Dear PES Members:

Welcome to 2012! I am very excited to have an opportunity to be the PES President for the next two years. It is a great time to be part of the power and energy area. One of my major goals during the next two years is to provide regular communications to PES members about activities of myself, the PES Governing Board and other PES leaders. I will have a monthly article in the e-newsletter to keep you updated on the latest happenings.

We have lots of momentum headed into this new year. I would like to recognize and thank Al Rotz for his leadership the last two years. We'll continue to rely on Al for his leadership as Immediate Past President.

Also I would like to acknowledge folks who finished their Governing Board terms in 2011. Wanda Reder has provided outstanding leadership in many areas but especially recently for IEEE SmartGrid and the PES Scholarship Plus program. Enrique Tejera has provided energy and enthusiasm as our Division VII Director after his leadership as VP for Membership and Chapters. Juan Carlos Miguez has helped PES grow our presence around Region 9. Mohammad Shahidehpour led the launch of our two new PES transactions (http://www.ieee-pes.org/ieee-transactions-on-smart-grid and http://www.ieee-pes.org/ieee-transactions-on-sustainable-energy). We appreciate all the time and efforts of these four volunteers.

Next we welcome three members in new positions and four new members to the Governing Board. Cheri Warren moves into the Division VII Director position and represents PES on the IEEE Board of Directors. Miroslav Begovic moves into his elected position as President- elect and Saifur Rahman will serve as Vice President for Publications. Lina Bertling Tjernberg assumes her elected role as Treasurer, Robin Podmore is our new Vice President for New Initiatives/Outreach, Nelson Segoshi is the new Region Representative for Region 9 and Jay Giri is a new Member-At-Large. A listing of the entire Governing Board is available here.

January is a busy month for PES members. Last week, several committees, subcommittees, task forces and working groups met at the Joint Technical Committee Meeting) in Anaheim, California to work on committee activities and standards work. The PES Governing Board and Long Range Planning Committee met on January 12 and 13 and I will provide a summary of our activities in the February note. On January 16, our third Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT) – North America kicks off in Washington DC. Additionally several committees have other meetings in January.

Another goal for 2012 and 2013 is to help PES members make the most of their membership. Please see my Leader's Corner in the January 2012 Power & Energy Magazine to learn more about ways you can be involved in PES.

We are your PES Governing Board! Feel free to contact me or any other member to provide suggestions for making PES even better. Use Twitter to keep up with PES (@ieee_pes) and me (@ieeepes_noel). Email me your ideas and suggestions – n.schulz@ieee.org

Best wishes for a great 2012! Make getting more involved in PES one of your new year's resolutions. I think you will find both professional and personal opportunities for advancement along the way.

Sincerely,

Noel

Noel Schulz, IEEE PES President
n.schulz@ieee.org