Monthly archive

Nicolas Peugniez

Job Title: 
Deputy to Strategy and Regulation Vice President
Organization: 
GRTgaz (France)

Nicolas has 25+ years of experience in the gas business in France and Central Europe (Slovakia, Austria). Beyond operation, his relevant areas of experience focus on market opening mechanisms, tariff and regulation.

Nicolas developed an in-depth knowledge of regulation in the EU context from a transmission system operator side, in the context of preparing the SPP (the Slovakia state-owned energy supplier) for unbundling in Slovakia in 2000-2006 and for the independent transmission operator certification process in Austria in 2009-2014. Nicolas also provided GRTgaz expertise on regulation for missions in Brazil and Mexico. 

Nicolas joined the GRTgaz Strategy and Regulation department as a senior analyst in 2014 and as a deputy to the VP in 2018.  Nicolas represented GRTgaz in various working groups at the EU-level (including the ENTSOG Network Code development and the work group on incremental capacities between EU and Russia) and in the exchange council of the PowerNext gas exchange.

GRTgaz is the main transmission system operator (TSO) in France and one of the leading European TSOs. GRTgaz is also present in Germany through its subsidiary GRTgaz Deutschland.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Ankit Gupta

Job Title: 
Managing Consultant (O&G)
Organization: 
ICF (India)

Ankit leads the natural gas related work in ICF (India) and has more than 11 years of work experience in the natural gas/LNG domain. His overall experience has been in projects related to techno-commercial assessment of business opportunities, assessment of existing and new markets, identification of global best practices in the natural gas sector, natural gas demand assessment, and regulatory and policy assessment in this sector. He has handled complex projects related to authorization, LNG shipping and due diligence.

Prior to joining ICF, Ankit spent more than seven years working in GAIL (India) Limited. He also worked with the largest oil and gas association in India – the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI) – where he has carried out multiple stakeholders’ engagements on different projects. He graduated from IIT Roorkee in Bachelor of Technology (Chemical Engineering) in 2009.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Monali Zeya-Hazra

Job Title: 
Regional Energy Manager and Program Management Specialist
Organization: 
U.S. Agency for International Development/India
Monali Zeya has been the Regional Energy Manager and Clean Energy Specialist with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in India since 2009.  Ms. Zeya holds a post-graduate degree in Environmental Management from Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, located in Kolkata. With more than 20 years of experience, she has managed several USAID’s clean energy programs including USAID’s regional energy program in South Asia. Prior to USAID, Ms. Zeya led the Industry and Environment Team at the Centre for Science and Environment. She has several publications to her credit.
Profile Type: 
Speaker

Role of Transmission System Operator in Gas in India - Learnings from Global Perspective

March 18th, 2021
In this   webinar , we will share insights on the role of transmission system operators (TSOs) in managing pipeline capacity and how India can adapt lessons from overseas’ sectors to India’s existing gas market structure.  Panelists will discuss different models for adoption of a TSO (ownership unbundling, independent system operator, transmission system operator, etc.), the challenges, and the stringent regulations that may be needed for implementation of these models. Esteemed panelists will share their views on the Indian gas market structure and how the appointment of a TSO can help bring in transparency in operation as a step towards market liberalization.

USEA Annual Membership Meeting & Public Policy Forum

May 6th, 2021

Shalini Sarin

Job Title: 
Co-Chair
Organization: 
South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE)

Co-Chair South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE)

Co Founder & Executive Director - Elektromobilitat

Independent Director: Linde India; Meritor Automotive Axles & Kirloskar Oil Engines

Advisory board member AEEE & Chair Center for Clean Energy - Plaksha University

Supervisory Board member Nagarro SE

Dr. Shalini Sarin’s experience ranges from Chief People Officer to head of Corporate Social Responsibility to Business Leader for the base of the pyramid solar lighting business for social impact. At SAWIE, she leads the Mentorship Group.

Profit with Purpose is her mantra and belief. She has worked across India, Europe and US. She started her career as a lecturer of Organization behaviour and has about three decades of Corporate experience. In her role as the HR head, her specialization has been changing management, leadership, succession and a significant experience in transformations during mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, divestiture and IPOs.

In her experience as head of Corporate social responsibility, she has been able to Influence organizations to align the strategy with the purpose of the organization. She was the chair of all India CSR committee with NHRD, mobilizing early adoption when the CSR bill was passed and was the CHRO at Schneider Electric, India. In the base of the pyramid, social impact business, she has been able to work on building the ecosystem building collaborations to leverage scale and competence. She worked on projects across the world from Indonesia to LATAM including Africa and India in a big way.

Since mid-2018, she is the Chair the global Signify Foundation and ISA- GTFF – International Solar Alliance- global taskforce of foundations. Both working on access to energy and local capacity building. She is also the Independent Director on the board of Linde India and Meritor HVS (India) Limited and Automotive Axles Limited. Recently, she started a new venture Elektromobilitat India as an Executive Director & Mentor. Also, she is a partner at Social venture partners and a mentor and board member for Beyond diversity Foundation.

She also mentors business leaders and several start-ups in the social sector on sustainable business models both for profit and not for profit. Shalini holds a Doctorate in Organization Behaviour, and a Masters in Sociology and Human Resource Management. She has an Advanced Human Resource from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, an Executive Coach from Motorola University-Chicago and a Psychometrician from British Psychology Society. She is pursuing the International Director’s program from INSEAD. She has authored many articles and presented at various Indian and International Conferences.

Pat Wood III

Job Title: 
CEO; Former Chairman
Organization: 
Hunt Energy Network; FERC and Texas PUC

Pat Wood III is the past Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). The son of a small businessman, Mr. Wood has been a forceful advocate throughout his career for replacing government-centered monopoly regulation with customer-centered, technology-unleashing competition.

Today, as CEO of Hunt Energy Network, Mr. Wood’s focus is on new power system infrastructure and the related business systems to integrate it into competitive power markets. 

Mr. Wood also serves as the Lead Independent Director of solar pioneer SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR), and Director of specialty construction firm Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR), including his recent appointment to Luma Energy, overseeing the Quanta-ATCO joint venture to operate the Puerto Rico utility system. He is also a Director of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SV).  In the past, he was Board Chairman of independent power producer Dynegy, and a Director of TPI Composites, among others.  

In 1995, Governor George W. Bush named Mr. Wood to head the PUCT with a mandate to inject competition into the state’s regulated power and telecommunication utilities. The resulting restructured Texas electric market has attracted high infrastructure investment, yielded innovative technology and service offerings, and led to customer prices well below what they were under regulation.

During his four years at the helm of the FERC, under President George W. Bush, Mr. Wood led the responses to the 2000-2001 California energy crisis, the bankruptcy of Enron, and the 2003 North American power blackout. By the end of his term, over two-thirds of the nation’s economy was served by the reliable, organized wholesale power markets FERC championed.  He was well-known for his three-legged stool for successful markets: robust infrastructure, balanced market rules and vigilant oversight.

Mr. Wood holds a B.S. degree (civil engineering) from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He serves on the Executive Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star and the National Petroleum Council, and was a founding member of the Texas A&M Smart Grid Council. He, and his wife, Kathleen, have four sons and are proud to call Houston their home. 

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Daniel Brooks

Job Title: 
Vice President, Integrated Grid and Energy Systems
Organization: 
EPRI

Daniel Brooks is Vice President of Integrated Grid and Energy Systems at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). In this role, he leads teams responsible for EPRI's research, development, and demonstration of integrated energy systems planning, delivery systems planning, grid and market operations, and the integration of renewables, energy storage, and distributed energy resources.

Brooks joined EPRI in 2004 as manager of the renewables integration research and power system studies teams. From 2011 to 2019, he managed the Grid Operations and Planning research area as a Senior Program Manager and Director responsible for transmission and distribution system operations and planning research.

Prior to joining EPRI, Brooks was Manager of Power System Studies for Electrotek Concepts, managing power quality and renewables integration research, and consulting services addressing transmission and distribution planning and operations for electric utilities, equipment vendors, and other stakeholders.

Brooks earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, Martin. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Tennessee and is a Senior Member of the IEEE Power Engineering Society.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

The Lessons of Texas

February 26th, 2021
The Texas deep freeze was close to the sum of all fears for electric and gas utilities. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong, and Texans suffered. Clearly Texas must rethink, rebuild, and reprioritize. Everything in the state is on the table, from its electric isolation to whether it should be under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) umbrella with new interconnections to the national grid.

A Letter From Acting Executive Director Sheila Hollis On The Texas Energy Crisis

February 23rd, 2021
Tragically, last week, an unprecedented weather event triggered a nightmare energy crisis that left much of Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma in chaos after a massive winter storm knocked out vital energy and water infrastructure.

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