new york rev future 2017

Kristin Barbato has a long career in energy leadership and has held various executive positions in both private and public sector.  She provides energy management advisory services to help entities optimize their capital and operations planning in areas such as commodity supply, efficiency projects, renewable investments, and operations performance.  She served as Managing Director of Enterprise Development at Edison Energy. Prior to this role, she was Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions at the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and built a new energy services business for their public sector customers.  Before that, she was appointed to Deputy Commissioner / Chief Energy Management Officer for New York City during Mayor Bloomberg’s Administration to manage the country’s largest municipal energy infrastructure and operations with an annual budget of $1.3B.  Ms. Barbato also worked for Veolia Environment, Con Edison, and Florida Power & Light in various departments including Strategic Planning, Customer Operations, Business Development, Engineering, and Information Technology.  
Ms. Barbato graduated Cornell University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.  She also holds an M.S. in Organizational Leadership from Mercy College and completed her MBA with focus in Finance and Economics from Columbia University in May 2008.  In her personal time, she is an avid squash player and adjunct professor of energy management graduate courses at Columbia and New York University.  She serves on several non-profit Advisory Boards such as The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund to support families of children with cancer, the Cornell’s School of Civil Engineering, and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

Alicia Barton was appointed president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on June 26, 2017. NYSERDA is a public benefit corporation that advances innovative energy solutions to improve New York State’s economy and environment.

Ms. Barton has held public and private sector leadership roles advancing clean energy projects and companies for over a decade. Immediately prior to her appointment, Ms. Barton served as co-chair of the Energy and Cleantech Practice at Foley Hoag, LLP, a global law firm based in Boston, where her practice focused on representation of clean energy companies in emerging market areas such as offshore wind and energy storage. Ms. Barton’s other private sector work included serving as chief of operations of the Global Utility business unit at SunEdison where she led teams working on utility-scale wind and solar projects.
Prior to her work in the private sector, Barton served as chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a publicly supported agency that funds and accelerates the development of the clean energy sector. As CEO, Ms. Barton led all of MassCEC’s investments, project finance, partnerships, and commercial operations across a range of clean energy technologies, and helped make the state a national leader in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and deployment of clean technologies.
Prior to serving as CEO of MassCEC, Ms. Barton was the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Planning for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP); Assistant Secretary for Environmental Review and Director of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office; and Deputy General Counsel at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). She began her career at Foley Hoag as an associate in the firm’s environmental practice.

Ms. Barton currently serves on boards of several organizations, including Greentown Labs, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, Efficiency Forward, and the Advisory Board for the New England Women in Energy and Environment (NEWIEE).

Ms. Barton earned a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University and a juris doctor degree from Boston College Law School.

Tamara Bryan will lead Con Edison’s Reforming the Energy Vision Demonstration Projects dedicated to ideating, developing, and testing new utility business models and energy solutions for low- and moderate-income customers. Before coming to Con Edison, Tamara held a variety of positions managing projects and strategic initiatives for Baruch College, the New York eHealth Collaborative, and the Center for Environmental Health. Tamara has a BA from the University of Michigan and a MBA from Baruch College.

Bob is Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Smarter Grid Solutions and leads the company’s R&D division.  SGS works with a number of utility companies in Europe, North America and beyond, providing Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems to support Grid Modernization and clean energy objectives.  At present, SGS is managing around 300 MW of DER using its unique distributed real-time control technology.  Bob participated in the UK Smart Grid Forum with a focus on the implementation of the RIIO regulatory framework. In New York, Bob was a member of the REV Market Design and Technology Platform working groups and more recently became a member of the NYSERDA Grid Modernization Committee.  SGS was named a Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer in 2012 and a GreenTech Media Grid Edge Award winner in 2016.  Bob received his Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.

Michael DeSocio has been involved in the evaluation, design, implementation, and operation of wholesale electricity markets at the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) for nearly 20 years. His tenure at the NYISO includes work in Market Operations, Market Design, Information Technology and Project Management.

Mr. DeSocio is currently responsible for the evolution of the NYISO wholesale electricity markets, improving market signals and incentives that support reliability needs and/or policy objectives. He also leads the NYISO’s efforts with integrating distributed energy and storage resources into New York’s wholesale markets as well as approaches that harmonize New York State’s REV and CES public policy objectives and competitive wholesale markets.
Mr. DeSocio has been involved in a diverse array of projects at the NYISO, including the integrating renewable technologies into the marketplace, working with emerging storage and generation technologies, enhancing interregional trade, minimizing regional congestion, and improving overall market efficiency.

Previously, Mr. DeSocio worked at Central Hudson Gas & Electric in the Engineering Group with responsibilities for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) standards, system protection studies and substation design.
He earned a Masters of Engineering degree in Electrical Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Andy is the Founder and CEO of Sealed, an energy services company that finances home performance upgrades with guaranteed energy savings. Customers that work with Sealed's HomeAdvance program receive a no or low cost home performance project, and are guaranteed to only pay based on the energy they save. Sealed works with utilities, local contractors, and other partners to engage customers with its HomeAdvance program. Prior to Sealed, Andy ran business development for Efficiency 2.0, a software company that partnered with utilities to better engage residential customers around saving energy. Prior to Efficiency 2.0, Andy worked as an analyst at GreenOrder, a management consulting firm focused on profitable corporate sustainability strategies. Andy holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College.

As CEO of Groom Energy Solutions, Jon is responsible for strategy and overall operations. Prior to co-founding Groom Energy, Jon was a general partner at Charles River Ventures (CRV), a leading venture capital firm with $2 billion under management. At CRV, Jon was an active lead investor, board member or advisor for high profile software and service companies such as BeFree (acquired by ValueClick), eDocs (acquired by Siebel Systems), Vignette (VIGN), Virtusa (VRTU) and Xign Corporation (acquired by JP Morgan Chase).

Before CRV, Jon held senior management positions at Open Market, a start-up ecommerce software company that went public in 1996. Prior to joining the early Open Market team, Jon served in a variety of senior product marketing and sales management roles with both Hewlett Packard and J.P. Morgan.

Jon earned his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Duke University, where he graduated with distinction. He is a co-founder and Board Member of Digital Lumens, an LED lighting company he co-founded in 2007. Jon is also a past member and committee chair of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering Board of Visitors as well as the Board of Visitors at The Museum of Sciences Boston.

Ryan Katofsky is Vice President of Industry Analysis with Advanced Energy Economy, where he is responsible for supporting AEE’s various initiatives with data-driven analysis, research and thought leadership. He is currently playing a leading role in AEE’s 21st Century Electricity System Initiative, which is focused on accelerating regulatory and business model change in the electric power sector. Prior to joining AEE in May 2013, he spent 20 years consulting to the advanced energy industry, utilities, and the public sector, including nine years at Arthur D. Little, six years at Navigant Consulting, and five years as an independent consultant.  His work has included market and technology assessment, economic analysis, business strategy development, due diligence, lifecycle energy and environmental assessment, long-range energy planning, and analysis of public sector renewable energy programs. He has worked for domestic and international clients.

Ryan received his Bachelor of Engineering degree from McGill University in 1990, where he received the British Association Medal for Great Distinction. He received his Master of Science in Engineering degree from Princeton University in 1993, where he was a Guggenheim Fellow. His thesis was a detailed techno-economic analysis of methanol and hydrogen production via biomass gasification.

Paul Kazmierczak is the Principal Program Manager of Market Engagement at National Grid’s New Energy Solutions (NES) team. NES is an agile team focused on developing and launching innovative solutions and technologies that unlock value for National Grid’s customers and communities and accelerate progress towards a sustainable future.

In his current role, Paul is responsible for the performance and future strategy of innovative solutions and technologies leading to the development of stakeholder alliances that deliver value for customers. Prior to the role, he was the Manager of Community & Customer Management. He has a wealth of experience in stakeholder engagement, as well as customer and community management, which has enhanced National Grid’s reputation within the jurisdiction.

Paul has been with National Grid for 27 years. He holds an M.B.A. from St. Bonaventure University, and a B.S. in Energy Engineering Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He also holds an A.A.S. in Air Conditioning Engineering from Alfred State College in NY.

Melissa is the Director of Policy, Northeast for Cypress Creek Renewables - one of the largest utility and community-scale solar and storage developers in the US. She has over a decade of experience in the renewables market, including extensive government policy, regulatory, and political work, all scales of development experience, and technical expertise. She has experience advocating for and developing solutions on many key topics including ISO wholesale market structures and revenue streams, state RPS structures and REC systems, carbon pricing, compensating distributed clean energy resources based on value, and interconnection processes and standards, as well as experience with siting and property tax issues. She holds a BS from Princeton University.

Josh Kmiec interned with ScottMadden in 2013 and joined the firm full time in 2014 after receiving an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, concentrating in consulting, sustainability, and marketing. Josh’s experience includes work in grid transformation and integration of distributed energy resources, post-merger integration, finance and accounting shared services, and project management. Prior to working at ScottMadden, Josh served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force for eight years where his responsibilities included mission planning, targeting, risk/threat assessment, project management, and real-time operational coordination. In addition to an M.B.A., Josh has received a M.A. in international relations from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, with a major in political science and a minor in history.
 

Drury MacKenzie is an experienced entrepreneur in the international energy space, inspired by her time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Haiti. She has also served as a consultant for innovation strategies and business development. She is dedicated to business solutions that increase social and environmental value. At AVANGRID, Drury leads the customer and market-facing platform within New York’s first smart grid ecosystem.

Mesa brings decades of experience as a practitioner and professor in sustainability, land use and urban systems to the Urban Design Lab. Before joining, Mesa was the Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, where she led OneNYC, the city’s path-breaking long-term sustainability plan under Mayor Bill de Blasio. She also oversaw citywide environmental reviews of projects, as well as policy development and implementation in such areas as energy and climate, renewable energy and power infrastructure, green building standards, recycling and the circular economy, environmental justice, air quality, water, parks and natural resources, and sustainable transportation. In addition, she represented the City in a range of international efforts including the Under2 Coalition, C40, and the  White House US-China Climate City Leaders Initiative.

Prior to joining the de Blasio administration, Mesa worked at Columbia University in several roles, including as the founding assistant vice president of environmental stewardship, adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, and as the associate dean of administrative affairs at the Graduate School of Journalism. In addition to her role in the Urban Design Lab as Director of Urban Sustainability and Equity Planning, Mesa is teaching urban sustainability and equity.

Previously, Mesa served in the Clinton Administration in key environmental policy roles at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, at the U.S. Air Force, and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as counsel to the NAFTA Taskforce. Her areas included airspace and land use, toxics, and the National Environmental Policy Act.  On NAFTA, she led U.S. legal negotiations with Canada and Mexico and implementing legislation related to trade and the environment.

Mesa began her environmental career at the California Attorney General’s Office enforcing toxic waste and natural resources laws, and was a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Alan Cranston. She has served on boards including the NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation, the Urban Green Council and Second Nature. She is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and Northwestern University. She was born in Cuba, and has lived in Harlem since 2001.

Sarah Miller joined Booz Allen Hamilton’s energy team in 2011 and has more than eight years of professional experience that includes work across a variety of commercial, public sector, and non-profit projects. She has supported clients ranging from commercial utility companies, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense, including the Army, Air Force, and Navy. Her work has included energy program stand-up and project development support for the Army Office of Energy Initiatives and the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance. She is experienced in program and project lifecycle management and her work has covered renewable energy, microgrids, distributed energy resources, and advanced energy technologies. Sarah has a BA from Transylvania University and an MPA, Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University.

Carlos Nouel is the Vice President of National Grid’s New Energy Solutions (NES) team. NES is an agile team focused on developing and launching innovative solutions and technologies that unlock value for National Grid’s customers and communities and accelerate progress towards a sustainable future.

Before becoming its leader, Carlos was the Director of Partnerships for the NES team. In that role, he was responsible for identifying customer’s energy needs and determining the most comprehensive, cost effective and sustainable strategies to fulfill those needs through the creation of innovative partnerships and alliances with key industry players. In addition, he also leads the development and execution of strategies and tactics for our smart grid programs. Before coming to New Energy Solutions, Carlos developed sourcing strategies to support all the requirements for National Grid’s energy efficiency portfolio valued at $400m per year.

Prior to joining National Grid, Carlos worked for companies such as Pfizer, British American Tobacco, IBM and AES in the supply chain area. Carlos holds an M.B.A. from Hult International Business School, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Andres Bello Catholic University in Venezuela. He is also a Certified Energy Manager.

Adam is responsible for Distributed Energy partnership efforts covering Utility Programs nationally for Direct Energy. Adam has spent the past 10+ years working in renewable and distributed energy sector and comes from Lockheed Martin where he was the Business Development leader for their Advanced Energy Generation program. Prior to Lockheed, Adam held positions with GE, AES Power and Scotiabank.   Adam earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and his Master of Science in Earth Resource Engineering from Columbia University.

Steve is the Director of Consulting & Content Strategy. He previously led GTM Research's Grid Edge program, which includes chairing the annual Grid Edge Live conference, overseeing the Grid Edge Executive Council and developing research related to the changing regulatory and business models associated with the energy system of the future. Before GTM, Steve was a Manager at Ernst & Young counseling power and utility companies on business planning, program development and operational improvement initiatives. Prior to that, Steve spent multiple years at PG&E in a variety of customer engagement and program management roles ranging from the Smart Grid deployment to energy efficiency and demand side management initiatives. Steve holds an MBA from INSEAD and a B.A. in Economics from The George Washington University.

Carlos A. Romero is Vice President, Energy Portfolio Management at ABB Inc.  He is responsible for product positioning, business development and overall growth strategy for the Energy Portfolio Management product lines of ABB’s Enterprise Software.  He has over eighteen years of experience in the design and implementation of regulatory framework, business strategies and solutions for generation management, smart grid commercial operations, portfolio optimization, hydro-thermal scheduling, bidding strategies and asset-centric trading operations.  Carlos earned his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from La Salle University and his M.A. in Financial Administration from Business Administration School.  He has worked with many customers around the world implementing software and consulting solutions, and reengineering business workflows to enhance profitability on Utility operations within the Smart Grid framework and GenCo operations.  He has directed and lectured in numerous seminars and conferences focused on the planning, operation, structure and development of various aspects related to competitive and deregulated energy markets worldwide.

A LEED AP architect, Pat holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has served on their Alumni Council. She is Co-Chair of the Committee on the Environment of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Board of Building Energy Exchange, a frequent lecturer and industry panelist, and an active member of the U.S. Green Building Council and Urban Green. Prior to joining UFL/NYCACRE, Pat worked in venture capital at Good Energies and consulted with start ups in the building energy efficiency space. She was CEO of Watt Not a LED lighting consultancy. She brings 15+ years of experience in the industry, connecting start-ups to sources of funding, customers, and business mentors.

As Senior Vice President for Client Services and Business Development at Allconnect, Dwight is responsible for new Allconnect partnerships and the ongoing management of existing utility relationships nation-wide. He has more than 25 years’ experience assisting utilities and other companies in the development and implementation of solutions and programs that create consumer confidence and increase demand.

Prior to Allconnect, Dwight led efforts to develop technology and customer solutions with CompuCom and Mobil Oil. He also served as a U.S. Army Military Police Officer and received a BS Degree in Accounting from Alabama A&M University.

Dwight is passionate about developing solutions that not only connect customers to and educate them about the products and services they need, but also make things less complicated for them.

Jim Steffes is the Executive Vice President (EVP) of Corporate Affairs for Direct Energy and oversees corporate government and regulatory affairs, media relations, community relations and corporate responsibility.

Jim spent nearly a decade with Direct Energy prior to his previous positions as CEO of Circular Energy, an innovative solar and energy solutions firm, and NRG Energy as head of Green Mountain Energy. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the competitive energy industry, serving in various roles including business, operation, regulatory and public affairs functions at several retail energy and wholesale commodity firms.

While at Direct Energy, Jim ran the Texas Residential segment and transformed the trajectory of the business by implementing significant operational improvements, making key acquisitions – including First Choice Power – and launching novel products, including a prepaid electricity plan which leveraged Texas' smart meter deployment and customers' smart phones. Prior to the Texas Residential role, he led the Operations team, supporting more than 1.5 million customers in Texas and Alberta, Canada. The B2B commodity business in the Northeast US was also built during his tenure.
Jim holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He and his family reside in Houston, Texas.

Vanessa Ulmer is a senior project manager with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). She supports NYSERDA’s Energy and Environmental Analysis group, which works to ensure that New York State policymakers and stakeholders have a solid foundation of objective information and data upon which to make decisions. Vanessa is responsible for managing REV Connect, a NYS initiative that brings companies and New York’s electric utilities together to accelerate innovation, adopt new business models and technologies, and develop high-quality REV demonstrations and other innovative projects. She holds a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.P.A. from Princeton University.

Joe received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University in 1998.

He spent 14 years at Southern Company working in various capacities at the subsidiaries of Alabama Power Company, Savannah Electric & Power Company, Mississippi Power Company, and Georgia Power Company in electric transmission, distribution systems and resource policy and planning. Joe’s background includes the areas of Transmission Area Maintenance, Transmission Line Design, Distribution Region Operations, and Distribution Material Standards.  Within the electric utility industry, he have served on various regional committees as part of the Southeast Electric Exchange Working Groups for the Overhead, Underground, Joint-Use, Transformers, National Electric Safety Code (“NESC”), and Pole Line Hardware Committees.

Joe joined Orange and Rockland in 2013 as a Principal Engineer in the Reliability Department where he analyzed outage data, frequent customer complaints, and commission inquiries. He led teams to identify and address the worst performing circuits within the service territory and helped select circuits that could benefit from storm hardening projects. In October 2014 he became Department Manager – Technology Engineering in O&R’s Smart Grid & Distributed Generation Interconnection Department.
His current duties entail implementing Grid Modernization (Smart Grid) Implementation Plans for New York and New Jersey and facilitating the approval of distributed generation interconnections for both states.

Due to the rise of interconnection issues at the state level, he was selected as O&R’s DG Ombudsman in 2016.  The role of the DG Ombudsman is to “involve more programmatic activities directed at continuously improving the interconnection process for all participants. Among these duties, he is also responsible for collecting and reporting to the Department of Public Service and to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recurring issues; recommending changes to the Standard Interconnection Requirements (SIR) and any other regulations or practices that impact the potential for DER to proliferate across the distribution system; working with stakeholders to develop clear rules for managing the interconnection queue; proposing “best practices” in conjunction with the Joint Utility Technical Working Group; and developing strategies from the results of EPRI’s work that will help to streamline the installation of DER.”

Alta Yen is the Managing Director of Strategic Planning for General Electric Company as of February 2018.  In this role, she is responsible for managing long-term strategic planning across GE.  As a 20-year veteran in the energy industry, Alta is a consummate analyst who seeks to maximize value and drive outcomes using data, numbers and good judgment.  Her experience spans several business cycles, multiple large-scale energy crises and the massive disruption currently undertaking the energy industry.

In 1999, Alta joined GE Structured Finance Group as a portfolio manager where she ultimately managed and worked-out a $1.4 billion portfolio consisting primarily of distressed assets related to Enron, PG&E and Mirant.  In 2004, she helped launch GE Energy Financial Services, a debt and equity investor specializing in the energy sector through an operational role and in 2005, she returned to the investing side.  In 2007, Alta was promoted to Managing Director and served as the Chief Risk Manager for the $4 billion energy lending business. There she led or played a critical role in numerous transactions, most notably the ~$1 billion project finance loan acquisition from the Bank of Ireland.  In 2013, Alta became head of the Investment Strategy team responsible for developing long-term investing strategies based upon energy fundamentals and leading the unit’s new business development activities, notably in the commercial & industrial solar and storage sectors.

Prior to joining GE, Alta worked in New York City and Hong Kong before joining a Taipei-based freight forwarding company in business development. 

Alta earned a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University, a certificate in advanced Mandarin from the Inter-University Program (“The Stanford Center”) and received a M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from The University of Michigan.  In 2016, she co-founded the Greater New York City Chapter of the Women’s Energy Network where she remains a board member today.