Who Am I?
Hi, I’m Peter Kelly-Detwiler (PKD) — energy expert, strategic consultant, and industry storyteller. In recent years, I’ve found that companies are in need of an orator who has an acute understanding of energy markets and technology.
Why? The world is in the early stages of a huge and complex multi-trillion dollar transformation that few people have the necessary free time to understand. Every energy professional has a day job and thousands of other things to worry about.
That’s where I come in. It is my job to comprehend evolving trends and explain what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how it will affect you, your employees, and your business. I do this by delivering keynotes and workshops on a myriad of issues such as the evolution of the power grid and the evolving role of batteries. I also frequently meet with investors and company leaders to offer my expertise.
What is the method to my madness? I read over 40 newsletters a day (ask me for the list) and scan hundreds of titles each in search of new concepts, facts on the ground, and use cases. Doing so helps me to understand how technology, investment trends, and business models are all coming together to create something entirely unprecedented in the field of energy.
I’ve spent 30 years in the electric energy industry.
In the ‘90s, after kicking around in Ghana working for Catholic Relief Services, I spent two-years in Santiago Chile working on energy efficiency programs.
From 1997 to 2000, right in the middle of the newly forming competitive retail electricity markets, I spent three years as Head of Customer Care for East Coast for New Energy Ventures.
I then went on to spend another five years as Director of Operations for Constellation New Energy, where we covered 14 utility service territories and billed a billion dollars annually.
In 2006, I was asked to start Constellation’s Demand Response group, which created the capability and incentive for people to reduce their energy usage during peak consumption times.
Then, in 2012, after helping start up NorthBridge Energy Partners, I began doing strategic consulting and writing for Forbes.com — my ‘secret weapon’ that gave me access to CEOs of major renewable energy and storage companies and other players in the energy arena. With that access, I was able to better understand their business models and technologies. Writing for companies such as GE gave me further access to experts in energy generation.
That eventually led to my writing a book in 2020 on the evolution of the power grid called, “The Energy Switch: How Companies and Customers Are Transforming the Electrical Grid and the Future of Power.
My background in both electricity markets and end-use technologies enables me to understand how markets work, and the interplay of technology on both sides of the meter. It allows me to see beyond the obvious, what is connected that may not initially appear to be, and what may be coming next. And it helps me understand how to actually make money — or at least avoid losing it.
The numbers and the details matter. They help point to the bigger picture and the energy and economic landscape we are currently shaping.