Itron Inspire

Robert Bryce is an author, podcaster, and film producer. He has been writing about energy, power, politics, and innovation for more than three decades. He’s also the acclaimed author of six books on energy and innovation, including most recently, A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations. Bryce has given more than 400 invited or keynote lectures to groups ranging from the Marines Corps War College to the Sydney Institute as well as to a wide variety of associations, universities, and corporations. His articles have been published in dozens of publications including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Real Clear Energy, The Hill, and Guardian. Bryce has also appeared on a panoply of media outlets ranging from Fox News to Al Jazeera.

Bryce has testified before the U.S. Congress six times. He’s the host of the Power Hungry Podcast and executive producer of the feature-length documentary: Juice: How Electricity Explains the World, which is available on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and many other streaming services. Follow him on Substack: robertbryce.substack.com

He lives in Austin with his wife, Lorin, who is an art teacher, photographer, and master potter.

Tom Deitrich was appointed president and chief executive officer and named to Itron's board of directors on Aug. 6, 2019. He joined Itron in 2015 as executive vice president and COO and has played a major role in shaping the company’s strategy to partner with cities and utilities to deliver industrial IoT solutions.

Tom has more than 25 years of experience in global operations at leading technology firms and has held numerous executive management positions where he led business-level strategies that transformed and significantly improved business results. He has extensive experience in product management, research and development, supply chain management and business development in several industries, including industrial equipment, telecommunications and semiconductors.

Before joining Itron, Tom was senior vice president and general manager for Digital Networking at Freescale Semiconductor. Prior to Freescale, Tom worked for Flextronics International, Ericsson Mobile Communications and General Electric Corporation.

Marina Donovan has more than 20 years of global technology marketing and public relations experience with a background in data security, networking and mobile. She joined Itron as vice president of global marketing & public affairs in January 2018. Prior to joining Itron, she was vice president of marketing for Silver Spring Networks, where Marina led all aspects of outbound marketing including branding and corporate positioning, demand creation, events, product marketing, public relations and web properties. Prior to joining Silver Spring, she held executive marketing positions at IronKey by Imation, Syniverse, VeriSign and RSA Security. Marina holds a Bachelor of Arts in public relations from San Jose State University.

Rudy D. Garza is the President & CEO for CPS Energy, the nation’s largest community-owned electric and natural gas utility. Rudy has more than 25 years of experience as a leader in the utility industry and has served in both the public and private sectors over the course of his career. He is the first Hispanic leader to hold the position.

While Rudy served as Interim President & CEO for 10 months, he successfully led the company to the approval of the first rate case in 8 years, approval for the next phase of energy efficiency and conservation programs, and discussions with the Board of Trustees and the Rate Advisory Committee on future generation planning.

Rudy joined CPS Energy in 2012 and previously served as Chief Customer & Stakeholder Engagement Officer and as Senior Vice President of Distribution Service & Operations where he oversaw the maintenance and construction activity of the electric distribution system. He has also served the company in the role of Vice President of External Relations.

Rudy has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Texas.

He continues to serve his community through multiple board roles including the Archdiocese Hope for the Future, the Antonian School Council, Brooks Development Authority, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, EPIcenter, Greater:SATX, and serves his UT Austin alma mater as an advisory board member for the School of Electrical Engineering.

Ben Huggins has a wealth of global experience in sales and general management. He brings more than 20 years of diverse experience in the military, aerospace and industrial markets. He has served in leadership roles within the maintenance, manufacturing, supply chain, general management and sales functions.

As senior vice president of Customer and Market Experience (CME) at Itron, Ben is responsible for leading Itron’s sales, marketing, channel management, business development, customer support and customer success activities across the full company portfolio.

Prior to joining Itron, Ben worked with Honeywell for 15 years, serving in a variety of leadership and sales roles, most recently as the global vice president of sales for the Process Solutions business unit. Prior to Honeywell, Ben was an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Ben holds a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.

Andrea Nuesser is the Director of Customer Strategy & Experience at Hydro One. In her role, she is responsible for developing and implementing strategic initiatives to build the grid of the future and serve the needs and expectations of Hydro One’s broad customer base.

Andrea is an experienced leader, outside-of-the box thinker, and engaging strategist who is passionate about shaping the future of energy. In an evolving utility landscape, she provides thought leadership and drives collaboration through various industry working groups to enable innovative energy solutions and help customers with their energy transition.

Andrea has a broad background in social sciences, marketing and customer behaviour. Before joining Hydro One, she was a Vice President at Innovative Research Group, a public opinion research and consulting firm. Andrea holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Robert R. Puente, San Antonio Water System’s President and CEO since May 2008, leads one of the nation’s largest utilities delivering water and wastewater services to over 1.6 million consumers.

Since taking the helm at SAWS, Puente has led the entity through many historic financial and operational successes and is often called on to share these successes throughout the United States and abroad. Puente has also led the entity to achieve the highest bond rating in its history.

Additionally, the utility has earned several recognitions and awards, including the Texas Environmental Excellence Award, Top Workplace Award three years in a row, a Business Opportunity Diversity Award as well as several other operational awards and recognitions.

Prior to SAWS, Puente served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1991-2008 and was Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. In the legislature Puente authored and led the charge in passing several historic bills related to water which continue to serve as model legislation throughout the U.S.

Robert is married to Carmen Muñiz Puente and they have three children.

Farah Saeed is an industry expert with nearly 20 years of consulting, project management and fulfillment expertise focused on power and energy equipment and services. Saeed currently serves as Research Director Digital Grid.

In her current role, Saeed works closely with OEMs to validate market opportunities and assess risks, providing a deep understanding of business issues facing mature as well as emerging energy markets and technologies. She also specializes in forecasting models and customer survey designs centered on regional and geographic trends, while keeping a pulse on disruptive trends and technologies that are influencing the competitive environment.

Saeed’s industry expertise includes extensive experience in high-growth and emerging power and energy devices, such as transmission and distribution equipment. This includes IT/OT, power distribution equipment, demand side management, home automation, smart meters, related network infrastructure, and distributed generation.