Speakers
Founder and CEO
Agave Systems
As the founder and CEO of several companies in the energy and high technology services industry, Steve has led his teams to drive innovation and breakthrough solutions for the last 30 years. He is Founder and CEO of Agave Systems, which produces a cloud-based Energy as a Service (EaaS) solution that dramatically impacts organizations' financial and sustainability performance by increasing their energy efficiency. Steve also acts as CEO of Regatta Development - a general contracting firm focused on distributed generation installation and datacenter infrastructure projects. Prior to founding Regatta Solutions, Steve held sales, management and executive positions with Texas Instruments, International Business Machines Corporation, Bridgestone Software, Cornerstone Systems, Inc. and MSI Systems Integrators. Steve holds a bachelor's science degree from the University of Southern California. He serves "Living to Love Another Day" - an organization supporting efforts to eliminate student suicide - and Fristers, an organization helping Teen parents.
Vice President
EV Connect
Ram is Co-Founder, Consultant, and Investor at EV Connect, a leading provider of EV charging solutions and software for commercial, enterprise, government, and utility customers. Ram has been at EV Connect for more than 11 years, currently in the role of Vice President, Business Development, helping customers deploy EV charging infrastructure to support the growth of transportation electrification, grid management, demand response, and other applications. Ram also serves as President of Kala Energy LLC, where he provides business development consulting and financial advisory services to firms in the renewable energy and clean-tech sectors. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Business Development at LightBeam Electric Company for three years, and before that he was Director, Large Scale Renewables at Chevron for seven years. Ram holds a BA in economics from UCLA and an MBA from The Anderson School of Management at UCLA.
Vice President
EnergyHub
As VP of Utility Sales, Chris is responsible for driving growth in EnergyHub's DERMS business through partnerships with utility clients. Chris joined the company in 2016. Prior to joining EnergyHub, Chris spent eight years in the utility demand response space with EnerNOC, serving in a variety of sales, market development, and management roles. Before entering the energy sector Chris worked in corporate finance. Chris holds a BA in International Politics and Economics from Middlebury College and an MBA from Northwestern University.
Senior Manager
CLEAResult
Nick is a senior manager with ten years of utility consulting experience focusing on demand response (DR) and distributed energy resources (DER) program design and implementation. Markets/program types addressed include commercial & industrial auto-DR, residential (behavioral, smart thermostats, and direct load control), and water heater DR. Nick works at the nexus of technology, customer experience and analytics to drive growth in emerging markets and meet evolving needs of electric utilities and their customers. Prior to CLEAResult, he was a Associate Technical Program Manager and Energy Analyst at PECI.
Co-Founder and Vice President
Kitu Systems
Mike Bourton co-founded Kitu Systems originally as Grid2Home Inc. leveraging more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Mike has extensive experience working with early stage and established telecom companies, developing their strategic plans, business models, product and marketing plans and guiding them through their life cycle. His functional involvements have spanned general management, design and development, marketing, corporate and strategic marketing and planning, market development and product line management, corporate alliance and business development. Prior to co-founding Kitu Systems, Mike was Director of New Business Development for Texas Instruments in the Home Networking. He also served as vice president and general manager for Agilent Technologies where he was responsible for the design and manufacture of telecommunication testing and service assurance equipment and was vice president and general manager for Acterna Corporation, the largest provider of communications test solutions for telecommunications and cable network operators.
Senior Project Manager, Product Management
Southern California Edison
Carl is a Senior Project Manager with Southern California Edison's (SCE) New Program Development and Launch group where he manages residential pilots that use a variety of technology and program strategies to expand SCE's Energy Efficiency and Demand Response portfolios. He previously led demand response emerging markets and technology efforts at SCE. Carl began his career working for effectiveness expert Steven R. Covey where he supported software planning tools and other technology solutions. Prior to coming to SCE, Carl held project/product management and consulting positions with several niche software companies managing the development of software and other technology solutions for the insurance, finance, automotive, and equipment rental industries. Carl holds a Bachelor degree from Brigham Young University and a MBA from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and currently serves as Chairman of the OpenADR Alliance Board of Directors.
Technical Director
OpenADR Alliance
Rolf oversees the national and international technical developments and the certification program of the OpenADR Alliance. Before joining OpenADR, Rolf was the Technical Manager for Telecom and the Global Competence Center for emerging communication protocols at an international test house. In this role, Rolf was involved in many international standardization efforts and guided the company's efforts in these areas. Rolf has been an active member of the NIST SGTCC, OpenADR Alliance, USNAP Alliance, SunSpec Alliance, ZigBee Alliance, and other organizations driving the development of new technologies with a specific focus on certification and interoperability.
Chief Research Officer and Data Scientist & Senior Director of Distributed Energy Resources
Center for Sustainable Energy
Engineer
Southern California Edison
Kevin Chan has been an engineer at Southern California Edison since 2015. Prior to SCE, he worked as a program and product developer at the Southern California Earthquake Center. Kevin holds a B.A. and Master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California.
Vice President
Viking Cold Solutions
Collin Coker is Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Viking Cold Solutions. Since 2013 Mr. Coker has led the efforts to market adoption and installations of Viking Cold's TES systems throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Australia. He regularly collaborates with energy and refrigeration experts from third-party engineering firms, utilities, government agencies, and cold storage operators for validation studies, pilots, and customer installations. He has also been responsible for the acceptance of Viking Cold's TES technology into numerous utility programs across the country. Prior to joining Viking Cold, Collin had three decades of sales and leadership experience and more than 20 years in wholesale and retail energy. He held executive and leadership roles with StarTex Power/Constellation, Gexa Energy, Direct Energy, and Reliant Energy. He attended Texas State University and earned sales and leadership certifications from universities including the Wharton School of Business, Villanova University, Rice University, and Motorola University.
Vice President
ChargePoint
Prior to ChargePoint, Clay was a co-founder and CEO of Kisensum, which merged with ChargePoint in June of 2018. Kisensum developed the suite of software that enabled V2G operation in a live market at scale for the first time in the world. Prior to Kisensum, Clay was Co-Founder and CEO of Akuacom, the inventor of the full suite of software and hardware that created the Automated Demand Response market and led to the OpenADR standard with the support of Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and the California Energy Commission. Honeywell acquired Akuacom in 2010 and Clay spent three years in Business Development domestically and internationally. Clay received a B.A. in Physics from UC Berkeley, and has patented multiple technologies in the areas of geospatial and energy systems and software.
Co-Founder and Board President
Center for Renewables Integration
Kerinia co-founded Center for Renewables Integration (CRI), Inc. in 2017. CRI primarily works at the state level, advising and helping to develop policies to enable a high percentage of variable, renewable generation to connect to the electricity grid, without impacting reliability, and while maintaining a focus on cost. As part of this effort, CRI works extensively on issues relating to energy storage, compensation of distributed energy resources, procurement of clean electricity, and smart inverters. Additionally, CRI has been a leading company on the issue of using energy storage as a transmission asset, teaming up with a former FERC Chairman to perform a deep dive analysis of FERC regulations. In addition to her role at CRI, Kerinia provides go-to-market consulting to companies entering the renewable energy market, as well as renewable energy firms looking to grow. Prior to CRI, Kerinia was at SunEdison for approximately 8 years. In that time, she led energy storage commercialization and financeability, and ran the company's national Government Affairs team. Kerinia is also an ex-aerospace engineer and holds degrees from University of Southern California and Drexel University.
Senior Director-Energy & Utilities Practice
West Monroe Partners
Paul DeCotis is senior director and head of West Monroe Partners' east coast Energy & Utilities practice, based in New York City. He leads the firm's executive advisory and regulatory offerings and is an accomplished and respected executive and thought leader. Prior to joining West Monroe, Paul was managing director for contract oversight at Long Island Power Authority, and vice president of power markets, overseeing power generation, project development, contract management, integrated resource planning, including clean and renewable energy and demand response, and FERC and RTO market policy. Paul was energy secretary for two New York Governors, chaired the State Energy Planning Board and was a member of the NYC Energy Planning Board. As the senior energy advisor to the governors, he oversaw strategy, policy, legislation, and implementation activities for the state's energy agencies. Paul has over eight dozen professional publications dealing with energy industry and policy matters and serves on several national energy related Boards.
Senior Program Manager
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Mr. Girish Ghatikar is a Senior Program Manager and leads the information and communication technologies (ICT) for distributed energy resources (DER) and integration research at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, California. The research identifies, creates, and transfers ICT-centric solutions for the adoption of DER into the power system. Before joining EPRI, Ghatikar was the Chief Research Officer at Greenlots and led the development of electric vehicle-grid and battery storage-integrated systems. At the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he was the Deputy Leader for Grid Integration program and the Chief Architect for international standard, OpenADR. Ghatikar's work has appeared in over 90 publications and he holds Masters degrees in Telecommunication Systems/Computer Technologies and Infrastructure Planning.
President
Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE)
The Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is a national nonprofit organization focused on the goal to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world powered by clean energy. Larry is a San Diego software entrepreneur, environmental advocate, and former CSE board member, and brings to the center more than 35 years of experience in the sustainability and environmental sectors in both profit and nonprofit industries. Prior to the CSE, Larry founded Enviance in 1999, an environmental technology company and served as its president and CEO until the company's sale in 2015. Under his leadership, Enviance pioneered the use of the internet to provide environmental management software to industry and government. Prior to founding Enviance, Larry was a partner at Irell & Manella, a Los Angeles law firm, where he specialized in commercial litigation, including environmental resource disputes.
Vice President, Enterprise Accounts
Enbala
Graham leads all Origination and Enterprise Account Management in Western North America for Enbala. His primary responsibility is to develop and advance Enbala's control and optimization solutions within large, multi-stakeholder accounts, supporting the shift to a decentralized power system. Prior to Enbala, Graham was Chief Operating Officer of Cloudworks Energy Inc. Graham holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's in Business Administration.
Senior Director, Business Development, Utilities
MotorWerks, an Enel Group Company
With over a decade of software experience and expertise in utility enterprise solutions, Karen Hsu leads utility business development for eMotorWerks, an Enel Group Company. Under her leadership, eMotorWerks has expanded its investor owned utility portfolio and its electric vehicle smart charging products and energy management services. Prior to joining eMotorWerks, Karen lead a sales executive team for SEW, a SAP for utilities company, which focused on utility Customer Information System (CIS) and asset management solutions in the field. During her time at SEW, she was the top revenue producing sales executive and was responsible for direct utility sales, managing the software implementation team and part of the business advisory team that informed software development. Some of the notable utility partners Karen has secured deals with include Xcel Energy, American Electric Power, Southern Company, Georgia Power, Bahama Power & Light, Emerald People's Utility District, Tacoma Public, Puget Sound, National Grid, PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, DTE Energy and Portland General Electric. She holds a BA in Biology from Cal State Fullerton and technical certifications from UC Irvine focused on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
International Business Development
Next Kraftwerke
Felix Jedamzik has been with Next Kraftwerke for the past six years, serving as Key Account Manager and currently as International Business Development executive. Previously, he was at the Berliner Volksbank eG for three years, serving as Auszubildender im Bereich Bankbetriebslehre and later as Junior-Kreditanalyst. He holds an MS degree from Bergische Universität Wuppertal.
Head Of Cleantech
Business Finland
Markku Kivistö is a playmaker and catalyst for business ecosystem building in manufacturing, logistics, connectivity and fintech with tools such as digitalization (platform economy, IoT, 5G, AI, blockchain etc.) and Business Finland innovation funding possibilities. Prior to his current position at Business Finland he was Project Manager of Reboot Finland at Tekes for two years, and Program Manager of Capitalize Your Knowledge, Growth Program at Finpro. Prior to those positions, Markuu was Vice President, Operational Excellence at Valmet and Vice president, Strategy and Operational Development at Metso. He holds an MBA from University of Tampere and an MBA in Finance from the University of Kansas - Graduate School of Business.
President
Rakon Energy
Rao Konidena is President of Rakon Energy, a firm which provides wholesale energy market expertise to distribution system experts focusing on energy storage and distributed energy resources. Prior to Rakon, Rao was Principal Advisor-Policy Studies at Midcontinenty Independent System Operator (MISO). He began his work with MISO in the areas of resource adequacy and transmission planning. He and his team developed demand side and clean technology options as alternatives to generation in the 20 year long term transmission expansion planning process. Rao has an MBA from University of MN and MSEE (Master of Science in Electrical Engineering) from University of Texas at Arlington. Rao is a Board member of Finnish American Chamber of Commerce - Minnesota and volunteers at City of Roseville, MN on the Finance Commission.
Partner
Skipping Stone
Ross is an Owner, Partner and Member of the Skipping Stone Board of Directors. Ross joined Skipping Stone in May of 2011 and leads Skipping Stone's Smart Grid and Distributed Energy Resources Practice. This practice has included leading Skipping Stone's engagement as Technical Advisor to the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) which is focused on export of US Smart Grid Technologies to the developing world. In addition, he is a former member of both the National Energy Standards Board (NAESB) Executive Committee Retail Gas Quadrant and the Advisory Board to the US Secretary of Commerce on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Prior to Skipping Stone, Ross was the Director of the Schneider Demand Response Resource Center (DRRC). The DRRC develops demand response strategies for implementation by Schneider business units and country organizations. The DRRC also manages external relationships with electricity market operators, utilities, demand response aggregators and other strategic alliances. Prior to RETX acquisition by Schneider in 2008 Ross was President, CEO and original founder of RETX, www.RETX.com, an energy services and technology company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Executive Vice President and General Manager-North America
Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS)
Peter is a member of the Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS) global executive team, responsible for the management and growth of the company's business throughout North America. SGS has spent ten years developing, deploying and proving a unique approach to managing the Smart Grid, and is recognized as a thought leader in this domain. SGS has worked with and learned from electricity distribution companies, regulatory authorities, university research teams, DER developers, SCADA/DMS suppliers, grid edge device manufacturers and many others. Prior to his current position, Peter held senior-level management positions at Nexant, Power Assure, Silver Spring Networks, and CPower.
Co-Founder and General Manager, Smart Grid
QualityLogic
James Mater co-founded and has held several executive positions at QualityLogic from June 1994 to present. He is currently Co-Founder and Director working on QualityLogic's Smart Grid strategy, including work with GWAC, the Pacific North West Smart Grid Demonstration Project, the SGIP Test and Certification Committee, and UCA's OpenSG Conformity Work Group, as well as giving papers and presentations on interoperability. From 2001 to October, 2008, James oversaw QualityLogic as President and CEO. From 1994 to 1999, he founded and built Revision Labs, which merged with Genoa Technologies to become QualityLogic. Prior to QualityLogic, Mater held Product Management roles at Tektronix, Floating Point Systems, Sidereal and Solar Division of International Harvester. James holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Reed College, Portland, OR and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Director, Energy Markets
Opus One Solutions
David MacRae is the Executive Director of Engineering and Delivery for Opus One Solutions. Dave joined Opus One in 2016 to lead the development of the world's first Transactive Energy Marketplace, a Distributed System Platform in partnership with National Grid and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Center. For the last 20+ years, Dave's career has centered around energy, from generation to delivery. He began his career in construction, served as lead electrician onboard nuclear submarines for the US Navy. In 2002, Dave brought his passion for all things power related to NYC's electric grid, where he spent 15 years with the Consolidated Edison Company, working in fossil power, Transmission and Distribution control room operations, substations, training, human resources, energy efficiency, demand response, and distributed resource integration. Dave has led the development of several executive initiatives in human performance, self-assessment, and volunteered to work with Veterans groups, Non-traditional Employment for Woman (NEW), and the Fresh Air Fund. Dave has a BS in Nuclear and Electronics Engineering as well as an MS and BS in Organizational Leadership.
Chief of Corporate Development
PXiSE Energy Solutions
Rex heads Corporate Development for PXiSE Energy Solutions leveraging his experience from having helped guide business development, corporate strategy, finance, and software R&D for 20+ years, with 10+ years in the energy sector. He has been instrumental in securing strategic partnerships, equity financing, and non-dilutive government financing. In addition to prior CorpDev work at Sempra Energy, Rex has worked in start-up software development and industrial biotechnology companies as well as large enterprises such as Daimler-Benz and IBM. He has an M.B.A. from University of California, San Diego, and dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from Barry University in Miami, Florida.
Senior Program Manager, Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Deployment
Tucson Electric Power (TEP)
Justin Orkney is a senior program manager for Tucson Electric Power (TEP). He currently oversees all distributed generation and distributed energy resources (DER) activity in the utility's service territory. Justin has more than a decade of experience with customer-sited solar and has been leading TEP's efforts with respect to distributed storage and DER management platforms. He has an in-depth understanding of how technology, rate design, policy, and customer interest can come together to provide value to all stakeholders.
Senior Vice President
Open Access Technology International (OATI)
Farrokh Rahimi holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), along with over 40 years of experience in the electric power industry. In his current role as Senior Vice President, Market Design and Consulting at Open Access Technology International (OATI), Dr. Rahimi oversees development of market design and consulting activities, and is also a key contributor to OATI's Smart Grid and Grid Modernization activities. Dr. Rahimi is Life Member of IEEE and a member of a number of Smart Grid and Grid Modernization task forces and committees collaborating with IEEE, NERC, NIST, NAESB, WECC, IRC, and GWAC among others.
Senior Forecast Analyst
Itron
David Simons is a Forecast Analyst with Itron's Forecasting Division. Since joining Itron in 2013, Simons has assisted in the support and implementation of Itron's short-term load forecasting solutions for GRTgaz, Hydro Tasmania, IESO, New York ISO, California ISO, Midwest ISO, Potomac Electric Power Company, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, Bonneville Power Administration and Hydro-Québec. He has also assisted Itron's Forecasting Division in research and development of forecasting methods and end-use analysis. Prior to joining Itron, Simons conducted empirical research, performed operations analysis and data management for a nonprofit, and lectured in economics at San Diego State University while pursuing his master's degree. Some of his empirical research includes examining the behavioral factors that influence educational attainment in adolescents and the environmental implications of cross-border integration. Simons received a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.A. in Economics from San Diego State University.
Chief Deputy Director
California Energy Commission
Courtney served as the deputy director of the Energy Commission's Renewable Energy Division, implementing California's Renewables Portfolio Standard, renewable energy incentive and grant programs, and other activities aimed at achieving California's ambitious renewable energy and climate goals. She was an advisor and chief of staff to Energy Commission Vice Chair Janea A. Scott. She also worked at the California Air Resources Board in various capacities, including serving as a contributing author to California's AB 32 Scoping Plan Update -- California's climate action roadmap. Courtney worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health conducting research and analysis to understand and improve the health impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. She holds a master of science in environmental health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Senior Principal, Sustainability Practice,
West Monroe Partners
David South devises innovative business solutions and strategies for clients challenged by the interaction among technologies (power generation, energy efficiency, process and environmental), commodity and financial markets, and regulatory requirements related to energy, emissions/residuals and sustainability. He has worked with numerous companies in the power generation, industrial/manufacturing, financial, technology development, and transportation sectors, as well as public-sector organizations such as trade associations, research institutions, and government agencies at the local, state and federal levels. David combines substantial business consulting experience with deep resource, technology and delivery infrastructure experience includes coal, natural gas, nuclear power, distributed/on-site, cogeneration, renewable/clean energy and clean fuels. He has devised strategies for compliance with clean air and greenhouse gas emissions - including making contributions to trading mechanisms for SO2, NOx, CO2, and RECs - and water and waste residuals. For example, he is widely recognized for his work on emissions and renewable energy credit (REC) trading; monetization of clean air, greenhouse gas, environmental and energy credits to facilitate project economics; multi-pollutant control and mitigation strategies; and quantification and monetization of avoided (displaced) emissions.
Director, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure N.A.
ABB
Bob has been at ABB for more than 19 years, currently leading the company's EV charging infrastructure team in North America. Previously he was Director of Microgrids North America for ABB, leading coordinated team efforts to develop deeper successful relationships with key customers in the energy industry. Before that he was Director of Solar Power North America and Regional Manager, also at ABB. Bob holds an BSC degree in mechanical engineering from Western University, and an MBA in finance from Loyola Marymount University.
Head of Product for Demand Management Solutions
Uplight
Emilie Stone is Head of Product for Demand Management Solutions including Uplight Orchestrated Energy, a non-wires alternative platform that reduces residential energy consumption during peak demand. She leads Uplight's efforts for deep integration with market-leading OEMs to deliver superior performance over traditional DR programs. She also works with utility partners to develop cost-effective, performative programs to meet all varieties of load management goals. Emilie is passionate about changing the way we value and consume energy with a balance of advanced technology and pragmatic customer experience. Before joining Uplight, Emilie ran lithium-ion and power electronics development for electric vehicles, data centers and the military. She offers a deep understanding of energy storage technology and the capabilities and shortcomings within this landscape. She has an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Chairman
Arkansas Public Service Commission
Ted Thomas of Conway was appointed chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission by Governor Asa Hutchinson in January 2015. Ted has served as Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the 20th Judicial District, Administrative Law Judge at the Public Service Commission, Budget Director for Governor Mike Huckabee and in the Arkansas House of Representatives, where he served as Chairman of the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee during his final term. Ted received a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Political Science from the University of Arkansas in 1986 and a Juris Doctorate from the University Of Arkansas School Of Law in 1988. He is licensed to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Unites States Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Eight Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
Contributing Editor
Utility Dive
Herman K. Trabish, D.C., has been a Doctor of Chiropractic in private practice for 30 years but some years ago he realized his strategy to fix the planet one person at a time was moving too slowly. An accidental encounter with Daniel Yergin's The Prize led to a protracted study of the bloody, fiery history of oil and then to Trabish's Oil In Their Blood "trilogy" (http://www.oilintheirblood.com), a pair of historical novels on oil history still waiting to find a happy ending. Trabish was raised up from the horrific side of energy's history by mentor Paul MacCready, one of the founding fathers of the modern renewable energy business. A five-year apprenticeship as the sole force behind NewEnergyNews (http://www.newenergynews.net) followed. His best effort to achieve competence on the energy generation beat is ongoing at Utility Dive under the tutelage of an unusually tolerant editorial staff.
Manager - Project Execution, Smart Grid and Technology
Pepco Holdings
Jason Tucker, P.E., is Manager of Project Execution in Pepco Holdings' Smart Grid and Technology Department. Prior to his current position he was a supervising engineer at Pepco for six years, responsible for the supervision of the design of the Atlantic City Electric's 69 kV - 500 kV transmission system, including design of structures and foundations, selection of conductors, fiber optic wire, insulators and other hardware. Prior to that he was responsible at Pepco for managing environmental permitting and licensing for large and small electric transmission, substation, and distribution projects in Delaware and Maryland. Jason holds a BS in civil engineering from Penn State University.
Engineer/ Scientist II
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Ms. Alekhya Vaddiraj is an Engineer and Scientist in the Information, Communications, and Cybersecurity research area at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo Alto, California. Her work primarily focus on research and project management of information and communication technologies (ICT) and cybersecurity for demand response (DR) and distributed energy resources (DER) technologies. Before joining EPRI, Ms. Vaddiraj worked, as a power-knowledge engineer at Waverley Labs for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) projects. Her work focused on design and development of cybersecurity monitoring system to assess digital risks in the power grid. Ms. Vaddiraj holds Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering where her Thesis focused on flexible alternate-current transmission system (FACTS).
Technical Director, Distributed Energy Resources
Energy Solutions
Ms. Wang develops and manages a variety of programs for the Distributed Energy Resources team. She provides deep expertise relating to demand response, demand-side integration, and electric buses. She managed and continues to support PG&E's automated demand response (ADR) Program, which provides incentives for controls and communication equipment to non-residential customers to help facilitate demand response. For Southern California Edison, she pioneered the design and implementation of an upstream ADR pilot - which provided incentives to HVAC distributors and contractors to install ADR-enabled commercial HVAC equipment. Recently, she led a review of existing control capabilities of variable refrigerant flow systems for DR participation, with respect to Title 24 compliance and California ADR Program eligibility. Ms. Wang has authored numerous reports on demand side management (DSM) resource planning, utility program evaluation, and demand response.
Foreign Direct Investment Advisor
Business Finland
Megan Williams is a Foreign Direct Investment Advisor for Business Finland with a focus in cleantech (renewable energy, wind power, solar power) smart manufacturing and batteries. She has over a decade of experience in international business, multinational organizations and government relations. Megan has worked in many diverse roles including running and establishing her own successful international development consulting company. Additionally, she has worked for the World Bank, the United States Government and Foreign Governments. In these roles she has worked to implement policies, promoted trade and investment and fostered bilateral relationships between the United States, international businesses and governments. Megan has extensive global work and business experience with significant research in international conflict analysis, negotiation and mediation.