Mark Esguerra
Director, Distribution System Planning & Strategy
Southern California Edison, USA
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Biography: Mark Esguerra has been with the electric utility industry for 27 years and has held various leadership positions including electric distribution planning, electric transmission planning, electric asset management, generation interconnection services, transmission & substation engineering standards and work methods, as well as energy policy & procurement. Mark joined Southern California Edison (SCE) in August 2022 as the Director of Distribution System Planning and Strategy, where he is focused on planning and designing the future electric grid to enable clean energy policies.
Mark participates in various electric utility industry committees, such as with the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (past chair and current co-chair) and GridTECH Connect (current Board Member), to help advance the utility industry with integration and development of new technologies and the sharing of best practices.
Mark also serves as a strategic advisor for the Asian Society for Cultural Exchange Networking and Diversity (ASCEND), SCE’s official Asian Pacific Islander business resource group, focused on sharing and celebrating the diverse API cultures within SCE, promoting professional growth, leadership, and teamwork, as well as strengthening customer and community relationships through volunteerism and outreach.
Mark earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from San Francisco State University (SFSU) and obtained a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from the Masagung School of Business at the University of San Francisco (USF). He is also a registered Professional Electrical Engineer for the State of California.
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Title
Reimagining the Grid | Bold actions need to achieve decarbonization goals and meet increasing electricity demand under an evolving climate
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Abstract: As people around the world face undeniable climate impacts and sobering risks to their future health and livelihoods, it is imperative that states develop plans, including significant interim targets and policies, on how to comply with national policies aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 or earlier. However, success requires unprecedented innovation and coordination across planning, policy, and technology. Significant electrification – powered by clean generation and enabled by an unparalleled expansion of the electric grid – is necessary to decarbonize the economy feasibly and affordably. Achieving these outcomes requires urgent and fundamental changes in how utility energy infrastructure is planned, designed, built, maintained and operated to keep pace with rapidly increasing electricity demand and evolving environmental climate, while managing affordability of the grid for its end users, as well as rising customer expectations for higher reliability and resiliency of the grid. This will require accelerating the industry’s development, testing, piloting, and deployment of critical grid technologies.
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