Grid Forward Board of Directors

The Grid Forward Board of Directors represents the diversity of stakeholders: utility, industry solution providers, professional services, education, government and non-profits.

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Experience that guides our mission to promote and accelerate grid innovation

Our Board of Directors manages the business and financial affairs and strategic direction of the organization as outlined in the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. Members of the Board have relevant leadership experience in the energy and utility industry, so their contributions will help support the organization’s mission of promoting and accelerating grid innovation. Board Members serve three-year terms.

Nominations from among members in good standing are considered by the Nominating Committee when notice is provided to the Executive Director, Secretary, or other members of the Nominating Committee in writing. Candidates are voted on by the Board of Directors. The slate of renewing and incoming members elected by the Board is then voted on by the membership in the Annual Meeting. Board meetings are generally scheduled quarterly. The Board may fill vacancies from resignation or other changes. Typically 2-4 members are elected each year.

Julie Desimone

Treasurer

Moss & Adams (2019-22)

Julie leads the Power & Utilities National Practice for Moss Adams LLP, and has been providing auditing, accounting, and consulting services since 2000. Some of her specific areas of focus include: advanced utility accounting, regulatory assets and liabilities, technical auditing (including single audits), contracting, business feasibility studies, internal control evaluation, litigation support, and relationship management. Julie currently serves on the Moss Adams’s Executive Council, training and development committee, audit task force, and recruiting program. In addition, she serves as an AICPA peer reviewer and is a regular speaker on technical and operational issues related to the energy and utility industry.

Scott Harden

Board Chair

OSI Consulting (2017-22)

Scott leads the strategic planning for and implementation of advanced systems for Utility IT / OT Transformation. As an evangelist for Big Data and Real-time Analytics Solutions, he incorporates a deep understanding of data-driven technologies and Utility Operations to help clients develop compelling capabilities for efficiency and to promote growth.  As OSI’s global lead for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) practice he’s responsible for Advisory and Delivery Services to architect and deploy Advanced Analytic Solutions for Utilities, including the identification and application of disruptive technologies with experience in Sensor/Gateway technologies, Edge Computing, Real-Time Analytics, Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence, Visualization and Augmented Intelligence.

Bill Holmes

K&L Gates (2013-20)

Bill Holmes is a partner at K&L Gates where he concentrates his practice in the area of energy and infrastructure projects and transactions with an emphasis on wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal, biomass, natural gas, carbon offsets, and energy storage. His experience extends into corporate transactions, water law, and real estate law. Bill also advises clients in negotiating major power purchase agreements, acquisition and sale of energy projects, EPC agreements, O&M agreements, fuel supply, and energy project development agreements. Bill has been selected to be included in the 2007 through 2013 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in Energy Law and Environmental Law and was selected as a “leader in the field” by Chambers Global (Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy – USA), 2011. He was also named the Best Lawyers 2011 Portland, and Oregon Energy Lawyer of the Year. Bill is an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon Law School, where he taught one of the first renewable energy law courses in the nation from 2008 through 2012.

Marissa Hummon

Utilidata (2019-2022)

Marissa joined Utilidata in 2018 as Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the company’s technology research, product development, deployment, and engineering teams. She brings more than fifteen years of expertise in energy systems and grid optimization, having previously overseen product development for Tendril and managed grid modernization research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Marissa is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University.

Carl Imhoff

Pacific Northwest National Labs (2014-2021)

Mr. Imhoff manages the Electric Infrastructure market sector within Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Energy and Environment Directorate, conducting advanced electric infrastructure research and product development with the U.S. Depart­ment of Energy, state governments, vendors and commercial energy firms. In this role he is responsible for PNNL’s research and development programs on innovations in the areas of advanced power transmission reliability concepts, demand response, development of improved integration concepts for renewable energy generation technologies, policy and strategy for smart grid concepts, and cross-cutting grid analytic tools in visualization and high performance computing.  During his 30 years at PNNL, Mr. Imhoff has conducted and managed a broad range of energy research. His technical work emphasizes systems engineering and operations in the areas of power system reliability, smart grid, energy efficiency, energy storage and clean generation. He has been actively involved in a number of electric power system organizations and bodies, includ­ing the North American Synchrophasor Initiative, the GridWise Alliance, the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions, and the Western Electric Coordinating Council.

Josh Keeling

Portland General Electric (2017-22)

Josh Keeling oversees smart grid customer analytics at Portland General Electric. In this role he conducts internal research of emerging technologies, supports business case development, oversees measurement and verification, and develops long-term planning for distributed energy resources. Much of his current work has been focused on demand response, including smart thermostats, grid interactive water heaters, electric vehicles, and automated DR. Prior to joining PGE, Josh served as a manager of statistical analysis at the Cadmus Group. He is a voting member of the Regional Technical Forum and has contributed to a number of standards in DSM including work for USDOE, ANSI, and IPMVP. His background is in quantitative methods and has a Master’s in Systems Science from Portland State University.

Daniel Kirschen

University of Washington (2017-2020)

Daniel is the Donald W. and Ruth Mary Close Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington. His research focuses on smart grids, the integration of renewable energy sources in the grid, power system economics and power system security. Prior to joining the University of Washington, he taught for 16 years at The University of Manchester (UK). Before becoming an academic, Daniel worked for Control Data and Siemens on the development of application software for utility control centers. He holds a PhD and MS from the University of Wisconsin and an Electro-Mechanical Engineering degree from the Free University of Brussels (Belgium). Daniel has been on the Expert Advisory Council for Grid Forward since 2014.

Heather Rosentrater

Avista (2014-2020)

Heather Rosentrater is vice president of energy delivery at Avista Corp., where she’s responsible for electric and natural gas engineering, operations and shared services such as fleet, facilities and supply chain. Heather has led Avista’s Grid Innovation, Smart Grid and Smart City efforts, including representing Avista as a founding member of Urbanova, a living laboratory in Spokane, Wash., to design cities for the future. She also has broad experience on both the electric and natural gas sides of Avista Utilities, having managed departments and projects in transmission, distribution and SCADA, as well as asset management. Heather is a registered Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Gonzaga University. She serves on the board of directors for Grid Forward, Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, and Spokane’s 2nd Harvest. In addition, she is a member of the Washington State University Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture Executive Leadership Board.

Matt Schnugg

GE Power Digital (2018-2021)

Matt Schnugg is a senior director of data and analytics at GE Power Digital, where he is responsible for the development and productization of analytics across all of GE Power. Matt focuses on delivering best-in-class outcomes to utility customers using the breadth of their data, with an emphasis on using both GE’s domain expertise and a wide variety of advanced analytical and data science-based tactics. Prior to his tenure at GE, Matt held leadership roles in marketing and engineering for the cloud at Microsoft. He was most recently a principal in the C+E growth + ecosystems group, where he led a team using experimentation, analytics and data science across the Azure platform. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, where he was also a fellow at the Tauber Institute for Global Operations. Matt earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Richmond.

Tuan Tran

Seattle City Light (2015-2020)

Tuan has more than 20 years of experience in the utility field. He’s currently Director of Engineering at Seattle City Light, with the responsibility for managing approximately 150 electrical engineers and professional staff which include: System Planning Engineering, Service/System Engineering, Network Engineering, Substation Engineering, Transmission Engineering, Protection Engineering, Streetlight Engineering, Joint Use Engineering, and Automation/Technology Engineering. In addition, he is responsible for capital planning (system load and reliability studies and project creation), engineering design, and capital project implementation. He has also developed and managed the ongoing performance of $150M capital and maintenance annual budget.

Bryce Yonker

Grid Forward Executive Director (2010-2020), Grid Forward Executive Director & CEO

Bryce Yonker serves as the first executive director & CEO for Grid Forward. He heads up strategic development, programs and operations for the organization. Bryce was a founder and original board member and the initial executive director of Grid Forward. He is also the founder & principal of EnerTec Development, an energy advisory and consulting firm based in Portland Oregon. He is an advisor to multiple industry companies and previously served as the senior director of business development & strategy for Clean Edge, a leading clean tech market research firm. He holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and an International MBA from IE in Spain.