48th PLMA Conference: Speaker Bios
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Adam Light Adam Light is DERMS Practice Lead at TRC where he helps utilities integrate distributed energy resources and flexible loads to provide grid services that enhance reliability, improve affordability, and lower greenhouse gas emissions while meeting increasing demand from the electrification of transportation, buildings, and industry. Prior to joining TRC, Adam worked at Portland General Electric. There, he led the effort to define the company’s VPP operating model and delivered technology solutions for managed EV charging, commercial, industrial, and residential flexible load programs, grid edge storage, and rooftop solar. Adam graduated from Dartmouth College and studied climate science at the University of Colorado and the University of Oregon. He holds a Ph.D. in geography. |
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Stacy Phillips Stacy Phillips leads Demand Response at Duke Energy. She has also held roles in Energy Efficiency strategy and leading renewable customer programs in her 12 years at Duke. Prior to joining the utility, Stacy worked in marketing and operations in banking, frozen food and advertising agencies. Stacy resides in Charlotte. |
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Kevin Brehm Kevin is a manager with RMI, where he leads Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3). VP3 is a coalition of nonprofit and industry voices changing the necessary policies, regulations, and market rules to unlock and scale VPPs. Kevin has been with RMI for nine years. During that time, he has worked across RMI's electricity related work, including consulting, research, and convening with utilities, communities and advocates across the United States. Kevin has been involved in multiple RMI internal start-ups including Business Renewables Center (now CEBA) and Shine. Kevin lives with his partner, children, and dog in Carbondale, CO. |
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Kirsten Millar Kirsten has devoted the past decade to decarbonizing the energy industry. With tenure at Pacific Gas and Electric, Tendril/Uplight, and RMI, Kirsten’s role at Virtual Peaker is to influence energy policy and regulation and make sure that distributed energy resources are on an equal playing field with traditional resources. Kirsten’s insights from working at a utility, at a nonprofit think tank, and in the software sector enables her to have a balanced view of what’s possible, what’s likely, and what’s necessary. Her career highlights crew project planning for utility gas operations, responding to more than 100 RFPs on home energy reports and demand response, and facilitating negotiations between utilities and solar companies on net metering. For the past year, Kirsten has gone deep on demand flexibility, building solutions partnerships and winning deals that offer utilities dynamic capabilities through software and program design to go beyond traditional demand response. Kirsten has a BA from Whitman College and an MBA and MEM from Duke University. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, identical twin preschoolers, and cattle dog mutt. |
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Joe Bourg Industry veteran with over 3 decades of experience in the electric utility sector ranging from Integrated Resource Planning, program design and implementation, renewable energy project development, policy analysis and development, and distributed energy resource management. Leads business development, customer and equipment vendor resource acquisitions and aggregation, and technical and financial oversight to strategic projects. |
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Mary Tobin Mary is an associate in RMI’s Carbon-Free Electricity practice, where she leads the "Working with Utilities" working group for the Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3) Initiative. VP3 is an industry coalition working to scale virtual power plants by overcoming policy, awareness, and market barriers to unlock widespread community benefits. VP3's 26 member organizations span the automotive, building, energy service, software, and other sectors. In addition, Mary supports the RMI India team through grid flexibility research, modeling, and analysis. |
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Jennifer Downing Jen is a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office. Most recently, she led the development of DOE's Pathways to Commercial Liftoff for Virtual Power Plants (liftoff.energy.gov/vpp/). Prior to joining DOE, Jen was a Senior Manager at Bain & Company in the Sustainability and Strategy practice areas. She holds a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale and M.B.A from Harvard Business School where she was a Baker Scholar. Jen is based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. |
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Vanessa Richter Vanessa Richter is a Global Vice President with Opower. She works with utility teams to drive customer engagement initiatives, including energy efficiency, rates engagement, peak management, and digital self-service. Focused on the utility customer space for over a decade, she is passionate about advancing the role of the customer in the clean energy future. She has been a PLMA Customer Engagement co-chair since 2019. |
What’s Old Is New Again: A Dive Into Current Thermal Energy Storage Technology and Customer Insights Into Curtailment Contracts
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Jesse DeGrendel Jesse is a Senior Practice Consultant in CLEAResult's Distributed Energy Resource Practice, where he has over 8 years of experience in the field. He holds a master’s in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University. Jesse works with residential and commercial DERs solutions, working on several programs with over 700 MW of capacity across the US and Canada. His areas of expertise predominantly revolve around demand-side distributed energy resources, with a focus on demand response programs. He focuses on providing evaluation support, pilot/product design, and analytics used to optimize programs. |
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Liz Fitzpatrick Liz joined the Michaels team in March 2023 with almost a decade of experience in utility demand-side programs. In her role as the Client Engagement Consultant, she connects Michaels’ brand with decision-makers and influencers in the efficiency and demand response industry to drive revenue growth. Her focus is on developing meaningful relationships that lead to impactful results and enjoying the process along the way. Liz has always been mission-driven and truly realized her passion for collaborating locally to make the world more sustainable when she was volunteering at an elephant rescue center in a remote village in Thailand. From there, she began working at a non-profit dedicated to partnering with schools, communities, and businesses to drive sustainability solutions through education. Her role evolved from implementing California Investor-Owned Utility (CA IOU) workforce education and training programs to developing new partnerships to grow and expand the organization’s impact. After the non-profit, Liz worked for a publicly traded energy consulting company and primarily managed CA IOU energy efficiency programs while spearheading the launch of an organization-wide supplier diversity program. Liz graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering. She is a registered Engineer in Training. |
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Ysaël Desage Ysaël is Brainbox AI's technology manager in the field of energy networks, with over six years of experience in energy and artificial intelligence. His academic background combines fundamental physics, electrical engineering, computer science, and operations research. Recently featured in the National Observer Newspaper, Ysael and his team are recognized for their groundbreaking work in transforming buildings into intelligent actors in the energy grid. |
Let Us Share Your Pain! Hosted by PLMA
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Richard Phillip Prior to joining PLMA as Executive Director in 2020, Mr. Philip managed all regulated Demand Response programs with non-residential customers across the Duke Energy system. This portfolio of demand response totals over 2,000 megawatts of resources throughout in Duke’s six-state service area. Mr. Philip has experience in load research, electric rates, marketing research, and market management, as well as a product manager. |
Spark DER as Grid Resource Workshop: Navigating a Non-Linear Path Leveraging DERs for Flexible Load
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Eric Van Orden Eric Van Orden is a Director of Partnerships at Virtual Peaker and is responsible for maintaining and expanding relationships with technology partners including connected device manufacturers and automakers. He has spent 15 years’ experience supporting business and product development for emerging consumer technologies in the power sector, from start-ups like SolarCity to Fortune 500 utilities like Xcel Energy. Additionally, Eric led the Energy Efficiency Business Coalition, a trade association focused on demand side management markets and policies in Colorado. He holds a degree in Marketing with a specialization in IT from University of Massachusetts and a M.S. in Global Energy Management from the University of Colorado. |
Reading Through the Haze: Forecasting the Coming EV Adoption Curves and Grid Impacts
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Gideon Katsh Principal Analyst National Grid Gideon Katsh is Principal Analyst in Clean Energy Development at National Grid. He has over a decade of experience in the utility industry, including regulatory, strategy, and system considerations for transitioning to clean energy technologies. In his current role, he is particularly focused on opportunities to support large-scale electric vehicle charging through National Grid's networks. He has been with National Grid since 2008. |
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Jim Musilek Vice President, Innovation & Business Development NCEMC Jim Musilek serves as the Vice President of Innovation and Business Development for the North Carolina Electric Cooperatives in Raleigh, North Carolina. His team’s responsibilities include supporting North Carolina’s electric cooperatives in meeting their Brighter Future goals by investigating, testing, and deploying innovative technologies and business models that promote beneficial electrification and sustainable technologies. Jim has over 30 years of utility experience working in engineering, planning, operations, rates, and portfolio management. During that time, he’s had the opportunity to work on several innovative projects including:
Jim has presented on many of the projects listed above and has served many utility industry committees. He is also a member of Leadership North Carolina’s Class XXIV. |
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Jay Oliver Jay Oliver is Managing Director, Grid Systems Integration at Duke Energy. In this role he leads battery storage development, transportation electrification, demand side management, and clean energy customer programs. Mr. Oliver has over 25 years of experience in electric Distribution, Transmission, and related technology applications. Mr. Oliver received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Florida. He is a licensed Professional Engineer. |
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Shane Mathers Principle Quantitative Analyst Baltimore Gas & Electric Shane Mathers is a Principle Quantitative analyst at Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) – working in the Energy Analytics department. He has over 12 years of experience in the energy industry coordinating teams of analysts, engineers, and consultants to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. His team is responsible for forecasting EV and PV adoption in the BGE service territory. This work includes tracking state and federal policies, modeling economic drivers behind customer adoption and forecasting future trends. He is also engaged in analyzing decarbonization pathways to meet aggressive emission reduction goals in Maryland. Shane has an MS in Energy Economic from the Colorado School of Mines and is an outdoor enthusiast. |
Retail Pricing: Maximizing Demand Flexibility Leveraging Real Time Pricing
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Jingjing Liu Jingjing Liu, P.E., CDCP is a Program Manager in the Building Technology and Urban Systems (BTUS) Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She has more than 16 years of experience in commercial and industrial (C&I) demand-side management. She is currently leading and contributing to research activities on grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEB), demand flexibility (DF), integrating DERs for grid services, interoperability, and data center efficiency and resiliency. She currently serves as the lead Program Manager of the California Load Flexibility Research and Development Hub, or "CalFlexHub" (calflexhub.lbl.gov), a $16M research project funded by CEC EPIC envisioning a future where flexible electrical loads automatically respond to dynamic electricity prices and GHG signals. Her most recent research work also highlights a novel approach to benchmarking demand flexibility performance of large amount of real buildings. Prior to her current position, Jingjing worked at DNV GL as a Senior Engineer leading quality assurance for C&I large project technical reviews for utility energy efficiency programs nation-wide. She has assured properly funded incentives of over 6.5 million dollars and verified energy savings of over 90 GWh. She also served as a lead in multiple energy assessments for Intel, PG&E and Apple. She also developed and managed multiple innovation projects. At an earlier position at Nexant Inc., Jingjing performed measurement & verification (M&V) for PG&E customers’ complex projects, especially on many Bay-Area oil refinery projects. She performed site inspections and engineering reviews for more than 80 new constructions and retrofit projects. Some of her happy customers were Chevron, Phillips 66, Genentech, Applied Materials, eBay, Transamerica, etc. The impact measured 65 GWh and 1.2 million therms of total annual energy savings. Jingjing has extensive experience with utility energy data analysis, including regression modeling. She had developed automated analysis tools to streamline analysis processes. She also developed a simulation tool which estimates building energy savings potential to guide retro-commissioning prioritization. Jingjing possess a spectrum of expertise in commercial and industrial energy-consuming systems, such as compressed air, process heating and cooling, steam, pumping, HVAC and lighting. She received her MS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University as well as her MS and BS in Architecture from Tsinghua University, China. |
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Jordan Folks Jordan Folks is Opinion Dynamics’ Associate Director of Demand Flexibility, where he brings a decade of research and consulting experience in the energy sector to all things flexible load. Jordan uses a social science lens to study the intersection of human behavior and energy consumption and has led several high profile retail pricing studies. His customer research focuses on innovative pricing topics, DERs, EVs, and energy equity. |
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Maria Kretzing Maria is an innovation expert with over a decade of experience in the utility industry. As Innovation Director at Bidgely, Maria drives ideas to fruition with Innovation Charters. The Innovation areas of current focus include electric vehicles, customer to grid analytics, and decarbonization. |
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Chris Gallo Chris Gallo is a Sr. Planning Analyst in Con Edison’s Rate Engineering: Customer Implementation Group, which is responsible for conducting the Company’s Innovative Pricing Pilot (IPP) – a rate pilot designed to test seven time-variant demand rates for residential and small-commercial customers. His primary role is developing ongoing communications and educational campaigns for participating customers, including web-based tools and information. He also works with Con Edison’s Regional Corporate Affairs groups to engage local elected officials and key external stakeholders. Chris has been with Con Edison for over 16 years. Prior to joining the team implementing the IPP, he worked in Customer Outreach and Education, crafting customer communications, leading the development of online content – including the first versions of the conEd.com mobile website and the Con Edison mobile app – and spearheading educational campaigns related to energy efficiency, safety, and the programs and services offered by the Company. |
Decarbonization Through Load Management Interactive Workshop
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Dave Alspector Director Tierra Resource Consultants Dave Alspector is a Director with Tierra. Dave is a registered professional engineer with 15 years of experience supporting electric and gas utilities with strategic planning, research, and evaluation of their customer-facing distributed energy resource (DER) programs. He develops holistic approaches to impact, process, and market evaluation to provide program managers and regional stakeholders with actionable feedback to strengthen their programs. He applies his background in building science engineering to develop data driven analyses, sophisticated financial modeling tools, and in-depth market research that quantify utility and customer value of energy efficiency, demand response, load shifting, and energy storage programs. Dave currently supports Arizona Public Service, Tucson Electric Power, and Duke Energy with integrating DER program evaluation and research findings into their strategic planning processes and program designs. Dave believes and strives for a collaborative approach to problem solving that is based on a positive, inclusive, and fun work environment that encourages colleagues to be creative and innovative, while feeling supported and understood. |
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McGee Young CEO and Founder Watt Carbon McGee founded two previous startups, MeterHero and H2OScore, software companies that helped homeowners save water and energy, and make a difference in their communities. Before starting WattCarbon, McGee was the CTO at Recurve, an energy efficiency startup. He serves on the LF Energy Foundation Governing Board and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Syracuse University. |
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Ruth Kiselewich Strategic Programs Director ICF I have 30 years in the energy industry including almost 25 with Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) and the last 5 with ICF. At BGE, I led BGE's extensive DSM portfolio including award winning energy efficiency and direct load control programs and a behavioral DR program. At ICF, I have especially focused on demand response, pricing, DER and grid modernization, in an advisory role, strategy development, program design and implementation for a number of North American clients. I have been the ICF PLMA board rep since joining ICF in March 2015 and on the PLMA Executive Committee since 2016. During my EC tenure, I am proud of numerous contributions. I have had a special focus on the financial health of PLMA. I helped establish the Fiscal Committee and continue to be one of its 3 members. On the committee, I have focused on: the development and implementation of financial policies, as well as compliance to these, conservative short-term investment of funds not needed for the near term operations, cash flow and risk analyses—especially critical in maintaining the organization's success during the pandemic and during a period of organizational change, ensuring the appropriate checks and balances are used with external review including the implementation of PLMA's first ever audit. I have taken an active role in ensuring PLMA is a well-managed organization including: significant involvement in improvements to, and development of, new policies, being involved in the recruitment and selection of the PLMA Executive Director and Chief Development Officer including sharing lessons learned from my involvement in recruiting an AESP CEO and interviewing the PLMA candidates, participating in the development of the 2-year strategic plan. Additionally, I contribute to services provided to PLMA members including moderating at every conference in the past 3 years, volunteering to score presentation abstracts and award submissions, participating in Interest Groups like Women in Demand Management (where I also have been a speaker) and in Strategic Initiatives such as the two current ones on DER. I, also, contribute board management expertise having been on the AESP board 2010 - 2015 and on the executive committee as treasurer 2012 - 2015, as well as having had the same roles on the board of an independent school for ages 2 - 12th grade that had a significant budget and endowment. |
Connected Devices Interest Group: Resiliency as a Service Workshop
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J.T. Thompson As Senior Vice President of Sales, Jonathan ‘J.T.’ Thompson leads a global team of sales and commercial operations leaders who help utilities and cooperatives solve their grid problems. Over the course of his career, he has held myriad roles in the energy business across companies including ICAP, Constellation NewEnergy, GE, Noble Americas Energy Solutions and others. He’s been an energy broker, sales leader, and, most recently at Generac Grid Services, the VP of enterprise accounts. |
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Derek Kirchner Bio unavailable. |
Global Load Management Interest Group: Aging Infrastructure, Islands, and EVs: Surprising Lessons from India
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Giri Iyer With more than 20 years of global business management leadership experience, Giri has worked for companies such as General Electric and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, as well as venture capital-backed companies. He leverages his experience commercializing analytical solutions & technologies and a passion for AI/ML and IoT to build ecosystems that accelerate global business growth. During his tenure at General Electric, Giri won multiple GE Innovation awards including one for SaaS/big data analytical offering in Energy. Giri is currently a GridWise Alliance board member. |
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Michael Brown Michael has over twenty years of experience in the energy sector focused on demand response, energy efficiency, and renewable energy in both deregulated and regulated electricity markets. He has held a variety of positions at consulting and energy service firms. Since 2005, Michael has worked at NV Energy building out smart grid enabled demand response and energy efficiency solutions. He is a Co-Chair of the Global Load Management Interest Group and immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of PLMA-an international non-profit representing the voice of load management professionals. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and International Relations from The College of William and Mary, and an MBA from The Cranfield School of Management. |
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Scott Coe Scott works with grid operators to help them make markets more efficient and the grid more stable, improving the ability of the grid function with more renewable resources and adapt to new control technologies. He has direct experience with all wholesale electricity market operators in North America as well as several established and emerging markets across the globe. Scott focuses on integration solutions for distributed resources and has a personal interest in pushing the envelope for implementing pricing constructs that bridge wholesale and retail grid. Scott holds a BA in Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a PhD in Physical from Yale University. |
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Ross Malme Ross is President and CEO of Malme Energy Consulting, providing services to utilities and the energy technology community, specializing consulting and raising growth capital for early to mid stage energy tech companies. Previously Ross was Senior Advisor at Bowen, Inc. a leading growth capital investment banking advisory firm where he co-managed the firm's Energy Technology practice and has led the Smart Grid practice for Skipping Stone, LLC, an energy consulting firm. He has served on the Advisory Board of DistribuTECH, the largest industry conference in the electric utility industry for over 15 years. Ross was the inventor of the first utility wireless automatic meter reading system in the industry which became the industry standard for over 25 years and the founder of one of the first successful electricity demand response technology and service companies in North America. |
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Jon Hilowitz Jon Hilowitz is a Section Manager for Orange & Rockland Utilities’ (O&R) Customer Energy Services group. There, he is responsible for the implementation of energy efficiency and demand response initiatives across the company’s New York and New Jersey service territory, focusing heavily on policy design and strategic process. Prior to his role as Section Manager, Jon ran the company’s demand response programs, both residential and commercial, successfully streamlining program offerings and growing the portfolio. Additionally, Jon has experience overseeing O&R’s commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs. Before joining O&R, he obtained BPI certification and headed the low-income energy efficiency program for the Orange County Rural Development Advisory Corporation, helping low-income residents improve their quality of life and comfort of their homes. Jon has been a member of PLMA since 2017 and has served as a co-chair for the Global Load Management Interest Group for the past several years. There, he has worked on facilitating dialogue between PLMA members focused on activities outside the United States. The interest group has hosted numerous webinars and in-person discussions, including sessions on the proliferation of DERs across Australia, evolution of the Canadian Carbon Market, South African grid obstacles stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, and state of the Ukrainian electrical grid in the wake of the ongoing war, along with impacts to global energy markets. Jon holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations – Middle Eastern Diplomacy from Syracuse University, and a Master of Science from the University of Colorado – Denver, in Global Energy Management. In 2022, Jon received Con Edison’s most prestigious honor, the LOV Award, for his work in the community, including efforts to assist and settle Afghan refugees. |
Tuesday, November 7
Welcome to Charlotte
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Stacy Phillips Stacy Phillips leads Demand Response at Duke Energy. She has also held roles in Energy Efficiency strategy and leading renewable customer programs in her 12 years at Duke. Prior to joining the utility, Stacy worked in marketing and operations in banking, frozen food and advertising agencies. Stacy resides in Charlotte. |
KeyNote Address
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Harry Sideris Harry Sideris serves as executive vice president of customer experience, solutions and services for Duke Energy. In addition to focusing on transmission, customer delivery and enhancing the customer experience, he is responsible for the development of mass-market products and services and the company’s electrification efforts, including continued development of long-term grid strategies and solutions. Sideris also has responsibility for the supply chain organization, including sourcing and supply chain functions for the company’s regulated and commercial operations. Sideris has more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry. Previously, he served as Duke Energy’s chief distribution officer. In this role he oversaw the safe, reliable and efficient operation of Duke Energy’s electric distribution systems for the company’s six-state service area, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. He has served as state president of Duke Energy’s utility operations in Florida, which serves approximately 1.8 million electric retail customers in central Florida, including metropolitan St. Petersburg, Clearwater and the Greater Orlando area. He was responsible for the financial performance of Duke Energy’s regulated utilities in Florida and managing state and local regulatory and government relations, and community affairs. Prior to that, Sideris served as the company’s senior vice president of environmental health and safety. In that role, he led the groups responsible for developing and advancing corporate policies, programs and strategies to ensure the company’s compliance with environmental health and safety laws and regulations. He was named to this role in August 2014. Sideris began his career at Progress Energy (formerly Carolina Power & Light) in 1996 and served in numerous operations, maintenance, technical and leadership roles across Progress Energy’s generation fleet in the Carolinas and Florida at both the plant and corporate levels. Following the merger between Duke Energy and Progress Energy in July 2012, Sideris served as vice president of power generation for Duke Energy’s fossil/hydro operations in the western portions of North Carolina and South Carolina. Sideris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Campbell University. He also completed the Advance Management Program at the University of Chicago. He currently serves as a trustee of the Duke Energy Foundation and as a board member of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the N.C. State Natural Resources Foundation Inc. and co-chairs the National Utilities Diversity Council. Sideris grew up in Asheville, N.C. He and his wife, Catinna, have two daughters. |
What Will DR 4.0 Look Like?
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Jenny Roehm Jenny Roehm is part of Schneider Electric’s Digital Grid Team delivering digital energy management solutions. Their goal is to enable businesses and homeowners to truly manage their energy consumption, and work on the principle that local utilities are, and should remain, trusted advisors for their customers. Jenny works with her team to develop solutions centered around strengthening the relationship between utility and consumer to save energy and deliver resources for grid management. Her current work leverages her nearly 30 years of experience to focus on the integration of demand side management resources; working with utilities and customers to integrate demand response, storage, on-site generation and energy efficiency into a single approach. Jenny Roehm spent the first part of her career working for a utility and has managed load control programs, as a consultant she worked with utilities across the country as they implement programs and has experience conducting measurement and verification studies on energy efficiency and demand response projects. |
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Rich Barone Rich Barone as President of GetSmart, Rich supports clients across today’s transitioning energy landscape to foster innovation and transformation through strategic, technical and market advisory services. Rich previously served as Chief Growth Officer for Renewables at TRC Companies, Inc., where he helped shape and implement strategic, client-based growth and revenue forecasting and tracking, translating growth strategies into measurable KPIs. Previously at TRC, he provided leadership and direction in DER strategy, business cases, technologies, program portfolio and market development. Rich helped advance Hawaii's clean energy goals by serving as Director of Customer Energy Resources Operations at Hawaiian Electric from 2015-2020, where he worked cross-functionally within the three Hawaiian Electric operating companies to optimize the procurement and operationalization of Distributed Energy Resources, including battery storage, to foster system reliability in a rapidly-changing electricity grid. In total, Rich has over 20 years of strategic planning, early-stage technology assessment, software development and system integration expertise. His prior experience was as Associate Director in Emerging Technologies at Navigant Consulting. In that role, his primary focus was in Smart Grid technologies and microgrid business models. Prior to his tenure with Navigant, Rich served as VP of Smart Grid Services with Pacific Controls, Inc. following its acquisition of Infotility, where Rich served as Chief Operating Officer. Outside of his day job, Rich has served as Board Chair of Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) since 2021 and serves on the Education Committee for DistribuTECH. He holds an MS in Energy Technology & Policy and an MBA. in Entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado. He earned a Professional Certificate in E-commerce Application Development from Columbia University and he holds a dual BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College. |
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Robin Maslowski Robin Maslowski is a director and leads the clean Energy programs modeling team within Guidehouse's Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment. Robin provides expertise in distributed energy resources (DER) and non-wires solutions (NWS) project management, cost-benefit assessment, potential studies, strategic planning, and modeling analytics. Recent project work includes determining market potential and forecasting for DER, developing cost-effectiveness frameworks for electric vehicles (EV) and demand response (DR), identifying implementation strategies and providing procurement support for DR resources, and identifying key areas of opportunity for market growth, such as utility intervention strategies for supporting the adoption of EVs. Prior to joining Guidehouse, Robin worked for Synapse Energy Economics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
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Michael Brown Michael has over twenty years of experience in the energy sector focused on demand response, energy efficiency, and renewable energy in both deregulated and regulated electricity markets. He has held a variety of positions at consulting and energy service firms. Since 2005, Michael has worked at NV Energy building out smart grid enabled demand response and energy efficiency solutions. He is a Co-Chair of the Global Load Management Interest Group and immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of PLMA-an international non-profit representing the voice of load management professionals. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and International Relations from The College of William and Mary, and an MBA from The Cranfield School of Management. |
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Erica Keating Erica Keating is the Principal Manager of Demand Response Programs at Southern California Edison. In her current role, she leads a dynamic team to deliver more than 1000 MW of carbon free demand response to the California electric grid. Erica and team are lead for all matters involving grid emergency response as it relates to emergency demand response operations, and they are the owners of all matters pertaining to behind-the-meter energy and capacity. More recently, Erica and her team have turned their focus to next-gen DR program development via pilots through a dynamic pricing pilot and a mass market demand response pilot effort. Prior to her time in Demand Response, Erica worked within SCE’s Energy Procurement & Management group where she was responsible for running wholesale power procurement solicitations, negotiating power purchase agreements and managing SCE’s Resource Adequacy procurement activities. Erica also spent the first 10 years of her career working in local government. For her full bio you can look her up on LinkedIn. |
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Ross Malme Ross is President and CEO of Malme Energy Consulting, providing services to utilities and the energy technology community, specializing consulting and raising growth capital for early to mid stage energy tech companies. Previously Ross was Senior Advisor at Bowen, Inc. a leading growth capital investment banking advisory firm where he co-managed the firm's Energy Technology practice and has led the Smart Grid practice for Skipping Stone, LLC, an energy consulting firm. He has served on the Advisory Board of DistribuTECH, the largest industry conference in the electric utility industry for over 15 years. Ross was the inventor of the first utility wireless automatic meter reading system in the industry which became the industry standard for over 25 years and the founder of one of the first successful electricity demand response technology and service companies in North America. |
Early Learnings on Advancing DERs with ADER in Texas
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Tiffany Wu Tiffany Wu is an advisor to Commissioner Will McAdams on distributed energy policies and is sponsored by the Department of Energy Clean Energy Innovation Fellowship. She spent 10 years developing and deploying carbon capture projects for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a process engineer, commissioning engineer, and a business development manager. Her graduate research related to quantifying diversity of generation resources and resiliency considerations during ERCOT’s market restructure. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, a Master of Public Affairs, and an M.S. in Energy and Earth Resources from The University of Texas at Austin. |
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Jason Ryan Jason M. Ryan was named Executive Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs at CenterPoint Energy following service as the company's general counsel and in other legal leadership positions. In his current role, Jason reports to the company’s President and leads over 100 colleagues on the rates and regulatory portfolio management team; the regulatory policy team; the regulatory accounting team; the regulatory legal team; and the local, state, and federal government affairs team. Jason was commissioned by President Bush as an intelligence officer in the Navy after the September 2001 terror attacks and served with a reserve unit for 10 years. He was appointed by Texas Governor Perry to the Texas Diabetes Council in 2013 for a term ending in 2019; in 2019, he was reappointed by Texas Governor Abbott for a term ending in 2025.Jason currently serves on the boards of the Lone Star Flight Museum and the Association of Electric Companies of Texas (AECT), and chairs the Legal Committee of the American Gas Association (AGA). Jason previously served on the boards of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (including chair from 2014-2017), the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Bar Foundation, the Houston Young Lawyers Association (including president), the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation, the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program, Leadership Houston, the Houston Urban Debate League, and the Houston Club (including president). Jason’s contributions to his community were acknowledged when the Houston Jaycees and Texas Jaycees named him one of 2007’s five Outstanding Young Houstonians and one of five Outstanding Young Texans, respectively. Jason was named the 2013 Man of the Year by the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Also in 2013, he was named one of the Houston Business Journal's 40 Under 40. In 2021, Jason and his team were recognized at the Houston Corporate Counsel awards for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service. Jason’s wife of more than 20 years, Megan, served as the US Energy Utilities and Mining Sector Practice Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Houston. Also committed to service, Megan has chaired the Houston Junior League’s volunteer activities at Texas Children’s Hospital, Bo's Place and Undies for Everyone. Jason and Megan are members of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. |
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J.T. Thompson As Senior Vice President of Sales, Jonathan ‘J.T.’ Thompson leads a global team of sales and commercial operations leaders who help utilities and cooperatives solve their grid problems. Over the course of his career, he has held myriad roles in the energy business across companies including ICAP, Constellation NewEnergy, GE, Noble Americas Energy Solutions and others. He’s been an energy broker, sales leader, and, most recently at Generac Grid Services, the VP of enterprise accounts. |
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John Padalino John Padalino is a public policy and utilities expert. John joined Bandera Electric Cooperative in 2019 as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer. In his role, John represents the cooperative in all legal, legislative, and regulatory matters, including overseeing the corporate services division. He has significant experience in developing and managing renewable energy, distributed energy, energy efficiency, and energy analytics projects. In 2022, Mr. Padalino was appointed to the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources ERCOT Pilot Project Task Force by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. John spent over six years working for the United States Department of Agriculture and served as the Administrator of USDA’s Rural Utilities Service from 2012 to 2014. Mr. Padalino earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Rutgers School of Law. |
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Sandip Sharma Sandip joined Shell Energy Solution (SES) in July of 2022, his current responsibilities include Qualified Scheduling Entity (QSE) asset management, Day-Ahead Market (DAM), Real-Time Market (RTM) Operations. Prior to joining SES, Sandip was a Director of Market Operations in ERCOT overseeing Day-Ahead Market, Congestion Revenue Right (CRR) auctions, and Demand Response programs. During his more than 16 years at ERCOT, he led ERCOT’s energy storage initiative to write market participation rules to integrate battery energy storage systems into ERCOT grid, redesigned the ERCOT’s existing Ancillary Service products, and was instrumental in setting up rules and requirement for integrating wind and solar resources in ERCOT. Sandip Sharma holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Rice University and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) specializing in Power Systems from University of Texas at Arlington. He has also authored number of publications relevant to electric utility industry which has been published in numerous journals. |
Battery Arbitrage: Do Customers Optimize Battery Dispatch in the Presence of TOU Rates?
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Iain Shovelin Iain Shovelin is the Program Manager for the APS Residential Battery Pilot Program. Prior to this role, he was a contractor at CLEAResult for 10 years and worked exclusively with APS, implementing residential programs, and focusing on customer engagement via virtual tools and in-person outreach. In a previous life he was a schoolteacher and has a master's degree in adult education. In his current role he enjoys not just educating but motivating customers to make behavioral changes to align with the peak reduction goals of APS. Originally from the UK, Iain now enjoys the sunnier climes of Phoenix and can be found mountain biking in the desert in his free time. |
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Ari Kornelis Ari Kornelis is a Managing Consultant on the Energy, Sustainability, & Infrastructure Analytics team at Guidehouse. His expertise includes demand response and virtual power plant program evaluation, load forecasting, and energy system decarbonization analysis. Ari has a master’s in environmental and resource economics from Michigan State University and six years of experience in energy utility consulting. Prior to joining Guidehouse he led evaluation and planning research for demand management programs as an associate consultant at Cadmus. Between data wrangling sessions you can find him on birding trails around Detroit MI searching for his next “lifer.” |
Residential VPPs and Their Role in Utility Sponsored Programs
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Mark Jensen Mark Jensen is a program advisor at San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). He currently manages several Demand Response Programs and Pilots. With over 20 years of utility industry experience, Mark is uniquely qualified to share his expertise on utility program/pilot designs, program implementation and how to successfully work with 3rd party implementers. |
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Steve Wheat Steve Wheat has been setting up residential, behind-the-meter virtual power plants since 2017. He presented at PLMA in Minnesota after working with National Grid to convert their Bring Your Own Thermostat into a Bring Your Own Device Program, and has worked with utility partners around the country both at Sunrun and Swell Energy to enable virtual power plants with customer resources for the last six years. |
Wednesday, November 8
Track A: Duke Energy's Winter Residential Smart Thermostat DR Program
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Brian Lusher Brian Lusher serves as the Manager of Duke Energy’s Residential Demand Response team in the Integrated Grid Strategy and Solutions organization. His team is responsible for developing, marketing and operating products that serve both our customers and the grid by providing load reductions when we they are most needed. The current portfolio of products includes smart thermostats, controllable water heaters, pool pumps and HVAC systems. Additionally, this team works closely with the Energy Control Center on when to call for Critical Peak days and Behavioral Demand Response events that encourage customers to conserve energy and reduce usage during peak times. Brian joined Duke Energy in 2017 and has held a series of engineering and project management roles. A native of Virginia, Brian earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and later went on to complete a Masters in Business Administration at the University of South Carolina. Brian is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina. |
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Greg Sidorov Greg Sidorov is an Advisory Services Manager in the Strategy and Planning (S&P) group at Resource Innovations, where he has nearly a decade of experience specializing in evaluation, measurement and verification (EM&V) of demand response and energy efficiency programs, with a primary focus on data analysis and statistical modeling for impact evaluations. Greg's expertise covers a range of subject matters, from energy savings and DR impact analysis to market potential studies and utility program planning. Prior to joining Resource Innovations, Greg worked to advance federal programs and policies aimed at development of green affordable housing solutions for low-income communities. Greg holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from American University and a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from Drexel University. |
Track B: Small Utility, Big Impacts
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Jeremy Stewart Jeremy Stewart has spent over 15 years building utility programs by quantifying the value of customer actions and using benefits to build programs that benefit customers. Work has included planning, analyzing, and implementing energy conservation, demand response, rates, and electric transportation programs. Current projects include a grid integrated water heater pilot, school bus micro grid project, and port electrification. |
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Christina Carlson Ms. Carlson is an Analyst at Apex Analytics, where she uses her background in Data Science to perform qualitative and quantitative analysis for clients. She uses her previous experience in large scale energy generation data analytics to gain insights in utility program impacts, which ultimately help to improve grid reliability. In her time at Apex, she has worked on a variety of evaluations regarding energy efficiency. For the last year, she has been the primary analyst modelling the savings impacts from a water heater demand response program implemented by Tacoma Power. |
Track C: Extraordinary Grid Conditions Require Extraordinary DR Programs
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Wendy Brummer Wendy Brummer is a DR practitioner at Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco. Since 2008, she has managed AC cycling, technology incentive, a critical peak pricing programs along with a variety of pilots. With higher than ever smart technology adoption rates, she continues to keep a focus on the customer experience and the value proposition, while being mindful of the feasibility to implement. She is currently the chair of the board of directors for Literacy for Environmental Justice which empowers youth and young adults through workforce development in a native plant nursery, habitat restoration and urban park stewardship. She has previously been a café owner and has managed energy efficiency programs as a third party. As a resident of the gorgeous state of California, she enjoys exploring natural areas through kayaking, swimming and gardening. |
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Abby Shelton Abigail Shelton is the Manager of Implementations at Olivine, Inc. where she manages innovative demand response and distributed energy resource projects, leveraging a combination of project management, product development, and system integration expertise. Her work focuses on mitigating the current impacts of climate change and supporting the reliability of a decarbonized electric grid. Abby leads the implementation and operations of emergency demand response programs, including Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) Emergency Load Reduction Program and the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Demand Side Grid Support Program. |
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Beth Reid Beth Reid is the Founder and CEO at Olivine, Inc., and has previously held senior management positions at multinational corporations focusing on the development of emerging technologies and capabilities to support grid resiliency. Beth has most recently been focusing on the adaptation to climate change and the development and execution of flexible resources and emergency programs such as the Power Saver Rewards Program and the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) which Olivine is the implementer and administrator on behalf of the California IOUs. Furthermore, she has overseen the evolution of Olivine’s own proprietary solution known as ClimateResponse®, which engages end-users by delivering real-time information when energy prices and local GHG emissions are high, or when the energy grid is stressed, and educates them on what actions to take to save energy while offering incentives for program participation. Olivine is proud of collaborations with utilities to tackle complex problems and under Beth’s leadership was awarded the Program Pacesetter Award by PLMA in 2022 for such collaborations with PG&E. |
Track D: EV Managed Charging for Multiple Grid Benefits
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Josh Logan Josh Logan is the Senior Product Manager for the Salt River Project (SRP) Business Demand Response Program. As part of this program, Josh is responsible in the further expansion of the current curtailment program in addition to the responsible expansion of backup generation. Additionally, Josh works closely with Salt River Project’s Bring Your Own Thermostat program. Outside of work, Josh is a resident of Phoenix, Arizona where he enjoys mountain biking, hiking, and running with his fantastic wife. |
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Shane O’Quinn Shane O'Quinn currently leads WeaveGrid's Business Development team for the western half of the United States. Shane has 23 years of experience leading sales and business development efforts to utilities working with companies such as Ventyx, ABB, Enbala, AutoGrid and HEXstream. He has been actively involved in the design, rollout and management of a number of DER programs for utilities across North America. |
Track A: The Winter Is Coming: Untangling DR Impacts During Winter Peaks
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Kessie Avseikova Kessie Avseikova is a Director at Opinion Dynamics, leading a team of data scientists and statisticians in developing cutting-edge research and evaluation solutions for utility clients across the country to deliver accurate, insightful, and timely impact results. Kessie routinely works with clients on the evaluations of energy efficiency, demand-response (DR), behavioral, and integrated programs and brings a comprehensive understanding of the program designs, implementation challenges, including challenges with participation persistence, attrition, and design fidelity. Her work extends beyond delivering rigorous and accurate impact results; she also advises clients on most effective program design components and strives to deliver actionable insights through data mining and customer research. |
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Beth Strasburger Beth Strasburger is the Program Manager for Portland General Electric’s residential Smart Thermostat program and residential Smart Charging program in the Customer Solutions organization. She is responsible for managing the programs' implementation and program dispatch performance. Beth joined Portland General Electric in 2009 and has worked in several roles serving customer facing programs. |
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Adam Gardels At Portland General Electric, I align evaluation strategies with overall utility goals and customer centric initiatives. Evaluation managers within PGE curate vendor lead research products for utility stakeholders. PGE's products are primarily DR programs. I manage PGE's DR portfolio evaluations. |
Track B: Do You Know What Your DR Program Did Last Summer?
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Gary Smith Gary Smith is the President of Sagewell and is responsible for Sagewell’s electrification and EV load management programs. His role includes management of all customer facing programs and business development. Gary works closely with clients to design and implement all aspects of programs and to coordinate with internal teams for deliverables. Gary has worked at Sagewell since 2015, where he first worked administering utility weatherization and rebate programs. He holds an MA in World History for George Mason University, and BAs in History and Geography from Georgia College & State University. |
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Kelsey Lawhead Kelsey Lawhead is Vice President, Customer Programs and Strategy. Kelsey joined ElectriCities in October 2016 as Product Development Specialist. Since then, she has served as Manager, Educational Programs, and Manager, Program & Product Development. She led the launch of North Carolina public power’s retail customer survey, an annual research project to benchmark customer preferences, satisfaction, and growing program interest. She also served as project lead for launching ElectriCities’ member management system. Prior to joining ElectriCities, Kelsey served in marketing roles for Apple Gold Group and Kaplan Test Prep. Kelsey has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Truman State University and a Master of Business Administration from Illinois State University. |
Track C: Efficient Scalability: Leveraging Automation Over Manual Processes
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Lars-Olaf Hoeger Lars is a Senior Specialist within the Demand Response group at Con Edison. He is currently a member of the operations team that manages the implementation of the DRMS and the operation of Con Edison’s Demand Response programs. He has been with Con Edison for 3 years. |
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Kohil Vyas Kohil Vyas specializes in Energy Optimization focusing on transformation and implementation of operational technologies (EMS, DRMS, DERMS, etc.). In his 10+ years of experience, along with building client relationships, he has advised, helped and assisted clients with project management activities, user-interface design, SCADA, data migration, calculations, testing, business processes, resource management, risk management, and broader bulk-power systems operations. |
Track D: Using Dynamic Operating Envelopes to Maximize DER Utilization
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Erik Hall Erik is the Director of Energy Services & Technology at North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. He leads program design, development, and implementation for a growing portfolio of Distributed Energy Resources, including microgrids, battery energy storage, renewables and behind-the-meter devices. Erik oversees a team responsible for deploying, integrating, and managing edge-of-grid resources within the organization’s Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), focusing on upstream reliability coordination, as well as maximizing the benefits of demand reduction. Erik has a mechanical engineering degree and MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also served as a navy nuclear submarine officer for 12 years and worked for N.C. State University as the Director of Energy Management and Central Utility Plant Manager. |
Track A: National Grid Gas DR: Enhancing Reliability in a Changing Climate
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Owen Tyrrell Owen designs and implements National Grid’s portfolio of Natural Gas Demand Response programs across New York State. Owen has been developing DSM programs aimed at alleviating gas infrastructure constraints for National Grid since 2020. Prior to National Grid, Owen held roles spanning energy consulting, electric DR and power generation fuel management. |
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Dan Cooper Dan Cooper currently serves as a Senior Client Success Manager at EnergyHub with a focus on New England utility demand management programs. Dan’s programs span thermostat, battery, and EV asset classes across residential and commercial customer segments for both electric and gas utilities. Prior to EnergyHub, Dan ideated, implemented, and evaluated pilots testing innovative technologies and program delivery methods that aim to save Con Edison customers energy and money. Dan’s earlier experience includes a residential demand response IoT cleantech startup and consulting. |
Track B: Challenges for Small Utilities, a Roundtable Discussion
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Jeremy Stewart Jeremy Stewart has spent over 15 years building utility programs by quantifying the value of customer actions and using benefits to build programs that benefit customers. Work has included planning, analyzing, and implementing energy conservation, demand response, rates, and electric transportation programs. Current projects include a grid integrated water heater pilot, school bus micro grid project, and port electrification. |
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Christina Carlson Ms. Carlson is an Analyst at Apex Analytics, where she uses her background in Data Science to perform qualitative and quantitative analysis for clients. She uses her previous experience in large scale energy generation data analytics to gain insights in utility program impacts, which ultimately help to improve grid reliability. In her time at Apex, she has worked on a variety of evaluations regarding energy efficiency. For the last year, she has been the primary analyst modelling the savings impacts from a water heater demand response program implemented by Tacoma Power. |
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Gary Smith Gary Smith is the President of Sagewell and is responsible for Sagewell’s electrification and EV load management programs. His role includes management of all customer facing programs and business development. Gary works closely with clients to design and implement all aspects of programs and to coordinate with internal teams for deliverables. Gary has worked at Sagewell since 2015, where he first worked administering utility weatherization and rebate programs. He holds an MA in World History for George Mason University, and BAs in History and Geography from Georgia College & State University. |
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Kelsey Lawhead Kelsey Lawhead is Vice President, Customer Programs and Strategy. Kelsey joined ElectriCities in October 2016 as Product Development Specialist. Since then, she has served as Manager, Educational Programs, and Manager, Program & Product Development. She led the launch of North Carolina public power’s retail customer survey, an annual research project to benchmark customer preferences, satisfaction, and growing program interest. She also served as project lead for launching ElectriCities’ member management system. Prior to joining ElectriCities, Kelsey served in marketing roles for Apple Gold Group and Kaplan Test Prep. Kelsey has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Truman State University and a Master of Business Administration from Illinois State University. |
Track C: Residential DR: AC Direct Load Control vs Smart Thermostats
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Brian Lusher Brian Lusher serves as the Manager of Duke Energy’s Residential Demand Response team in the Integrated Grid Strategy and Solutions organization. His team is responsible for developing, marketing and operating products that serve both our customers and the grid by providing load reductions when we they are most needed. The current portfolio of products includes smart thermostats, controllable water heaters, pool pumps and HVAC systems. Additionally, this team works closely with the Energy Control Center on when to call for Critical Peak days and Behavioral Demand Response events that encourage customers to conserve energy and reduce usage during peak times. Brian joined Duke Energy in 2017 and has held a series of engineering and project management roles. A native of Virginia, Brian earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and later went on to complete a Masters in Business Administration at the University of South Carolina. Brian is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina. |
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Eric Bell, PhD. Dr. Eric Bell is an economist with expertise in Measurement & Evaluation (M&E). He has over 14 years of experience and specializes in load and bill impact evaluations of DSM programs including pricing pilots, DR, and energy conservation. He has extensive experience with experimental and quasi-experiment design, econometric modeling of customer characteristics, billing, and AMI usage data for both residential and non-residential customers. Dr. Bell has led impact evaluations for the California Statewide Opt-in Residential TOU Pilot, SCE and SDG&E Default TOU Pilot Evaluations, Con Ed’s Innovative Pricing Pilot and Smart Home Rate Evaluations, Duke Energy’s TOU and CPP Pilot, ComEd’s Residential TOU Pricing Pilot, and dozens of other program evaluations. He also led California DR load impact evaluations including Statewide CPP, Statewide Permanent Load Shifting (PLS), the Statewide PEV Submetering Pilot, PG&E’s BYOT Smart Thermostat Evaluation, SCE’s DR programs (SDP, PTR, API, RTP), and the SCE TOU-Prime EV Focused Rate. In total, projects led by Dr. Bell have required applying data analytics to approximately 550,000 businesses and over 4 million residential customers. Dr. Bell completed his PhD in Economics—with an emphasis on industrial organization—and MBA at the Claremont Graduate University. |
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Candice Potter Candice Potter has over 15 years of utility and consulting experience in demand-side research and evaluation, starting in load research at SDG&E in 2005. Candice has been consulting since 2012, and since then has conducted numerous impact and process evaluations of demand response programs in the U.S. and Canada. Previously consulting with Freeman, Sullivan and Co., Nexant, and Resource Innovations, she now practices at Symmetry Projects which she founded in 2023. |
Track D: Price-Responsive Demand: Tales from the Commercial Sector
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John Powers An energy economist and serial entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in consulting and technology development in energy markets, John has worked in energy efficiency, demand response, and renewables for most of his career. As CEO of Extensible Energy, he leads a stellar team of cleantech experts developing software solutions for building controls, solar, storage, and load flexibility applications. Prior to Extensible Energy, John founded Energy Interactive, a pioneering software company in online energy applications, including some of the first customer engagement and demand response software for nonresidential electricity customers. He served as Director of Retail Software at ABB after ABB acquired Energy Interactive. He has a B.A. in economics from Reed College and an M.A. also in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. |
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Randy Robinson Randy Robinson is a Senior Project Manager at Southern California Edison where he manages cutting edge pilots helping to shape California's demand response (DR) future. He has led SCE's Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) since 2021, California's largest statewide DR program with more than 4 million customers enrolled across the state. |
Track E: Lessons from Fleet-based V2G Programs in Today's Market
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Kevin Schwain Kevin leads EV strategy at EnergyHub. He comes from Xcel Energy where he spent 12 years leading development of new customer programs and most recently led the company’s transportation electrification strategy, policy, and program efforts. Under his leadership Xcel Energy advanced more than 50 EV rates and programs across four states. Kevin has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and a MBA from MIT Sloan School. |
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Paul Wassink Paul manages the actively controlled DER programs for National Grid in Massachusetts. The DER portfolio includes both commercial and residential programs and devices such as thermostats, batteries, EVs, EVSEs, solar inverters, HVAC setbacks, and lighting systems. Paul has been the DER program manager for National Grid since 2016. Before that Paul worked as an energy engineer helping commercial, industrial, military, and government customers to implement energy efficiency programs. |
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Melissa Chan Melissa Chan (Director of Grid Solutions & Strategic Partnerships) leads and scales Fermata Energy V2X solutions to maximize benefits to end users and the grid. She has over 20 years of experience advising, planning, deploying, and evaluating energy infrastructure deployment from centralized coal to microgrids. A two-time entrepreneur and industry consultant before joining Fermata Energy, Melissa has launched new grid edge technologies that deliver benefits to utilities and their customers. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon. |
Track F: EV Demand Flexibility through Rates and Tech: Ontario’s Past, Present, and Future
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Peter Steele-Mosey Peter Steele-Mosey is a Director in Guidehouse's data analytics group, and a key member of the Canadian Guidehouse team. Peter is an econometrician with over 15 years' experience. His principal areas of focus are: load forecasting and the energy transition, electricity pricing and rate design, and electricity demand flexibility and distributed energy resources. |
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Maral Kassabian Maral Kassabian is the Sr. Manager of Partnerships at the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator's Innovation, Research and Development division. She has 15 years of experience in the energy sector, including with the provincial government and private sector engineering firms. She currently manages the IESO's Grid Innovation Fund which supports innovation solutions including demand-side management and DER integration, as well as the Hydrogen Innovation Fund. Maral is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and holds an MSc. in Mechanical Engineering. |
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Daniel Carr Daniel Carr develops and implements strategies to support customers’ electrification goals while creating opportunities for utility evolution. In his role of Head, Smart Cities at Alectra Utilities, he designs and leads projects that bring new distributed energy technologies and concepts into practice, with a focus on electric mobility, customer engagement, demand response and electricity pricing. These initiatives have touched thousands of customers and have won awards from PLMA, SEPA, and Electricity Canada for Alectra, Canada’s largest municipally-owned utility. He aspires to enable customers to benefit from the transformative changes taking place in the electricity system and to support cities in fulfilling their unique and critical role in helping communities adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.Daniel has an undergraduate degree in Government from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University. He has received the Certified Energy Manager and Certified Measurement and Verification Professional designations from the Association of Energy Engineers. He serves as Chair of the Utilities Committee of Electric Mobility Canada, a national industry association, and is Chair of the Board of the Clean Air Partnership, a Toronto-based environmental non-profit organization. |
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Justin Malecki Dr. Justin Malecki is an energy policy expert working with industry leaders and government decision makers to develop actionable solutions based on deep analysis. Justin has over 12 years of experience with positions in government, government agencies, private consulting and academia. At the Ontario Energy Board, Justin leads research and development of innovative electricity pricing policies including the recently introduced Ultra-low Overnight Price Plan. Justin’s work also includes thought leadership on energy markets, long-term energy planning and economic tools to manage the energy transition. Justin earned his PhD in theoretical physics at the University of British Columbia. |
Track G: Report Out: Performance of the Largest U.S. Behavioral DR Program
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Wendy Brummer Wendy Brummer is a DR practitioner at Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco. Since 2008, she has managed AC cycling, technology incentive, a critical peak pricing programs along with a variety of pilots. With higher than ever smart technology adoption rates, she continues to keep a focus on the customer experience and the value proposition, while being mindful of the feasibility to implement. She is currently the chair of the board of directors for Literacy for Environmental Justice which empowers youth and young adults through workforce development in a native plant nursery, habitat restoration and urban park stewardship. She has previously been a café owner and has managed energy efficiency programs as a third party. As a resident of the gorgeous state of California, she enjoys exploring natural areas through kayaking, swimming and gardening. |
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Mark Jensen
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Randy Robinson Randy Robinson is a Senior Project Manager at Southern California Edison where he manages cutting edge pilots helping to shape California's demand response (DR) future. He has led SCE's Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) since 2021, California's largest statewide DR program with more than 4 million customers enrolled across the state. |
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Beth Reid Beth Reid is the Founder and CEO at Olivine, Inc., and has previously held senior management positions at multinational corporations focusing on the development of emerging technologies and capabilities to support grid resiliency. Beth has most recently been focusing on the adaptation to climate change and the development and execution of flexible resources and emergency programs such as the Power Saver Rewards Program and the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) which Olivine is the implementer and administrator on behalf of the California IOUs. Furthermore, she has overseen the evolution of Olivine’s own proprietary solution known as ClimateResponse®, which engages end-users by delivering real-time information when energy prices and local GHG emissions are high, or when the energy grid is stressed, and educates them on what actions to take to save energy while offering incentives for program participation. Olivine is proud of collaborations with utilities to tackle complex problems and under Beth’s leadership was awarded the Program Pacesetter Award by PLMA in 2022 for such collaborations with PG&E. |
Track H: Looking Back to Lead Forward: OG&E’s DER Strategy
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Maddie Emerson Maddie conducts market and regulatory research and supports customer energy program design for utilities and governmental agencies across the country. She specializes in utility demand-side management program regulation, wholesale electric market operations and regulation, and the advanced energy-related provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. She synthesizes and easily communicates research findings to a variety of audiences, as well as solicits and coordinates collaboration among program stakeholders to develop innovative and workable program designs. |
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Jessica King Jessica King serves as OG&E’s Manager of Energy Efficiency and Customer Programs, overseeing the design and implementation of OG&E’s commercial and residential customer efficiency and demand response programs in both Oklahoma and Arkansas. In this role, Jessica coordinates closely with individual program delivery teams, OG&E’s research and development lab, executive leadership, community organizations, and others to develop and deliver market-leading customer programs. Prior to this role, Jessica managed the operations center for OG&E’s SmartHours Program, producing a perspective deeply rooted in customer experience. |
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Shane King Shane King manages Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E)’s demand response program, SmartHours, enabling residential and small commercial customers to better control their energy usage to minimize their bills and grid stress. Shane has been involved in the SmartHours program since its inception in 2011 and has overseen the addition of BYOT (Bring Your Own Thermostat) to the program, while maintaining roughly 100 thousand SmartHours customers, shifting 100 MW at system peak. Beyond the SmartHours program, Shane actively participates in OG&E’s planning and strategy related to the management of distributed energy resources. Prior to joining OG&E, Shane was a contracting Project Supervisor during OG&E's Smart Grid implementation, overseeing the installation of roughly 865 thousand smart meters from 2009 to 2011. |
Workshop: Build Your Career Roadmap & Success Team
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Janet Zavala I’m a Bestselling Author, Empowerment Coach, Midlife Mentor, and Workshop Facilitator. But more than that, I’ve been the in space you are right now. It’s the space of longing to create a transformation in your life. Transformation isn’t about changing who you are, it’s about returning to the core of who you are before life’s experiences created fear and doubt within you. It’s also about wanting to find a different way to show up in the world because what you’ve been doing isn’t bringing you joy and contentment. I’m a certified professional coach who has been working in the field for more than a decade. I help my clients create personal and professional transformations through one on one coaching programs and group workshops. As I was navigating my 30+ year corporate career, I fell in love with the coaching process. Learning and understanding the techniques involved to guide people to a place where they feel empowered and confident has been one of my greatest joys. I have brought people who were on the brink of termination to getting promotions and tapping into their greatest potential. Coaching women to see the power and the strength they possess (and I can already see) is my passion and purpose. I have also brought myself back from the edge of despair and ruin on several occasions. I successfully navigated and healed old childhood traumas that kept showing up for me in the form of crippling self doubt. I managed to find a way through the uncertain time that comes from divorce and empty nest. I’ve had to steer my way through a time where the bloom fell off my carefully crafted corporate career, leaving me depressed, anxious, and unmotivated. I journeyed through my own healing and put my life back together while rediscovering and realizing my dreams of being a published author and starting my own coaching business. Through all of the challenges, I knew in my heart that everything I needed already existed within me. I believe this to be a universal truth. We all just need a little guidance and support to tap into the power and strength that resides within us. This is why I’m more than just a coach. I’m a mentor, because I’ve traveled the same road you’re on. With my professional training and personal experience, I can help you emerge to build the life you were always meant to live. |
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Denise Munoz As part of ComEd’s Customer Solutions team, Denise is the Director for Strategic Planning and Innovation. This team designs and manages strategies across the full portfolio of ComEd’s Energy Efficiency Portfolio and Demand Side Management solutions for customers to support the overall ComEd Strategy, policy and regulatory commitments. Her team also has responsibility for the innovation and new products function ensuring the development of new products and services that directly support the achievement of portfolio targets as a result of the Future Energy Job Act. Since joining ComEd in 1992, Denise has held a variety of roles in Energy Efficiency, Distribution Operations, Project Management, Regulatory, and Marketing. Denise graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of Chemical Engineering. Denise is currently on the board of directors for the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, and on the advisory committee for the University of Iowa’s Honors Program. |
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Erica Keating Erica Keating is the Principal Manager of Customer Demand and Generation Programs at Southern California Edison. In her current role, she leads a dynamic team to deliver roughly 1000 MW of carbon free demand response and 285 MW of distributed generation to the California electric grid. Erica and team are lead for all matters involving grid emergency response as it relates to emergency demand response operations, and they are the owners of all matters pertaining to behind-the-meter energy and capacity. Most recently, Erica has overseen various initiatives within SCE’s Demand Side Management organization including portfolio planning and strategy, compliance, public partnerships and demand response programs for large customers. Prior to her time in Customer Service, Erica worked within SCE’s Energy Procurement & Management group where she was responsible for running wholesale power procurement solicitations, negotiating power purchase agreements and managing SCE’s Resource Adequacy procurement activities. Erica also spent the first 10 years of her career working in local government. For her full bio you can look her up on LinkedIn. |
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Michaela Lewin As a Product Manager at Uplight, a B Corporation and a leading enrollment and load flexibility platform, working on our Intelligent Orchestration solution, I have cultivated a diverse skill set working collaboratively and effectively with cross-functional teams and developing innovative products that contribute to a more flexible and resilient energy grid. This role has allowed me to witness firsthand the tangible impact of my work in ensuring that energy customers receive reliable services from their utility and an appreciation for how business can be used as a force for good. My passion for sustainable solutions, coupled with my experience at project management, has equipped me with a unique perspective on driving meaningful change in the energy sector. |
What Will EV Load Management Look Like in 2026?
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Hilary Polis Hilary Polis is an Associate Director of Transportation Electrification at Opinion Dynamics where she leads Opinion Dynamics’ work in the transportation electrification space. Hilary leverages her expertise in vehicle grid integration to help clients understand the intersection of the EV owner and the grid. She provides advisory services to utilities and automakers across the country that are looking to build or scale EV load management offerings including PG&E, ComEd, and Puget Sound Energy. She also serves as a subject matter expert for large-scale evaluations of TE portfolios such as the SCE Charge Ready Light Duty Programs and Xcel Transportation Electrification Plan Programs among others. |
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Sunil Goyal Sunil is an Advance project leader at Ford Motor Company with over 20 years of experience in software delivery and business process improvement. Since 2018, Sunil has been engaged in the development of the technical strategy for OVGIP (Open Vehicle Grid Integration Platform), which will enable smooth and easy integration of OEM and utilities. Sunil is responsible for leading advanced pilot planning for Grid Services and Energy Services. This includes the development of new business partnerships as well as defining platform opportunities that can improve business efficiency and effectiveness with our external partners. He is currently working in Ford's energy service team in model e and focusing on developing in-house capabilities of manage charging using telematics. |
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Jay Oliver Jay Oliver is Managing Director, Grid Systems Integration at Duke Energy. In this role he leads battery storage development, transportation electrification, demand side management, and clean energy customer programs. Mr. Oliver has over 25 years of experience in electric Distribution, Transmission, and related technology applications. Mr. Oliver received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Florida. He is a licensed Professional Engineer. |
Welcome to Portland for the 49th Conference!
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Jenny Roehm Jenny Roehm is part of Schneider Electric’s Digital Grid Team delivering digital energy management solutions. Their goal is to enable businesses and homeowners to truly manage their energy consumption, and work on the principle that local utilities are, and should remain, trusted advisors for their customers. Jenny works with her team to develop solutions centered around strengthening the relationship between utility and consumer to save energy and deliver resources for grid management. Her current work leverages her nearly 30 years of experience to focus on the integration of demand side management resources; working with utilities and customers to integrate demand response, storage, on-site generation and energy efficiency into a single approach. Jenny Roehm spent the first part of her career working for a utility and has managed load control programs, as a consultant she worked with utilities across the country as they implement programs and has experience conducting measurement and verification studies on energy efficiency and demand response projects. |
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Kati Harper Bio unavailable. |