Smart Grid Seminar Faculty

Gerald B. Sheblé

Gerald B. Sheblé, Ph.D. is the first Maseeh Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In January 2006 he moved to Portland State from Iowa State University (Ames) where he chaired the Electric & Power Energy System Program.

Professor Sheblé is building an Energy Systems Information Laboratory (ESIL) to examine questions raised in a November 2006 New York Times article, 'Flaws Seen in Markets for Utilities." His research interests are in the field of energy systems, information flow and analysis, auction markets, and financial engineering. The ESIL opened in January 2007 for teaching, research, and extension services. The lab will enable the dynamic simulation or emulation of markets in the electric energy, natural gas, hydro networks, and other energy commodities including security and renewable energy sources.

He holds a B.S. and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa. He has authored publications on capital budgeting and contract valuation methods, power network planning, risk assessment under various degrees of uncertainty, economic implications of the U.S. power market evolution, and structures and formulations for electric power auctions.

Professor Sheblé was elected an IEEE Fellow in 1996 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers "for contributions to the development of Auction Methods as an alternative to power system optimization methods addressing the de-regulation of the electric utility business. He also is a member of the IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee, an Honorary Faculty member of the University of Porto (Portugal) and an Erskine Fellow with the University of Canterbury (New Zealand).

Jeffrey Hammarlund

Jeffrey Hammarlund an Adjunct Associate Professor at Portland State University's Mark Hatfield School of Government, a Senior Research Fellow at PSU's Executive Leadership Institute, and the president of Northwest Energy and Environmental Strategies consulting firm.

Professor Hammarlund holds an MA in Political Science and an MS in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After 30 years in government and the private sector, he has returned to academia to complete a Ph.D. in political science with a dissertation on the political and policy dynamics of balancing salmon recovery and hydropower generation in the Columbia Basin. He teaches a popular annual spring seminar on Energy Resources: Policy and Administration (Northwest Energy Policy and the Columbia River) that attracts both graduate students in a variety of disciplines and energy professionals interested in enhancing their professional development. A former guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, he is co-author of The Political Economy of Energy Policy and the author of numerous academic and professional publications on energy and environmental policy and planning.

Hammarlund has held a number of senior positions both as an energy policy analyst and manager and as a land use and transportation planner. He has served in senior staff positions with the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Department of Energy, and as an advisor to presidents, presidential candidates, and governors. He has been a senior manager for conservation services for Southern California Edison, a senior policy analyst for a Northwest utility trade association, and consultant to utilities, environmental organizations, and government agencies throughout the nation. He has also served as a senior transportation planner and program manager for the City of Beaverton and land use planner for King County.

Hammarlund currently serves on the executive committee and chairs the Oregon Caucus of the NW Energy Coalition, an influential alliance of more than 100 utilities, businesses, environmental, civic, faith, and human service organizations in the Pacific Northwest that promotes the development of renewable energy and energy conservation, consumer protection, low-income energy assistance, and fish and wildlife restoration on the Columbia and Snake rivers.)

Pamela Lesh

Pamela Lesh is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Planning for Portland General Electric (PGE). She is current on loan from PGE as Senior Advisor to the Natural Resource Defense Council, where she is working on national energy policy issues of importance to electric utilities.

Ms. Lesh has worked in the electric utility industry for 20 years. During this time, her responsibilities have included management of all aspects of PGE's state and federal economic regulation, resource planning, federal legislative affairs, and corporate communications. Economic regulation spans matters from rate setting to approval of mergers and acquisitions to tariff design. She also spent almost two years with a company called ConneXt, which sold services and software to utilities and energy retailers. At ConneXt, her roles included Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Product Management.

She holds a B.S. from Washington State University and a J.D. from The University of Washington School of Law. She has authored articles on decoupling and deregulation and spoken at numerous conferences on regulatory policy and utility strategy. In addition, she has been a regular guest lecturer at Professor Hammarlund's annual spring seminar on Energy Resources: Policy and Administration (Northwest Energy Policy and the Columbia River.)