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Guillermo Pereira

Job Title: 
Energy Policy Researcher
Organization: 
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Guillermo Pereira is an Energy Policy Researcher in the Energy Markets and Policy Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He conducts research on projects focusing on electrification, distribution system planning, demand flexibility, and supports the Lab’s efforts for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Connected Communities program.

Prior to joining Berkeley Lab, Guillermo was a Senior Energy Analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, where he focused on state and regional efforts related to wholesale energy market reforms and public utility commission utility dockets, with emphasis on distribution grid planning and innovation pilots, in Michigan and Illinois.

Previously, Guillermo held positions focusing on consumer participation in the energy transition at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, and before that, he worked on sustainable energy innovation and energy policy projects at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Guillermo’s research on sustainable energy systems has spanned a range of topics, including energy efficiency governance and job creation, utility business model adaptation, regulatory adaptation to solar distributed energy generation, utility investment in sustainable energy technologies, and green investments in COVID-19 recovery policies. Dr. Pereira’s research on utility adaptation has included extensive analysis of companies' technological and governance choices related to sustainable energy technologies.

Guillermo holds a Ph.D. in Sustainable Energy Systems by the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and the MIT Portugal Program, a Masters in Energy for Sustainability, with a specialization in Energy Systems and Energy Policies, and a Bachelor’s in Management from the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Shawn Bennett

Job Title: 
Energy and Resilience Division Manager
Organization: 
Battelle

Shawn Bennett's career reflects a deep and sustained focus on energy issues. As the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas, he administered the Department of Energy’s oil and gas programs, which included research and development, analysis, and natural gas regulation. This role built upon his extensive expertise developed across multiple segments of the oil and gas industry.

Prior to his tenure at the Department of Energy, Mr. Bennett served as the Executive Vice President of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA), a non-profit trade association representing Ohio oil and gas producers. The organization, with over 2,000 members, encompasses all facets of crude oil and natural gas resource exploration, production, and development in Ohio. In this capacity, he oversaw all federal and state legislative and regulatory activities in both Columbus, OH, and Washington, D.C.

Before joining OOGA, Mr. Bennett was the Director of Strategic Communications for FTI Consulting from 2011 to 2014. During this period, he collaborated with business leaders, elected officials, and residents in eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania to educate them on the safety and economic benefits of oil and gas exploration. He also developed and implemented strategic communications strategies for energy clients.

With 15 years of combined public affairs experience as a chief staff executive and government relations professional, Shawn Bennett possesses an extensive background in government affairs, media relations, grassroots strategy, and nonprofit leadership. He has developed and directed numerous public awareness programs and issue campaigns, effectively educating the public and policymakers on key organizational priorities. His success is attributed to his utilization of a wide array of public affairs tactics and strategies.

Paul DeMartini

Job Title: 
Managing Partner
Organization: 
Newport Consulting Group
Paul De Martini is a leading strategic advisor on the business, policy and technology dimensions of a more distributed power system. His global clients include utilities, market operators, regulators and other government agencies.

Elizabeth Cook

Job Title: 
VP of Technical Strategy
Organization: 
Association of Edison Illuminating Companies
Dr. Elizabeth Cook, PhD, holding dual roles as the Vice President of Technical Strategy at the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC) and as a consultant in grid modernization. At AEIC, she drives initiatives in electric energy innovation and operational excellence, working closely with technical committees, member companies, and directing projects at AEIC’s Center for Operational Excellence. Elizabeth is at the forefront of grid modernization efforts. Her expertise, honed through her experience as Director of Advanced Grid Systems at Duquesne Light Company, is pivotal in advancing digital transformation in utilities. She is also an adjunct professor, published author, mindset coach, and a mother of six. She holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Jan Smutny-Jones

Job Title: 
Chief Executive Officer
Organization: 
Independent Energy Producers Association

Jan Smutny-Jones is the CEO of the Independent Energy Producers Association (IEP), a trade group comprised of a portfolio of renewable natural gas and energy storage storge. He began work at IEP in 1987 as its General Counsel. Mr. Smutny-Jones has extensive experience in energy policy including greenhouse gas, market structure, transmission, regional markets issues and legislation.

Mr. Smutny-Jones began his career in energy policy in1981 working for the Western Solar Utilization Network, (Western Sun), as a local government program manager in the 13 western states. He was the Board Chair of the California independent System Operator (CAISO) during its startup. He has participated in numerous electricity related committees, most recently the “Pathways Initiative” looking at alternatives for a better integrated Western Energy market.

Mr. Smutny-Jones is an attorney with a J.D. from Loyola Law school and a Certificate in Environmental Management from the University of Southern California. He is a graduate from California State University Long Beach.

Lori Bird

Job Title: 
Director, US Energy Program
Organization: 
World Resources Institute

Lori Bird is Director of WRI’s U.S. Energy Program. In this role, she leads a team of more than 20 specialists who work with utilities, cities and other large energy users to decarbonize the electric sector and accelerate transportation electrification. The team works to advance equitable access to clean energy, accelerate renewable energy and electric vehicle deployment, identify policy pathways to deep decarbonization, ensure wholesale power markets enable the transition to clean energy and facilitate innovative customer and utility clean energy solutions.  

Prior to joining WRI, she served as a principal analyst in the Markets and Policy Group of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where she worked on clean energy policy, renewable energy grid integration, solar programs for low-income customers and green power markets. At NREL, she helped launch the Solar Energy Innovation Network, an $11 million, multi-year program designed to advance cutting-edge solutions to expand solar adoption. She led or co-authored studies on the benefits and costs of renewable electricity standards and approaches to addressing the variability of renewables. She has also provided testimony and technical assistance to state agencies and international clients on clean energy policy and deployment. 

Over her career, she has co-authored nearly 150 publications on clean energy, including articles in academic and trade journals, such as Energy Policy, the Electricity Journal, Climate Policy, Energy & Environment and Public Utilities Fortnightly. She was also a contributing author to the IPCC Special Report on Renewables. She has been quoted or had her work cited in major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, the New York Times, USA Today, and Business Week. In 2020, she was the recipient of the American Solar Energy Society’s award for Leadership in Solar Policy and Market Transformation and, earlier, received the NREL Chairman’s award and two President’s awards for her sustained contributions on clean energy markets. 

Earlier in her career, she worked for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and for Hagler Bailly Consulting. She holds a master's degree in environmental studies from Yale University’s School of the Environment and a B.A. in economics and environmental studies from Indiana University. She lives in a home featuring solar panels and passive solar design with her husband and two children in Boulder, CO and has owned an electric vehicle since 2015.  

Brad Molotsky

Job Title: 
Partner
Organization: 
Duane Morris

Brad A. Molotsky practices in the area of real estate law. He serves as a lead for the Duane Morris Project Development/P3 group and as co-head of the firm's Opportunity Zones group. Mr. Molotsky’s primary practice is focused in the areas of opportunity zone fund creation and fund deployment, financing, public private partnership (PPP or P-3), real estate joint ventures (including mixed-use, life sciences and multi-family development), commercial leasing (including a focus in cannabis leasing), and acquisitions and divestitures. He also has deep experience in environmental, social, governance, public company issues such as enterprise risk, internal audit, compensation, as well as energy efficiency, sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Prior to joining Duane Morris and for nearly 20 years, Brad served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Brandywine Realty Trust. At Brandywine, Mr. Molotsky was responsible for all legal operations of the company, including acquisitions and divestitures, financings, joint ventures, board matters, insurance procurement, litigation oversight, SEC filing oversight and the legal aspects of capital raising. During his tenure, the company grew from 40 buildings to approximately 300 buildings, totaling 28 million square feet.

In 2020, Mr. Molotsky was named a national influencer in the Opportunity Zone space by OZ Magazine and won The Philadelphia Inquirer Influencers of Law Award for Real Estate. He was also named by The Philadelphia Inquirer as an Influencer of Real Estate for Real Estate Legal Excellence in 2019. He was also named in The Legal Intelligencer's list of Pennsylvania Trailblazers for 2019. Mr. Molotsky was named one of Philadelphia Business Journal's 2018 "Best of the Bar: Top Lawyers in Philadelphia.  He was also named General Counsel of the year by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2014 and NJBIZ in 2013 and was awarded the Martin Luther King Community Service award in 2014, the Township Sustainability Leader Award in 2016 and the Roger Davis Community Service Award in 2017.

Mr. Molotsky is a 1989 cum laude graduate of Villanova University Law School, where he was Order of the Coif, and also earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Villanova University. He is a 1986 cum laude graduate of the University of Delaware. Mr. Molotsky has also earned his LEED AP O+M certification. He also has earned an AV Preeminent® peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell®.

Derek Murrow

Job Title: 
Senior Director, Federal Power, Climate & Energy
Organization: 
National Resources Defense Council
As a senior director of NRDC’s Climate & Clean Energy program, Derek Murrow oversees the teams that analyze and advocate for federal-level climate, energy, and clean air policies—including both congressional and administrative policy development. Previously, Murrow led NRDC’s work in support of the Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon pollution in the electric sector. Before joining NRDC in 2012, he worked with Acadia Center (formerly Environment Northeast), where he played an instrumental role in expanding their energy and climate policy work and led efforts to advance the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and energy efficiency, renewable energy, and utility rate reforms. He was also previously a research affiliate at Yale University in energy systems analysis and worked for six years as an environmental consultant and business manager for Stone Environmental in Vermont. He holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from Carleton College and a master’s in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth

Job Title: 
Director, Center for Energy, Climate & Environment
Organization: 
The Heritage Foundation

Diana Furchtgott-Roth is Director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment and the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy at The Heritage Foundation. She is an Oxford-educated economist, a frequent guest on TV and radio shows, and a columnist for Forbes.

Diana worked in senior roles in the White House under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. She has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation; Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury; Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor; Chief of Staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers; and Deputy Executive Secretary of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Diana is the author or coauthor of six books and hundreds of articles on economic policy, including Regulating to Disaster: How Green Jobs Policies are Destroying America's Economy (Encounter Books, 2012). Her most recent book is United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality (Oxford University Press, 2021). She received degrees in Economics from Swarthmore College and Oxford University.

Karl Moor

Job Title: 
Chief Executive Officer
Organization: 
Powerscape Global
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Air Policy in the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation. Mr. Moor served as Southern Company Service’s Senior Vice President & Chief Environmental Counsel and served as General Counsel for Southern Transmission. Prior to his time with Southern, he was a Partner in the law firm of Balch & Bingham and held various positions in the United States Senate.

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