Speakers

Venkat Banunarayanan is the Vice President of Integrated Grid at Business & Technology Strategies at the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association. He has twenty-four years’ experience in leading and executing energy-related projects involving power system analysis, data analytics, grid optimization, renewables integration, techno-economic feasibility and benefit-cost studies. At NRECA, his role is to lead the development of tools, resources and partnerships for member cooperatives to successfully evaluate opportunities for transmission & distribution grid optimization and value extraction, enabling reliable and cost-effective grid operations with high penetration of distributed energy, and business models for cooperatives to function as the trusted energy advisor for their communities. Venkat holds a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A in Finance, is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP®), has worked previously at the United States Department of Energy, ICF International, and General Electric in their Energy division.