| ATLANTA, GA.—April 23, 2009—Thanks to President Obama’s inaugural address and the federal stimulus plan, much of America knows that power companies, engineers and government experts are focused on building something called the smart grid—but not everyone understands what the smart grid is. One of the world’s leading smart grid experts is looking to change that. Throughout the year, John McDonald, general manager of marketing for GE Energy’s transmission & distribution business, will be sharing his insight through the “Smarter Ways to a Smarter Grid” information series. The program of seminars, lectures, college courses and electrical-industry educational events will take place throughout the United States. The schedule kicks off with a panel on smart grid standards at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power & Energy Society Executive Committee meeting April 23, 2009, in Arlington, Va. “The thought of a smarter, more-efficient and better-managed way to deliver power is both intriguing and mysterious to the uninitiated,” McDonald said. “But with the technologies currently being implemented or in development, we have the resources to change the way we think about electricity at every level. From the utilities that produce and deliver energy to the consumers who use it, we are beginning to build a grid that gives us more ways to get more benefit from every kilowatt of energy produced.” As past president of the IEEE Power & Energy Society, a director of IEEE, a director of the GridWise Alliance, a NEMA Smart Grid Task Force member and a member of the Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Electricity Advisory Committee, McDonald is recognized throughout the world as a leading smart grid expert. McDonald’s engagements will outline the technology available and needed for smart grid implementation, new industry standards being developed and adopted and implications for cyber security around the information-rich power grid. Utilities and engineers will learn how to reduce distribution power losses, manage peak loads more effectively and improve the reliability of their delivery systems. Consumers will see how smart grid advances will empower them to better manage and control the cost of their electricity use. McDonald also will share new ways to effectively integrate more renewable power sources, such as wind and solar energy into the power grid, seamlessly and efficiently. Each of McDonald’s presentations will be tailored to specific smart grid audiences, such as engineers and designers, utility decision makers, consumers and regulators. Currently confirmed engagements in the “Smarter Way to a Smarter Grid” series include:
About John McDonaldJohn D. McDonald, P.E., is general manager, marketing for GE Energy T&D. In his 35 years of experience in the electric utility industry, John has developed power application software for both Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)/Energy Management System (EMS) and SCADA/Distribution Management System (DMS) applications, developed distribution automation and load management systems, managed SCADA/EMS and SCADA/DMS projects and assisted Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) suppliers in the automation of their IEDs. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (power engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a member of Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering honorary) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering honorary), is a Fellow of IEEE and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, the IEEE PES Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award in 2002 and the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award in 2003. In his 22 years of working group and subcommittee leadership with the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Substations Committee, John led seven working groups and task forces that published standards/tutorials in the areas of distribution SCADA, master/remote terminal unit (RTU) and RTU/IED communications. John is past president of the IEEE PES, is a member of IEC Technical Committee (TC) 57 working groups 3 and 10, is the vice president for technical activities for the U.S. National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE and is the past chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee. John is the IEEE Division VII director in 2008-2009. John is a member of the advisory committee for the annual DistribuTECH Conference, is a member of DOE’s Smart Grid Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), is a member of NEMA’s Smart Grid Task Force and is on the board of directors of the GridWise Alliance. John teaches a SCADA/EMS course at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a SCADA/Substation and Feeder Automation course at Iowa State University, and substation automation, distribution SCADA and communications courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES distinguished lecturer. John has published 31 papers in the areas of SCADA, SCADA/EMS, SCADA/DMS and communications, and is a registered professional engineer (electrical) in California, Pennsylvania and Georgia. John is co-author of the book Automating a Distribution Cooperative, from A to Z, published by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Cooperative Research Network (CRN) in 1999. John was editor of the substations chapter and a co-author, for the book The Electric Power Engineering Handbook, co-sponsored by the IEEE PES and published by the CRC Press in 2000. John is editor-inchief, and substation integration and automation chapter author, for the book Electric Power Substations Engineering, second edition, published by Taylor & Francis/CRC Press in 2007. About GE EnergyGE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2008 revenue of US$29.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels. Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE’s corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. About GEGE is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company that is built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water, transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com. GE is Imagination at Work. For more information, contact:
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