Balzhiser retired as President and CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in 1996. He remains active at EPRI in a President Emeritus role. He served on the 1997 and 1999 Energy Study Committees requested by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). He also serves as an advisor to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the MIT Energy Laboratory. Dr. Balzhiser currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Aerospace Corporation. Prior to EPRI's creation, Balzhiser served as an Associate Director in the President's Office of Science and Technology with responsibility for energy, environment and natural resources from 1971-73. He received a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering and M.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan. He subsequently served as a faculty member in the chemical engineering department, which he chaired in 1970-71.

He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, 1994. He was a member of the review panel for California's PIER Program, 1998-2001, and chaired the World Bank's Energy Technology Steering Committee during that period. Balzhiser has also chaired the US Energy Technology Committee that opened relations with the USSR in 1972-73.