Expert Speakers

Doug Houseman
Senior Consultant
Capgemini

Doug Houseman is the leader of Capgemini’s Smart Grid/Demand Management Center of Excellence; Doug has over 30 years working in the utility and consulting industries. Doug has published a number of articles on demand response and worked on 5 continents. Doug’s clients include E.On, EdF, Vattenfall, Florida Power and Light, Sempra, HydroOne and many others. Doug always takes positions on topics that force people to stop and think.

Mikael Togeby
Partner
Ea Energy Analyses A/S

- Civil engineer and Ph. D. from the Danish Technical University
- Partner and co-founder of Ea Energy Analyses A/S – a Danish research and consultancy company started in 2005.
- Has participated in, and managed, many projects about energy efficiency as well as demand response.
- Have participated in, and managed, evaluations of programmes and policies: E.g. handbooks about evaluation, DSM-planning and a number of concrete evaluations of energy audit schemes. Project manager in 2008 for an evaluation of all Danish energy efficiency activities.

Jen Carter
Consultant & UK National Expert for IEA DSM Task XIX

EA Technology Ltd

Jen Carter is the UK National Representative for IEA DSM Task XIX (Micro Demand Response and Energy Savings). Additionally, as part of the New Energy Technologies Team within EA Technology, Jen is involved with a number of projects considering a number of technologies including Demand Side Management, Community ESCO models, Electrical Energy Storage and microCHP. With a background in wholesale energy trading and European law, she takes a keen interest in the economics and policies of the electricity industry, especially in relation to renewable and emerging energy technologies.

Dr. Christian Nabe
Power Systems and Markets
Ecofys Germany GmbH

Dr. Christian Nabe is manager of the Power System and Markets department at Ecofys. He obtained a degree of Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technical University Berlin/ Germany. He also studied in the MBA programme at the University of British Columbia Canada and received a PhD in energy economics from Technical University Berlin.

Dr. Nabe was working for five years as research assistant in energy economics at the TU Berlin. Furthermore he has more than four years experience as a management consultant in the utility sector. His assignments include strategic projects for transmission and distribution network operators, focused on organisational and process management issues. Among his specialities are regulatory management and asset management. Furthermore, he was involved in various benchmarking projects in the utility sector, both on national and international level.
His specialties include the Interaction of Renewable Energy Systems with power markets (including regulation and balancing markets), support schemes for renewables, Demand Side Management and the regulation of electricity network operators.

Ruth Mourik
Researcher
ECN

Ruth Mourik is a senior researcher at the Energy research Center of the Netherlands, policy studies department, at the Energy Innovation and Society group. She has a Masters Degree in Anthropology and Sociology, a Cum Laude Masters Degree in Society and Technology Studies (STS) and a PhD in risk communication, controversy analyses and public participation. She has conducts research and publishes in the fields of energy innovation, environmental transition management, stakeholder participation, innovation management, energy user practices, technology development, risk perception, and societal acceptance of new energy (technologies).

Dr. Harald Schäffler
Managing Director, Research Group Energy and Communication Technologies
ENCT

Dr. Harald Schäffler (born in 1964) studied Mechanical Engineering at Stuttgart University and at the University of Arizona (USA) and did a doctorate on “Sustainable Energy Supply”. He completed advanced vocational training as a systemic organisation consultant and public relations consultant. After his PhD, he worked as freelance organisation and communications consultant, and also as a magazine editor. From 2004 up until 2008 he was researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and built up the smart metering business. In 2008 he founded the Research Group Energy and Communication Technologies EnCT GmbH in Freiburg as a split off of the Fraunhofer ISE. Dr Schäffler is managing director of EnCT.

Alastair Manson
Senior Consultant
Engage Consulting Limited

Alastair Manson is a Senior Consultant with Engage Consulting. For the past two years he has been a key member of the SRSM smart metering initiative for the Energy Retail Association in London . Prior to this he has worked for software house specialising in software for the energy industry and for Utility companies working on supply portfolio management, metering and business change.

Robert Middleton
Innovation Consultant
E.ON Engineering

Rob Middleton graduated with a degree in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham in 1995 and following graduation, undertook a variety of research and development projects in synthetic chemistry. He then worked on microfluidic technology at The University of Hull and subsequently joined a spin-out company established to exploit the technology developed at the university.

In 2004, Rob joined the UK Ministry of Defence as a technology broker and innovation consultant, facilitating the re-use of taxpayer-funded military technology for civilian applications and the insertion of cutting-edge civilian technologies into the defence sector.

As part of the Innovation Team within E.ON Engineering, he participates in strategy, trial and demonstration projects in diverse areas including Demand-Side Management.

Ulrik Stridbaek
Chief Economist and Regulatory Affairs
DONG Energy

Ulrik Stridbaek has worked as a Chief Economist, Regulatory Affairs, at DONG Energy since 1 August 2008. He worked as a Senior Policy Advisor, Electricity Markets, at the International Energy Agency for the previous four years. At the IEA focused on energy sector reform, market design, regulation, investment, demand response and trends in electricity sector technologies. Prior to the IEA he worked as an economist for 7 years at the Danish Transmission System Operator, Eltra focusing on the opening of the Danish electricity market. He holds an M.Sc. in economics from University of Aarhus and Universidad de Barcelona.

Hans Nilsson
DSM programme Director
IEA DSM

Willem Strabbing
Senior Consultant
KEMA

Willem Strabbing is manager of the unit Intelligent Networks and Communication of KEMA Consulting. Mr. Strabbing has more than 20 years experience in advanced computer applications in the area of process automation. He started at KEMA in 1989 as senior consultant for power system monitoring and control.

Standardisation of Data Exchange for the energy industry and the definition of company strategies towards communication standardisation now are the main topics of Mr. Strabbing’s work. He is involved in strategic discussions with utilities and IT manufacturers in Europe regarding these issues. Currently the standardisation and testing of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure is a focus point. Mr Strabbing initiated international activities to harmonise the various standards by bringing major European Industry partners together.

Willem Strabbing currently has a leading role in the KEMA projects regarding Smart Metering comprising feasibility studies, requirement specifications and Quality Assurance.

Martin Crouch
Director European Strategy and Environment
Ofgem

Martin Crouch is Director of European Strategy and Environment. He leads the team which provides Ofgem’s input into developing genuinely competitive and sustainable European gas and electricity markets and facilitating the transition to a low carbon energy sector.
He joined Ofgem as Director, Electricity Distribution in January 2003. He was responsible for the fourth electricity distribution price review which introduced new regulatory mechanisms, provided for significant increases in investment and increased emphasis on outputs and environmental incentives. He oversaw the introduction of annual cost reporting after the review and has directed reviews of charging, competition in connections and distributed energy.

Prior to joining Ofgem, Martin worked for an electricity company on commercial, financial and regulatory issues, including the sales of two British distribution and supply businesses and the renegotiation of financial arrangements for a power station joint venture. Before that, he was an economic consultant at National Economic Research Associates (NERA) working primarily on regulatory and industry restructuring projects in the energy sector.

Dr Maher Chebbo
VP Utilities EMEA SAP ; ETP SmartGrids Advisory Council - Chair "Demand and Metering" group ; EU parliament consultation on ICT for Energy Efficiency - group Chair

Dr Maher Chebbo, 43 years old, has 20 years of experience in Technology, IT, Communications and Power industries. He is currently Vice President of Utilities Industry for Europe Middle East and Africa (50 countries) at SAP AG, the worldwide leader of Enterprise Management Software Products. In his current role, Maher’s responsibility for the Power industry (Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Retailing and Renewable Energies like Wind, Solar and Biomass) covers 50 countries in EMEA from developed and fully liberalized markets to emerging countries.

Maher joined SAP 12 years ago where he co-founded its Corporate Venturing & Innovation unit (SAP INSPIRE) in 2003 focusing on strategic innovative and disruptive technologies in several Technologies and Industries focusing on Energy sector. Before joining SAP, Maher held at Cap Gemini during 6 years the responsibility of Senior Program Director for Power and Communication industries.

Maher is member of the Advisory Council of the European Commission ETP “SmartGrids” Chairing Demand and metering Group, observatory role member of the ETP Wind, co-Chair of the ICT Consultation group for Energy Efficiency of DG-INFSO, member of the Governing Board of REEEP (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership – NGO) and Board member of ARMINES (a company managing 50 R&D centers of Ecole des Mines de Paris). Maher co-founded an innovative German Renewable Solar Energy startup. He holds an Engineering and a PhD degrees in Energy from Ecole des Mines de Paris and a Masters degree in Management, entrepreneurship, innovation and investment.

Petri Trygg
Researcher, Institute of Power Engineering
Tampere University of Technology

Jessica Stromback
Senior Researcher
VaasaETT Global Energy Think Tank

Jessica Stromback is a Director at VaasaETT and VaasaETT’s Global Energy Think Tank. She specializes in Smart Metering, Demand Response and Customer Psychology. She has worked on projects for such companies as: Nuon, EDF, Capgemini, and the Aleksanteri Institute, and has contributed to publications such as North American Clean Energy and Metering International. She organizes and participates in international conferences in cooperation with Synergy, Energyforum and Spintelligent, as well as actively collecting and organizing Demand Response and Customer Psychology research data from around the world. She is currently collecting and correlating research findings and case studies for the Global Energy Think Tank's Demand Response Tracker.