Ben Hertz-Shargel is global head of grid edge at Wood Mackenzie, where he leads research across electrification, grid digitalization, distributed energy resources, and flexibility in electricity markets.  

He came to Wood Mackenzie from Rhythm, a retail clean energy provider, where he was head of data science and demand management and was responsible for the company’s data, business intelligence, and analytics platform. Prior to that Ben was vice president, advanced grid services and analytics at EnergyHub, where he was responsible for analytics within the company’s distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) and energy market operations. At EnergyHub, Ben managed the forecasting and optimization of some of the largest virtual power plants in the world, comprised of electric vehicle (EV) chargers, stationary batteries, grid-interactive water heaters, and connected thermostats. Ben came to EnergyHub from ThinkEco, where he was vice president, technology, and prior to that was a member of the Quantitative Strategies group at Credit Suisse.

Ben is an expert on the intersection between advanced energy technology and energy markets, contributing to reports on the digitalization and decarbonization of the power system published by the Atlantic Council and the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the external Advisory Committee of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Energy and Environment Program and is a contributor to Axios and Utility Dive. 

Ben holds a bachelor of arts in computer science from Northwestern, a master of science in mathematics from the Courant Institute at New York University, and a PhD in mathematics from University of California, Los Angeles.