Joe Iannucci, an icon of the distributed resources (DR) industry, passed away November 4, 2004. Although cancer claimed Joe, his body of seminal work will long continue to be cited, and the concept he helped define become mainstream.

While the humble beginnings of the DR movement can be traced to the early 1990s, the seed was planted several years earlier. Carl Weinberg and Joe, then of Pacific Gas & Electric, proposed the Distributed Utility concept. Based on multiple-generation sources located within the distribution system, it was a radical departure from the centralized generation, transmission, and distribution paradigm that had ruled since the days of Public Utility Company Holding Act. Such an intellectual bolt lit up the usually staid power industry. Joe, having co-founded Distributed Utility Associates (DUA) in 1993, played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between public and private electric utilities and the emerging DR community. This was and is no easy feat. But as Joe viewed the DR world, he and his colleagues at DUA believed that the truth lay in unbiased engineering and economic analyses. Joe led numerous studies, and the results were credible and unassailable, setting the foundation for informed, knowledgeable, and monumental debates among the stakeholders. The true testament to his research studies is captured by the oft-stated words, "Well, did you read what Joe found and concluded on this topic…?"

In January 2004, his peers and colleagues awarded him a Distinguished Achievement Award, which read:

Joseph Iannucci is recognized for his outstanding contribution to science and his unfaltering service to the distributed energy community worldwide, including the fostering of the theory of the ‘Distributed Utility’ and to the advancement of the integration of Distributed Energy Resources in California and the nation.

His landmark achievements:

• Co-originator of the "Distributed Utility" concept and one of its most ardent promoters
• Author of seminal state and national studies of distributed generation impacts on the environment and market penetration
• Dedicated mentor, teacher
• Rock hound, tenor extraordinaire, and profoundly nice guy

Inspired by and in memoriam to Joe, his colleagues have formed a board to award, on a deserving basis, the Joe Iannucci / Distributed Resources / Distinguished Achievement Award.

DE - March/April 2005