Hall of Fame | PUF Top Innovators

Hall of Fame

Celebrating the visionary utility teams and individuals who drove the energy industry forward.

2025 Top Innovators

Alphabetical by utility/company.

23 Award Winners

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator in Environment & Safety

Ameren

Team: Brian Martin, Dan Wilkens, Brett Carney, Pam Holley, and Brandon Teel

Edith Clarke Top Innovator in Reliability of Service

Arizona Public Service

Team: Izzy Lawrence, Sarah Noll, Iain Shovelin, Kerri Carnes, Jay Delaney, Blanca Moreno, Val Wynia, and Bruce Brazis

Florence Fogler Top Innovator in Transmission

BGE / Exelon

Team: Robert May, David Outen, and Danilo Policastro

Florence Fogler Top Innovator in Transmission

Centerpoint Energy

Team: Eric Easton, Hong Ablack, Dan Greenwood, Jhonny DiGirolamo, and Adrian Moreno

William Hammer Top Innovator in Electrification

ComEd | Exelon

Team: Cristina Botero, Denise Munoz, Violeta Ryman, Daryl Richardson, Tom Skawski, Jordan Losiak, and Kyriakos Anastasopoulos

William Hammer Top Innovator in Electrification

Con Edison

Team: Britt Reichborn-Kjennerud, Amelia Berman, Jospeh Yanowitz, Kathryn Choi, Kerron Celestine, Chris Russo, Kevon Brown, Andre Douglas, Keegan Edward, and Yen Le

John Beggs Top Innovator in Energy Transition

Duke Energy

Team: Lon Huber

Charles Steinmetz Top Innovator in Grid Operations

Duquesne Light

Team: Josh Gould, Jessica Valentine, and Richard Saporito

Maria Telkes Top Innovator in Distributed Energy

Eversource

Team: Jaryn Vaile, Bin Huang, Koustubh Banerjee, Melanie Bennett, Meiyan Li, and Junhui Zhao

Charles Steinmetz Top Innovator in Grid Operations

ITC Holdings

Team: Ethan Ehrisman, Dan Hutchison, and Adam Cianfarani

Mabel MacFerran Top Innovator in Energy Storage

LUMA Energy

Team: Juan Carlos Patiño Peralta, David Cruz Gonzalez, and Noel Pagán

Nikola Tesla Top Innovator in Artificial Intelligence

National Grid

Team: Paul Wassink and David Roman Ubeda

Maria Telkes Top Innovator in Distributed Energy

Ontario IESO

Team: Mary Bernard

Nikola Tesla Top Innovator in Artificial Intelligence

Portland General Electric

Team: Hema Sundaram, Veda Dharmala, Doug Lazar, Thana Anderson, and Manoj Kumar

Lewis Latimer Top Innovator in Process Design

Rayburn Electric Cooperative

Team: David A. Naylor

George Westinghouse Top Innovator in Leadership

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Team: Paul Lau

Edith Clarke Top Innovator in Reliability of Service

Salt River Project

Team: Jon Cook

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator in Environment & Safety

San Diego Gas & Electric

Team: Brian D’Agostino, Sandeep Aujla, Jonathan Woldemariam, and Thom Porter

Francis Upton Top Innovator in Analytics

Seattle City Light

Team: Anabel Roza, Whit Boutin, and Ruben Diaz

Francis Upton Top Innovator in Analytics

Southern California Edison

Team: Jerome Marr, Lesia Bilitchenko, John Lee, Chandra Gosai, Lawrence Yonathan, Alexey Tronkin, and Nirod Sahoo

Lewis Latimer Top Innovator in Process Design

Southern California Edison

Team: Eric Nunnally

Mabel MacFerran Top Innovator in Energy Storage

Southern Company | Alabama Power

Team: Josh Barron, Scott Machovec, John Poole, Scotty Westbrook; Rob Szmyd, and Christopher Curow

Bertha Lamme Top Innovator in Power Generation

Southern Company | Georgia Power

Team: Joshua Brooks, Charles Coffin, Jeremy Hindman, Bill Hodan, Latonya Johnson, Ryan McKenzie, Matthew Sharman and Drew Uptain; Yvonne Avila, Josh Barill, Jon Glende, Ian Mylenbusch, and Emily Chatham

2024 Top Innovators

Alphabetical by utility/company.

23 Award Winners

Francis Upton Top Innovator

AES

Power Delivery Predictive Model

Team: Norv Clontz, Jeff Mast, Scott White, Rob Whitworth

George Westinghouse Top Innovator

Ameren

Project REACH

Team: Shelby McNeil, Nya Grimes, Constance Taylor, Gwen Mizell, Bryan Daniels, Evan Fowler, Eric Herr, Ben Lynch

William Hammer Top Innovator

Ameren

Project SiLVERS

Team: Marco Tipton, Gwen Mizell

Alan Turing Top Innovator

Ameren

Automated Testing Mechanisms to Safeguard IT and OT

Team: Grant Codak, Joe Halpin, Scott Link, Andrew Shehata, Jeremy Weber

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator

Con Edison

Underground Automated Cable Splicing

Team: Bill Fairechio, Patrick McHugh

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator

Con Edison

Underground Automated Cable Splicing

Team: Bill Fairechio, Patrick McHugh

Edison Pioneers Collaborative Innovation

Entergy with Enchanted Rock

‘Power Through’ - Resiliency-as-a-Service Offering

Team: Jim Barbour, Chris Gilliland, Hannah Kaplan, Leslie Kulbella, Frank Magee, Darrin McCorvey, Allan Schurr, Ross Thistlewaite

Edith Clarke Top Innovator

Exelon - BGE

Hazard & Strategic Trees Optimization

Team: Neha Dave, Chad Devine, Kyle Harrer, Augustus Mahar, John Matthew, Siddhi Patil, Clay Tutaj, Nishit Vyas

Maria Telkes Top Innovator

Exelon - Pepco

Electric Bus Microgrid

Team: Andrew Bayne, Jequita Fowler, Tim Kutchen, Nicolas McDermott, Fope Onafowokan

William Hammer Top Innovator

NYPA

Overhead Pantograph Charging Systems

Team: John Markowitz, Nick Peretta

Bertha Lamme Top Innovator

Ontario Power

Proactive Assessment of Climate Change Challenges

Team: Kelly Reid, Adi Walke

Mabel McFerran Top Innovator

PG&E

Managed Charging and V2X Technology

Team: Rudi Halbright, Lydia Krefta, Kristin Landry, Sarah Swickard

Mabel McFerran Top Innovator

PG&E

Managed Charging and V2X Technology

Team: Rudi Halbright, Lydia Krefta, Kristin Landry, Sarah Swickard

Florence Fogler Top Innovator

PG&E

Enhanced Power Line Safety Settings

Team: Neelofar Anjum, Jason Cook, Mike McCarty, James Tuccillo

Bertha Lamme Top Innovator

Portland General Electric

Steam Casing Leak Repair

Team: Ivan Auer, Chris Bier, Tony Ciapanno, Austin Curtis, Andrew Eads, Dan Gallaher, Jordan Gooch, Brent Lee, Nels Plough, Ty Webberley

John Beggs Top Innovator

PPL

The Renewable Energy Research Facility

Team: Chad Alkire, David Beyerle, Samuel Kelty, Aron Patrick

Lewis Latimer Top Innovator

PSEG

Outage Management System Deployment

Team: Brian Heath, Ashwini Paranjape

Charles Steinmetz Top Innovator

Puget Sound Energy

GIS Mapping Tool

Team: Lauren Benz, Jenny Boyer, Matt Torgenrud

Nikola Tesla Top Innovator

Southern California Edison

Advanced Waveform Anomaly Recognition

Team: Kyle Chang, Vik Trehan, Hamed Valizadeh

Charles Steinmetz Top Innovator

Southern Company

GridRaptor™

Team: Cole Cremeen, Bill Tinsley

George Westinghouse Top Innovator

Xcel Energy

Rapid Innovation Framework

Team: Al Choi, Matt Tillman

2023 Top Innovators

Alphabetical by utility/company.

15 Award Winners

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator in Environment & Safety

Arizona Public Service

Innovations in Predictive Maintenance

Team: Scott Alford

Maria Telkes Top Innovator in Distributed Energy

Arizona Public Service

Virtual Power Plant

Team: Jason Delaney, Kerri Carnes, and Elizabeth Lawrence

Lewis Latimer Top Innovator in Design

Avangrid

Cybersecurity Simulation in Metaverse

Team: Mansur Mohammed and Carl Young

William Hammer Top Innovator in Electrification

BGE

Fleet of the Future

Team: Joseph Byrd and Andrew Hedrick

Edith Clarke Top Innovator in Reliability

CenterPoint Energy

Resilient Digital Substation

Team: Kevin Bryant, Eric Easton, and Ryan Marietta

Francis Upton Top Innovator in Analytics

CMS Energy

Automated Analytics for Renewable Generation

Team: Derek Belote, Chris McNalley, and Jason Ugartechea

John Beggs Top Innovator in Energy Transition

Duquesne Light Company

Advanced Grid Solutions

Team: Elizabeth Cook, Samuel Levinson, Sabrina Nguyen, Daniel Rodgers, Alex Rosenblatt, Richard Saporito, and Jessica Valentine

Charles Steinmetz Top Innovator in Grid Operations

Exelon

Automated Drone Initiative

Team: Ankush Agarwal, Vlad Anderson, and Po-Chen Chen

Florence Fogler Top Innovator in Transmission Tech

PECO

Underground Automatic Transfer Switch

Team: Luke Benedict, Dustin Nace, and Dave Reino

Mabel MacFerran Top Innovator in Storage

PNM Resources

Battery Energy Storage Systems at Solar Sites

Team: Omni Warner and Jason Jones

Charles Steinmetz Top Innovator in Grid Operations

PPL Electric Utilities

Distribution System Series

Team: Sal Salet

Maria Telkes Top Innovator in Distributed Energy

Puget Sound Energy

Virtual Power Plant Software Platform

Team: Ryan Murphy and Laurent Sayer

William Hammer Top Innovator in Electrification

Puget Sound Energy

Clean Buildings Accelerator

Team: Gilbert Archuleta

Bertha Lamme Top Innovator in Generation

San Diego Gas and Electric

Wildfire Next Generation System (WiNGs)

Team: Cam Carroll, Nisha Menon, and Joaquin Sebastian

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator in Environment & Safety

Xcel Energy

Drones and Robotics in Nuclear Inspections

Team: Andrew Brown, John Miller, and Kirk Olson

2019 Top Innovators

Alphabetical by utility/company.

12 Award Winners

Top Innovator in System Efficiency

ABB

Team: Luiz Cheim

Top Innovator in Utility Culture

AEP

Team: Cynthia Butler Carson, Jennifer Downey, Wiley Elliot, John Jost, Paul Loeffelman, Ram Sastry, and John Schwarck

Top Innovator in Energy Efficiency

Ameren

Team: Kristol Simms

Top Innovator in Infrastructure Safety

Consolidated Edison

Team: Tom Langlois, Magdalena Michniuk, Anuja Nakkana, and Kevin Wasserman

Top Innovator in Regulatory Effectiveness

District of Columbia Public Service Commission

Team: Patrice Jones Hunter

Top Innovator in Environmental Care

EPRI

Team: Kirk Ellison and Jeffery Preece

Top Innovator in Smart Grid

Exelon

Team: Luke Benedict

Top Innovator in Infrastructure Safety

Itron

Team: Bob Laird, Bob Luben, Eric Toperzer, and Daniel Smires

Top Innovator in Infrastructure Safety

New Cosmos

Team: Joe Deluca, Akira Nakao, Yoshinori Nishiie, and Kazuya Saito

Top Innovator in Distributed Resources

Portland General Electric

Team: Larry Bekkedahl

Top Innovator in Customer Service

PSEG

Team: Emmanuel Ansah, Will Barnes, Lauren Biernacki, Julie Duncan, Lisa Garcia, Sal Orsino, and Jared Osorio

Top Innovator in New Technologies

Southern Company

Team: Clifton Black

2018 Top Innovators

Alphabetical by utility/company.

12 Award Winners

They Broke Through Barriers

Ameren

Team: Cole Crews

They Made a Difference in Customers' Lives

ComEd (Exelon)

Team: Shay Bahramirad and Sandor Williams

They Made a Difference in Customers' Lives

ConEd

Team: Eric Mastroianni, Edwin Perez, Jennifer Moy, and Mike Salerno

They Created New Models

Emera (Tampa Electric)

Team: Mahesh Morjaria (First Solar), John Smolenski, and Jose Aponte

They Created New Models

EPRI

Team: Jamie Dunckley

They Created New Models

Hawaiian Electric

Team: Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima

They Made a Difference in Customers' Lives

North Carolina Electric Cooperatives

Team: Chris Spears, Catherine O’Dell, and Tom Butler

They Made a Difference in Customers' Lives

PECO (Exelon)

Team: Dan Butcher

They Broke Through Barriers

PPL Electric Utilities

Team: Nicholas Jewell (Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities)

They Created New Models

Sempra Energy

Team: Brian D’Agostino, Steve Vanderburg, and Katie Giannecchini (San Diego Gas & Electric)

They Broke Through Barriers

Southern California Edison

Team: Bryan Pham, Hamilton Pham, and Michael Kohler (Edison International)

They Broke Through Barriers

Southern Company

Team: Mark Lantrip

2017 Top 40 Innovators

Alphabetical by utility/company.

29 Awarded Companies

Top 40 Innovator

Ameren

Team: Steven Ewens and Alex Rojas

Top 40 Innovator

American Electric Power

Team: Jeff Fleeman

Top 40 Innovator

American Public Power Association

Team: Alex Hofmann

Top 40 Innovator

American Water

Team: Lauren Weinrich

Top 40 Innovator

Austin Energy

Team: David Hood

Top 40 Innovator

Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Team: Sarah Edmonds

Top 40 Innovator

CMS Energy

Team: Andrew Bordine and Holly Bowers

Top 40 Innovator

Edison International

Team: Vibhu Kaushik and Erik Takayesu

Top 40 Innovator

EPRI

Team: Ron Domitrovic, Jessica Fox, Maria Guimaraes, Mike Howard, Andrew Phillips, and John Simmins

Top 40 Innovator

Entergy

Team: Randy Hickman and Shannon Watts

Top 40 Innovator

Eversource

Team: Lee Olivier

Top 40 Innovator

Exelon

Team: Sonya Harbaugh and Brian Hoff

Top 40 Innovator

Great River Energy

Team: David Ranallo

Top 40 Innovator

Hawaiian Electric

Team: Earlynne Maile and Lani Shinsato

Top 40 Innovator

Institute for Electric Innovation

Team: Lisa Wood

Top 40 Innovator

Kissimmee Utility Authority

Team: Bud Ajdukovic

Top 40 Innovator

Kodiak Electric Association

Team: Darron Scott

Top 40 Innovator

National Grid

Team: Carlos Nouel

Top 40 Innovator

New York Power Authority

Team: Emilie Bolduc and Ricardo DaSilva

Top 40 Innovator

NiSource

Team: Dave Monte

Top 40 Innovator

Northwestern Energy

Team: John Carmody and Rick Edwards

Top 40 Innovator

Osage Municipal Utilities

Team: Josh Byrnes

Top 40 Innovator

Ouachita Electric Cooperative

Team: Mark Cayce

Top 40 Innovator

PNM Resources

Team: Brian Arellano

Top 40 Innovator

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Team: Lizette Miranda

Top 40 Innovator

Smart Electric Power Alliance

Team: Julia Hamm

Top 40 Innovator

Southern Company

Team: Tom Fanning

Top 40 Innovator

Westar Energy

Team: Chris Marshal and Doug Venjohn

Top 40 Innovator

Xcel Energy

Team: Ben Fowke