Grid Assurance marks milestone by reaching stocked inventory status
COLUMBUS, OH—September 13, 2021— Grid Assurance™ a provider of resilience solutions for the nation’s electric grid, has appointed David E. Rupert as CEO. Rupert brings extensive leadership experience to this position with over 40 years in the engineering, aerospace and utility industries.
Grid Assurance provides its subscribers with expedited access to critical transmission equipment – including transformers, circuit breakers and bushings – should they need emergency assistance after a high-impact event to the grid.
“We’re hitting our stride at the right time,” said David Rupert, CEO, Grid Assurance. “All utilities have to be on their game from a defensive standpoint, but you also have to put yourself in the best possible position to restore the grid quickly should something catastrophic occur.”
Grid Assurance is also marking a milestone in its efforts to meet subscriber needs and ensure grid resilience. The company recently completed its initial committed inventory for stockpiled, ready-to-deploy transmission equipment with the arrival of the last three power transformers to complete the asset roster.
Rupert noted that, with its committed inventory fully stocked, Grid Assurance will continue working towards increasing participation in an effort to strengthen grid resilience on a more wide-reaching scale. Grid Assurance is also examining the expansion of its asset list with additional key equipment such as large mobile generators.
“Unfortunately, the question of a large-scale event striking the grid has become a matter of when and not if, so it is important that we work to expand the breadth and depth of our solutions and coverage,” he added.
Prior to Grid Assurance, Rupert was the Director of Business Development for eastern regions of the United States, focusing on PJM and other eastern ISOs for AEP. He continues to serve as the Vice President of Business Development for BOLD Transmission, LLC.
Previously, Rupert was Director of Delivery Operations for EASi, LLC, providing engineering services to AEP. He also served in the aerospace industry with McDonnell Douglas as Director of Operations Support, in private legal practice and a number of years in AEP’s Supply Chain organization in various roles including the de facto Chief Procurement Office.
Grid Assurance’s grid resilience solution is industry-led and modeled after other successful best-practice inventory stockpiling programs including those of the healthcare, military, oil drilling, and nuclear power industries. The company pools assets to achieve economies of scale and provide its subscribers with difficult to acquire assets and pre-approved logistics plans to assure certainty of product availability, condition, and delivery time.
Grid Assurance
Grid Assurance expands the resilience and recovery capabilities of the nation’s electric grid by providing the industry’s most certain, secure and cost-effective solution to expedite the restoration of critical, long lead time transmission equipment following significant grid outages. Affiliates of American Electric Power, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and FirstEnergy are current owner companies of Grid Assurance, a limited liability company. For more information visit www.gridassurance.com
