GTM Forum: Energy Storage vs. Gas

Dr. William Acker is a well-known and highly-regarded scientist, business leader and entrepreneur in the field of energy. He currently serves as the first Executive Director of NY-BEST, the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium.  Under his leadership, NY-BEST has grown its membership to more than 150 companies, created the BEST Test and Commercialization Center and new battery prototyping capabilities, and has performed pioneering work in advancing markets, policy, technology and product development. Dr. Acker is an active and influential voice for energy storage industry in New York State’s groundbreaking Reforming the Energy Vision initiative and he is leading the industry’s participation in the State’s Energy Storage Roadmap initiative.

Dr. Acker’s more than 25-year career in energy includes management and leadership roles with Optiwind, MTI and MTI MicroFuel Cells, Plug Power and Texaco. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Future Energy Systems at RPI, the RIT Battery Prototyping Center, and the Southern Tier Clean Energy Incubator.  Previously he served as a Commissioner on the NY Ready Commission that was established by Governor Andrew Cuomo in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. He received a Ph.D, in Applied Physics and Engineering from Yale University and a B.S. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic University.

Mr. Shawn Bennett, Senior Advisor, Air Force Office of Energy Assurance (OEA), Washington, D.C., develops resiliency solutions at Air Force installations, primarily through the procurement and development of utility-scale generation and microgrids. In addition, he is leading a solicitation process to demonstrate a new "Energy-as-a-Service" business model that seeks to achieve comprehensive energy solutions at Air Force installations. He is currently on a detail assignment from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC).
Prior to his assignment with OEA, Mr. Bennett served in various roles at FERC, most recently as branch chief in the Division of Analytics and Surveillance. In this role, he managed a team tasked with statistically analyzing and reviewing company transactional data in electric and natural gas markets to evaluate for potential market manipulation. Prior to this role, he served as technical advisor to Commissioner John Norris, to whom he provided policy recommendations to support competitive energy markets and energy infrastructure development.
Mr. Bennett began his career as an engineer with Siemens and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal.

Donald Chahbazpour is currently the Director of Climate Change Compliance at National Grid. Don is leading company’s efforts in addressing sustainability issues of the natural gas business, mainly focusing on directly engaging federal, state and local stakeholders to support efforts to reduce methane emissions from the natural gas distribution sector. His efforts include collaborating with various organizations to create a new voluntary EPA program to reduce methane emissions, represent the company in several scientific research studies, develop and manage projects to assess integrating new technologies to quantify and reduce emissions from operating a gas utility business. Don is also responsible for raising awareness and engaging policy makers regarding the potential of renewable natural gas and other technologies that can lower the carbon footprint of the natural gas system.

Previous to his current position, Don was the Director of Utility of the Future. His previous positions at National Grid include Corporate Strategy, M&A and Energy Portfolio Management.  Prior to National Grid, Don was working for a start up energy technology company focusing on emerging distributed generation technologies and related regulatory issues.

Don has a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration (MPA) from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor’s with honors in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Mr. Gilbert is a Principal at Energy Capital Partners and is a member of the Valuation Committee. He is involved in all areas of the firm’s investment activities, with particular emphasis on fossil and renewable power generation and environmental services. Mr. Gilbert serves on the boards of Calpine Corp., Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. and Triton Power, played a critical role in our transaction with Dynegy Inc. and was instrumental in our management of EquiPower Resources Corp., Brayton Point Power, LLC, Broad River Power Holdings, LLC and Odessa Power Holdings, LLC.

Prior to joining Energy Capital Partners in 2010, Mr. Gilbert was part of Citigroup’s Global Energy Investment Banking Group, where he focused on the midstream sector.

Mr. Gilbert received a B.S. in Finance and Economics from New York University Stern School of Business and is a CFA Charterholder.

Ray Hohenstein is a Market Applications Director at Fluence, a joint venture between Siemens and AES and a leading global provider of energy storage systems and services. In this role, he is responsible for identifying markets and applications that are attractive for energy storage development and educating potential customers on business cases for energy storage. Prior to joining Fluence, he worked for McKinsey & Company, where he served utility and tech clients on a range of topics including digital capability building, mergers and acquisitions, and operations transformations. He holds an M.B.A. from Duke University and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Thomas McAndrew founded Enchanted Rock Ltd. in 2006 and currently serves as the President and CEO.  McAndrew brings over 34 years of experience in energy asset management ranging from large, complex nuclear plants to small distributed generation. Prior experiences include VP of Trading and Risk Management at Calpine, CEO at Progressive Power Solutions, VP of West Power Trading at Statoil, and Director at Enron. McAndrew has also served in U.S. Navy as Lieutenant. He holds B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Rana Mukerji is responsible for the Market Design; Product and Project Management; Strategic and Business Planning; Research and Development; and Market Training teams.
Mr. Mukerji joined the NYISO in 2006. Previously, he spent several years as a global leader for ABB’s Utility T&D Services, Asset Management and Consulting businesses in North Carolina and Zurich. He also played a key role as General Manager for GE’s Power Systems Energy Consulting Division.
He earned a B.S in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Electric Power Engineering and a M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.  Mr. Mukerji is also a NY registered Professional Engineer.

Landon Stevens is the Policy Director for Commissioner Andy Tobin at the Arizona Corporation Commission. He is the principle author of the recently proposed Arizona Energy Modernization Plan which would see Arizona get 80 percent of its energy from clean sources by 2030 while also setting the nation’s largest energy storage target and adopting a ‘clean peak standard’ for regulated utilities.
Landon previously directed research at an academic think tank focusing on energy and environmental policy and was the Director of Policy for the Institute for Energy Research in Washington D.C. Landon earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and his Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University.

Ms. Walter evaluates strategic market design and economic issues for PJM, including quantitative and qualitative analytical support on topics that impact PJM strategy, including state and federal policy initiatives, technological advances and broader economic trends. Ms. Walter focuses on market design and economic trends in electricity markets and grid operations. Currently, Laura is leading a team to implement FERC Order 841: Electric Storage Participation in Markets Operated by RTOs and ISOs in PJM.
 
Previous roles at PJM included stints in Performance Compliance, Market Analysis and Finance. Prior to joining PJM in 2008, Ms. Walter worked in Commodity Supply Planning at FirstEnergy Solutions and Rates and Regulatory Affairs at FirstEnergy Corp. Ms. Walter earned a Master’s degree in economics from Kent State University.

Ms. Walter has a passion for STEM education; she is the Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Women's International Networking Utility Professionals and the Vice Chair of the PJM  STEAM Employee Resource Group.
 
PJM Interconnection, founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region’s transmission grid, which includes over 84,042 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. PJM’s regional grid and market operations produce annual savings of $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion. For the latest news about PJM, visit PJM Inside Lines at insidelines.pjm.com.