Welcome Your New Expert Interview Series: Germán Toro Ghio, New Expert in The Energy Collective - [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Expert Interview]
Gone are the days where energy news was niche and only for those working and trading in the industry. Now, when there’s major news in the world of utilities or oil and gas companies, that news makes mainstream headlines. And that shift is with good reason, as the constant developments in energy are now more than ever critical to assessing the state of the economy, of international geopolitics, of our everyday way of life.
Because of that, keeping tabs on the latest conversations taking place to shape the energy industry are more important than ever, but they also might take more time than ever. But when we have experts in the community who can sift through the news and highlight for you what’s most timely, impactful, and worth your time, that benefits everyone. And that’s the task that Germán Toro Ghio has taken, even before being added to our Energy Central Network of Experts.
Germán is the CEO at Germán & Co, and you’ll likely recognize the work he’s already put in with sharing the most notable and critical international energy news stories with our community. He’ll continue these efforts now as one of our Experts in The Energy Collective, and he also recent sat down with us for the latest iteration of our New Expert Member Interview series:
Matt Chester: Thanks for agreeing to be one of our experts, Germán. Why don’t we start with you introducing yourself and your background to our community: what is your experience leading to this point in the energy industry and what is your role today?
Germán Toro Ghio: In a world that has changed and where bad news has turned into a nightmare, it is challenging and tiresome to talk about oneself. The world has changed so much; it is becoming increasingly difficult to envisage that we will ever be the same again. How we live, work, and relate to each other has been altered forever, and we try desperately to adapt to the new reality and here we must be very careful especially with trends.
That said, I was born in Santiago, the capital of southern Chile. I am a professional photographer, but I have been linked to the communications world since the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
By accident, I would say, I reached the electrical sector. I became public relations and communications manager for the Spanish company Unión Fenosa in its subsidiaries in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic in 2000. I assumed the Corporate Vice-Presidency of Communication of AES Dominicana in the second half of 2004 until January 2018, since this has been an advisory for AES Corporation and other sector institutions.
For two decades, I have travelled through the industry's genesis in all its areas, thus creating a life in which I feel passionate about the sector. My participation in the natural gas promotion strategy has been crucial, starting with learning the product, its transportation methods, regasification characteristics, and types of markets where gas is commercialized with particular emphasis on the differentiation of the NYMEX price concerning the European market. In terms of marketing, I've created more than 70 advertisements to promote natural gas and the electrical industry.