ATLANTA, GA. - April 17, 2008 : – John D. McDonald, P.E., general manager of marketing for GE Energy's transmission and distribution (T&D) business, has been invited by U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman to serve a one-year term as a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC).

The EAC, which reports to the Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, is being established to enhance leadership in electricity delivery modernization and provide senior-level counsel to the DOE on ways in which the U.S. can overcome the many barriers to moving forward, including the deployment of smart grid technologies, research and development of energy storage technologies, renewable energy resource system integration and new transmission infrastructure.

The mission of the EAC is to assist the DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) in implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and modernizing the nation's electricity delivery infrastructure. The EAC has been established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

In his 34 years of experience in the electric utility industry, McDonald has developed power application software for both supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)/ energy management system (EMS) and SCADA/distribution management system (DMS) applications, developed distribution automation and load management systems, managed SCADA/EMS and SCADA/DMS projects and assisted intelligent electronic device (IED) suppliers in the automation of their IEDs.

McDonald is past president of the IEEE PES, co-vice chair of the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 36, member of the IEC Technical Committee 57 Working Groups 3 and 10, a member of CIGRE and past chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee. McDonald is the IEEE Division VII Director in 2008-2009 and is a member of the advisory committee for the annual DistribuTECH Conference as well as a charter member of Electricity Today magazine's International Editorial Advisory Board.

• Ensuring electricity supply adequacy, including plans for new baseload generation capacity needed to meet demand growth, likely retirements of existing capacity, energy efficiency programs and development of new renewable-based capacity;
• DOE's electricity-related research and development programs;
• Modernization of the United States' electricity infrastructure (generation, transmission and distribution), regionally and nationally, including implementation of smart grid technology and energy storage technology; and
• Enhancing the resilience of the nation's energy supply infrastructure to cope with natural disasters, equipment failures, human errors and manmade disruptions.

EAC members serve on a voluntary basis and are expected to participate personally in the activities of the committee.

"GE Energy's proven technology coupled with John McDonald's vast experience and expertise will make McDonald an invaluable asset to the DOE's new advisory committee," said Bob Gilligan, general manager of GE Energy's transmission and distribution business. "Through this committee, GE Energy will work with the DOE to support its strategy for helping the United States overcome barriers and move forward in the energy industry."

McDonald received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (power engineering) degrees from Purdue University and an M.B.A. (finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. He is a member of the Etta Kappa Nu (electric engineering honorary) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering honorary), is a Fellow of IEEE and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, the IEEE PES Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award in 2002 and the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award in 2003.

McDonald teaches a SCADA/EMS course at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a SCADA/substation and feeder automation course at Iowa State University, and substation automation, distribution SCADA and communications courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer. He has published 31 papers in the areas of SCADA, SCADA/EMS, SCADA/DMS and communications, and is a registered professional electrical engineer in California, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

About GE Energy

GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2007 revenue of $22 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels. Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges.

About GE

GE is Imagination at Work-diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.

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