Four legacy SGIP Board members have joined the Smart Electric Power Alliance's Board of Directors as part of the merger agreement terms. The SEPA-SGIP merger, completed on April 3, continues SGIP's activities under the SEPA umbrella.

The four incoming board members are

• Bruce Edelston, Vice President of Energy Policy at Southern Company who helps the company develop and coordinate responses to policy issues and supports state and federal policy efforts.
• David Forfia, Director, Enterprise Architecture and IT Transformation at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) whose responsibilities include the architecture of the systems that operates the Texas electric grid operations and implementing programs that transform the delivery of IT services to ERCOT's stakeholders.
• Gary Rackliffe, Vice President of Smart Grids North America at ABB, leads ABB's smart grid and grid modernization initiatives in North America.
• Raiford Smith, Vice President of Energy Technology and Innovation and Analytics at Entergy Corporation, along with his team, pursue Entergy's new, enabling technologies such as Distributed Energy Resources, big data analytics, and the development of customer-facing products and services.

"Further integration of expertise from SGIP will ensure that SEPA is well-positioned on its mission to facilitate the transition to a clean energy economy," said Julia Hamm, SEPA President and CEO.

"I welcome the new board members to SEPA's Board of Directors and look forward to their contributions in technical and standards expertise. As the new Board Chair, it is an exciting time to be working together on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today," remarked Caroline Choi, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Southern California Edison.

"Given increasing integration of distributed energy resources and grid modernization, combining our efforts just makes sense," noted new SEPA Board member Raiford Smith, Vice President of Energy Technology and Analytics at Entergy Corporation. "The merger with SGIP and addition of legacy SGIP Board members ensures SEPA will become the leading source of information and collaboration for utilities and DER providers about the smart transition to clean energy."

Three of the four former SGIP Board Members were able to attend their first SEPA Board meeting in Tucson, AZ April 24, immediately prior to SEPA's Utility Conference. Aside from making the acquaintance of their new fellow Board members, they witnessed the confirmation of the newly-elected 2017 Executive Committee.

The officers for 2017-2018 include:

• Caroline Choi, Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Southern California Edison as Chair, previously Chair-Elect.
• Steve Malnight, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Policy, Pacific Gas & Electric Company as Past-Chair, previously Chair.
• Cris Eugster, Chief Operating Officer, CPS Energy as Chair-Elect, previously Treasurer.
• John Hewa, CEO, Pedernales Electric Cooperative as Treasurer, previously Secretary.
• Seth Frader-Thompson, President, EnergyHub, as Secretary-Seat.
• Joe Hoagland, VP, Stakeholder Relations, TVA once again as Policy Committee Chair.
• Karen Butterfield, Chief Commercial Officer, Stem once again as Nominating Committee Chair.

The SEPA Board of Directors is now composed of 24 members, representing a cross-section of energy industry representatives, including executives from utilities, solar firms and other distributed energy technology developers, as well as former policy makers. Each board member serves a three-year term.

The Smart Electric Power Alliance | www.sepapower.org