Mike Harris

The electric utility industry has long been a place of tremendous innovation, starting from the invention of the Edison light bulb and Tesla three-phase AC generator. Since that time, the arc of the story first moved from decentralized smaller generating facilities to “bigger and better” central plants. It appears that the direction has somewhat changed course in the direction of “decentralization”. Meanwhile, electricity has become vastly more market-driven, and the amount of innovation has been moving in all directions! Wind energy, solar energy, hybrid cars, battery only cars, energy storage – how does that interact with gas turbines, combined cycle units, baseload coal and nuclear plants? It’s a big mess! We’re going to talk about all sorts of things!

Biography:

John Michael “Mike” Harris is a 30-year veteran of the electric utility industry, spending some time in Power Plant Operations, some in Project Management, and a lot of time in Power Plant Testing, all at CPS Energy. Professionally, he is very engaged with the engineering community, currently serving as the Program Chairman with the San Antonio Section of ASME, with the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council at UTSA and the Engineering Advisory Council at Incarnate Word University. Mike is a member of the San Antonio Torch Club. His family has deep roots in Texas history (he has a great grandfather who brought the first Irish settlers to Texas). He has been married for 30 years, and has one (very funny) daughter. He is fluent in Spanish, can read French and is currently studying Mandarin Chinese. He is musically gifted and currently serves as a worship minister at the Oak Hills Church. Mike is at his happiest when he’s learning something new or having a good discussion – so come by and be prepared to engage in the Q&A session!