Gunther Receives Recognition for Leadership in Smart Grid

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Erich Gunther, EnerNex Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, was honored by GridWeek with the “Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Smart Grid” award for his ongoing leadership in Smart Grid standards and promoting industry collaboration.

“After a year of working alongside Erich, it has become clear to me that his influence of what is Smart Grid is far more pervasive than I ever understood previously.”

The Leadership Awards were presented on Wednesday, October 20, at a celebration hosted at GridWeek 2010 in Washington, D.C.

Gunther, featured in Greentech Media’s Top 100 Movers and Shakers of the Smart Grid, has over 20 years of experience in design and development of innovative solutions to a wide array of power system problems, most notably ways to take advantage of communications networks and technology to improve the efficiency, operating practices, and security of the electric power system.

Gunther has a leadership role in many of the key grid modernization groups and standards organizations including the GridWise Architecture Council, UtilityAMI, IEEE PES (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; Power and Energy Society) Intelligent Grid Coordinating Committee, and many others. Gunther also serves on the board of directors for the Utility Communications Architecture International Users Group (UCAIug).

In addition, Gunther is the lead on the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) administrator team, a contract EnerNex was awarded by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in support of the Smart Grid interoperability standards development and harmonization effort.

Doug Houseman, Vice President of Technology and Innovations, commented on Gunther’s award, “Prior to joining EnerNex I thought I understood the impact Erich had on the Smart Grid industry; but I didn’t realize how much I had underestimated his impact.” He continued stating, “After a year of working alongside Erich, it has become clear to me that his influence of what is Smart Grid is far more pervasive than I ever understood previously.”

EnerNex was a silver sponsor of GridWeek and a main contributor to the week’s broad range of experts and sessions on the Smart Grid's impact on the economy, the electric utility infrastructure, consumers and the environment.

Gunther, Aaron Snyder, and Bobby Brown of EnerNex contributed to Monday’s agenda covering the basics of the Smart Grid and its benefits; the importance of frameworks and industry collaboration regarding Smart Grid interoperability; and global Smart Grid activity.

EnerNex has become well-recognized for their role in grid modernization and has laid down the technical underpinnings for the grid of the future that allows utilities to tailor technologies to their specific needs.

About EnerNex Corporation

EnerNex Corporation provides engineering and consulting services, along with software solutions and customization, for the electric power industry. EnerNex focuses on providing services around the development and application of new and emerging electric power technologies to engineer a cleaner, smarter energy system of the future. For more information on EnerNex, visit www.enernex.com.

About GridWeek

The four-day GridWeek 2010 Conference was held from October 18-21 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. The conference offers a broad range of experts and sessions on the Smart Grid’s impact on the economy, the electric utility infrastructure, consumers and the environment – helping to set the agenda for Smart Grid advancement. The conference hosted more than 200 speakers, participating in 40 sessions, covering Smart Grid issues and topics centered around four key themes: International Collaboration, the Consumer, Smart Grid Deployment, and Putting Smart Grid on the Fast Track.