About EnerNex

Introduction

EnerNex^® is an electric power engineering and consulting firm specializing in the development and application of new electric power technologies. EnerNex provides engineering services, consulting, and software development and customization for energy producers, distributors, users, and research organizations. Our focus is to help our customers understand and solve electric power related issues as well as develop technology and expertise that will ultimately improve the operation and reliability of electric power systems. We dedicate our expertise to engineering a cleaner, smarter energy system of the future.

EnerNex was founded in 2003 by Erich Gunther, Jeffrey Lamoree, and Robert Zavadil. These individuals are all internationally recognized in their various areas of expertise.

Mission

Our mission is to be the preferred supplier of specialized engineering services to the electric power industry. Our business leverages the expertise of our employees to develop cost effective and innovative solutions to new and old problems for the benefit of our clients. EnerNex offers a cross-cutting blend of experience in engineering, utility business practices, information technology and energy policy. We aim to combine these disciplines to offer our clients a balance set of solutions capable of meeting a wide range of challenges.

Services

EnerNex offers electric power systems engineering, consulting, research and software development services. Our primary product is information packaged as technical reports, measurement data, design recommendations or expert advice. Our services are often utilized in conjunction with the development of key fundamental technologies such as EPRI IntelliGrid, programmable communicating thermostats and utility consumer gateways. Our business involves us in the basic research and development of these new technologies, leads to proof of concept implementation projects, and mainstream deployment projects and products. We are also at the forefront of technology and integration issues for large-scale wind generation, and are leading efforts to build tools and models for better understanding the impact of large wind plants on transmission network operations. We offer these services organized around the following four areas of expertise:

• Electric Power System Studies and Analysis
• Wind and Renewable Energy Integration Studies
• Smart Grid Development
• Advanced Metering Infrastructure
• Demand Response and Energy Efficiency
• Utility Communication and Automation
• Utility Information Security
• Systems Integration
• Testing and Research & Development
• Technology Analysis and Transfer

Background

New technologies for electric power production, transportation and deliver, and utilization are emerging at an ever-quickening pace, offering new opportunities for improved efficiency, reliability, and productivity. At the same time, they are being applied to an electric power infrastructure that, in some respects, has changed relatively little over the past fifty years. For those charged with planning, designing, and operating the electric power system, new technologies sometimes clash with conventional ways of doing things, or present a set of brand new engineering challenges to be resolved.

The emergence of power quality in the late 1980s as a critical issue for suppliers and users of electricity provides an excellent example of the potential conflicts between new technology and conventional power delivery systems. Swift and widespread adoption of sophisticated equipment and systems for electricity utilization by end users in all industry segments highlighted characteristics of the power delivery infrastructure that had posed no problems for previous generations of equipment, but were at odds with the new. After over a decade of research and development by a sizeable number of stakeholders in the power industry, the issues are much better understood but far from completely resolved.

The energy crisis in California and blackout in the Northeast United States and parts of Canada, along with some promising technological developments - have helped to breathe new life into a relatively old concept – distributed generation (a.k.a Distributed Resources). They also provided some major impetus for power engineers to again grapple with the myriad of technical issues that arises when multiple sources of generation are connected to a mostly-radial distribution system infrastructure designed solely for one-way power flow.

Finally, the restructuring of bulk power markets in many parts of the country is resulting in usage of the transmission grid for purposes not envisioned during its design – fulfilling energy transactions negotiated by willing buyers and sellers. Bottlenecks resulting from inadequate transmission capacity within or between control areas are major impediments to realizing the promised lower energy price benefits of competition. New technologies for exerting finer control over ac power flow on transmission lines show promise for relieving some of these bottlenecks, but given their novelty have thus far been slow to make an appreciable impact.

The staff of EnerNex Corporation has experience with many of the emerging technologies destined to become part of the electric power system of the future. In each of our areas of expertise, we combine our comprehensive knowledge of electric power systems with an intimate understanding of those emerging technologies in a very unique offering that delivers cutting-edge guidance and recommendations to our clients.

Click here to download our general overview brochure (Adobe Acrobat file).

Home

[Home]  [About EnerNex]  [Staff]  [News]  [Jobs]
[Practice Lines]  [Marketing Literature]  [Publications]  [Contact Us]