Prior to his retirement, Mr. Kelly was the senior vice president of Transmission & Distribution for Southern California Edison, responsible for the operation and maintenance of an electrical grid comprised of over 12,000 miles of transmission and 100,000 miles of distribution lines spread across a 50,000-square-mile service area.  Mr. Kelly led an organization of over 8,000 employees in the utility’s T&D business unit, which also maintains and operates more than 900 substations.  SCE’s T&D organization serves over 14 million people through about 5 million customer accounts.  As head of T&D, Kelly was responsible for an annual capital budget of over $2 billion and O&M of over $500 million.

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Mr. Kelly was also president of Edison ESI, a subsidiary company that operates one of the largest electrical and mechanical repair facilities in the U.S., with over 400,000 square feet of shop space under one roof. Edison ESI provides overhaul, maintenance, testing, repair, and calibration of equipment for other utilities, cogenerators, independent power producers, major industries and public agencies.

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Kelly was previously the vice president of Engineering & Technical Services, responsible for planning, engineering, and designing SCE’s electrical grid, as well as research and development, safety and training. In this role, he formed the company’s Advanced Technology organization, which has gained national prominence for its leadership role in electric vehicle and Smart Grid technology. Mr. Kelly was one of the early pioneers of the Smart Grid, developing a roadmap for a smarter, safer, more reliable and more environmentally responsible electric grid. He pioneered the deployment of synchronous phasor measurement, the Distribution Circuit of the Future, and many other advances in grid sensing, monitoring and control. Among many other awards and honors, Jim was selected as the IEEE’s “Leader in Power” in 2009.

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Kelly also previously served as the vice president of Regulatory Compliance and Environmental Affairs, and has in-depth experience with environmental regulation, permitting and licensing. Jim has served as an expert witness for over 20 years in countless regulatory and legislative proceedings.  

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Since his retirement, Jim has advised or directed a number of firms in the energy space: 

• He is the CEO and a Director of ARES, a firm pioneering the use of electric locomotive technology for large-scale energy storage.

• Jim is a Director of S&C Electric Company, a global provider of equipment and services for electric power systems. Founded in 1911, the Chicago-based company designs and manufactures switching and protection products for electric power transmission and distribution. He serves on the compensation committee.

• Kelly is a Director of OneRoof Energy, one of the nation's premier solar finance providers. He is chair of the audit committee.

• He is a Director of Blue Earth Energy, chairing the nominating & corporate governance and compensation committees, and sitting on the audit committee. Blue Earth is integrating multiple green energy technologies that will enable customers to deploy end-to-end solutions that reduce cost and improve environmental stewardship.

• Jim is a Director of Ice Energy, the leading provider of smart grid-enabled, distributed energy storage to the utility industry. Ice Energy delivers cost-effective solutions at grid-scale to reduce peak demand, improve energy system efficiency and reliability, and transform the way the utility system operates.

• He is a Director of Dynamic Engineers, a firm that has developed the complex analytics required to perform true Dynamic Line Rating for transmission lines.

• Jim is the co-founder of and Partner in Coachella Partners, a venture that provides specialized advisory services to Native American tribes on matters related to energy.

• He is co-founder of and a Partner in Muni-Fed Streetlight Solutions, a firm that delivers innovative approaches to municipal street lighting needs.

• Kelly is CTO and a Partner in Sandidge Consulting, advising local cities and agencies on energy issues.

• He is a member of the Advisory Board of On-Ramp Wireless, which has developed the first wireless system purpose-built to efficiently connect billions of hard-to-reach devices in metropolitan and other challenging environments.

• Jim serves as a trusted advisor to MWH, a global consulting, engineering and construction company.

• He is Chairman of the California Infrastructure Institute, a non-profit corporation dedicated to finding innovative and environmentally responsible solutions to the problems of the built urban infrastructure.

• He is also an advisor to Eos Energy Storage, developers of the novel, proprietary Znyth™ technology—the first low-cost, long-life, inherently safe, energy dense, and highly efficient aqueous battery.

• Finally, he serves as a senior advisor and consultant for selected governmental and private clients, including the Port of Long Beach and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  He has recently provided strategic advice and counsel to government agencies and state-owned enterprises in Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

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An accomplished and sought-after speaker, Kelly has given hundreds of talks on technology topics, regulatory policy and leadership to gatherings ranging from 20 to 5,000 attendees.

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Jim earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s degree from California State Polytechnic University.  He holds teaching credentials in several subjects and has taught at a number of colleges and universities throughout his career.

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Among his many philanthropic interests, Kelly serves on the Engineering Advisory Boards for the University of Southern California and California State University, Los Angeles. Jim is also a member of the Industry Advisory Forum at the California Institute of Technology; past vice-chairman of the board at Don Bosco Technical Institute; and a member of an Architectural Review Board in the city of Arcadia.

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Jim is married to Leigh, and has two grown daughters, Maren and Jan. He resides in Arcadia and Newport Beach, California.