We wanted to give you our perspective of some of the good things going on with PES from our positions of Treasurer and Secretary of the Governing Board. There is much to be proud about.

This summer our General Meeting in Denver set another attendance record. Almost 3400 attended from over 60 countries and PES offered 12 Tutorials during the conference. Many of our conferences are setting records in attendance and in 2016, there are three of the largest conferences being held. Besides the General Meeting in Boston in July, the T&D Conference will be held in the Spring in Dallas, Texas. This one of a kind conference and exposition draws over 13,000 attendees from around the world. In the fall, The Electric Safety Maintenance and Operations Exposition (ESMO) will be held again in Ohio USA. This is targeted at both engineering and operations personnel in the utility industry and has a major outside demonstration component where you can witness new products and construction techniques. These exciting opportunities seem to be increasingly popular.

PES continues to improve its member ease of use factor. There is an improved PES Resource Center where you can more easily find technical presentations and information. The number chapters continue to grow, especially in the area of student chapters. The affinity groups of Women in Power and Young Professionals are vibrant and full of energy. Our publications and especially the newer ones are doing very well and growing.

Initiatives in Smart Grid have continued to be industry leading and both newsletters, conferences around the world, and publications are proving to be very strong. The strong web and social media presences in this area are good examples of how PES makes a difference.

Our two efforts in supporting students through scholarship are strong and growing. The Scholarship Plus program in North America has award over $1.5M to students since its inception. Plans are being finalized for expanding this program worldwide.

The new effort to bring electricity to the 1.3 billion people in the world without reliable electricity is called the IEEE Smart Village program. This effort is to use renewable Photovoltaic systems to charge batteries which can be leased to customers to charge cell phones, provide light or for computers. This program is based on contributions and has gotten considerable worldwide attention for its innovation and technical ingenuity.

From our seats on the Governing Board, we have seen many great things occurring in your PES. We have a new Long Range Plan in place and in 2016, there will be a new President. Damir Novosel will be replacing Miroslav Begovic as President. Both are outstanding leaders in the industry. Elections for President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer are occurring now and results will be announced in a future newsletter. This is an opportunity to express who you would like assist in the governance of PES.

The earlier mentioned accomplishments happen with direction and support from the Governing Board and many, many, many members to dedicate their time, talents and energy to making PES the success it is today.

Thank you for being a member. We have enjoyed working the talented and dedicated members of the PES Governing Board.