Consumer adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the United States is anticipated to be significant and rapid. In fact, some prognosticators compare it to the roll-out of air conditioning. While possibly overstated in terms of scale, nevertheless, the use of these vehicles will affect utilization of the grid. What potential challenges and opportunities exist for power demand, two-way power flows and power management? Plan on joining the April program to hear discussions of these issues.

Speakers include:

• Thomas J. (Tom) King is the Director of the Energy Efficiency and Electricity Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) — Tom is responsible for leading, coordinating and implementing ORNL’s research and development portfolio of projects conducted for the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. The diverse R&D portfolio includes the Renewable Energy portfolio: solar, wind and hydropower, biomass and geothermal; building technologies; distributed energy systems; transmission reliability; electricity storage and power electronics, and electric grid modeling and visualization. 
• Ben Echols, Program Manager, Electric Transportation, Georgia Power — Based in Atlanta, Ben manages electric transportation (ET) program activities for Georgia Power Company. He has been involved with Georgia Power’s ET activities since 1997. Ben works with manufacturers, utilities, and research/policy organizations across North America representing Georgia Power and Southern Company where he focuses on evaluating economic, efficiency, and environmental benefits of using electricity as a transportation fuel. Specific electric transportation projects include: public infrastructure development for electric vehicles, and car share demonstration program using Think electric vehicles.