Elster, Gavin served in a number of key executive positions at Tekelec, including Vice President of Market Development and Corporate Strategy, Vice President of Strategic Solutions, and Vice President of Product Management and Product Marketing. He also served as Vice President of Product Management at Arsenal Digital Solutions. Gavin has also worked with Nortel Networks, IBM, and Duke University Medical Center. Gavin received his BS and MS in electrical engineering and his MBA from Duke University, and his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Bob Dumas
Vice President, System Projects & Support

Since 1999, Bob Dumas has been responsible for Elster’s system implementation projects including project management, implementation and support of Elster AMI systems for electricity, water and gas with the successful implementation of over 80 systems worldwide. For nearly two decades prior to coming to Elster, Bob held various design engineering roles at Dominion Virginia Power including nuclear fuel cycle management, design and implementation of instrumentation and control systems, SCADA systems, and energy management systems in the power generation and transmission control areas as well as fossil plant emissions control and air pollution modeling. Bob holds a B.S. in nuclear engineering as well as MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Systems Analysis.

Bob Henes
Vice President, Asia Pacific

Bob Henes is responsible for sales and market development in Asia Pacific. Bob has 18 years experience with smart grid solutions and electricity metering. During his time with Elster, he has held multiple roles in marketing, sales and support. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Mike Longrie
Vice President, Product Management

Michael Longrie leads 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.

Mark Munday
President & CEO, Elster Solutions

With more than 30 years of design engineering and executive leadership, Mark Munday is an industry visionary in state-of-the-art utility measurement, control and system technologies. Mark is known for his vision behind Elster’s EnergyAxis System, a field-proven Smart Grid solution used in residential, commercial and industrial applications. He has been instrumental in introducing industry leading security system solutions for utilities. Mark has been awarded 31 patents, including those for time-of-use (TOU) metering (demand profile and calendar of cyclic events), tamper detection, service detection, power quality monitoring systems and programmable functions. A native of Statesville, NC, Munday holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. He has completed post-graduate courses at NCSU and received business training at the Wharton Executive School (University of Pennsylvania) and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in Durham, NC.

Bryan Shang
EnergyAxis WAN Product Manager

Bryan Shang manages Elster's WAN solutions and WAN partners for EnergyAxis. He is responsible for the comprehensive WAN assessment program which tests all WAN solutions for compatibility, reliability, and conformity according to Elster's practices. Shang has over 26 years of industry experience specializing in telecommunications. He has worked for industry leading companies such as Nortel Networks, Fujistu Network Systems, ADC Telecom, and ITT. Shang holds a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, and a JD from North Carolina Central School of Law. Shang spent over 6 years as a practicing patent attorney, most recently as in-house patent counsel with ABB, preparing and prosecuting patents applications.

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 has held multiple roles in marketing, sales, product management and business development. Sitton has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Additional speakers

Bob Gohn
Research Director, Pike Research

Bob Gohn leads Pike Research’s smart grid practice including responsibility for research content management, client consulting engagements, and key industry relationships. His personal research and analysis focuses on smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart grid networking and communications, home area networking (HAN), and energy management. Before joining Pike Research, Gohn was VP of Marketing for Ember Corporation, a leading provider of ZigBee wireless mesh silicon and software. His experience also includes senior marketing roles at Freescale Semiconductor, Motorola Semiconductor, C-Port Corporation, 3Com, and Standard Microsystems Corporation. Gohn holds a BEEE from SUNY Stony Brook and an MSEE from Polytechnic University.

Robert Hartway
Utility Industry Consultant, Accenture

Robert “Rob” Hartway is a utilities consultant in Accenture’s Smart Grid Services practice. He has twenty years electric utility industry experience with nine years working for electric utilities including: time sensitive rate design, regulatory affairs, integrated resource planning, demand-side management and demand response, forecasting, strategy planning, sales and marketing. Rob has over fifteen years focused in the planning, development, integration and implementation of smart systems & technologies (AMI, DR, Smart Grid) and customer focused programs.