CIEE

Jim Cole is a Senior Advisor with CIEE's Electric Grid Research program. He has 28 years experience in research, development and the introduction of new energy technologies to the marketplace. His work is currently focused on improving reliability, fostering the integration of renewable energy, reducing congestion, and improving operational and economic efficiency for California's electric transmission and distribution system. These efforts require close coordination with the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), California's and the western region's major electric utilities, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

As the first permanent Director of CIEE from 1990 through July of 2002, Jim was responsible for the strategic direction of its energy efficiency and environmental R&D program. Initially he directed CIEE as a consortium sponsored by California's six largest electric and gas utilities, the CEC, and the California Public Utilities Commission. After the restructuring of the electricity industry, Jim collaborated with others in managing CIEE's transition to its current role providing assistance to the CEC's PIER program and other sponsors.

Jim directed the End-Use Energy Efficiency and Electrical Systems R&D programs of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) from 1978-1990. And from 1964 to 1978 he conducted research on new satellite communications and radar signal processing technologies for Bell Telephone Laboratories and Syracuse University Research Corporation. Jim has a BS from Lehigh University and an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering, an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an Eng. ScD. in Applied Math & Operations Research from Columbia University.