DER Utility Model Constructs: What are the options & how will they work?

As Vice President of Regulatory and Business Innovation, Janet Gail Besser leads SEPA’s Regulatory and Business Innovation related work.  She brings to this role broad energy industry experience as a regulator, clean energy business association leader, utility executive, developer, consultant, and consumer advocate.  Previously, she was Executive Vice President of the Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC), Vice President, Regulatory Strategy and Policy at National Grid, Chair and Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, where she led electric industry restructuring, and an executive and expert consultant at Analysis Group and Lexecon.  She also held senior staff roles at the Massachusetts Energy Office and New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, served as policy director for a DC-based national independent power association, and began her career as a small hydro developer and low-income consumer advocate.  Janet is a nationally recognized expert on a wide range of energy policy issues with deep relationships across the industry.  She earned a Master in Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Williams College.

Mike O’Boyle is the Power Sector Transformation Expert for Energy Innovation. He works for the firm’s Power Sector Transformation program to uncover policy and technology solutions for a clean, reliable, and affordable U.S. electricity system. Mike is also a leading expert for America’s Power Plan, a platform for innovative thinkers—including policymakers, advocates, and utility stakeholders—to reform the utility regulatory model and identify opportunities for grid transformation and optimization. He has worked with stakeholders from a variety of states—including California, New York, Hawaii, Minnesota, etc.—to help improve the link between public policy goals and the motivations of electric utilities.

Chris has worked in the electricity regulatory policy industry for nearly 20 years, including 11 years as staff at the California PUC and
Minnesota PUC. In that time, Chris has led initiatives on topics such as grid modernization, rate design reform, data access and data
privacy, cybersecurity, and energy storage. Chris is also the author of several white papers from his time at the California PUC on topics
such as pre-pay, microgrids, and cybersecurity, as well as the lead author of the NARUC DER Rate Design and Compensation manual, released
in 2016. He is currently President of Plugged In Strategies where he advises clients on grid modernization, technology, and regulatory and
policy matters.

Bryan Hannegan (he/him) is President and CEO of Holy Cross Energy, a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative utility providing electricity and energy products and services to more than 46,000 customers in Western Colorado. Headquartered in Glenwood Springs, Holy Cross Energy is leading the responsible transition to a clean energy future with its “Journey to 100%” plan aimed at obtaining 100% renewable and clean energy for its members by 2030. For its efforts, Holy Cross Energy was named 2020 Electric Cooperative of the Year by the Smart Electric Power Alliance.

Prior to joining Holy Cross in July 2017, Bryan was an Associate Laboratory Director at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he co-founded the US Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative and started up the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), a unique “distribution grid in a box” enabling utilities, entrepreneurs and consumers to work together on cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy systems. Earlier in his career, Bryan held senior leadership roles at the Electric Power Research Institute, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Bryan holds a Ph.D. in Earth Systems Science and a M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, both from the University of California at Irvine, and a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. He is a former member of the California Council on Science and Technology, and serves as an advisor to GridLab, GridFWD, the Energy Systems Integration Group, and NRECA’s Science and Technology Advisory Council.