TORONTO – May 15, 2018 – Sussex Strategy Group, one of Canada’s premier government relations and strategic communications firms, is pleased to announce that George Pessione has joined the Energy and Environment Practice as a Senior Counsel.
George has over 40 years of experience in the electricity industry, and brings with him a broad base of expertise in the sector including cost, reliability and environmental performance.
Most recently he was Director, Resource Integration-Power System Planning for the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), and with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) which merged with the IESO in 2015. His responsibilities included assessing supply options in Ontario and from external markets, how they compare with conservation and transmission options, and how they would fit into Ontario’s market and system operations. This has included involvement in several recent, key electricity initiatives and contracts.
Throughout his career George has focused on how the system and the market can provide value to suppliers and ultimately to the Ontario electricity customers, through his expert knowledge of the cost structures and their relationship to the rate structures. He has played a key role in the development of Ontario's Integrated Power System Plan (IPSP) and the government’s Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP) through his in-depth knowledge of Ontario’s electricity sector. He has provided ongoing advice on the challenges and opportunities of balancing cost, reliability and carbon impacts, through contracts and the market, as the government develops its policies and initiatives to advance the sector into the future. George has also been involved in the assessment of emerging markets and technologies such as electricity storage and smart grid as they evolve and help revolutionize the industry.
Previously, in his nearly 30 years with Ontario Hydro and its successor company OPG, George was involved in planning, building, or operating the system and many of the facilities that have “kept the lights on” in Ontario as well as the introduction of Ontario’s current electricity market. His experience includes involvement in submissions to the OEB and the NEB and serving as secretary of the Canadian Nuclear Association’s Economic Development committee. In his career George has worked with experts from all over the world in many aspects of the electricity sector providing a broad foundation of knowledge from which to provide customer value.
George is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1974 with a BASc in Industrial Engineering.
Sussex Strategy Group provides comprehensive government relations and strategic communications services in multiple markets across the country. With practice areas at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, Sussex represents many prominent companies across a variety of sectors, including energy, environment, health care, infrastructure, and financial services, to name a few.
For more information, please contact:
Chris Benedetti
Principal, Sussex Strategy Group
Head, Energy and Environment Practice
T: (416) 961-6611 ext. 104
