WORLD-GENERATION MAY/JUNE 2015 V.27 #2
25
PERSPECTIVE
Dear Friends,
I am writing to let you know that, effective January 1, I have
left Akin Gump and the practice of law in order to create a new
company in the electric power distribution business. The company,
US Grid Company (USGRDCO), is focused on strengthening the
reliability, resilience, cybersecurity, efficiency and renewable inte-
gration of the nation’s electric distribution system.
I will be creating this company with two cofounders – Ray
Gogel , former Chief Information Officer, Chief Administrative
Officer and President of Customer and Enterprise Solutions of Xcel
Energy, and David Mohler, who served as Chief Technology Officer
of Duke Energy, among other senior roles – as well as other senior
professionals in the system design, project management and
finance areas.
Our objective in forming USGRDCO is to transform today’s
power delivery system by paving the way to the utility of the future
in a way that customers can afford and that protects the utilities’
financial health so that they can serve the needs of all segments of
society.
In particular, USGRDCO will focus on:
1. Financing and ownership of distribution system improve-
ments through innovative ownership and financing structures that
will facilitate the making and regulatory approval of the investments
required to strengthen the distribution system.
2. Design and implementation of the system upgrades needed
to resolve the challenges to the nation’s electric distribution system
and to provide greater physical and cyber-security reliability, great-
er certainty of system performance, and cost and operating efficien-
cies that lead to lower costs.
3. Commercial development of reliability resources, including
micro-grids, energy storage for grid management and stability,
micro-turbines and energy efficiency and demand side manage-
ment.
4. Investment in excellent grid companies.
5. Regulatory, legislative, executive and public advocacy in sup-
port of policies to strengthen the nation’s electric distribution sys-
tem infrastructure and to help create the utility model of the future.
I can be reached at:
Jacob J. Worenklein, Class of 2000
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
US Grid Company (USGRDCO)
1177 Avenue of the Americas, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10036
917-969-9422
My best wishes to each of you. I look forward to staying in
touch.
Jay
BACK ON CAMPUS
Since joining the MISTRAS Group in March of 2009 as a Group
Executive Vice President we’ve experience explosive revenue and
earnings growth as a result of robust oil & gas energy market
spending, and in the later years from the power generation market.
The advent of inexpensive natural gas drove capital spending for
new combined cycle plants, the repowering of existing units to
switch to natural gas, and the upgrading of aging fossil fueled fleets
in addition to the NRC resumed license issuance renewals for
nuclear power are all contributing factors that continue to help
drive our maintenance products & services business.
Today our power generation business unit continues to thrive
due to our innovative one source capability that uniquely qualifies
MISTRAS as a global industry leader in the areas of nondestructive
inspection & engineering services as well as products and systems
to support these services. Our business model delivers tangible
benefits to our customers in the form of reducing contracting cost;
reducing production cost; increased safety; being a turnkey prod-
uct and service provider; providing technical expertise and experi-
ence; and adaptation to customer culture and process.
The addition of services such as PdM & Reliability Centered
Maintenance, Materials Testing, Engineering Services (including
FAC and HEP) and Capital Project Services all provide customer
value and is a key differentiator in the market for MISTRAS.
Ralph Genesi, Class of 2003
Group Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales
P: 609-716-4102
F: 609-716-4179
mail to:
Doesn’t any alum returning to his hallowed halls experience
reflection, inner thought, and self-evaluation? Revisiting the honor
of becoming a member of
World-Generation’s
Class of 2011 has
caused me similar introspection. This “Back on Campus” journey
has resulted in asking and answering questions based on the four
years that have passed since my induction. Questions I asked: were
my insights accurate, has my company served the industry and our
clients honorably, have technical and spiritual gains been offered
through my organization’s work, and most importantly, have we
given back for the incredible success we’ve been able to achieve?
Fortunately, most of the answers to these questions are positive, or
much progress has been made.
Four years ago, my predictions included that the industry
would experience delayed retirements caused by the downturn in
financial markets, a growing appetite for qualified workers, and
reduced new-staff budgets. In 2011 it appeared that the issues with
the most potential impact on the workplace included hiring
BACK ON CAMPUS
BACK ON CAMPUS
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