For more than three decades, Garry Jurina has built an exceptional career at the intersection of electrical infrastructure, operational leadership, and technical excellence. As a seasoned executive in the power, transmission, generation, and utility sectors, Garry has earned a reputation for successfully leading some of the industry’s most complex high-voltage testing and commissioning initiatives while developing high-performing teams that consistently deliver safe, reliable, and efficient results. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to ensuring that critical infrastructure is energized safely, on schedule, and in full compliance with industry regulations. His ability to blend technical expertise with practical leadership has made him a trusted advisor to utilities, engineering firms, contractors, and executive leadership teams alike.
Currently serving as Testing and Commissioning Manager with TRC, supporting Avangrid as the Owner’s Engineer, Garry oversees multiple large-scale substation modernization projects ranging from 13.2kV through 345kV across several brownfield facilities. His responsibilities extend well beyond technical execution, encompassing strategic planning, project coordination, regulatory compliance, workforce leadership, safety oversight, and cross-functional collaboration. Under his leadership, numerous substations valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars have been successfully energized while maintaining an outstanding safety record. His expertise spans every phase of testing and commissioning, including Protection and Controls (P&C), SCADA integration, relay coordination, apparatus testing, FAT/SAT execution, and live commissioning activities that are essential to maintaining the reliability of today’s electrical grid.
Garry’s career reflects continuous growth through progressively increasing leadership responsibilities across some of the most respected organizations in the electrical services industry. Before joining TRC, he founded Everlasting Services, LLC, where he successfully built and operated a profitable consulting company specializing in startup coordination, testing, commissioning, and protection and control services. As President, he developed customized commissioning plans, managed technical personnel, and partnered with utility clients on projects involving substations ranging from 69kV to 230kV. His entrepreneurial experience provided valuable executive insight into business development, operational efficiency, customer relations, financial management, and organizational leadership while reinforcing his ability to build successful teams from the ground up.
Earlier in his career, Garry served as a Field Service Engineer and NETA Level III Certified Technician with American Electrical Testing, where he led testing and commissioning efforts on transmission substations operating up to 500kV. During this period, he developed standardized testing templates and commissioning procedures that improved operational efficiency by approximately seventy-five percent while ensuring strict adherence to IEEE and NETA standards. His work demonstrated not only exceptional technical capability but also a commitment to process improvement, quality assurance, and organizational excellence that continues to define his leadership philosophy today.
Garry also spent eight years with Schneider Electric as one of the company’s highest-level Systems Field Service Representatives. There, he successfully managed more than 400 industrial, commercial, and utility projects involving startup, maintenance, relay testing, troubleshooting, and commissioning services. In addition to serving clients throughout North America, he became a trusted instructor for advanced protective relay training, helping develop technical professionals across the organization. His ability to simplify highly technical concepts into understandable instruction reflects one of his greatest strengths—empowering others through education, mentorship, and practical leadership while building lasting relationships throughout the industry.
The foundation of Garry’s leadership style was established during twelve years of distinguished military service with the United States Army Prime Power Program. Rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6), he served in numerous domestic and international assignments supporting critical power generation, distribution, maintenance, and infrastructure missions throughout the United States, South Korea, Guam, and Indonesia. During his military career, he led testing and commissioning teams, developed standardized maintenance procedures, managed multimillion-dollar equipment inventories, supported FEMA and U.S. Border Patrol missions, and trained dozens of soldiers in protective relay testing and commissioning. His graduation as Distinguished Honor Graduate from both the U.S. Army Prime Power School and Primary Leadership Development Course demonstrates the discipline, work ethic, and commitment to excellence that have become hallmarks of his professional career.
Throughout every stage of his career, Garry has consistently focused on building organizations, strengthening operational processes, and developing people. Whether leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams across several substations simultaneously or mentoring young technicians entering the electrical utility profession, he believes that sustainable success is achieved by investing in people first. His leadership emphasizes accountability, preparation, collaboration, and continuous improvement while creating environments where safety, performance, and professional development remain top priorities. This people-centered philosophy has enabled him to build high-performing teams capable of delivering mission-critical infrastructure projects under demanding schedules and complex operating conditions.
Beyond his extensive technical accomplishments, Garry is passionate about the future of the utility industry and the challenges facing executive leadership. He recognizes the growing need for experienced operational leaders as many seasoned professionals retire, creating significant knowledge gaps across the industry. He believes his decades of field leadership, operational insight, and executive experience uniquely position him to help boards and executive teams identify hidden operational risks, improve organizational effectiveness, strengthen leadership development, and guide strategic decision-making. He is also enthusiastic about helping organizations leverage emerging artificial intelligence technologies to improve operational efficiency, predictive maintenance, workforce development, and infrastructure management throughout the electrical and utility sectors.
As a board candidate, Garry offers a rare combination of executive leadership, military discipline, entrepreneurial success, and highly specialized technical expertise. His broad understanding of power generation, transmission, substations, construction management, regulatory compliance, commissioning, operations, and organizational leadership allows him to contribute meaningful strategic guidance at the board level. Above all, he leads according to his personal philosophy of FDIC—Focus, Discipline, Integrity, and Caring—which serves as both a leadership framework and a personal commitment to those he serves. He believes that effective governance is built upon ethical leadership, sound judgment, open communication, and an unwavering commitment to helping organizations and their people achieve long-term success.
Character:
Garry demonstrates unwavering integrity through every aspect of his leadership, consistently placing safety, accountability, and ethical decision-making at the forefront of every project and professional relationship. His military background, servant leadership philosophy, and commitment to developing others have earned the trust and respect of colleagues, clients, and executive leadership throughout his career.
Knowledge:
With more than 30 years of experience across power generation, transmission, substations, commissioning, SCADA, protection and controls, and utility operations, Garry possesses an exceptional depth of industry knowledge. His expertise enables him to identify operational risks, improve technical performance, and guide organizations through complex infrastructure challenges with confidence.
Strategic:
Garry approaches every opportunity with a long-term perspective that balances operational excellence, organizational growth, workforce development, and technological innovation. His ability to improve processes, build high-performing teams, and embrace emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence positions him as a valuable strategic advisor for executive leadership and corporate boards.
Communication:
Exceling at translating highly technical concepts into practical business discussions that support informed executive decision-making. His experience leading teams, presenting to stakeholders, instructing technical professionals, and collaborating across multiple organizations demonstrates his ability to communicate with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
