Access On-Demand Recording Below
The transition from fossil fuels to clean energy can sometimes seem abstract and distant. But at Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, there’s nothing abstract about the transition; it’s well underway. The utility, which provides electricity or natural gas to about 70% of Michiganders, is on track to closing all its coal plants by 2025, 15 years earlier than originally planned. At the same time, Consumers Energy’s Clean Energy Plan provides a blueprint for an aggressive buildout of renewables. Even as Consumers embraces renewables, the utility remains steadfast in its commitment to providing reliable energy to its customers, even as extreme weather becomes more common. Achieving these and other important goals, however, requires the use of Operational Technology (OT) tools to effectively manage a changing and increasingly complex grid.
In this on-demand event, Consumers Energy shares how its implementation of AspenTech’s Digital Grid Management enterprise OT platform and applications for Generation Management, Transmission Management, Advanced Distribution Management, Outage Management, and Gas Pipeline Management are helping overcome the very real challenges of a changing energy system while continuously improving the service it provides to millions of customers.
PANEL:
Sally Jacquemin, VP and GM, Power & Utilities, Aspen Technology, Inc.
Sally Jacquemin is an Energy industry professional with extensive experience in the electric utility control system space. She oversees strategic customer engagement, solution strategy, and global growth opportunities of AspenTech’s Operational Technology product portfolio from OSI, including SCADA, Distribution Management, Transmission Management, Generation Management and Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) applications. She establishes and executes corporate strategies for the company’s OSI business to ensure continued innovation and market leadership. Sally earned a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
Alex DeKamp, Operational Technology – Critical Applications Manager, Consumers Energy
Alexander DeKamp is an IT manager at Consumers Energy in the Operational Technology (OT) critical applications space with a comprehensive skill set that aligns with the needs of the energy sector. At Consumers Energy, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership, managing teams focused on gas & electric SCADA and smart energy, while emphasizing cybersecurity. He has over 10 years of experience implementing, upgrading, and supporting multiple SCADA solutions that meet the current and future needs of the business including Consumers Energy’s EMS, GMS, ADMS, and now FMS. He holds a SANS Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional certification and is a proud alumnus of Western Michigan University, where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration. His professional journey reflects a commitment to excellence, continuous learning, and adapting to the evolving needs of the energy industry.
Josh Hall, Executive Director of IT Electric at Consumers Energy
Josh has over 25 years of IT experience at Consumers Energy. He has held various roles as a developer, analyst, project manager, and development manager. Most recently he was the Executive Director in the IT Customer portfolio for six years and has been the Executive Director in the IT Electric portfolio for the past two years.
Moderator: Chris Warren
Chris Warren has written about utilities and clean energy for over a decade. He was formerly the editor-in-chief of the U.S. edition of Photon, a solar industry trade publication. Chris is also a frequent contributor to EPRI Journal, a publication of the Electric Power Research Institute. Before focusing on utilities and clean energy, Chris was an editor at Los Angeles magazine and a contributor to publications ranging from National Geographic Traveler to Institutional Investor, Forbes, and the Los Angeles Times.