Keynote provided by David Wright, incoming Chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and Vice-Chair of South Carolina Public Service Commission.

David A. Wright

Vice-Chairman, South Carolina Public Service Commission

David Wright was elected to the South Carolina Public Service Commission from the Second Congressional District in a special session of the S.C. General Assembly on March 3, 2004. He serves as one of seven elected commissioners of the SCPSC. In July 2010, he was sworn in as Vice-Chairman of the Commission.

Since his election, David has accepted active roles in many phases of commission activities locally, regionally and nationally.

In November 2010, he was elected by his peers around the country to serve as First Vice President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). He will become President in November 2011.

David is a Past President of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC).

Commissioner Wright is a member of the Electricity Committee from S.C. on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the Washington Action Committee and is a member and past Chairman of NARUC's Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues and Waste Disposal.

Since December 2006, David has served as National Chairman of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC), an organization he has served on as a representative and board member from South Carolina since his election to the S.C. PSC.

In August 2010, Commissioner Wright was appointed to be the NARUC representative on the Advisory Board of the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

A colon cancer survivor, David is active as an advocate for cancer awareness and is frequently asked to share his message with groups around the state. David is also a member of the Leadership Council for the Cancer Centers at the University of South Carolina (CCUSC).

Prior to his election to the S.C. PSC, David had been self-employed for more than 25 years, having owned and/or operated several retail, commercial and professional services businesses. He has an extensive background in retail, commercial and political advertising and public relations, and has worked as a strategic consultant in all areas. David also has a strong background in planning and staging events as well. Adding to his broad and varied background, David has his real estate license and is a licensed auctioneer in South Carolina.

Brent Dreher

Senior Vice President

Brent Dreher is a Senior Vice President with Five Point Partners focusing primarily on Client-Side Delivery Support services (CSDS) and Five Point's Smart Grid offerings.

A former partner with Capstone Consulting, Brent has more than 24 years of consulting and entrepreneurial experience, including over 11 years with Accenture. Brent has worked with large regulated utilities, electric cooperatives and municipal utilities in areas such as strategic technology planning, CIS software selection and implementation, ERP software selection and implementation, organizational transformation, T&D work/asset management, GIS planning and integration, and SCADA software selection/integration. Brent has also overseen projects focusing on integration of outage management and mobile work force management applications with CIS, work management and financial systems.

Prior to joining Five Point Partners, Brent was a founder and president of BE Consulting. While at BE, Brent led the formation of BE's utility industry practice, including the establishment of a Smart Grid strategy/business case offering. In his role as Senior Vice President of Outsourcing and Consulting Services at Alliance Data, Brent's team was responsible for providing business process outsourcing and consulting services to over 50 utility clients, with annual revenues of over $140 million. In his 11 year tenure with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), Brent led projects at clients such as Progress Energy and Duke Energy in a variety of engineering and operations areas in Generation, Transmission and Distribution.

Brent has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Lambuth University and a Master of Business Administration from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Mark F. McGranaghan

Vice President, Power Delivery and Utilization for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Mark McGranaghan is Vice President of Power Delivery and Utilization for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He leads the teams responsible for EPRI's research involving technologies, systems, and practices for power delivery systems from the generator to the plug and for the devices and technologies that use the electricity.

From 2003 to 2010, McGranaghan was Director of Research in the Distribution and Smart Grid areas for EPRI. Priorities during this period were restructuring of the distribution research program, coordinating EPRI research in the smart grid area with government and industry efforts, creating the smart grid demonstration initiative, and increasing the technical strength of the EPRI research team.

Prior to joining EPRI, McGranaghan was Vice President at Electrotek Concepts (1998-2003), where he helped develop a new business area around power quality and power system studies into a world leader.

From 1978 to 1988 McGranaghan was a Manager at McGraw-Edison/Cooper Power in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He managed studies for the utility industry and internal studies for application of McGraw-Edison products (power transformers, circuit breakers, arresters, distribution switchgear, capacitors) and directed a wide range of power system studies.

McGranaghan has Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering and Master of Science, Electrical Engineering degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught seminars and workshops around the world and is very active in standards development and industry activities (IEEE, CIGRE, IEC). He is a member of the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Governing Board and he is the Vice-Chairman of the CIRED U.S. National Committee.

Mark McGranaghan will describe the smart grid demonstration projects that are being coordinated at EPRI and how collaboration on the demonstrations is helping to expand the benefits that are derived from the demonstration investments. These projects are looking at the integration of distributed resources with the planning, operation, and management of the grid. Important results in the areas of cost/benefit assessment and next generation modeling requirements for managing the grid will be described.

Eddie Roberson

Director

Eddie Roberson was born in 1952 in Nashville. Raised in the home of a minister, his family was transferred to Chattanooga in 1960. He attended Chattanooga public schools graduating from Chattanooga High School in 1971. He graduated from University of Tennessee with a bachelors and master degrees. He received a Ph.D. in Public Administration from The Institute of Government at Tennessee State University in 1998. He is also a Rule 31 Mediator. While in Chattanooga, he was elected twice to the Chattanooga School Board and served as President of the Chattanooga Sertoma Club in 1988.

Dr. Roberson was hired by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the predecessor to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, in 1975. He was appointed as Chief of Consumer Services Division of the PSC and transferred to Nashville in 1989. He also served as the agency's executive director from 1995 to 1996. He was appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen in 2006 as director to the TRA and reappointed in 2008. He served as agency chairman in 2007-2009. While at the TRA, he has been instrumental in encouraging the regulated energy utilities to implement energy conservation programs for its customers.

Dr. Roberson is active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, currently serving on its Board of Directors and the committees of Natural Gas, Consumer Affairs (of which he is the former Vice Chairman) and as Chairman of the Education and Research Committee. He is also on the Advisory Council of the Center for Public Utilities at the University of New Mexico and on the board of the Center for Public Service and Urban Affairs at Tennessee State University. He was also elected president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners for 2010-2011.

He currently lives in Hendersonville where he is actively involved in the community and his church where he serves as an elder and on the State Missions Board for the Church of God. He is a member of the Hendersonville Rotary Club where he is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and past club president for 2007-2008. He is married and has two daughters.

Jim Linn

Managing Director, Information Technology

Jim has spent the past 22 years of his career in Information Technology management with several non-profit organizations in the Washington, DC area. He is presently Managing Director, Information Technology for the American Gas Association (www.aga.org), and has been for the past twelve years. Prior to that he spent eight years as IT Director for the Chemical Manufacturers Association. He planned IT projects and set technical direction for both of these great organizations. In addition, he is a Certified Association Executive, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Cisco Certified Network Associate, and holds several other industry certifications.

In recent years Jim has split his time between IT responsibilities and committee leadership. He is the staff executive for AGA's Customer Service Committee and Technology Advisory Council. In these capacities he serves utility professionals in the fields of Customer Service and Information Technology within the natural gas distribution industry. The Customer Service area includes an annual benchmarking effort, two workshops and a large conference. The Information Technology area includes two council meetings annually.

Jim has a B.S. degree in Computer Systems Management from Drexel University and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.

Jim has been married to his wife, Marianne, for the past 23 years and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland. They have three children, Joanna, 19, James, 15, and Jonathan, 13.

Decosta Jenkins

President and CEO, Nashville Electric Service (our host utility)

Decosta E. Jenkins joined Nashville Electric Service in 1991 and was promoted to President and CEO on September 3, 2004. Prior to his promotion, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Jenkins also served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Electric Power Board. Prior to joining NES, Mr. Jenkins was with Deloitte and Touche for 11 years where he worked in the audit department with both public and private entities. Mr. Jenkins graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He serves on the Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction Board. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Samaritan Ministries/Project S.E.E. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Nashville Bank & Trust, the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries, the YMCA Middle Tennessee Board, the Salvation Army Board of Directors, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and the Alumni Board for Leadership Nashville. He is Chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Long-Range Planning Council. He was appointed by the Mayor to the Green Ribbon Committee and served as co-chair of the Energy and Building Subcommittee. He is a member and past Treasurer of the Downtown Exchange Club and serves on the Nashville Chamber Partnership 2010 Leadership Cabinet. He was also a member of Governor Bredesen’s transition team and served on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization and the Saint Thomas Health Services Board of Directors. 

Mr. Jenkins is married (wife’s name is Marion). He has two children (Decosta Jenkins, Jr. and daughter, Mia). Hobbies: Golf.

Victor Hatridge

CIO, Nashville Electric Service (our host utility)

Vic Hatridge has served as Vice President/Chief Information Officer for Nashville Electric Service in Nashville, TN for seventeen years. He is responsible for all commercial computer and telecommunication systems. At present, he serves as the I.T. sponsor for his utility's SmartGrid implementation which will come on-line in mid-2012 with a focus on peak load reduction.

Vic is an active member of the American Public Power Association Information Technology committee, the Tennessee Valley Big 8 CIO Council, and the Nashville CIO Council.

Under his leadership, NES has implemented enterprise solutions for GIS, outage management, human capital management, asset management, maintenance management and content management, plus solutions for automated vehicle location, mobile dispatching and e-billing/e-payment operating on modern, cost-effective computing technology including a storage area network, virtual servers and a fault-tolerant virtual network.

Vic holds a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering and an MBA, both from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Jeff Conklin

Senior Director, J.D. Power and Associates

Jeff Conklin is a Senior Director in the Energy Practice at J.D. Power and Associates. He is responsible for the company's overall efforts in conducting customer satisfaction studies for the energy utility industry. He also directs the company's services in support of the energy utility industry's rollout of the smart grid.

Mr. Conklin has more than 25 years of experience in the energy utilities industry, working in the areas of customer service, distribution operations, sales and marketing.

Prior to joining J.D. Power and Associates in 2000, Mr. Conklin was a management consultant for nine years with Navigant Consulting (Metzler & Associates). His areas of experience included reengineering customer operations, strategic market planning, marketing and sales organization assessment and restructuring, telecommunications planning and strategy development, and utility merger integration.

Previously, Mr. Conklin was business center manager at A&C Enercom, where he developed and managed business opportunities with utilities across the Midwest. A&C Enercom provided marketing and demand-side management services to energy utilities.Earlier in his career, Mr. Conklin worked at Commonwealth Edison Company, where he held several marketing and sales positions.

Mr. Conklin earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with emphasis on energy studies from Duke University. He received a master's degree in management with concentrations in finance and marketing from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Chris Bohner

Senior Vice President

Chris Bohner is a Senior Vice President at Five Point Partners with overall responsibility for the company's Business Intelligence and Performance Management Practice. He has spent over 15 years in management consulting with a focus on aligning strategy to tactics and financial results, business planning, business intelligence/data warehousing, performance management and technology. He has worked extensively with clients in the energy/utility, financial services, telecommunications and aerospace and defense industries. In addition to work with clients, Chris is a frequent author and speaker on the topics of Strategy Execution, Performance Reporting and Performance Management

Prior to joining Five Point, Chris was a Vice President with Hitachi Consulting's National Business Intelligence and Performance Management Practice. In this role, Chris had responsibility for methodology development, account supervision and client management for BI/PM clients. In addition, Chris also held overall responsibility for Hitachi Consulting's Corporate Performance Management service offering. This practice focused on helping clients align and manage their strategic, financial and operational plans to drive better business performance.

Barbara Hoffnagle (Retired)

Associate General Manager and Chief Information Executive, SRP

A 26-year veteran of SRP, Barbara oversees enterprise-wide information technology and major operations support functions that include purchasing, warehousing, facilities, machine shop services and fleet management. An industrial engineer by education, Barbara's career with SRP has spanned a wide cross section of business functions and disciplines, including operations support and financial planning. She views her "line and staff" experience as giving her the global perspective to lead SRP's information technology efforts.

Barbara is active in the community, serving on the Board of the Fresh Start Women's Foundation, including two years as Board Chair, a Trustee for the Desert Botanical Gardens, and most recently as a member of the ASU Alumni Association Board. She is also very involved in the utility industry, serving on the Board of WEI (Western Energy Institute), and the Advisory Committee for UEC (Univ. of Idaho's Utility Executive Course). In 2004 she was a finalist for the prestigious Athena Award which recognizes women in the community for their commitment to excellence in business, community service, and mentoring other women.

Born and educated in New York, Barbara graduated from the College of Mt. St. Vincent with a Bachelors degree in Mathematics. Her husband's employment brought her to Arizona where she obtained a Masters degree from Arizona State University's Engineering School. Barbara now sees herself as an Arizona native having lived here with her husband and children for the last 40+ years.

Rebecca "Becky" Blalock (Retired)

Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, Southern Company

As senior vice president and chief information officer, Becky Blalock directs information technology strategy and operations across the 120,000 square miles and nine subsidiaries of Southern Company. She leads more than 1,100 employees in information technology delivery to one of America's most respected companies.

Under her leadership, Southern Company has been consistently recognized as one of the 100 Most Innovative Companies by CIO Magazine and one of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT by Computerworld Magazine. She is nationally and regionally recognized as an expert in corporate information technology.

Since beginning her career at Georgia Power in 1978, Blalock has provided broad leadership in many positions including accounting, finance, marketing, corporate communication, external affairs, the office of the CEO, and customer service.

Blalock serves on the boards of Computers for Youth, Leadership Atlanta and the CIO council of the Edison Electric Institute. She also serves on the CIO advisory board for Georgia State University and Sierra Ventures. In addition she serves on the Customer Advisory Boards of Oracle and AT&T. A graduate of Leadership Atlanta and Leadership Georgia, she was named a Fellow of the International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation in 2001.

Blalock has received a host of honors including 2009 CIO of the Year in the electric utility industry by Energy Biz Magazine, 2007 CIO of the Year by Computers for Youth and 2003 Georgia CIO of the Year, Global Category by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association. She is listed among the Who's Who in Science and Engineering. In 2006, she was inducted as one of Computerworld Magazine's Premier 100 IT Leaders. Atlanta Woman Magazine named her their Power Woman of the Year and she received the Shining Star Award from the Atlanta Women's Foundation. She successfully completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University. She holds a master's degree with honors in business administration from Mercer University and an undergraduate degree in business administration from State University of West Georgia.

With 4.4 million customers and nearly 43,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices below the national average. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company website at www.southerncompany.com.

Reid Nuttal

Chief Information Officer, OGE Energy Corp

Reid Nuttall is the Chief Information Officer for OGE Energy Corp. (OGE).

A native of San Diego, CA, Mr. Nuttall earned a Masters degree in business administration at Brigham Young University. Prior to joining OGE in 2006, he worked for a major oilfield manufacturer in Strategic Planning, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Management of Asia Pacific and then Eastern Hemisphere sales and operations, Marketing, Project Management, and Systems and Technology. He has resided in Spain, Singapore, Scotland, Texas, and now Oklahoma.

As CIO, he is a leader in the transformation of OG&E Electric Services that allows the company and our customers to benefit from the exciting new technologies that are now becoming available. With the assistance of a grant from the DOE, OG&E is rolling out smart meter and AMI capabilities to all customers, implementing demand management capabilities, and developing advanced distribution management systems. OGE Energy Corp, in 2011, was selected as an honoree in the CIO 100 Awards for innovative use of IT to create business value.

Nuttall’s activities include volunteer work with the Boy Scouts, serving on the Board of Advisors for the OSU Institute of Technology and crewing with the champion OGE Corporate Challenge rowing team.

Warren B. Causey

Vice President for Strategy, Research and Analysis, Five Point Partners

Warren B. Causey is a researcher, writer and consultant who has worked with technology and innovation for more than 35 years. He is a renowned and prolific speaker and writer on utility business and IT topics. Causey has specialized in the utility industry since the early 1990s. He was involved in several major computer systems installations in the 1970s and 1980s, and was working on ARPANET, the military predecessor of the Internet when it still was a closely guarded military secret. He is a prolific author of more than 30 books, dozens of reports and hundreds of magazine articles including in all of the leading utility industry publications. He has worked as principle-in-charge for a wide variety of utility projects including IT Performance evaluation and gap analysis at Florida Power & Light, Nstar and Xcel Energy and many others. He is a frequent keynote speaker at many of the major industry conferences and is in demand for specific, contracted targeted advice sessions with utilities and vendors across the industry. Causey is former CEO of Warren B. Causey, Ltd., a former vice president at Energy Central/Sierra Energy Group, is a decorated veteran of the first Persian Gulf War, a private pilot, and a part-time United Methodist pastor. He resides with his family in the Atlanta area. He did his undergraduate work at Austin Peay State University and graduate work at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Bart Thielbar

Vice President, Five Point Partners

Bart Thielbar is the former founder and president of Itility Solutions, LLC. As a former utility CIO and a past chair of the Edison Electric Institute's (EEI) and American Gas Association's (AGA) Technology Advisory Council, Thielbar is intimate with the opportunities and challenges facing the utility industry today. Having led several successful system implementation and conversions throughout his career, he is well versed in the challenges and opportunities inherent to information technology initiatives. He is a published author and frequent speaker on issues related to utility automation and holds his Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) designation from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).