Kitt Butler Receives 2023 ACEEE Champion of Energy Efficiency in Industry Award

We are thrilled to announce that Kitt Butler, business development director, recently won an American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Champion of Energy Efficiency in Industry award in the industrial leadership category. He joins a select group of efficiency leaders — including our Mike Stowe in 2021 — acknowledged by the organization.

According to ACEEE, Kitt was awarded “for significant contributions to energy efficiency and energy management initiatives, including playing a crucial role in the motors and drives sector, which accounts for a substantial portion of global electricity consumption.”

Kitt has led and contributed to myriad energy efficiency and energy management initiatives over his 25-plus years at Advanced Energy. After starting out in sales and account management, he went on to manage our motors and drives team for about two decades, helping Advanced Energy become one of the most recognized and respected motor efficiency testing facilities in the world. Our motor lab tested thousands of motors and drives, earned international accreditation and became a trusted resource for the federal government, national laboratories, trade associations, distributors, electric utilities and manufacturers of all kinds. These groups continue to look to Advanced Energy as new appliance standards are written, compliance with current standards is sought and testing protocols are considered.

Under Kitt’s leadership and guidance, the team also educated motor industry professionals on best practices and supported the development of new motor standards, regulations and policies for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy Independence and Security Act, and manufacturers.

Although he is still heavily involved in our motors and drives projects, Kitt has more recently expanded his efforts to focus on strategic energy management (SEM). He works with organizations nationwide that are looking to pursue SEM steps and certifications, including ISO 50001 and Superior Energy Performance 50001, as a means to continually improve energy usage and meet sustainability and decarbonization goals.

One reason Kitt has been so successful is his penchant for innovation and initiative. For example, he facilitated the inception of our Proven Efficiency Verification (PEV) program, a first-of-its-kind third-party motor repair quality assurance program, partnered with an electric utility to utilize the PEV program, and enabled us to become one of just four corporations worldwide to be sanctioned as a third-party auditor for a similar program launched by EASA.

In a related vein, Kitt helped Advanced Energy become the only testing lab in the world accredited to test to AHRI 1210, a first-of-its-kind certification standard for variable frequency drives. The lab also became the only independent lab outside Mexico able to test for companies selling motors into the Mexican market.

Kitt was instrumental as well in Advanced Energy earning classification by DOE in 2020 as a nationally recognized certification program for motor efficiency, allowing our organization to certify motors beyond our in-house lab through witness testing in other facilities. Furthermore, he helped our certification services expand into the Canadian market, earning accreditation by the Standards Council of Canada.

Kitt regularly presents at local, national and international conferences to communicate our team’s findings and developments with the industry. In addition, he has served as a board member of the Electric Motor Education and Research Foundation and has been active with EASA, ACEEE and the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program. He was also vital in Advanced Energy’s joining of North Carolina State University’s Cooperative Education Program, which works to train the next generation of engineers and continues to this day.

“I am honored and humbled by this recognition,” Kitt said. “I’d like to thank the ACEEE board committee that selected me and the team at Advanced Energy that nominated me, specifically Brian Coble, Michael Lyda andI am fortunate to have joined an industry and organization that had already recognized the importance of electric motor systems before I arrived and put in place the tools (lab) needed for success. My effort was to expand it by staying present and vigilant for over 25 years to grow it into a business that truly makes significant contributions to energy efficiency. The good news for me and Advanced Energy is that electric motor systems will continue to play a critical and expanding role as we decarbonize and electrify our society further.”

We at Advanced Energy are extremely proud of Kitt and all that he has accomplished in industrial and motors and drives energy efficiency. Please join us in congratulating him on this achievement!