Please note your affiliation and years of experience in the energy and/or environmental field

I work on clean energy issues affecting the investor-owned electric companies at the Edison Electric Institute. I have over 13 years of experience analyzing environmental markets and energy policies, as well as managing energy efficiency programs.

Any particular achievement/interest in energy/environment you would like to mention?

My long-standing academic interest has been effective policy design that incentivizes companies to internalize externalities that arise throughout the supply chain. Early on in my career I worked on analyzing carbon markets – a way of internalizing emissions externalities, throughout the world. About a decade ago I, along with many others, worked on convincing electric companies to adopt Energy Star-based demand-side management programs, and it is fascinating to see how standards, coupled with technological advances (i.e. from the incandescent to LEDs) have helped end-users save money and electric companies save energy.

In your opinion, what are important issues facing the energy industry nowadays?

One of the biggest challenges for the electric industry is the increase in distributed generation. The biggest challenge to the traditional model of electricity generation is the disruptive solar, wind, and storage technology proliferation that enables the development of non-traditional electricity generation. Electricity reliability and grid resiliency are indisputably paramount. It is important to ensure that distributed generation resources develop within a robust grid that is maintained and modernized using software, technologies, and experienced staff of the electric companies who have the appropriate level of data, knowledge, and expertise.  

How long have you been a member of NCAC? Any particular NCAC memory you would like to share with us? 

I joined in late 2016. When I ran into a fellow grad school alum (there are few of us around), I realized the great, fun, and educational value of NCAC. Because the energy industry evolves so quickly, it is valuable to attend NCAC’s lectures and learn what others in the energy field are doing so as not to get too stale behind the desk, buried in the daily duties.