ABB CEO Enrique Santacana Named to U.S. Department of Energy's Smart Grid Advisory Committee
Santacana to advise Electricity Advisory Committee on power grid modernization, efficiency issues
Norwalk, CT, April 21, 2008 - ABB, the leading power and automation technology company, announced today that Enrique Santacana, president and CEO of ABB in North America, has been named to the U.S. Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC).
The newly-established EAC will provide advice to the Department of Energy on emerging smart grid technologies and applications across U.S. power delivery infrastructure, and provide counsel on related issues such as grid stability, storage, security, efficiency and renewable energy integration. This committee will help the Department to meet requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
The 30-member committee - representing some of the top public and private sector leaders in the nation related to electricity and energy policy - will also report its findings and recommendations to Congress regarding the status of smart grid applications nationwide, along with any regulatory, governmental or technological barriers. The committee will outline the current status and progress of smart grid development, including information on technology advancements, communications networks capabilities, costs and obstacles.
"We are grateful that Mr. Santacana has agreed to serve as a member of the Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Committee," said David Meyer, senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Energy. "The EAC will be addressing some very important issues related to the future of the national power grid infrastructure. We look forward to tapping into Mr. Santacana's expertise in the power industry, and ABB's vast experience related to energy efficiency, grid reliability and smart grid initiatives."
The formation of the committee comes as both the public and private sectors are pushing for a modernization of electric power transmission and distribution systems nationwide, a process that can meet future demand growth and maintain a reliable and secure electricity infrastructure for years to come.
Emergence of the Smart Grid
Many utilities today are dealing with an aging power infrastructure, which could be vulnerable to blackouts, terrorist attacks, breakdowns and general unreliability - all in the face of rapidly increasing power demands and calls for greater efficiency and sustainability. Today's smart grid initiatives are laying the groundwork for significant, comprehensive improvements that will give the power grid greater benefits - including self-healing capabilities, predictive abilities to identify potential outages before they occur, real-time data, and consistent reliability, efficiency and economic performance.
"I am honored to serve on such a prestigious committee with so many luminaries from government, academia, non-profits and the energy sector. These individuals are all coming together for the common goal of strengthening the nation's power grids with greater intelligence, while improving efficiency, reliability and security at the same time," said Santacana. "It's an enormous undertaking, but with so many initiatives already underway, the smart grid of the future is well on its way to becoming the smart grid of today."
About Enrique Santacana
Santacana is president and Chief Executive Officer of ABB Inc., and Region Manager of ABB North America. He first joined ABB in 1977 and has held a variety of management positions within ABB. Most recently, Enrique has been Region Division Manager for Power Products in North America, and a member of the North American Executive Committee. He has also served as the Vice President and General Manager of Medium Voltage Products for ABB's Power Technologies Division in North America.
Enrique sits on the Board of Governors of the National Electrical Manufacturers' Association (NEMA), and is a member of the Business Roundtable, where he is on the Energy Task Force and leads their efforts on issues related to transmission efficiency.
About ABB
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs more than 110,000 people. The company's North American operations, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, employ about 12,000 people in 20 manufacturing and other major facilities.
For more information, please contact:
Bill Rose
ABB Media Relations
919.807.5743 - office
919.244.4879 - mobile
www.abb.us
