The Combined Cycle, Generator, and Steam Turbine Users Groups, all operating under the Power Users banner, presented their 2017 Individual Achievement Awards at the parent organization’s Combined Conference, August 28 – 31, in the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, Ariz.
Individual Achievement recognition is earned by industry professionals who have demonstrated excellence throughout their careers in the design, construction, management, operation, and/or maintenance of generating facilities powered by gas and/or steam turbines.
Combined Cycle Users Group
Chuck Casey
Utility Generation Manager
Riverside (Calif) Public Utilities
Chuck Casey is responsible for the city of Riverside’s generation assets (four LM6000 and four GE 10B1 peakers, and one LM2500-powered combined cycle) which provide a significant percentage of the 280 MW required to serve the municipal utility’s more than 105,000 residential and business customers. He has three decades of generation experience—specializing in plant construction and commissioning, and regulatory compliance.
Before joining Riverside in 2004, Casey was a plant operator, I&E technician, plant manager, and consultant for Stewart & Stevenson, GE, and PurEnergy. He began his career as a nuclear electrician on US Navy fast attack submarines.
In 2013, Casey was elected president of the Western Turbine Users Inc, an all-volunteer organization of owner/operators of General Electric LM and LMS engines. During his 16 years with the user group, the world’s largest such organization dedicated to land-based aeros, he held several leadership positions. Casey also serves as chairman (even years) of the Southern California Public Power Authority Generation Group, which he founded. Plus, he started the NetDAHS User Group (data-acquisition system environmental software).
Casey’s plants have received several industry awards over the years, most recently the 2017 Best Practices Award (with Best of the Best recognition) from CCJ for the Riverside Energy Resource Center’s creative, in-house efforts to reduce LM6000 startup NOx emissions by 30% and dramatically improve engine operational flexibility.
Kevin C Geraghty
Senior VP of Energy Supply
NV Energy
Kevin Geraghty is one of relatively few senior managers in the industry who can trace his roots to the deck plates of generating stations where he began his career following graduation from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in electrical engineering. That heritage has enabled Geraghty to become one of the most effective executives in the generation business today. His first-hand knowledge of what’s important to run a powerplant is evident in Geraghty’s support of user-group activities—an effective training ground for plant personnel.
He personally encouraged the formation of the Generator (GUG) and Air-Cooled Condenser (ACCUG) Users Groups and provided the resources and meeting rooms for both organizations to conduct their first meetings. Plus, he has encouraged his generation engineers to learn from others with meaningful participation in various groups. Today, NV Energy employees are active on the steering committees for the Steam Turbine, ACC, Generator, CTOTF, and Combined Cycle Users Groups.
William J Gillis
Distinguished Engineering Associate
ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co
Jeff Gillis is ExxonMobil’s global technology lead for the company’s frame gas-turbine fleet. He is a vibrant supporter of user-group activities and currently serves on the 7F Users Group steering committee (since 2007) and as the co-chairman of the Frame 6 Users Group. Jeff began his career working for Mobil Oil as a co-op student on the way to a BSME degree at Northeastern University. After graduation in 1982 he joined Exxon (at Linden, NJ, later moving to Houston) where he has specialized in engineering, operation, and maintenance of rotating machinery.
Gillis’ global position allows him to learn/share technical information around the world. He shines in the all-important safety area and his detailed presentations and commentary at user group meetings reflect this. His knowledge of safety practices, rules, and regulations at plants in Europe, Asia/Middle East, and the Americas benefits all.
Michael David Hoy
Senior Manager, Major Projects Group
Tennessee Valley Authority
Mike Hoy’s 40-year working career has been in the business of gas turbines and associated plant. The UK native’s first job after graduation was with the National Gas Turbine Establishment, but it was too academic, so Hoy took a position with GE, spending nine years as an international field engineer in 20 countries. His next GE assignment, also for nine years, was in the US, where Hoy focused on gas-turbine projects in the Southeast.
Apart from a short stint as a subject matter expert with Duke Energy, Hoy has worked for TVA since 1998, initially as a GT site manager. Since relocating to the utility’s Chattanooga’s offices, he has held engineering management roles in the company’s large operating gas fleet and later with the project group responsible for developing and installing TVA’s new combined cycles—including H-class units.
Hoy has been active in several users groups during his career. He was chairman of the CTC2 organization from 2003 to 2005, chair of the 7EA Users Group from 2005 to 2008, and a member of the CCUG steering committee until 2014. Among his professional achievements, Hoy lists the promotion and improvement of user-group discussion forms and speaking truth to power. Most recently, he had a hand in getting GE to eliminate the need for a clutch between its latest aeros and generators for synchronous condenser operation.
Get involved, your opinions matter. If you know a person deserving of the CCUG’s 2018 Individual Achievement Award, please complete the nomination form and forward it to the steering committee for consideration.
Generator Users Group
Isidor Kerszenbaum, PhD, PE
Principal
Izzytech LLC
Izzy Kerszenbaum has had a long and varied career in generators, motors, and transformers since receiving his BS in Electrical Engineering from the Israel Institute of Technology in 1978. He earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa five years later. Before founding IzzyTech in 2014 he worked for Southern California Edison, Edison Mission Energy, GE, and Israel Electric, among others.
In his efforts to help industry colleagues deal successfully with equipment challenges, Kerszenbaum has become a prolific author and lecturer on a wide range of technical subjects. He has written or co-authored nearly three dozen papers and a dozen books and technical reports, and since 1997 has conducted, or co-conducted, three- and five-day seminars for many hundreds of utility personnel.
He has been very active in IEEE, EPRI, and other engineering groups both as a participant and leader, and is a Fellow in two IEEE societies. Kerszenbaum was instrumental in introducing to North America the important Repetitive Surge Oscillograph test for field-winding shorted turns.
He has been, and continues to be, an exceptional contributor in the business in which we are all engaged—power generation equipment O&M.
Get involved, your opinions matter. If you know a person deserving of the GUG’s 2018 Individual Achievement (Maughan) Award, please complete the nomination form and forward it to the steering committee for consideration.
Steam Turbine Users Group
Jimmy Baker
President
Jimmy Baker LLC
Jimmy Baker has spent more than four decades working with steam turbines—including outage planning and execution, maintenance and repair, modifications and upgrades, performance testing, and vibration analysis and balancing. He joined Southern Company in mid-1976 and spent the next 34 years with the utility as a steam-turbine specialist. Among Baker’s many accomplishments was his work in the development of Southern’s strategy for steam-turbine reliability. He was an active member of the Vibration Institute (national organization and Georgia chapter) for years and represented his company on many EPRI projects.
Baker launched the consulting firm that bears his name in mid-2010 after retiring from Southern and he remains active in the industry solving steamer problems for customers. Colleagues consider Baker innovative and a true student of steam-turbine O&M. They value having his third-party eyes for guiding turbine maintenance projects.
Donald D Hughes
O&M Manager
SRP
Don Hughes has spent the last four-plus decades of his professional career with SRP, 31 of those years with direct involvement in powerplant operations—including all aspects of steam-turbine and generator O&M and overhaul. His deck-plates positions over the years have included steam-plant mechanic, foreman, and O&M manager. Today, he is responsible for the mechanical, welding, electrical, I&C, and planning departments at the utility’s Santan and Kyrene Generating Stations.
Hughes is a dedicated leader, always ready to share his knowledge and experience on safe, reliable O&M of generating assets. He has been involved with SRP’s plant apprenticeship training program since its inception in the early 1980s—serving as a classroom instructor, apprentice supervisor/manager, and member of the oversight committee charged with subject-matter development to assure proper training of the future workforce.
Harold Parker
Director of Engineering
HPC Technical Services
Hal Parker got his start in power generation like so many others in the business: As a GE field engineer and startup engineer. He migrated from road assignments to the company’s Field Engineering Development Center in Schenectady where he authored many of GE’s advanced training programs.
Since leaving GE in 1983, Parker has focused on providing training services to power generators, although he has taken field assignments in plant startups, outage technical direction, and controls-related troubleshooting. Parker owned and operated Schenectady Learning Systems from 1983 to 1989 and served as turbine/generator manager for General Physics from 1989 to 1992 before forming HPC Technical Services.
Parker’s company helps power generators maximize the effectiveness of their personnel and equipment with its training, operations, maintenance, and engineering services.
Tim Parsons
Manager of Turbine Assets
Tampa Electric Co
Tim Parsons has been actively involved in turbine O&M for more than 20 years at Tampa Electric, where he is responsible for gas- and steam-turbine technical and long-term-agreement commercial aspects. Parsons’ knowledge and respect for rotating equipment is said to be on par with the best in the industry. His passion is technical improvements with sustained superior O&M. Parsons unselfishly shares his knowledge with all those who can benefit from the guidance.
Get involved, your opinions matter. If you know a person deserving of the STUG’s 2018 Individual Achievement Award, please complete the nomination form and forward it to the steering committee for consideration
