About
Newport Consulting Group, LLC was formed in 2012 to provide management consulting services to technology, energy and venture executives worldwide regarding business strategy, market development and technology and program management. The firm is led by Paul De Martini, Managing Partner, who leverages a network of leading independent consulting experts and alliances with prominent engineering, economics, and policy consulting firms. The combination continues to provide clients with a broad range and depth of services to ensure successful engagements.
Since 2012, Newport Consulting has worked with utilities and technology firms to explore new business models, develop grid modernization strategies, regulatory filings and technology management plans. Newport has also worked closely with the US DOE, US regulatory commissions, and national laboratories in the US and Australia as well as independent research organizations to conduct applied research related to transformation of the electric distribution system.
Newport Consulting was originally based in Newport Beach, California and moved in 2014 to the San Francisco Bay Area to engage and leverage the confluence of innovation in technology, energy policy and customer-centric business models that intersect here for the benefit of our clients.
Consultants
Managing Partner
Paul De Martini
Paul De Martini provides advisory services regarding the integration of distributed energy resources, market designs and related business models. He has supported over a dozen utilities’ business planning, grid modernization strategies and TSO-DSO development. Paul is co-lead of the DOE’s DSPx Modern Grid initiative and principal author of the Modern Distribution Grid Report, Volumes 1-4, used in over 20 states.
Paul is a visiting scholar at Caltech and adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco. He is also an advisor to several cleantech start-ups. He was previously chief technology & strategy officer for Cisco’s global Energy Internet of Things business unit and vice president, Advanced Technology at Southern California Edison where he led their grid modernization, distributed energy resource, smart meter and transportation electrification efforts. Paul earlier led North American sales and marketing for one of the largest competitive integrated energy services firms. He began his career at PG&E in electric system operations, T&D engineering and construction, and power marketing.
Education
WHARTON SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
FELLOW
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MBA
UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
B.S., APPLIED ECONOMICS
Activities & Affiliations
• California Institute of Technology, Visiting Scholar
• National Academies Cmte. on T&D Reliability, Emeritus Member
• Gridwise Architecture Council, Emeritus Member
Associates
Jeff Taft
Dr. Jeffrey Taft is formerly the Chief Architect for Electric Grid Transformation at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. As a member of the Energy and Environment Directorate, Jeff was responsible for the development and articulation of large scale architecture for grid modernization, as well as the support of many cross-cutting activities at the Laboratory, including the Future Power Grid Initiative, advanced computing, and the Control of Complex Systems Initiative. He began working in the grid modernization area in 2001 and has held smart grid chief architect roles with Cisco, Accenture, and IBM. Jeff formerly worked for Westinghouse and has participated in several key smart grid projects since he first began to develop sensor architectures and analytics for distribution grids, and then became involved in the larger issues of end-to-end grid integration and control. Jeff earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh with a dual specialization in digital signal processing and digital control systems in 1986. He is a member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society, is an emeritus member of the GridWise Architecture Council, and is the holder of 30 patents in control systems, signal processing, and grid modernization.
Eric Ackerman
Eric brings an extensive knowledge and insights of the electric utility industry as the former chief strategist at EEI for retail energy delivery, providing national leadership on issues involving adaptive business strategy, alternative regulation, and cost of capital. He is an expert on business and regulatory policy issues associated with grid modernization, the growth of distributed energy at scale, and the changing role of utilities in the market. Eric has focused on key issues related to the development of distributed energy resources at scale. This includes rate reform, new market rules, regulatory models that allow increased pricing flexibility, new resource planning and approval procedures that mitigate regulatory risk associated with grid modernization investments, next-generation performance based regulatory incentives.
Dale Murdock
Dale brings extensive industry experience as an independent consultant and former senior officer with PG&E to clients on a wide range of energy industry engagements including distributed business models and grid modernization. He is also an expert on energy trading risk management policies and procedures, risk management, and system audits and assessments. Dale also supports energy (electric and gas) procurement proposals, guidance on deal structures, pricing and risk exposures. He also brings extensive utility rate case development, including drafting testimony, developing underlying analytics, and responding to data requests.
Andrew De Martini
Andrew has extensive experience providing a variety of editorial, research and support duties to facilitate client project deliverables and publication of white papers. He has supported the development of Caltech's Grid 2020 report, More Than Smart report, and several DOE and CSIRO reports. Andrew attended Boston University and has completed the Stanford University Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies Program and the New Mexico State University Electric Regulation Program.