Christopher Kerr

Background

About Christopher Kerr

I love solving problems by deriving actionable insights with data. It all began when I was part of a university team that designed, built, and raced an open-wheel (mini-F1) race car. Learning about vehicle dynamics & performance, sensor circuit design, how to make sense of the data collected; using analytics to “see” things that weren’t obvious was my jam. That natural curiosity guided my studies with a simple question, “How the heck does electricity work?”. So I learned about impedance, wave equations, power system protection. none of it sounded “cool” at the time, but what is cool (to me at least) is to see how those fundamental building blocks form a foundation upon which all sorts of net-zero transition ideas are building on today. Armed with my degree in electrical engineering specializing in power systems, I joined one of Ontario's largest local distribution companies. For nine years I grew through increasingly challenging leadership roles, developing breadth and depth of experience in: • Asset Management / Maintenance / Reliability • OPEX & CAPEX Business Planning • Grid Modernization • Regulatory Applications & Rates • Accounting & Financial Modeling • Enterprise Systems & Business Transformation One thing they didn’t touch on in school though, the electricity grid is crazy expensive! I started learning about this whole other dimension to keeping the lights on, the wonderful world of finance. Rate base, depreciation, WACC.and how do each of these puzzle pieces in the rates equation change based on system engineering decisions? And what’s the “regulator” all about? Time for my next adventure! In many places, a regulator sets energy prices since consumers don’t have an option on whom to buy from. Currently, I’m leading a team at Ontario’s independent energy regulatory focusing on: • Financial & Operational Analytics • Performance Benchmarking • Data Democratization • Right-sizing Regulatory Processes