UVIG Announces 2015 Technical Achievement Honorees

Honors industry leaders for contributions to integration of variable generation

RESTON, Va.--()--The Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group (UVIG) announced individuals from the following organizations as recipients of its 2015 Annual Achievement Awards: California ISO (CAISO), PacifiCorp, U.S. Department of Energy, Renewable Energy Consulting Services (RECS), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), SRA International (SRAI), New West Technologies (NWT), GE, Clean Power Research (CPR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), WindLogics, SUNY Albany, Energy Systems Consulting Services (ESCS), Great River Energy, and Midwest ISO.

UVIG President Steve Beuning will present the awards at a reception during its 2015 Spring Technical Workshop and Annual Meeting to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 21-23.

The citation for the awards to Steve Berberich, Mark Rothleder, Karen Edson, and Stacey Crowley of CAISO; Natalie Hocken, Sarah Edmonds, and Stefan Bird of PacifiCorp, reads, “For leadership in the design, development, and deployment of the Energy Imbalance Market in the Western Interconnection.”

The citation for the awards to Jose Zayas of DOE, Ed DeMeo of RECS, Jessica Lin-Powers and Eric Lantz of NREL, Edward Eugeni of SRAI, and Richard Tusing of NWT, reads, “For leadership and vision in leading the Wind Vision effort to show the role of wind power in a clean energy future.”

The citation for the awards to Kara Clark of NREL, Nick Miller, Miaolei Shao, and Slobodan Pajic of GE, reads, “For leadership in improving the understanding of power system dynamics in WECC under high variable generation conditions.”

The citation for the award to Tom Hoff of CPR, reads, “For ongoing contributions to solar forecasting that enable improved integration of PV plant output into power system operations.”

The citation for the awards to Melinda Marquis and Jim Wilczak of NOAA, Joel Cline of DOE, Cathy Finley of WindLogics, and Jeff Freedman of SUNY Albany, formerly of AWS Truepower, reads, “For contributions to improve wind energy forecasts through the Wind Forecast Improvement Project.”

The citation for the awards to Matt Schuerger of ESCS, Jared Alholinna of Great River Energy, and Dick Piwko, Douglas Welsh, and Rob D’Aquila of GE, reads, “For leadership in planning and executing the Minnesota Renewable Integration and Transmission Study.”

The citation for the award to Dale Osborn of Midwest ISO, reads, “For leadership in applying VSC HVDC transmission planning to improving power system operations and renewables integration.”

According to UVIG’s Beuning, this year’s slate of honorees reflects the core missions for the organization: “All of these recipients have provided leadership and extended the science and understanding of integrating wind and solar generation into utility power systems. Not only has there been an expansion of the state of the art of how to integrate variable generation, but there has been significant work undertaken in understanding application of variable generation in a variety of utility operating environments and business models. As President of UVIG, it gives me great pleasure to announce these awards and to congratulate the recipients.”

UVIG will also honor Beuning of Xcel Energy, Jim Blatchford of California ISO, and Tom Komjathy of DTE Energy for their service on its Board of Directors.

The Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group, previously known as the Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG), was established in 1989 to provide a forum for the critical analysis of wind and solar technology for utility applications and to serve as a source of credible information on the status of wind and solar technology and deployment. The group’s mission is to accelerate the development and application of good engineering and operational practices supporting the appropriate integration of variable generation for utility applications through the coordinated efforts and actions of its members, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, its National Renewable Energy Laboratory and utility research organizations. UVIG currently has over 175 members from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, including investor-owned, public power, and rural electric cooperative utilities; transmission system operators; and associate member corporate, government, and academic organizations. For more information, visit the UVIG web site at www.variablegen.org.

Contacts

Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group
Sandy Smith, 865-218-4600, ext. 6141
Conference and Communications Coordinator
sandy@uvig.org

Release Summary

The Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group announces the recipients of its 2015 Annual Achievement Awards.

Contacts

Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group
Sandy Smith, 865-218-4600, ext. 6141
Conference and Communications Coordinator
sandy@uvig.org