Wood Mackenzie appoints Ben Hertz-Shargel as Global Head of Grid Edge

Wood Mackenzie, a leading provider of commercial intelligence for the world's natural resources sector, has appointed Ben Hertz-Shargel to the role of Global Head of Grid Edge.

The announcement comes as the company plans to expand its Lens® data and analytics platform later this year to include power and renewables assets as part of its focus on the energy transition.

Based in New York, Hertz-Shargel is an expert on the intersection between advanced energy technology and energy markets. He joins from retail clean electricity provider Rhythm, where he was Head of Data Science and Demand Management. Prior to that, Hertz-Shargel was Vice President of Advanced Grid Services and Analytics at EnergyHub, where he managed the forecasting and optimisation of some of the largest virtual power plants in the world.

Hertz-Shargel regularly contributes to reports on the digitalisation and decarbonisation of the power system, published by the Atlantic Council and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and serves on the external Advisory Committee of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Energy and Environment Program.

Matthew Overbeck, Head of Wood Mackenzie’s Energy Transition Practice, said: “We’re excited to welcome Ben to the Wood Mackenzie power and renewables team. The growing number of distributed energy resources, electric vehicles and charging stations, microgrids, and increased innovation in how consumers utilise electricity is increasing the complexity of the grid while also creating new business opportunities. Ben’s wealth of expertise in this area will help our customers to identify opportunities across the market, understand the nuances of monetising these assets, and predict how technologies will impact power markets and grid flexibility.”

Hertz-Shargel added: “I am thrilled to join Wood Mackenzie’s Energy Transition Practice, which plays such an outsized and authoritative role in the industry. The grid edge is where the rubber meets the road in the energy transition and with the power and renewables team’s global expertise and data capabilities, our grid edge service is uniquely positioned to help decisionmakers manage, and invest in, the explosive growth in electrification and distributed energy resources.”