Erich Gunther, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, EnerNex

Erich Gunther

What makes him powerful: With more than 25 years of experience in design and development of innovative solutions to a wide array of power system problems -- most notably ways to take advantage of communications networks and technology to improve the efficiency, operating practices and security of the electric power system -- Gunther is a renowned industry expert and speaker on these topics due to his ability to integrate several disciplines into a coherent system of systems-based vision and roadmaps for modernizing electric energy infrastructure.

Long before it was the thing to do, Gunther was focusing on creating a collaborative environment for the utility community to come together and develop their broad requirements for grid modernization in a disciplined, traceable and defensible way.  He created this collaborative environment in such a way that the vendor community did not feel threatened, but rather welcomed the input, which ultimately helped focus their product development cycles to support products with a range of features and capabilities that a larger utility customer base would purchase. After bringing these two groups together, Gunther closed the gap by advocating regulatory input and awareness.

To launch this approach, Gunther first founded OpenAMI with the encouragement of the California Energy Commission, then UtilityAMI, and OpenHAN, and wrapping them all together under the OpenSG sub-community of an organization called UCAlug, for which he now serves as chairman of the board. In these endeavors, Gunther applied and refined the IntelliGrid Energy Requirements Development Methodology he developed with EPRI and GE in the early 2000s, and which has now become the dominant accepted methodology used in many public and private endeavors, including the NIST SGIP.

Gunther continues his support of the smart grid through his work with the IEEE Smart Grid Task Force, IEEE Power & Energy Society's (PES) Intelligent Grid Coordinating Committee, and IEEE PES Governing Board Member.