Michael Brown, Chair of the Board

Michael Brown

PLMA Title: Chair of the Board

Company: NV Energy / Berkshire Hathaway Energy
Company Title: Manager, DSM Services (DR & DER)
Years with PLMA: 13
Years in the Industry: 20

How Did You Become a Member of PLMA's Leadership Team?

I started regularly attending PLMA conferences in 2007 to learn more about the latest advances in demand response programs and technologies. NV Energy hosted the Spring 2011 Conference, after which we became a member and I joined the PLMA Board of Directors. At a 2013 board meeting—which was much smaller back then—after some deafening silence in response to a request from our Chair for help to support a new initiative, I volunteered to develop an educational component and worked with Staff to create an Education Committee and the DR Training Series which launched in 2014. It was great to be invited to the strategic planning retreat and start learning more about PLMA as an organization and its broader initiatives in the context of our mission. I was then elected to the PLMA Executive Committee in 2015 and 2016 and continued working on the Education Committee, assisting with the conferences, and serving as a mentor at the training courses. In the Fall of 2016, in a special election to backfill a vacancy, I was elected Vice-Chair, and started working to recruit new leadership for the Education Committee and broader support for Interest Groups. In 2017, I moved into the Chair role. PLMA has been a comfortable space where I've felt at home, learning from and growing with peers; and yet, at the same time, it's a place that continues to present new challenges to be confronted in personal, organizational, and industry growth.

Subject Matter Expertise / Areas of Knowledge:

  • automated metering infrastructure,
  • load control devices,
  • residential demand response,
  • commercial demand response,
  • industrial demand response,
  • energy storage,
  • program design,
  • program management,
  • project management,
  • energy management,
  • electric energy efficiency,
  • gas energy efficiency,
  • connected devices,
  • wi-fi thermostats,
  • ac/cycling programs,
  • rate design,
  • demand side management,
  • energy efficiency,
  • renewable energy

Getting to Know You Outside of Work

Where are you located: Las Vegas, NV

Favorite book / author: The Prize, Daniel Yergin

Favorite band/ group / artist: Many, including U2, jazz like Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis, piano like Erik Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes, and performance brass including Canadian Brass, Winton Marsalis, and Chris Botti.

Favorite foods: Too many, including moules et frites, bouillabaisse, papa rellena, and shrimp creole.

Favorite TV show(s): Breaking Bad

Favorite movie(s): Glory, The Mission, Blade Runner (original & 2049), Fellowship of the Ring

What do you play / do in your free time: soccer, biking, scouting

What's your "one thing" that you bring to your work to motivate you? Inborn curiosity.

How would you suggest others get involved with PLMA:
Sit down and have a discussion with a current or former Executive Committee Member or Officer.

Ask me about:
Volunteer opportunities at PLMA

Contact Info:
LinkedIn