William P. Herdegen is the president and chief operating officer of The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P). He has overall leadership and management responsibility for the operation and maintenance of CL&P’s electric power distribution system, including the emergency preparedness and response program.

Mr. Herdegen joined CL&P after more than 35 years of experience in the electric utility business. Prior to joining Northeast Utilities, he held several executive positions at Kansas City Power & Light that included responsibility for customer service, distribution and transmission areas of the company.

He also served as chief operating officer for Laramore, Douglass and Popham, a consulting firm that provides engineering services to the electric utility industry. Additionally, he was vice president of Utility Practice at System Development Integration, an IT consulting firm focused on development and implementation of technology systems.

He began his utility career at Commonwealth Edison, where he held various positions, including field engineer, district manager, business unit supply manager, operations manager and vice president, Engineering and Construction & Maintenance.

Mr. Herdegen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

Mr. Herdegen serves on the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce. He is on the Board of the Midwest Energy Association (MEA), a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a member of the Project Management Institute, the immediate Past Chair of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC) Power Delivery Committee, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Distribution Committee, and Chair of the Distribution Executive Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Power Delivery Sector Council.

Kenneth B. Bowes is vice president – Energy Delivery Services Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P), a subsidiary of the Northeast Utilities (NU) and Connecticut’s largest electric utility. Bowes is responsible for CL&P’s Distribution Asset Management, Field Services, Capital Construction groups, Meter Services and Meter Assets & Operations. Bowes is also jointly responsible for the Meter Data Management Services project.

A native of New Hampshire, Bowes joined NU in July 1984 in the System Test department. He has held several engineering and management positions in the NU Energy Delivery organizations becoming the Director – Transmission and Distribution Maintenance in 1999, Director – Transmission Construction, Test, and Maintenance in 2002, and Director – Transmission Projects in 2004. In 2008, he joined CL&P’s senior leadership team as vice president – Customer Operations.

Bowes earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from the University of New Hampshire and a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Bowes is the past Chairman of the Edison Electric Institute’s Transmission Committee.

Steven R. Gilkey is the Vice President of Electric Field Operations for The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P). He is responsible for the operation and maintenance of CL&P’s distribution system in support of the safe and reliable delivery of electric service for CL&P’s 1.2 million customers. At CL&P, Gilkey manages customer operations, substation and line maintenance, capital construction, and new service.

Gilkey joined CL&P in 2013 from Florida Power & Light (FPL), where he served as Director of Distribution Operations. He was responsible for designing, connecting, restoring and maintaining distribution service for FPL. In addition to leading all daily service center activities, he was instrumental in FPL’s tropical storm restoration efforts.

A veteran in the utility industry, Gilkey also served as Senior Director of Engineering at Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), and led KCP&L’s Smart Grid strategy. He also held various leadership positions at National Grid and Niagara Mohawk. He has experience leading teams in engineering, field supervision, operations management, emergency response, and merger and acquisition.

Gilkey will become Chairman of the Distribution Executive Committee of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in 2013, and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was the executive board treasurer of the International Lineman’s Rodeo Association, and is active in the EPRI Power Delivery Sector Council.

Gilkey earned his MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University. He also has completed Executive Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management.
 

William J. Quinlan is senior vice president – Emergency Preparedness for The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P), a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities (NU) and Connecticut's largest electric utility. Quinlan is responsible for leading the integration of CL&P and Yankee Gas’ planning and response to emergencies, including the effective partnering with state and municipal officials. He is also leading the development of a comprehensive plan to improve the resiliency of CL&P’s electric distribution infrastructure. In addition, he leads the conservation and load management (C&LM), energy efficiency, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), Smart Grid, electric vehicle, distributed resources and renewable generation programs. He also is responsible for the account executives, economic development and community relations functions.

Prior to assuming his current role, Quinlan served as vice president – Customer Solutions, overseeing key customer facing and metering functions, including operations, field service and data management. In addition, Quinlan previously served as vice president - Field Maintenance for CL&P and Yankee Gas, overseeing distribution, operations, maintenance, transportation, supply chain and facilities functions for the companies.

Quinlan has extensive operations, legal, regulatory, technology and business experience, first joining NU in 1984 as an assistant engineer in the nuclear program. In 1993, he joined NU's Legal Department as an attorney and later became deputy general counsel. From 2003 to 2007, he served as president and chief operating officer of NU Enterprises, Inc. (NUEI), the holding company for NU's competitive businesses. Before joining NU, he was employed by the General Electric Company at its Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in upstate New York.

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Quinlan graduated from Villanova University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He received a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Haven in 1989 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1992.

He is a member of the Connecticut, Federal Energy, and American Bar Associations, is active in EPRI’s Power Delivery & Utilization Council and serves on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company.