Guido Bartels, General Manager, Global Energy & Utilities Industry, IBM; Chairman, Global Smart Grid Federation

Guido Bartels

What makes him powerful:  With IBM as the first major information and communication technology (ICT) firm to move into smart grid -- long before the term existed -- Bartels has helped shape a market which is critical to governments, businesses and consumers.

Early in 2004, Bartels forged an exclusive smart metering partnership with Enel that even today is still one of the largest metering deployments globally.

In 2007, Bartels led the smart grid collaboration (Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition) between 13 utilities serving almost 160 million consumers around the world. Today, IBM is involved in more than 150 smart grid projects worldwide.

In addition to his work at IBM, Bartels served as the Chairman of the GridWise Alliance, an organization IBM helped found in 2003. During his time in this role (2007 to 2011), the alliance grew its membership eightfold and became the leading smart grid policy group in the United States. The efforts of the GridWise Alliance were rewarded when the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, marking the first time an energy bill contained a separate section on smart grid. Bartels is currently serving his second term as a policy influencer on the U.S. Department of Energy's Electricity Committee (EAC), along with 30 of the nation's most influential policy leaders.

In 2010, Bartels broadened his impact on the smart grid when he served as Chairman of the Global Smart Grid Federation (GSGF), accelerating the advancement of smart grids on a global scale. Since then, GSGF has grown to represent organizations in more than 20 countries and is a recognized partner of international governmental organizations, like the International Smart grid Action Network (ISGAN).

As a key player in the industry, Bartels is called upon frequently for his insight. He has provided input for several industry publications, including Perry Sioshansi's "Smart Grid: Integrating Renewable, Distributed & Efficient Energy"; "The Advanced Smart Grid: Edge Power Driving Sustainability" by Andres Carvallo and John Cooper; and Jeremy Rifkin's "Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World."