Venkat Banunarayanan is the Vice President of Integrated Grid NRECA’s Business & Technology Strategies unit. He has 22 years of experience leading and executing energy-related projects involving power system analysis, data analytics, grid optimization, renewables integration, techno-economic feasibility and benefit-cost studies. At NRECA, his role is to lead the development of tools, resources and partnerships for member cooperatives to successfully evaluate opportunities for distribution grid optimization and value extraction, enabling reliable and cost-effective grid operations with high penetration of distributed energy, and business models for cooperatives to function as the trusted energy advisor for their communities. Venkat holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A in Finance, is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP®), has worked previously at the United States Department of Energy, ICF International, and General Electric’s Energy division.