Bridget Obehi Irekponor, a Fuel Data Analyst at Giant Eagle, has been honored with the Natural Gas Industry Leadership Award by the American Gas Association (AGA) following her groundbreaking presentation at the AGA Operations Conference held in May 2024. The award recognizes non-executive professionals who demonstrate exceptional leadership, innovation, and measurable impact across the U.S. natural gas industry. Irekponor’s research rooted in five years of U.S. gasoline price data and advanced analytics stood out for translating machine-learning insights into deployable operational tools that address volatility, affordability, and resilience across gas and fuel systems nationwide.
Presented under the 2024 conference theme “Resilient Innovation: Powering America’s Energy Future,” her work integrated datasets from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), and the International Energy Agency (IEA), applying ARIMA and Random Forest models to move utilities from reactive pricing to predictive, policy-aligned decision-making. Her case application within a multibillion-dollar retail fuel context reinforced commercial credibility and sector-wide applicability.
Industry experts in attendance praised the contribution. Dr. Michael Harrington, Energy Economist and former utility advisor, noted: “What set Bridget’s presentation apart was not just analytical rigor, but operational clarity. She showed—step by step—how advanced forecasting can be embedded into gas utility planning to protect customers from price shocks while maintaining compliance.” Jeanna Martin Ruiz, Director of Digital Transformation at a Midwestern municipal gas authority, added: “This was one of the few sessions that directly connected machine learning to pipeline optimization and load forecasting in a way utilities can actually deploy. It’s a model for how analytics should serve public-interest energy operations.”
Following strong engagement covering rounds of Q&A from organizers and attendees , Bridget’s work emerged as one of the interesting projects for the event earning her a position among the top four professionals from twenty-five national nominees for the award. The recognition affirms her leadership among peers and underscores how data-driven innovation can advance affordability, energy equity, and resilience across U.S. gas operations. Africa congratulates Bridget Obehi Irekponor on this distinguished achievement and her continued contributions to modernizing America’s energy future.