Monthly archive

Kenneth Lobo Mendez

Job Title: 
Director of Planning and Sustainability
Organization: 
Instituto Costarricense de Electridad (ICE)

Kenneth Lobo Mendez is the Director of Planning and Sustainability at the Instituto Costarricense de Electridad (ICE), where he is responsible for planning Costa Rica's generation and transmission systems, as well as ICE’s distribution network. He is also in charge of developing mechanisms and actions to ensure the sustainability and continuity of ICE’s electricity business. Mr. Lobo has over 17 years of experience working at ICE, having begun his career there focusing on issues related to the Central American Electrical Interconnection System Project (SIEPAC). Later, he worked on coordinating the construction process of transmission lines and executing pre-investment studies for electricity generation projects.  Mr. Lobo holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Costa Rica, a master's degree in energy (specializing in renewable energy) from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, and a master's degree in business administration from the Costa Rican Institute of Technology.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Isabel Cristina Giraldo Ospina

Job Title: 
Planning and Performance Professional
Organization: 
Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM)

Isabel Cristina Giraldo Ospina is a Planning and Performance Professional at Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM). In this role, Ms. Ospina has participated in greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects and contributed to the selection of EPM’s environmental indicators, formulation and implementation of EPM’s climate change strategy, and definition of its circular economy strategy. Previously, she worked for six years in coordinating the Medellín Metro’s environmental management. She began her professional career working at Comercializadora Internacional Banadex and Servicios Ambientales y Geográficos (SAG). She holds an environmental engineering degree from the Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia (EIA) and a master’s degree in regional urban studies from the National University.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Adriana Valencia

Job Title: 
Energy, Water and Sanitation, and Climate Change Officer
Organization: 
IDB Invest
Adriana M. Valencia J. is the Energy, Water and Sanitation, and Climate Change Officer in the Strategic Planning and KnowledgeDivision of IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB). Adriana has more than 15 years of international development experience in energy and environmental issues. Prior to joining IDB Invest, Adriana served as anenergy specialist in the Energy Division of the IDB. Adriana joined the IDB in 2010 and has participated as a team leader/co-teamleader in several innovative initiatives and projects. Adriana has contributed to devising strategies with countries and guidancedocuments for different sectors to achieve development goals in 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining theIDB, Adriana worked on sustainable energy, environment, and climate change issues at the World Bank and other entities at thecountry, state, and city levels. Adriana has published and spoken at several conferences. Her academic background includes a Ph.D.and a Master of Science in Energy and Resources from the University of California at Berkeley.
Profile Type: 
Speaker

Paul Thomsen

Job Title: 
Vice President Of Business Development
Organization: 
Ormat Technologies
Paul Thomsen is the Vice President of Business Development for Ormat Technologies. Upon assuming this role in November 2018, he has taken responsibility for expanding Ormat’s existing portfolio of geothermal, solar, and recovered energy generation projects.

Thomsen brings expertise in both the public and private energy sector, previously serving as Commissioner and Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, Director of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy, and Director of Policy and Business Development for Ormat. He also worked for the law firm of Lionel Sawyer and Collins and United States Senators Harry Reid and Richard Bryan. He has advocated for meaningful energy policy as President of the Board of Directors of the Geothermal Energy Association and Chairman of the United States Clean Heat and Power Association.

Thomsen earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Bryant Jones

Job Title: 
Executive Director
Organization: 
Geotherman Rising
Bryant Jones is a policy and energy scholar who has spent the past five years researching at the nexus of policy studies, science and technology studies, and energy transition studies. His research at Boise State University explores how energy advocacy coalitions frame narratives and establish field rules and boundaries as they seek to gain attention and be placed on policy agendas. Bryant has 15 years of policy experience at federal, state, and local levels of government. He served in roles at the White House Office of Management, U.S. Department of State, on Capitol Hill, and is a National Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project. 

Joseph Rand

Job Title: 
Energy Policy Researcher
Organization: 
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Joseph (Joe) Rand is an Energy Policy Researcher in the Energy Markets and Policy Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Joe conducts research and analysis on renewable energy, including: renewable energy policy, cost, and market analysis; spatial data analysis; and research related to social impacts, interconnection, and deployment barriers of renewable energy.

Joe's impactful research has been widely covered in the popular press, including the New York Times, Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, NPR, and more. Joe has been awarded a Berkeley Lab Director's Award for Societal Impact, an "Excellence Award" from the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG), the Switzer Environmental Fellowship, and the 'Novus Ventus' award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Power Program.

Joe holds a master’s degree in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from Macalester College.

Julia Selker

Job Title: 
Executive Director
Organization: 
WATT Coalition
Julia Selker is Executive Director of the WATT Coalition and Director of Policy and Strategy and Chief Operating Officer for Grid Strategies. She previously worked for the Business Council on Sustainable Energy, the technology startup Faraday Grid, and interned with Congressman Peter DeFazio focused on energy and climate policy. Prior to coming to Washington, DC, Julia worked on the launch of Monterey Bay Community Power through the public relations agency Miller Maxfield, Inc., in Santa Cruz, California. Julia previously worked for the Bulleit Group, a San Francisco public relations agency. She has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Reed College. 

Anne Reynolds

Job Title: 
VP for Offshore Wind
Organization: 
Americans for Clean Power

Anne Reynolds, who served as the Executive Director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York since 2014, brings a wealth of experience in clean energy advocacy to her new role as Vice President of Offshore Wind at the American Clean Power Association (ACP), starting in January 2024. At ACE NY, Reynolds successfully championed New York’s 70% Clean Energy Standard, established a NYSERDA procurement program, and advocated for the use of Index REC contracts. She also played a key role in developing an offshore wind program, reforming the permitting process, and improving interconnection processes at the NYISO. Reynolds' leadership expanded ACE NY to include the New York Offshore Wind Alliance, Friends of Upstate NY Wind Power, and strengthened advocacy efforts at the NYISO. With ACP, Reynolds leads efforts to advocate for and implement offshore wind strategies, collaborating with member companies and policymakers to advance the domestic offshore wind industry.

Rob Gramlich

Rob Gramlich is Founder and President of Grid Strategies LLC where he provides economic policy analysis for clients on electric transmission and power markets in pursuit of low-cost de-carbonization.  He serves as Executive Director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Executive Director of the WATT Coalition, on the board of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy Foundation, on the Advisory Council for the Energy Systems Integration Group, on the Advisory Board of the National Regulatory Research Institute’s Regulatory Training Institute, and on the DOE “Beyond LCOE” External Advisory Board.

Elliot Mainzer

Job Title: 
President & CEO
Organization: 
California Independent System Operator

Elliot Mainzer is President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (ISO) in Folsom, California. For the last 25 years, he has been a leader in helping to achieve a reliable and affordable clean energy transition by working to support innovation and creativity in renewable energy development, transmission planning, market design and regional collaboration.

Mainzer joined the ISO on September 30, 2020 after an 18-year career at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), including seven years as Administrator and CEO. At BPA, he led efforts to unlock the wind-energy potential of the Pacific Northwest, managed the development of BPA’s open-season model for transmission subscription and queue management, and worked to balance the needs of the Federal Columbia River Power System with the welfare of tribal nations and salmon protection.

Under Mainzer’s leadership at the ISO, the organization has strengthened coordinated power and transmission planning with California’s regulatory agencies, integrated record-setting amounts of new power generation and the world’s largest fleet of lithium-ion batteries, helped preserve overall system reliability during the record-setting Western heat wave of September 2022 and provided strategic leadership and direction for the ISO’s new extended day-ahead market proposal. Mainzer’s strong background and personal commitment to regional collaboration as an essential element of a reliable and affordable clean-energy transition have been a hallmark of his leadership at the ISO, where he has also brought renewed focus on control center modernization, stakeholder engagement and program management in support of the organization’s new 2022-2026 strategic plan.

A native of San Francisco, Mainzer has an undergraduate degree in geography from U.C. Berkeley and master’s degrees in Business Administration and Environmental Management from Yale University. He is a senior fellow of the Oregon Chapter of the American Leadership Forum, has served on the boards of the Electric Power Research Institute and the Energy Systems Integration Group, and currently serves as co-chair of the Western Electric Industry Leaders Group.

He and his wife Margaret have twin boys. Among his non-professional pursuits, Mainzer is an amateur jazz saxophonist and dedicated student of jazz theory and history.

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