Dr. Shay Bahramirad is Senior Vice President of Engineering, Asset Management, and Capital Programs at LUMA Energy, the power company responsible for electric service in Puerto Rico. In this role, Dr. Bahramirad is the chief architect of power system transformation, responsible for the planning, design, and execution of the modernization of the power infrastructure to improve reliability, resiliency and enabling renewable energy integration. With its multiple tens of billions of dollars of investment, rebuilding the electric grid in Puerto Rico is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country and among the most ambitious power industry projects undertaken in this century.
The vast capital programs executed under the leadership of Dr. Bahramirad to modernize the grid include the deployment of a modern energy management system, an advanced metering infrastructure, island-wide distribution automation, and new substations and transmission lines that will allow Puerto Rico to meet industry standards for resiliency. Accomplishing this includes establishing a foundation of local talent, teams and processes, and the prudent deployment of new technologies. Her primary goals are the safe, reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective delivery of electricity to the people of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Bahramirad, a leading figure in the industry, has held positions in multiple sectors including Vice President of Climate and Resilience at Quanta Technology, where she helped cities and utilities assess climate change risk for their assets, operations, and services and for developing investment strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. She held multiple roles, including Vice President of Engineering and Smart Grid at ComEd, the electric utility serving Chicago and Northern Illinois, where she was responsible for improving the reliability of the system to first quartile of utilities in the country. She has led efforts to demonstrate and deploy emerging technologies including microgrids and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) to ensure that the system would meet business goals related to reliability, resiliency, and sustainability, while developing and implementing a broader community of the future vision with a focus on industry-informed STEM education for underrepresented communities specifically girls. She has been qualified and testified as an expert witness in state and Federal proceedings on microgrids, energy storage, investment strategies, and the interconnection of green energy resources.
Dr. Bahramirad is the President-elect of the 40,000 member IEEE Power and Energy Society, an executive member for the power delivery committee of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC), an editorial board member of the Electricity Journal, a US CIGRE Executive member, a member of North American Transmission Forum, an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a founder of IEEE Women in Power.
Dr. Bahramirad has been awarded several degrees including a PhD in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and has published more than 100 academic articles, as well as being the recipient of multiple US patents.