u.s. power & renewables summit 2017

Mia collaborates with internal and external stakeholder groups to synthesize market insights and guide the prioritization of investments for the development of new market products. MISO’s markets clear more than $37 billion dollars in energy transactions annually. With an evolving fleet, market strategy focuses on what new products are needed to continue to drive non-discriminatory market efficiency and price transparency, aligned with grid reliability, and also send appropriate price signals to guide investment decisions. Prior to MISO, Mia worked at 3M in Corporate Strategy and in Global Sustainability in Corporate R&D on innovating new products to address major world challenges like climate change and water scarcity. Earlier experiences were gained at Gamesa in wind farm development and in management consulting for market strategy for clean tech and renewable energy clients. Mia has a Masters in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University, an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Communications and Swedish from North Park University.

Sanjeev Addala is the Chief Digital Officer for GE Renewable Energy. He oversees the vital connection between the Digital and the Industrial, which lies at the heart of GE’s growth strategy. Sanjeev ensures that GE Renewable Energy implements appropriate end-to-end digital business strategies, SW portfolio offerings, investments, digital platforms, and commercial strategies to support growth.

Sanjeev has 25 years of experience in successfully formulating and executing strategies for business and technology, as well as a track record of developing and leading high-performing teams to innovate and grow their businesses. Sanjeev previously held several leadership positions in global companies such as Caterpillar, General Motors and Ford Motor Company. He currently serves as an Advisory Board Member at appLariat and was previously a Member of the Board of the Midwest Association for Information Systems.

Sanjeev holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and masters’ degrees in Mechanical Engineering South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and in Information Systems Management and Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He also completed an Executive Leadership program at Duke University.

Norman C. Bay is a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department and Head of the Energy Regulatory and Enforcement Group in Washington.  Mr. Bay advises clients on a range of energy market regulation issues, including those relating to policy, rates, terms, and conditions of service, and mergers and acquisitions.  He also focuses on enforcement and compliance and infrastructure development in the energy sector.  As a past Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Mr. Bay has significant experience with all aspects of FERC’s jurisdiction over the U.S. wholesale natural gas and electricity markets, as well as natural gas and oil pipelines.  As a former Director of Enforcement at FERC, he has a deep understanding of FERC’s enforcement jurisdiction and priorities, as well as the new anti-manipulation rules of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).  Mr. Bay’s white collar defense practice includes handling parallel investigations involving FERC or CFTC and DOJ.

Mary Anne Brelinsky is President of EDF Energy Services, EDF Group’s customer platform for Retail Supply and Generation Optimization Services in North America.  Mrs. Brelinsky has held positions in Trading, Origination, and currently serves as an Executive Committee Member for EDF Trading Limited. 

Mrs. Brelinsky started her career with Exxon where she held several engineering and operations positions.  Mary Anne later accepted a position with Dynegy where she managed power plants, developed bidding strategies, and traded spark spread positions for Dynegy’s generation assets. 

Mrs. Brelinsky serves on the Board of Directors for Anahau Energy, Atlas Scholars, DK Energy, the Gulf Coast Power Association, the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School, the Advisory Council for Women’s Energy Network, and the University of Houston’s Energy Advisory Board. She has an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the University of Houston.  Mary Anne lives in Houston with her husband and their three sons.

Stephen J. Callahan is IBM’s Vice President of Global Strategy and Solutions for the Energy & Utilities industry and an IBM Industry Academy member. Over his 30 plus year career in industry management and in consulting he has led the development of business and technical strategy and implemented complex processes and systems spanning T&D and customer operations, finance, network and Smart Grid.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Callahan was for fifteen years a Partner for Coopers & Lybrand, PwC and IBM (via successive acquisitions) focused on electric utility restructuring and industry business and technology strategy. He has led numerous large complex process and system implementations.  Steve was the lead partner for the implementation of the California ISO and the lead US partner for the IMO in the Provence of Ontario, Canada. He led the creation of the Utility e procurement consortium Pantellos.  Mr. Callahan was a pioneer in the large-scale deployment of AMI technology. As Account Partner he led several large system integration projects for clients in the domains of real time T&D, financial, asset management/GIS and customer systems in California and Texas.

Prior to IBM, Mr. Callahan held various management positions over a span of fifteen years at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company in San Francisco in the areas of commercial and industrial energy management, telecommunications network planning, and financial systems. He held positions of Director of IT Strategy and Budget, Director of Network Planning and was the project manager for PG&E’s implementation of SAP.

Mr. Callahan holds degrees in both Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia.  He is a registered Professional Engineer and Certified Energy Auditor.  He resides in San Francisco, California.

Caroline Choi is the Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs for Southern California Edison (SCE). She is responsible for analysis of federal and state energy and environmental policies; analysis and development of a long-term environmental, energy and technology strategy for SCE; and directing case management for key regulatory filings. Prior to joining SCE in 2012, Choi was executive director of Environmental Services & Strategy at Progress Energy, where she was responsible for leading environmental permitting, compliance and policy. She served the company in various roles, including director, Energy Policy & Strategy, and manager, Federal Public Affairs. Choi has served on various non-profit boards and is a board member of the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the National Forest Foundation and the California Advisory Board of The Trust for Public Lands. Choi has a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College.

Keith Collins is the Executive Director of the Market Monitoring Unit at the Southwest Power Pool. His role is to independently lead the department in ensuring fair and competitive electricity market outcomes through monitoring market results and participant behavior, and assisting in the development of efficient market rules. Mr. Collins joined the Southwest Power Pool in 2017 and reports directly to the Board of Directors Oversight Committee. Prior to joining the Southwest Power Pool, Mr. Collins was the Manager of the Monitoring and Reporting group within California ISO’s Market Monitoring Department, worked for the Office of Enforcement at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and began his career consulting for the New York Power Pool during its transition to the New York ISO. Mr. Collins earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Government from Bowdoin College and his Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University.

Joram is a managing director in commodity sales, responsible for power and physical gas sales. He first joined Goldman Sachs in 2009 as a vice president and rejoined in 2015 as a managing director. Prior to rejoining the firm, Joram was head of North American Natural Gas and Power Origination at Noble Group. Before that, he worked for Credit Suisse, Allegheny Energy and Merrill Lynch. Joram earned a BA in Economics and an MA in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University in 1998 and 1999, respectively.

Dan is the head of the Energy Storage team at Wood Mackenzie (formerly GTM Research), where he focuses on front-of-the-meter energy storage applications. He previously worked as a Senior Consultant with DNV GL where he focused on competitive energy markets and the intersection of emerging energy business strategies within the broader evolving technological and regulatory environment. Prior to DNV GL Dan worked with Navigant Consulting and the Department of Energy.

Dan has 10 years of experience in the energy space as a researcher, consultant, and analyst. Dan holds a Master’s of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Wind Energy Center and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics-Physics from Brown University.

With over 20 years of experience spanning startups, private equity, research and operations, Ms. Francetic oversees Invenergy’s sourcing and integration of technology innovation and strategic investments that leverage its operating portfolio. Prior to Invenergy, Francetic served as co-founder and CEO of technology accelerator Clean Energy Trust where she oversaw a portfolio of dozens of early-stage investments across cleantech, which have raised over $100 million in follow-on capital. She also held roles at private equity firm MVC Capital and Stanford Research Institute. Previously, she was co-founder and CEO of a tech company that she sold to Lego Systems.

Francetic serves on Advisory Boards for the WISER Institute at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University and the Museum of Science and Industry. In 2014, she was awarded the Corporate Citizen of the Year Award from the Executives’ Club of Chicago, and Leading Woman in Technology from the Illinois Technology Association. She has a BA from Stanford University.

Prajit Ghosh currently leads a global team responsible for developing and commercializing Wood Mackenzie's views of the Power and Renewables markets. His experience spans oil, gas, coal, power and renewables markets. His current focus is on energy market transition and the impact of emerging technologies. 

Prajit joined Wood Mackenzie in 2006 where he has lead Wood Mackenzie’s North American and European gas, power & renewables market outlooks.  His recent focus has been Asia Pacific markets.

Before Woodmac, he worked at Constellation focused on US upstream and power markets.

He has extensively worked on policy issues liaising with the Government of India during his tenure at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce. His focus there was on the Indian hydrocarbon and renewables sector.

Prajit holds a Masters degree in Energy and Mineral Resources from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds an MBA from Symbiosis College, India and an Economics degree from Delhi University, India. He is based on Houston.

Terry Grant is Managing Partner and head of the solar market practice for Marathon Capital. He is based in San Francisco and focuses on the power, alternative energy and energy technology sectors.

Prior to joining Marathon Capital, Mr. Grant was a Managing Director with FBR Capital Markets focused on alternative energy and power portfolio restructurings in the Energy Group. Mr. Grant originally joined FBR in 1997 and founded the equity research practice in energy, covering the IPP and non-utility generation sub-sectors. From 2000-2005, Mr. Grant was involved in energy technology investment ventures both investing, and offering financial advisory services for energy technology and power asset companies. He founded and served as Portfolio Manager in a hedge fund focused on the energy sector.

Prior to FBR, Mr. Grant held a variety of positions at US Generating Company – a PG&E and Bechtel partnership in the energy sector. He was involved in project financings totaling over $2 billion, corporate M&A work, and was responsible for project development for the South Western Region of the United States.

Mr. Grant received his BA from Wake Forest University and his MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Business at Wake Forest University. Mr. Grant holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 licenses.

Jessica Harrison is Director of Research and Development (R&D) in the Market Services division of MISO. In this role, she coordinates MISO’s R&D policies, objectives, and initiatives. Her focus includes pursuing R&D initiatives and partnerships, researching emerging technologies and supporting the integration of future grid resources. Jessica has a diverse background in clean energy, including experience with engineering analysis, public policy and economic analysis. Prior to joining MISO, she was the Head of Section of Distributed Energy Resources at DNV GL. As an industry consultant, Jessica has studied the impacts of integrating innovative technologies such as distributed energy resources, energy storage and demand response with the electricity grid and the electricity wholesale markets. Ms. Harrison holds dual Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Technology and Policy and in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Michigan.

Brian is responsible for leading the development and execution of Microsoft’s global data center energy strategy. These data centers provide the foundational cloud infrastructure for Microsoft’s online and cloud services for consumers and businesses worldwide. His responsibilities include oversight of all energy supply agreements, renewable energy purchasing, distributed generation, and strategic partnerships to ensure a power supply that is reliable and sustainable. As General Manager of the Energy Strategy and Research team, he creates end-to-end strategies that will drive innovations in the next generation of cloud data centers, and supports efforts to establish energy market policies that will foster end-user innovation.

Brian joined Microsoft in 2011 after 12 years in the energy industry where he worked as a Sr. Consultant at Brubaker & Associates, assisting Fortune 500 companies with energy procurement, policy, and sustainability matters. Brian holds an MBA from Webster University, a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Missouri, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Missouri.

Elta is the Grid Edge Content Lead at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables (formerly GTM Research), working on demand-side management in U.S. electricity markets. Prior to joining GTM, Elta pursued a joint Ph.D. funded by the European Commission on Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. During her doctoral studies, she researched demand response policies for the implementation of smart grids and has presented her work at both U.S. and European conferences in addition to publishing in international scholarly journals. Elta holds a Master of Science degree in economics and management of network industries and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Union College.

Jonathan started with Vision Ridge in 2015, bringing more than a decade of policy and management experience in the federal government to the team, first as a policy advisor to then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel and more recently as Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Over the course of his career, Jonathan has consistently tackled issues at the intersection of policy, politics, and organizational challenges. He graduated magna cum laude from Emory University with a B.A. in Political Science.

Clare is the founding consulting principal of the Power & Renewables practice shared between Wood Mackenzie and Greentech Media Research.

Clare's decade of energy sector experience spans solar, power markets, utilities and startups. Prior to joining WoodMac/GTM, Clare was the solar program director at MP2 Energy, the retail electricity provider that pioneered a synthetic net metering product to facilitate SolarCity's launch into ERCOT.

Clare has a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School at the University of Texas at Austin, where she published research in utility valuation of distributed solar and community solar business models. During her graduate school tenure, she advised startups in the Austin Technology Incubator’s energy division, and was a member of American Electric Power’s distributed solar task force. She chaired the university’s annual energy conference and founded its university-wide energy club.

Mr. Maselli is currently the Vice President of Development and Strategy at Vistra energy.  The parent company of Luminant and TXU in Dallas Texas.  In this role he supports the strategy, M&A and development of assets critical to the TXU and Luminant business model.  He also provides overall direction for the companies remewable energy portfolio.
Prior to Vistra Energy,  he was the Managing Director of Project Development for Con Ed Development. Con Ed Development is the 5th largest Solar owner operator in the US.  In this role he has been involved in the renewable energy development of over 1 GW of project development and 400 MWs of wind power projects. 
Mr. Maselli has also held key positions such as Vice President of Global Sales for Schneider Electric & Invensys , Sr. Vice President of  Altran Solutions Corp., Vice President & Managing Director of HSB Engineering Finance Corporation (“EFC”), General Manager of United American Energy, and other various positions for Consolidated Edison of New York.
Mr. Maselli’s engineering experience includes solar, nuclear, mechanical, electrical, and structural. Mr. Maselli is a recognized engineering expert in the field of power generation and energy conversion.
He holds a BS in Marine Engineering with a concentration in Electrical Engineering from the State of New York State Maritime College.  Mr. Maselli did his graduate studies at PACE University in New York, toward an MS in Utility Management.  He has also completed the Executive Development Program directed by the Harvard Business School.  Mr. Maselli is a registered Professional Engineer  several states.

Cheryl Mele became ERCOT’s senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO) in January 2016. She oversees Grid Operations and Planning, Commercial Operations, and Governance, Risk and Compliance.

Prior to joining ERCOT, Ms. Mele served as deputy general manager and COO for Austin Energy, where she led its power operations, compliance and planning activities.

Ms. Mele brings 30 years of experience in the power industry to ERCOT. Her management and executive roles included both power generation and energy delivery before becoming COO at Austin Energy. Ms. Mele worked for General Electric as both an engineer and system programmer before joining Austin Energy in 1991.

A registered professional engineer in Texas, Ms. Mele has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and completed The Utility Executive Course at the University of Idaho.

While at Austin Energy, Ms. Mele served on the boards of the South Texas Nuclear Operating Company, the Texas Public Power Association and the RMEL, an electric industry education and networking trade group. She continues to serve as a board member and chair of the Austin Science Education Foundation, where she has been committed to preparing the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Matt Miller leads the structuring and negotiation of project financings across the capital structure for Recurrent Energy. During his seven years with the company, Matt has negotiated transactions totaling more than $2 billion with counterparties including KKR, Google, NRG, Southern Power, Sempra Renewables, Prudential Capital Group, Nord LB, and Mizuho. Before joining the Project Finance team, Matt worked on Recurrent Energy’s Project Development team, where he successfully brought to operation 208 MW of projects.

Previously, Matt worked for Trina Solar’s business development group based in China, where he supported the company’s post-IPO public financing activities between 2006-2008. Matt holds a BA in English and History from Dartmouth College.

Charles Patton is executive vice president – External Affairs for AEP. He leads AEP’s customer services, communications, federal public policy and corporate sustainability initiatives.

Patton previously was president and chief operating officer of Appalachian Power, an operating utility of AEP serving approximately 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.

In previous roles, Patton served AEP as executive vice president – AEP Utilities West and senior vice president – Regulatory and Public Policy. Prior to these roles, a significant amount of Patton’s career was in Texas where he served as president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas as well as in other executive positions. During his tenure in Texas, Patton was appointed by former Texas Gov. George Bush to serve on the Texas Energy Coordination Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Later, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Patton to the Texas Energy Planning Council, which was established to advise the governor on energy matters.

Most recently, Patton was appointed by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to the governor’s Environmental Sustainability Committee and by West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to chair the governor’s Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Patton was appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s board of directors for a three-year term beginning in 2014. He also serves on the board of Sterling Construction, a large public engineering and construction company located in Houston.

Patton has served and chaired numerous professional and civic organizations in the communities in which he has lived. Most recently, he served on the boards of the University of Charleston, the West Virginia Education Alliance and the West Virginia Regional Technology Park. At AEP, he is an executive sponsor of the African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG). Patton resides in Columbus, Ohio.

He is an undergraduate of Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine, and holds a graduate degree from The University of Texas LBJ School of Public Policy.

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.

Mike has over 16 years of experience in the semiconductor and solar industries. His background includes over 10 years at Applied Materials working in the Semiconductor and Solar divisions and over 3 years working on leading CIGS technologies to commercialize products at MiaSole and NanoSolar. Currently, Mike serves as the Marketing Director for SolarEdge North America.

Nick Sellers is senior vice president of business origination for Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. Southern Power is America’s premier wholesale energy partner, meeting the electricity needs of municipalities, electric cooperatives, investor- owned utilities and other energy customers with one of the fastest growing clean energy portfolios in the U.S. In this role, Nick is responsible for business origination with Southeast and national customers, as well as competitive intelligence. He was named to this position in 2017. Most recently, Sellers served as senior vice president of project development and construction for Southern Power, where he was responsible for generation development, siting, construction and state and local affairs. Beginning in 2016, he also served as vice president of external and regulatory affairs. Sellers began his career with Alabama Power in 2003, where he served in leadership assignments including vice president of regulatory and corporate affairs with responsibilities for pricing, rate design, policy and planning, federal affairs and corporate relations. He also served as vice president of corporate relations, leading federal and community relations, workforce development, and volunteer services. In addition, Sellers worked as the assistant to the president and CEO of Alabama Power after joining the company as the federal legislative relations director. Prior to joining Southern Company, Sellers worked for the Business Council of Alabama and as policy advisor and special assistant for economic development for the governor of Alabama. Sellers earned his undergraduate degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and a Juris Doctor from the Birmingham School of Law in 2008. He serves on the boards of directors of A.G. Gaston Enterprises, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Alabama Sports Council, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center, Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Foundation, St. Vincent’s Foundation and the Greater Birmingham Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the 2014 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. Sellers and his wife, Julie, are the parents of three children , Annie, Maria and Nicholas.

Lenae is working at the nexus of technology, markets and policy. She is leading efforts with our demonstration partners to prove the benefits of clean technology innovations and is identifying trends and market opportunities that can be leveraged to accelerate the transformation of the electricity sector.

Alison Silverstein is a consultant, strategist and writer on electric transmission and reliability, energy efficiency, smart grid, renewable energy and technology adoption issues.  She serves as project manager for the North American Synchrophasor Initiative (a collaboration between U.S. Department of Energy and the electric industry) and advises private and governmental clients on advanced technology, regulatory and other issues.  Notable recent work includes organizing and writing DOE’s “baseload study” for Secretary Rick Perry, leading the independent expert panel whose report led to transformation of Bonneville Power Administration’s transmission planning process.  She facilitated the Hawaii PUC’s Reliability Standards Working Group after contributing to the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative framework.  Silverstein served as Senior Energy Policy Advisor to Chairman Pat Wood, III, at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from July 2001 through July 2004, co-chairing the Electric Systems Investigation for the US-Canada Joint Power System Outage Task Force and writing the reports on the 2003 Northeast blackout.  She has also worked at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., ICF Inc., the Environmental Law Institute, and the U.S. Department of Interior.  Silverstein serves on the Board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy and the Board of the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians.  She lives with her family near Austin, Texas.

As the President and CEO of Shoals Technologies Group, Dean Solon is responsible for running all facets of the business. Dean has a proven executive management track record and over 20 years of experience driving sales and technological growth in the solar industry. Dean founded Shoals in 1996 with partners and in the year 2000, bought all their shares in the business and changed the course of Shoals from manufacturing for the automotive industry to the solar industry. While solar was in it’s infancy, Dean saw an opportunity to bring his extensive automotive knowledge and experience to a fledgling industry. Prior to the founding of Shoals, Dean worked in technical sales at multiple automotive tier one and tier two companies. During that time, Bosch Automotive approached Dean with a request for him to start his own manufacturing business and become their sole vendor for automotive brush cards. This request was the catalyst for Dean to found Shoals Technologies Group and supply Bosch Mexico with product for many years. Dean attended college at Purdue University in 1988 and studied mechanical engineering.

Scott A. Vogt, Vice President, Energy Acquisition, oversees electricity supply procurement, wholesale contract administration and settling the wholesale power market for the ComEd zone.  Additional responsibilities include providing strategic and financial analyses to inform regulatory policy and long-term corporate strategy.

Michael Wong is a Senior Originator with Avangrid Renewables responsible for commercial and industrial accounts in the PJM region. Prior to Avangrid, he was a Senior Director of Energy Marketing at E.ON Climate & Renewables managing renewable origination efforts in the Western and Southeastern U.S. Before focusing on renewables exclusively, Michael covered the Western gas and power markets for several companies including EDF Trading, Constellation and Shell Trading. Michael holds a BBA in Accounting from Texas A&M University and an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management.