Forrest Small led the Growth & Performance practice for Black & Veatch Management Consulting, LLC, specializing in grid modernization, DER integration and New Energy.

Forrest Small led BRIDGE Energy Group's Grid Modernization practice.For a large northeast electric and gas utility: Forrest was the transformation lead for conducting a transformation assessment for the utility’s gas work operations. This included development of an implementation strategy and roadmap for a Business Process Management deployment of Work and Asset Management core applications, and the supporting business process transformation.For a consortium of New York investor owned utilities: Forrest has led the development of a framework for implementing the Distributed System Platform as part of the New York Public Service Commission’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” proceeding. Work involved driving utility participation in working groups, developing the DSP structure and presenting the material to Commissioners. Forrest designed and facilitated a series of workshops aimed at developing a vision and capabilities for utilities as DSPs over the next 5-15 years.For a mid-west electric utility, Forrest led the development of a road map for optimizing Reliability Center operations.For a large northwest electric utility, Forrest led the development of a solution to improve outage management for operational efficiency, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

Helped utilities, government agencies, equipment suppliers and investors develop strategies and implementation programs for Smart Grid and clean energy resources.For the United States Department of Energy, Forrest developed approaches and tools to support the US DOE's Smart Grid Investment Grant and Smart Grid Demonstration Programs. This included creating benefits assessment techniques and frameworks for analyzing and reporting project progress and results. Forrest also supported the DOE programs by directly collaborating with utilities and industry stakeholder groups such as the Edison Electric Institute and the North American SynchroPhasor Initiative.For the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Forrest supported a ground-breaking demonstration of high penetration solar energy and battery energy storage. This work included leading the technical and business analysis of demonstration results, as well as providing strategic support to SMUD in technology management, utility operations and the development of pricing programs.For the Gas Technology Institute, Forrest developed a vision for Natural Gas in a Smart Energy Future, integrating natural gas with electricity and renewable energy. This vision will provide a foundation on which to build a common value proposition for the North American natural gas industry. The value proposition is based on the functionality and resultant benefits that a Smart Energy Grid can provide. The work also identifies key barriers to achieving the vision based on policy, regulatory, and technology challenges.

For a Northeast Electric Utility: Led the development of a vision to shape the client’s strategic point of view on smart grid. The vision was used to better understand the key components and functions of the smart grid concept, as well as highlight the fundamental initiatives that must be implemented to achieve a sustainable smart grid vision for the company.For a Chinese Grid Company: Served as a subject matter expert for electric power transmission and smart grid technologies and to support the assessment of the client’s current situation, and recommendations for initiatives related to enterprise transformation and technology improvements. Developed an executive-level strategy point of view for facilitating conversations with the client’s leaders related to business transformation and smart grid.

For a Northeast Electric Utility: Developed recommendations for storm hardening initiatives aimed at enhancing system durability and service restoration performance. Recommendations were based on an assessment of the utility’s current situation and goals for improvement.» For a Large Mid-West Electric Utility: Evaluated Key Performance Indicators and performance metrics for business units. Mapped business processes and developed energy delivery policies related to capital project management and contractor management.For the US Department of Energy: Served on a national panel of smart grid experts to develop a methodology for estimating the costs and benefits of smart grid and R&D projects funded by DOE and EPRI.Advised DOE on technology opportunities for improving electric service restoration after natural disasters and weather events. Developed technology and market assessments for microgrids, and created a development roadmap for the technology.» For the California Energy Commission: Led a groundbreaking study to assess the value of distribution automation for California and its investor owned utilities. This work involved the creation of a novel analytical framework and associated model to determine value for different stakeholder groups including customers, utilities and society.

Management consulting in the energy and utilities space

Managed the overall administration of the Open Access Transmission Tariffs of CMP and Maine Electric Power Company (MEPCO). Service contracts for capacity included several hundred megawatts of renewable energy from hydro, biomass, and wind. This position required active participation on several committees of the New England Power Pool, and a close working relationship with ISO New England. Forrest was also responsible for developing and managing an independent Open Access Sametime Information System (OASIS) for MEPCO, a real-time system for the procurement of electric transmission capacity by market participants.

Responsible for the analysis and planning of the electric power transmission systems of Central Maine Power Company and Maine Electric Power Company. This work also involved analysis of the bulk transmission system throughout New England and the Canadian Maritimes, including the modeling and system performance assessment for renewable resources. Most recent work involved playing the lead analytical role in System Impact Studies for interconnection of large merchant generation projects proposed in Maine, including a proposed wind farm. As a senior engineer, Forrest served as an internal consultant and advisor to CMP senior management on special projects related to transmission and distribution, including system development and expansion, power quality, reliability and electric power technologies.