Panelist Bios for the SPN meeting of October 20, 2009

Ashley C. Brown

Ashley Brown is an attorney admitted to practice in Ohio, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia. He is the Executive Director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. It is a leading "think tank" on matters related to electricity restructuring, regulation, and market formation. He is an instructor in Harvard's Executive program on "Infrastructure in a Market Economy." He is Of Counsel to the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, 260 Franklin St., Boston, MA, 02110. Mr. Brown has also served as an arbitrator in matters relating to the evolution of competition in infrastructure industries.Before his current activities, Ashley Brown served as Commissioner of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, appointed twice by Governor Richard F. Celeste, first for a term from April 1983 to April 1988 and for a second term from April 1988 to April 1993. As Commissioner, he was of five members responsible for the regulation of the state's electricity, telecommunications, surface transport, water and sanitation, and natural gas sectors. Prior to his appointment to the Commission, Mr. Brown was Coordinator and Counsel of the Montgomery County, Ohio, Fair Housing Center. F rom 1979-1981 he was Managing Attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Dayton, Inc. From 1977 to 1979 he was Legal Advisor of the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission in Dayton. While practicing law, he specialized in litigation in federal and state courts, as well as before administrative bodies. In addition, Mr. Brown has extensive teaching experience in public schools and universities.

Katherine Hamilton

Katherine Hamilton joined the GridWise Alliance in October of 2008 as the first full time President and has watched membership in the Alliance grow from 70 to over 100 members. In addition to new Alliance members, Hamilton has brokered strategic alliances with seven key stakeholder groups and has scores more in negotiation. Prior to joining the GridWise Alliance, Hamilton was policy advisor for Good Energies, Inc., a private investment company with a current portfolio in clean energy technologies of more than $6 Billion. Previously, Hamilton co-directed of the American Bioenergy Association, where she worked with entrepreneurs, universities and utilities developing biomass technologies. As President of her company, The Hamilton Group, she worked with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council, Midwest Research Institute and other organizations to lobby Congress and statehouses, including Maryland, on various clean energy policies and funding. Prior to that, Hamilton worked for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to put into place several programs mandated in the Energy olicy Act of 1992, including federal energy audit and water conservation programs. Hamilton also served as NREL's Manager of Government Relations in the Washington, DC office, becoming an expert witness on renewable energy for the House Committee on Science and serving as an advisor to Vice President Cheney's Task Force in developing the national energy plan. Hamilton apprenticed as a distribution engineer for Virginia Power (now Dominion Energy) and was a senior analyst in commercial energy efficiency. S he has degrees from Cornell University and the University of Paris, Sorbonne.

David Gmach

David Gmach joined Con Edison in 2001. He manages Con Edison's local public affairs offices located in the five boroughs of New York City. Prior to joining Con Edison, David was the Executive Director of the 14th Street-Union Square Business Improvement District. During his career in City government, David held positions as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor and as Senior Vice President for Economic and Energy Analysis at the City's Economic Development Corporation. David holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA in Government from Oberlin College. A lifelong New Yorker, David lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn.