Navigant Adds Six Industry Experts to Energy Team

Navigant Consulting, Inc. has added six senior-level industry experts to the company’s growing global Energy segment.   They are:

John Roddy, Managing Director, Los Angeles

With more than 25 years of utility industry experience, Roddy leverages his expertise in strategy and operations to assist clients with business and technology planning. He is a trusted advisor on wholesale and retail electric markets, technology assessment and road map planning, business architecture solutions, smart grid/smart metering, business process/performance improvement, and revenue cycle systems. Roddy’s career spans the majority of the utility value chain and encompasses U.S. and international engagements with utilities, regional transmission organizations/independent system operators, energy merchants, industry suppliers, municipalities, professional service firms, and research organizations. Prior to joining Navigant, Roddy operated his own consulting firm, was a leadership partner in Accenture’s North American Utility Practice, and served as the senior executive lead of strategic programs for Black & Veatch’s management consulting division.

Ted Walker, Managing Director, Atlanta

A key leader in the areas of strategy, policy, and regulation, Walker uses his expertise to hone in on energy company growth opportunities and help clients thrive alongside the changing role of the utility in an evolving energy ecosystem. His knowledge spans the areas of energy retail, transmission and distribution, customer front and back-office, and shared services. Walker also has significant experience working with medium and large electric and gas utilities to develop and plan strategies that extend beyond the business as usual mindset. Prior to joining Navigant, Walker served as a managing director in Accenture’s Utilities Strategy practice. His content focus areas include distributed energy resources, alternative transportation fuels – including electric vehicles, non-commodity products and services, digital customer transformation, innovation strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and emerging technologies, with a particular depth in blockchain.

René Groot Bruinderink, Director, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Dedicated to sustainability, Groot Bruinderink focuses on helping clients transition their businesses toward a low carbon future, while capturing short-term business opportunities as well as dealing with reorganizational transitions arising from the energy shift. He is skilled at developing tailor-made proposals to help clients realize sustainable and profitable products and business models. With more than two decades of consulting experience for large corporations and energy companies, Groot Bruinderink has served clients across the retail, utilities, and telecom sectors, in addition to the construction and chemical industries. He spent nearly 10 years at RWE and its successor Innogy, predominantly as a partner responsible for the in-house consulting unit in the Netherlands and Belgium. Groot Bruinderink is a former director of Essent’s strategy department and has also served as a senior manager at Arthur D. Little.

Andrew Johnston, Director, Austin, Texas

With a background spanning the energy, technology, policy, and urban planning sectors, Johnston works to achieve strategic technology implementation among utility clients, cities, manufacturers, and third-party groups. As an expert in aligning policy and program execution with the larger strategic priorities of utilities, his focus also addresses the areas of independent evaluation, quantitative and qualitative analysis, contingency planning, market analysis, and competitive intelligence. Prior to Navigant, Johnston was president of ETS, for Zpryme. He has also served in a variety of roles at organizations centered around emerging technology, including Austin Energy and Pecan Street Inc. Johnston is a former chief of staff to economic and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin and is the 2014 recipient of the Austin Under 40 Award for Energy & Technology.

Laura Manz, Director, Folsom, Calif.

Focused on utility operations and performance excellence, Manz leverages her expertise in transmission planning and grid operations to provide the insights clients need on pressing industry topics. With more than 30 years of related experience, she is well-versed in the areas of transmission planning and technical studies, policy, bulk grid reliability requirements, generator interconnections, advanced grid technologies, the effects of distributed generation on the power grid, and, particularly, independent system operator requirements and trends. Prior to joining Navigant, Manz was instrumental in forming PJM and its signature nodal market design. She has also managed her own consulting practice with projects in every interconnection in North America. Most recently, Manz was a vice president of market and infrastructure development for the California ISO and a senior vice president at Viridity Energy. Her utility experience also extends to San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Gas Company, and Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Manz is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of Cleantech San Diego’s Education and Outreach Committee.

Konstantin Staschus, Director, Berlin

An expert in EU energy policy, and the former Secretary-General of ENTSO-E, Staschus focuses on advising European transmission system operator clients and working to shape markets, grids, and systems for the energy transformation. Drawing on more than 30 years of industry experience, Staschus leverages strengths in multicultural management to combine business value with public interest thinking, relying on a technical, economic, and analytical approach. While at ENTSO-E, Staschus contributed to network code drafts, 10-year network development plans, and a transparency platform for EU-wide fundamental electricity system data. In his new role, he continues to chair two of the organization’s research and development committees. Prior to Navigant, Staschus served as a member of BDEW, Berlin’s association of energy and water industries, as managing director of VDN, Germany’s association of network operators, and in roles at the association of German TSOs, DVG, as well as Pacific Gas and Electric.

“Collectively, John, Ted, René, Andrew, Laura, and Konstantin represent more than a century of relevant experience, and individually they are already helping our clients navigate a steady path forward based on strategic advice and unique industry perspectives,” said Jan Vrins, managing director and leader of Navigant’s global Energy segment. “We view their hiring as an investment in Navigant’s future and specifically as an investment in our clients and the trust that they place in us to assist in the complex decisions around emerging technologies, industry changes, and operational excellence.”

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