As the industry has gone through major transformation in recent years, the importance of power engineering in the eyes of industry leadership has declined. Executives have increasingly focused on the legal and financial aspects of the business, while electricity is increasingly treated as a “commodity.” Why? In many instances we no longer have sponsors in executive management who know the value engineers bring to the health and longevity of our power-delivery systems.

We need to support and acknowledge our leaders who understand that the safe and efficient generation and delivery of electricity requires a great engineering staff. If our work is done incorrectly, lives can be lost and economies can be severely disrupted. Engineers are still engaged, but they can do only so much unless they have the support and encouragement of executive management. This is why the IEEE Power & Energy Society created the “Leadership in Power” award.

This award was created: “To recognize leaders in the electric power industry for exceptional contributions to the promotion of the engineering profession. The award is intended to highlight actions which encourage the development and growth of electric power engineering practitioners and recognize the contributions electric power engineers make to society.”

The recipient need not be an IEEE member but must be active in the industry anywhere on the globe.

The awards committee is very proud to announce prior recipients: Robin Hurst, senior vice president - Power Delivery (retired) at Alabama Power Co.; Jim Kelly, senior vice president - Transmission and Distribution Business Unit at Southern California Edison; and Jim Greer, senior vice president - Asset Management and Engineering at Oncor.

Do you know an industry leader who appreciates what power engineers do? Then take a step with us to acknowledge the individuals who are leading us to a technically driven future. Nominate your executive today. Please contact John Estey, awards chairman, at JEstey@sandc.com.

For a full description of the award and links to the nomination form, visit www.ieee-pes.org/leadership-in-power-award.