Chris Irwin

Program Manager for Transactive Energy, Communications and Interoperability in Smart Grid
U.S. Department of Energy

At the Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Chris has had the opportunity to manage and oversee just over $1.5B in grid modernization projects. He seen some of the top utilities in the country, from very large to very small, tackle technology, integration and business challenges necessary to bring about the Smart Grid.

Chris leads DOE's Smart Grid standards and interoperability efforts, working alongside NIST, FERC and other federal agencies in the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel and other forums. He founded DOE's participation in the Federal Government's Green Button Data Access Initiative to empower customers with improved access to their own energy data, and he also stays involved in State and Federal regulatory developments, and policy aspects of consumer level issues.

Prior to joining the DOE, Chris served as Director of Products at Eka Systems, also participating in Marketing and Business Development. In that role, he gained a full market perspective on the electric energy sector, as well as natural gas and water infrastructure. This experience, combined with my semiconductor and satellite communications background, gives him a unique and valuable perspective on the US energy business under transformation.