In February, Paul Feldman, board chairman of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, will introduce the next conference from Exacter Inc. The Smart Grid & Overhead Distribution Reliability Conference will present training on improving distribution reliability and becoming smart-grid ready.
Feldman said that he is an “independent participant in the energy business,” and pulling from a broad experience in the utility industry, he will deliver the keynote address on Feb. 9, in Columbus, Ohio.
His topic will be the reliability of the U.S. distribution system as it relates to smart grid implementation, and he will discuss means for utilities to improve SAIFI/SAIDI indices.
“I support the evolution of the industry in a transition to significant end-customer participation,” Feldman said. “My main activities include serving on boards and advisory boards, writing, and presenting on various industry matters.”
Besides serving as chairman of the Midwest ISO, he is also Independent Director of the Western Electricity Reliability Council, and Secretary of Energy-appointed member to represent electricity matters on the National Coal Council.
The conference will be held in Feldman’s backyard, so to speak. He earned his M.A. degree in economics from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio; and a B.A. degree in mathematics from Akron University in Akron, Ohio.
Feldman went on to reach chief executive or vice president positions at various companies, including Novell, Inc., Geo-Utilities, Inc., Columbia Energy Services, UtiliCorp United, AES, and AT&T/Lucent Technologies.
He is also founder and non-executive chairman of Trend IQ, Inc., a company that software-reads Internet text content to derive unique market research information to provide competitive insights.
Participants in the Smart Grid & Overhead Distribution Reliability Conference will have the opportunity to interact with Feldman as well as other speakers, according to the conference director, Colleen Groezinger. “We’ve arranged for some social networking time that will allow speakers and attendees to interact, and some specific Q&A discussion time to process what’s been presented.”
Noted expert, speaker, and reliability consultant Richard E. Brown, SVP Operations, Quanta Technology and author of Electric Power Distribution Reliability, will be bringing together his years of research and consulting in a talk entitled, Cost-Effective Reliability Improvements. He will explore the latest measures and approaches that not only yield results, but deliver the best return on investment.
Other featured speakers include Donald Kasten and Stephen Sebo from the Ohio State University who will share from their unique research on field forensics of how and why electrical line components fail. Their presentations will include live demonstrations at The OSU High-Voltage Laboratory to highlight examples of failing equipment.
More information can be found at www.reduceSAIDI.com and www.exacterinc.com/conference.html Attendees will also receive 1.5 CEUs (15 PDH).
