The Distributed Energy Conference is the only event that brings together utility-scale electricity providers with other power generators, including commercial and industrial facilities, cooperatives, and private enterprise. It focuses on real-life applications and the business and financial aspects of distributed generation, including renewables, energy storage, microgrids, and combined heat and power…Learn more
John Bonnin
Vice President, Energy Supply & Market Operations
CPS Energy
Roy Palk, Esq.
President
New Horizons Consulting
Mr. Roy M. Palk serves as President of New Horizons Consulting where Mr. Palk represents and advises energy related clients on a wide range of utility operational topics. He is a 40-year veteran of the energy industry. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC); Assistant General Manager of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Director Member Services for Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation in Lafayette, Tennessee, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation in Carthage, Tennessee. He served as Vice Chairman of the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. Mr. Palk has been Member of Advisory Board at N-Dimension Solutions Inc. since February 2, 2016.
Dan Juhl
Chief Executive Officer
Juhl Energy
Session: Utility Operational Issues in a Distributed Generation Environment
Daniel J. Juhl became our Chairman of the Board and Principal Executive Officer on June 24, 2008, and had served as the founder and President of our predecessor companies since January 1989. Mr. Juhl has been involved in the wind power industry for more than 30 years. He has extensive experience in the design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of wind turbines. Mr. Juhl has been involved in the development of about 1,500 megawatts of wind generation in his 30+ years of experience in the field. He has been the principal consultant for wind energy projects to Edison Capital, John Deere Capital, Vestas, EWT, Suzlon Turbine Manufacturing, and various public and private utilities throughout the United States and Canada. He has appeared before numerous state and federal governmental bodies advocating wind power and community-based energy development on behalf of landowners, farmers and ranchers. Mr. Juhl wrote the popular wind energy reference guidebook, “Harvesting Wind Energy as a Cash Crop.”
Brian Curtis
President & Chief Executive Officer
Concentric Power
Session: Case Studies: Insight for Development of Successful Distributed Generation Projects
CEO and founder Brian Curtis has over 20 years of engineering, finance and strategic management experience in energy and high-growth technology industries. Brian founded Concentric Power in 2011 to create sustainable infrastructure and energy independence for companies in critical industries, including food and pharmaceuticals.
Raised in Salinas, Calif., Brian has a deep understanding of how agricultural innovations have evolved and must continue with sustainable, energy-efficient solutions. At Concentric Power, Brian leads company strategy, technology and product roadmaps, and project development.
Brian has spent his career in and out of power plants and processing facilities for the energy and food industries. Previously, Brian spent five years in China where he built an ammonia processing plant and acted as plant general manager to launch the business and product line. He was also a venture partner and entrepreneur-in-residence with two local Chinese venture capital firms where he oversaw their clean energy investment strategies, contributing to $1.35 billion raised. When returning to the U.S., Brian joined the U.S. Department of Energy where he worked within the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Group, along with several clean energy startups. Brian started his career as a power plant design engineer at the power plant on campus at the University of California, Los Angeles and further honed his mechanical systems design skills as a refinery engineer for Chevron. Concentric Power is Brian’s second start-up; the first was a software technology company that was acquired.
Brian currently serves on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, where he was the lead organizer as an MBA student. The “MIT $100K” is a year long competition and the largest student-led organization at MIT.
Brian holds a B.S. in mechanic engineering from UCLA, with an emphasis in electro-mechanical systems design and control, and an MBA from MIT. Brian lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two kids.
