New Contributor – Energy Sector!

At the state and local levels, homeland security practitioners often emerge from a specific sector such as public safety, public health, information technology, transportation or energy.  These sectors are referred to specifically in strategic documents such as the National Infrastructure Protection Plan as having a nexus to homeland security.  HLSR is building a pool of contributors that are homeland security specialists in specific sectors.  These sector experts will provide our readers with informed analysis of key issues and robust discussion about homeland security based on their valuable state and local experience and perspective.  We are very pleased to announce our newest contributor is a homeland security professional with a great deal of experience to share from the energy sector.

Jeffrey Pillon is the Director of Energy Assurance for the National
Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO). In this capacity he provides
technical support to states who have received Energy Assurance funding from
the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability. These grants have supported States as they update their
energy emergency response plans and work towards enhancing the resiliency of
critical energy infrastructure. He also has Special Term Appointment to
Argonne National Laboratory, Infrastructure Assurance Center.

Mr. Pillon has lectured nationally on energy assurance planning and
preparedness.  He helped design and conduct a series of multi-state regional
energy emergency exercises and after-action workshops. He is the principal
author of the State Energy Assurance Guidelines developed by NASEO and the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions (NARUC). He
represents NASEO on the Government Coordinating Council for the Energy
Sector under the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and serves on the
Electric Power Research Institute’s Energy Efficiency/Smart Grid Public
Advisory Group. He is the past chair of the Energy Data and Security
Committee for the NASEO, and a past member and chair of the NARUC Staff
Subcommittee on Critical Infrastructure.

Mr. Pillon worked for the State of Michigan from 1973 to 2009. He began work
allocating petroleum supplies as the result of the Arab oil embargo in 1973.
He managed the State’s response to the oil shortages due to the Iranian
revolution in 1979. He served as the Manager of Energy Data & Security for
the Michigan Public Service Commission’s where he was responsible for
monitoring energy supply and demand, short term energy forecasting,
emergency preparedness, and management of the Commission’s website and
information technology applications. He also served as a Departmental
Emergency Management Coordinator working in the State Emergency Operation
Center during a number of events including the 2003 Blackout. He was a
member of the Michigan Homeland Security Preparedness Committee; Michigan
Homeland Security Advisory Council; the Pandemic Coordinating Committee;
chaired the Michigan Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee and later
co-chaired of the Energy Sector Committee of the Michigan Infrastructure
Coordinating Committee. Mr. Pillon is a graduate of Michigan State
University in Political Science.

We are honored to have Mr. Pillon as a contributor!