Distributech 2013 Keynote Session

Tuesday, January 29, 2013
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
San Diego Convention Center


Michael R. Niggli, President and Chief Operating Officer, San Diego Gas & Electric

Michael R. Niggli is president and chief operating officer of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. Sempra Energy is a San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy services holding company whose subsidiaries provide electricity, natural gas and value-added products and services.

SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 840,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties.

From 2006 to 2010, Niggli was chief operating officer of both SDG&E and Southern California Gas Co., another of Sempra Energy’s regulated California utilities. Previously, from 2000 to 2006, Niggli was president of Sempra Generation where he was responsible for the operation and maintenance of merchant power plants and energy infrastructure throughout North America.

Prior to joining Sempra Energy in 2000, Niggli was chairman and CEO of Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources. He contributed to a successful merger of the two companies that doubled their size and strength. He also guided the company through the deregulation process in Nevada and achieved the highest customer satisfaction rating of any electric utility in the western United States, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

From 1988 to 1997, Niggli served as a senior executive with Entergy Corp. where he had significant corporate responsibilities for strategic planning, customer service, fuels acquisition, marketing and sales. He began his career in 1971 at SDG&E, where his management responsibilities included electric and gas operations, fuels acquisition, project management and customer service.

Niggli holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from California State University, Long Beach and San Diego State University.

He founded the graduate program in power engineering at San Diego State University and lectured there for five years. He also has participated in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Niggli has served on numerous boards, including the Edison Electric Institute, Electric Power Research Institute, National Coal Council, Electric Power Supply Association and United Way of Southern Nevada. He is chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Engineering, California State University, Long Beach and serves on the board of the Great Basin National Park Foundation. Niggli is the vice chair of the board of directors for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and sits on the advisory councils of UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering and the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center. He also has been closely involved in business and education partnerships in San Diego, New Orleans and Las Vegas.

 


Stephen Berberich, President and Chief Executive Officer, California Independent System Operator Corp.

Steve Berberich is president and CEO of the California Independent System Operator Corp. After joining the company in 2005, Berberich has served in a series of critical positions.

Prior to his appointment as president and CEO, Berberich was vice president and chief operating officer and responsible for the reliable operation of the transmission system and wholesale electric markets that deliver electricity to 30 million Californians. He also has served as vice president of technology and corporate services and chief financial officer.

Berberich brings more than 20 years of technology and financial experience to the company and has extensive experience in consulting, financial services and utilities. He has held positions with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and management positions with Dallas-based TXU, including vice president of information technology, where he was heavily involved with implementing the deregulated electricity market in Texas.

Berberich has a Bachelor of Science in finance and a Master of Business
Administration from the University of Tulsa.

 


Patricia Hoffman, Assistant Secretary, Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability

Patricia Hoffman is assistant secretary of the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, which leads the Department of Energy’s efforts to modernize the U.S. electric grid through national policy on grid reliability, research, development and demonstration activities.

Hoffman is responsible for developing and implementing a long-term research strategy for modernizing and improving the resiliency of the electric grid. She directs research on visualization and controls, energy storage and power electronics, high-temperature superconductivity and renewable and distributed systems integration. She also oversees the business management of the office including human resources, budget development, financial execution and performance management.

Hoffman also has worked as the program director for the Federal Energy Management Program, which implements efficiency measures in the federal sector, and as program manager for the Distributed Energy Program that developed advanced natural gas power generation and combined heat and power systems. She also managed the Advanced Turbine System program that resulted in a high-efficiency industrial gas turbine product.

Hoffman has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ceramic science and engineering from Penn State University.

 


Bob Woodward, Journalist and Author

Since 1971 Bob Woodward has worked for The Washington Post, where he is an associate editor. He and Carl Bernstein were the main reporters on the Watergate scandal for which the Post won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Woodward was the lead reporter for the Post's articles on the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that won the National Affairs Pulitzer Prize in 2002.

In 2004, Bob Schieffer of CBS News said, "Woodward has established himself as the best reporter of our time. He may be the best reporter of all time." In the past 36 years, Woodward has authored or co-authored 16 books, all of which have been national nonfiction bestsellers. Twelve have been No. 1 national best-sellers—more than any contemporary nonfiction author. His latest, "Obama's Wars," was published Sept. 27, 2010. Woodward was born March 26, 1943, in Illinois. He graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served five years as a U.S. Navy communications officer before beginning his journalism career at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Sentinel, where he was a reporter for one year.