Michael Blonsky is a research engineer within the Grid Planning and Analysis Center at NREL. His primary research areas include modeling and control of flexible loads, including electric vehicles, HVAC equipment, water heaters, and other DERs. He leads research that analyzes the impacts of VPPs, DERMS, retail rates, and markets on energy affordability, comfort, grid reliability, and resilience. He is the lead developer for OCHRE, a residential energy model for building-to-grid integration studies. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.