"Earl and his team was instrumental in helping Rayburn becoming a NERC-certified Transmission Operator. From there, our relationship has expanded in strengthening our compliance program, leadership training and individual coaching. He’s become an integral part of the Rayburn family. Highly recommend Earl and his team. You won’t be disappointed."
David Naylor, President and CEO, Rayburn Electric Cooperative
"I have worked alongside Earl for many years, both as a regulator, and as business partners. It is a privilege to recommend him as a leader in regulatory compliance and risk management in the energy sector. Earl's company, INPOWERD is a true embodiment of his commitment to simplifying regulatory complexity and empowering organizations to focus on what truly drives reliability and operational excellence.
Earl’s extensive background, including decades of industry experience and leadership in NERC compliance, has enabled him to create structured programs that bring real, sustainable value to his clients. INPOWERD’s services, including the NERC 693 O&P Boot Camp, equip energy sector organizations with the critical knowledge needed to navigate complex regulatory landscapes confidently. His INPOWERD Leadership Program is a testament to his dedication to building robust organizational cultures, rooted in his innovative “Intelligent Empowerment” principles. These programs go beyond mere compliance, helping leaders at all levels drive meaningful improvements in operational risk management and strategic alignment.
Earl is not only a knowledgeable consultant but also a mentor and coach to many top executives across the industry. His insights into regulatory requirements, risk management, and cultural transformation are indispensable to clients across North America. His work at INPOWERD is marked by integrity, innovation, and a results-driven approach that truly empowers organizations to thrive in today’s demanding regulatory environment.
As a strategic advisor and collaborative business partner, Earl has been an invaluable asset and a great friend. His deep expertise and commitment to industry advancement have made a profound impact on our work together, and I highly recommend him to any organization seeking transformative change in regulatory and operational performance..
Patrick MIller, CEO, Ampyx Cyber
Earl Shockley and INPOWERD have been strategic partners with Lubbock’s efforts to move 70% of our load and three generation resource plants from the Eastern Interconnection to the Texas Interconnection. Earl’s experience with electric distribution, transmission, and generation assets and how those assets can achieve maximum compliance with federal, regional, and state entities is unrivaled in the industry. His experience with building compliance programs, working for regulated entities, working for regulatory agencies, and working as a trusted partner, brings a unique industry perspective that everyone can appreciate and value.
In addition to creating a new compliance platform for Lubbock, the INPOWERD team has assisted Lubbock with our Transmission Operator (TOP) Certification process with over 700 requests for information, a systematic approach to training, and audit proven document development. The team at INPOWERD can deliver and will help any entity with understanding the reasons for the requirements and how they can meet or supplement their own compliance efforts.
Chris Sims, Director of Grid Control & Compliance
City of Lubbock, Lubbock Power and Light
“If you want to work with someone who demonstrates not only mastery of their core disciplines, but also embraces intelligent and creative principle based approaches to problem solving and strategy – Earl is your guy. I have worked closely with him at 2 of my companies and benefited immensely from his deep industry domain knowledge, his dedication, entrepreneurship, and the real results he achieved for my company. I would highly recommend him as a regulatory strategy consultant, business coach and industry expert. He has been one of my most valuable consulting experts I have worked with.”
Rich Sootkoos, Entrepreneur & Former CEO
“Earl’s familiarity with NERC regulations and the energy industry, as well as his ability to explain complex technical issues in plain language, made him a very valuable expert declarant in a complex lawsuit. Earl was also willing to go above and beyond the initial scope of work, and to respond very quickly and capably to changing circumstances. Overall, Earl did an excellent job and was a pleasure to work with.”
Nick Lawton, Associate, Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks LLP
“Earl has distinguished himself as a conscientious and energetic pioneer in the fields of energy, leadership, and management. I have enormous respect for his investigative and root-cause analysis skills, and have been pleased to work with him while I was at SERC. I have also enjoyed Earl’s NERC training classes on investigation methodology and human performance fundamentals. I highly recommend Earl”.
Mickey Bellard, Director Regulatory Compliance
“I highly recommend Earl. During my time on the same team as him, I was impressed by his leadership style and work ethic. He was an excellent resource to me, possessing thorough knowledge of NERC regulations. I found him to be ethical, patient and diligent. He possessed the highest level of professionalism during formal and informal interactions with the client. He exceeded expectations per the client’s needs”.
Kimberly Mantia, CEO, Mantia Company
I have had the pleasure of working closely with Earl Shockley on multiple high-stakes cybersecurity initiatives in the energy sector, and I can confidently say he is among the most skilled and knowledgeable leaders in the field. Earl’s expertise in regulatory compliance and risk management is second to none, particularly within the complex, heavily regulated energy landscape. His ability to navigate stringent compliance standards while implementing cutting-edge cybersecurity measures has been critical to the success of these projects.
Beyond his technical and regulatory acumen, Earl is a collaborative business partner who elevates everyone around him. His approach to leadership is both strategic and inspiring—he leads by example and is frequently sought out as a coach and mentor by executives across the industry.
Earl’s insights into cybersecurity, paired with his dedication to building robust, compliant, and secure systems, make him an invaluable asset to any organization.For anyone looking to secure their assets and align with regulatory mandates while building a resilient cybersecurity strategy,
I highly recommend Earl. His guidance is both forward-thinking and grounded in practical expertise, making him a trusted advisor and partner in any challenging initiative.
Charbel Daghfal, Architect of Resilient & Agile Organizations
"The INPOWERD leadership program simplifies and distills down the core adaptive leadership elements that all leaders should embrace. Simple elements like communication and conflict management are not so simple when applied in work environments that are stressful. Earl can take these complex leadership principles and connect them back to basic leadership habits that simplify the approach for successful relationships."
Senior Executive, Southern Utility
“Earl has been and continues to be a trusted advisor as we have built out our network management and security platform for the power space. As a subject matter expert and former regulator, Earl has wide and deep experience with a broad range of utilities and vendors, which makes him uniquely qualified to provide high-level conceptual direction, as well hands-on recommendations to improve the resiliency and reliability of power systems. His industry expertise and relationships have been pivotal to our ability to effectively understand system requirements for users, as well as the regulatory compliance and reporting needs of regulators. Utilizing his excellent communication skills, Earl is our “go to” expert for product planning advice, customer feedback, and professional presentations in the power space.”
Paul Myer, CEO, Veracity Industrial Networks
“I’m very pleased to recommend Earl Shockley as a consultant. I have worked closely with Earl for the past fourteen months on several important NERC Operations projects, including achieving our NERC TOP certification. Not only has he been a key player on our team, but he’s also become a trusted colleague. Earl’s skills and leadership qualities would make him an invaluable addition to your team.
InPOWERd’s team can effectively plan, create, and build NERC 693 and CIP programs and content for their clients. He’s an excellent writer and editor and is skilled in translating technical information into engaging content. He has used his knowledge of the NERC compliance world to prioritize Rayburn’s platform for compliance and training. Earl has his finger on the pulse of NERC standard trends and provides content that is useful.
In addition to his professional qualifications, Earl has personal qualities that make him well-suited to leadership. He is the person” that many of us go to with key questions. He is not afraid to be creative and often suggests ideas to help us move forward. Earl was instrumental in developing and introducing training modules, for Rayburn’s newly hired System Operators. He’s committed to quality, growth, and progress, and he inspires his team members to strive for the same. In short, Earl is a person with vision.”
Rick Gillean, Operations Manager, Rayburn Electric Cooperative
"We contacted InPOWERd based on a recommendation from a legal firm who had used Earl as an expert witness on a NERC enforcement issue. Long story short, our organization, although supported by a well know NERC consulting firm, had failed in three keys areas during a recent compliance audit, we were desperate for the right compliance strategy.
When I made the call to InPOWERd, I recognized Earl as former NERC executive who I had met at several NERC Compliance Workshops. Earl graciously spent over an hour providing initial guidance on how to outline a successful mitigation strategy that was acceptable to the regulators. I was impressed with how he was able to understand and articulate the objectives of the NERC standards. Not once did he hold back from providing helpful insight before we committed to hiring his firm. After that call, I knew his approach would be beneficial to our team.
Earl and his team quickly engaged our team, assessed our current program and helped us to understand, simplify and identify (using an organizational maturity scale) the areas where our compliance program was unstructured, inconsistent and chaotic. Earl helped us identify the “invisible risks” that caught us by surprise and allowed us to stumble while implementing our regulatory compliance program. With Earl’s guidance, we quickly adapted the InPOWERd four step NERC compliance success model. We restructured our policies/procedures/workflows and RSAW narratives; and to the pleasure of this senior executive, we now have a NERC compliance program that is firing on all cylinders.
If you want a NERC consultant, why not pick one who has true NERC level experience and had his head under the hood of hundreds of ERO level compliance engagements? Earl can truly outline the key success factors as well as the pitfalls to avoid when designing and implementing a NERC compliance program. This guy is the real deal, Earl is a gentleman, a stellar communicator and instills in his team the key character aspects of successful leadership".
Senior Executive, East Coast Power Utility
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