Author: USNC CIGRE

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2020 CIGRE & USNC Awards

We want to congratulate the following award recipients for their noteworthy contributions. The following awards were announced at the 2020 CIGRE e-Session:

CIGRE Fellow Award | Pouyan Pourbeik
The “CIGRE Fellow” award is attributed for active participation in the activities of the technical work of the study committees and for providing a lead technical role in the study committees (maximum five awards every two years).

CIGRE Distinguished Member Award | Nenad Uzelac, Damir Novosel, Nicholas Miller, Michael Lamb, Neil Kirby
In 1996, a “Distinguished Member” status was introduced in CIGRE. This award is a tribute to seniority (over 10 years of membership) and to active participation in the work and development of the Association — within Study Committees and/or National Committees.

NGN Significant Contribution Award | Amanda Olson
This award is intended to recognize outstanding contributions of NGN members to CIGRE activities.

CIGRE Technical Council Award | Renuka Chatterjee (C2 – Power system operation and control)
The Technical Committee Award was initiated in CIGRE in 1993. It is generally given annually to recognize the outstanding contributions of a number of CIGRE Study Committee members to the work of their respective Study Committees.

The Philip Sporn Award | Dr. Dale Douglass
For career contributions advancing electric power systems in theory, design and/or operation for the benefit of society in the United States, and for aspiring to Philip Sporn’s ‘Locus of Discontent’ approach; i.e. always challenging the status quo to advance technology for the betterment of society.

Attwood Associate Award | Paul Myrda, John Randolph, Galen Rasche, David W. Roop, Chris Root, Dr. Jason Taylor
This award is made to honor the contributions and memory of Frederic Attwood of the U.S.A. who, with J. Tribot Laspiere of France foresaw the need for an international organization in the field of power engineering and who became the first Chairman of the U.S. National Committee upon the founding of CIGRE in the year 1921.

Collective Member Award | Dominion Energy
For outstanding leadership and continuing managerial, technical, and financial support of the activities of the U.S. National Committee and CIGRE over an extended period of time.

Click here to download the 2020 Awards Booklet featuring the reward recipients and their bios.

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Grid of the Future Postponed Until 2021: Announcement from David Roop

Colleagues – I hope this unusual year finds you and your loved ones in good health. The impact of COVID-19 continues to ripple through the nation and unfortunately has impacted our ability to hold the 2020 Grid of the FutureTM event. The folks at National Grid have a tremendous program developed and if not for this pandemic, it would have been a great venue for us to get back to some state of normalcy. The hotel in Providence has informed us that due to COVID distancing restrictions with this venue in 2020 that they could only handle less than 70 for this event – therefore we made the decision to postpone it for 2021.

National Grid has graciously agreed to host this event using the agenda already prepared, with possibly some minor changes, in 2021. The new dates will be October 17 – 20, 2021 in the same hotel venue. Please mark your calendars!

In an effort to not lose momentum and to provide value to each of our members, we will be taking the following steps over the coming months. They are:

* The NGN network has 10 excellent papers that were selected to be submitted and were to be whittled to the 5 best papers at this year’s GOTF. They will now move this competition to a virtual format where the 5 five best papers will be selected to be presented and judged virtually so that the best paper can be selected and the author awarded a trip to Paris in 2022.

* Some of the tutorials planned for the GOTF along with some others are being repackaged as virtual sessions for our members for the fall of 2020. Please take advantage of these tutorials and encourage your colleagues to take advantage of these as they are offered.

* To encourage existing members to attract new members, existing individual members will receive a 50% reduction on their 2021 year renewal rate for any new member that they get to join CIGRE between now and October 1, 2020. The new member would receive a 15-month membership starting October 1st and continuing through 2021.

Your continued membership is important if we are to remain a viable industry organization and I ask for your help in growing our numbers while maintaining your membership.

Finally, the movement of the GOTF also will impact our scheduled Annual Meeting. We will be sending out a meeting invitation and notification to hold this meeting virtually in October. A date for this meeting will be announced in the near future. This year’s annual meeting will allow us to discuss and approve the revised bylaws reflecting the new direction of CIGRE across the total energy spectrum, elect new officers plus any Executive Committee changes plus update you on your organization.

I hope you understand why we felt we had to make these changes and ask for your continued support and the engagement of your colleagues to grow this organization.

Warmest regards and best wishes for good health,

Dave

David W. Roop
President

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2020 e-Session and 2021 Paris Centennial Session Announcement

As each of you know the 2020 Paris Session has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues affecting the world.  In lieu of the 2020 Paris Session, CIGRE’s Administrative Council will hold an e-Session in 2020 and the Paris Centennial Session will be held in Paris in the last half of August, 2021.  This will be a tremendous time for the Paris Session since 2021 will the 100th Anniversary of the founding of CIGRE in 1921 – so we can expect a tremendous Centennial Session! The exact dates for the 2021 session in Paris will be finalized over the coming days and we will forward these dates to you as soon as it is available.  To provide flexibility to our members and to ensure that we provide maximum value to you during these uncertain times, we have the following options available to you if you have already registered for the 2020 Paris Session or would like to register for the 2020 e-Session and the 2021 Paris Centennial Session at a significantly reduced rate in 2020.

 

The following options are available for you to consider.

 

Registration Options 2020 e-Session and 2021 Centennial Paris Session:

1. The payment of registration fees until December 31st 2020, will allow for delegates : BEST OPTION IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND 2021 PARIS CENTENNIAL SESSION AND 2020 e-Session
a. to attend the virtual session in 2020 if paid before the e-session;
b. to have access to the Session papers;
c. to access all the audio and video records of the virtual session;
d. to attend the Centennial Session in 2021; at the early bird rates proposed for the initial 2020 Session ($1300 for members, $1550 for non-members, and $225 for companions).

 

2. Those who have already paid their registration for 2020 and wish to obtain a refund will receive a refund without penalty. (Notify Sharon Loe at s-loe@tamu.edu)

 

3. Those who want only to attend the e-session in 2020, which also includes the access to the papers and to the audio and video records of the virtual session, will have to pay a fixed fee, not refundable and not recoverable on 2021 registration. This fee is 100 € for members and 200 € for non-members. This fee will be collected directly by the Central Office, not by National Committees. (Details will be available on the Paris CIGRE website in the coming weeks and we will provide a link on the CIGRE USNC website for members that elect to take this option).

 

4. Registration fees for the Centennial Session paid in 2021 will be higher than the current Session fees, and the Administrative Council will decide their values in August 2020 within the 2021 budget. It will be possible to register at an early bird rate from January 1st to May 15th, and at a standard rate from May 16th to August 8th 2021.

 

5. As usual, in 2021 all cancelled registration fees are refundable after the 2021 Paris Centennial Session with a 240 € deduction, except in special cases (health or visa issues).

 

We know there are many changes affecting each of us with the on-going pandemic. We hope that these options provide you flexibility in your planning and allow you to maintain your engagement with this industry through CIGRE. If you have already paid for the 2020 Paris Session, it is hoped that you will consider Option 1 above to assist Paris with their cash flow during this period since they will not have the 2020 Paris Session attendance to support their operations.
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CIGRE Annual Meeting DATE CHANGE

With the continuing worldwide effort to deal with the on-going pandemic, the IEEE has decided today to hold a virtual PES Power General Meeting (https://www.ieee-pes.org/2020-pes-general-meeting-going-virtual) in lieu of a meeting in Montreal, Canada in August. As you know, we typically hold our Annual Members meeting in conjunction with this conference. Given today’s announcement, we have decided to hold the CIGRE USNC annual meeting in conjunction with this year’s Grid of the Future™ conference in Providence, Rhode Island on Tuesday, November 3rd. I encourage you to mark your calendars to attend this conference and this meeting.

It is our hope that things will be somewhat settled by this date but should they not then we will readjust as needed to ensure the safety of our members.

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CIGRE 2020 Grid of the Future – DATE CHANGE!

Grid of the Future™ date has changed to November 1 – 4, 2020, in Providence, Rhode Island hosted by National Grid.

The Executive Committee after much deliberation has decided to delay this year’s Grid of the Future™ from October 18 – 21, 2020 to November 1 – 4, 2020. The location will remain the same and our host utility, National Grid, has a tremendous program planned for this year’s session.

This change is meant to prevent a conflict with the recent delay of the IEEE T&D conference dates and to provide more time to allow for our membership to hopefully return to normal operations.

We apologize for any issues this may create for you and hope you can join us for this year’s conference.

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Congratulations to our 2019 Award Recipients

We’re excited to name our 2019 Awardees!

 

Attwood Associate Award: Michael Beehler, Neil M. Kirby, Amanda Olson, Stewart M. Ramsay, Harley W. Wilson

 

 

Philip Sporn Award: Mladen Kezunovic, Willis S. White

 

 

Outstanding Collective Member Award: Electric Power Research Institute, Texas A&M University College of Engineering, PJM Interconnection, LLC

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2019 Membership Dues

Beginning November 1, 2018 the United States National Committee will begin collecting membership dues for 2019. October 31, 2018 is the last day to pay 2018 membership dues.