Stacking DER Values: Increasing Asset Value or Reducing Grid Reliability?

Erika H. Myers joined SEPA in 2015 and leads SEPA’s transportation electrification research. She has 16 years of experience in the clean energy sector and specializes in the nexus between the grid, electric vehicles, and renewable energy.

Erika currently serves on an electric vehicle (EV) steering committee for the U.S. Department of Energy and is an EV advisor for the National Energy Foundation, a non-profit organization developing curriculum to increase EV literacy in K-12 schools. She was awarded the 2019 Public Utility Fortnightly “Fortnightly Under 40” award for her work on vehicle-grid integration.

Prior to joining SEPA, Erika worked as a consultant with ICF International where she helped electric utilities and local governments develop EV readiness plans. She also served as the Renewable Energy Manager for the South Carolina Energy Office and was a Clean Cities Coordinator for the Palmetto State Clean Fuels Coalition. In these roles, she oversaw the development and execution of key state renewable energy and clean transportation policies, regulations, and grant programs.

Erika has a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina with a specialization in clean energy and climate science.

In her spare time, Erika volunteers for her city’s Energy Transition Subcommittee where she identified donations for the city’s first bank of public EV chargers. She also volunteers as a regular guest speaker for the Clean Energy Leadership Institute and mentors young professionals interested in a clean transportation career.

Scott Baker is a Sr. Business Solutions Analyst and leads PJM’s Advanced Technology Pilot program, which evaluates emerging technology and policy issues affecting RTO operations, markets, and planning processes. Recently, this work has focused on the integration of distributed energy resources into all aspects of PJM’s business practices, as well as exploring future technologies and strategies to integrate increasing amounts of DER into the power system.

Arthur (Bud) Vos President and CEO, Enbala With more than 20 years of experience with distributed energy and start-ups, Bud Vos has in-depth experience with providing high-value software solutions. As president and CEO of Enbala, Bud is leading the company as it continues to expand its industry-leading Virtual Power Plant and DERMS solutions. Bud previously served as the COO of Simple Energy, a SaaS-based company that leverages data analytics to motivate utility customers to save energy. He was also senior vice president of utility sales and CTO of Comverge, a leading provider of integrated demand response, energy efficiency and customer engagement solutions. In addition, Bud was founder and vice president of engineering at Sixth Dimension, a provider of Internet-based control systems for demand response and distributed generation systems.

Rich Barone is the Manager of the Demand Response department at Hawaiian Electric. He provides leadership and direction in DR strategy, business cases, technologies and program portfolio and market development. Rich works across process areas and the three Hawaiian Electric utilities to optimize DR and Distributed Energy Resources to foster customer choice and system reliability while supporting the state’s clean energy goals.

Rich joined Hawaiian Electric with over 15 years of strategic planning, early-stage technology assessment, software development and system integration expertise. His most recent experience is as Associate Director in Emerging Technologies at Navigant Consulting. In that role, his primary focus was in Demand Response and Smart Grid. Prior to his tenure with Navigant, Rich was employed by Pacific Controls, Inc. as VP, Smart Grid Services.

Rich holds a M.S. in Energy Technology & Policy and an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado. He earned an MS in E-commerce Application Development from Columbia University and he holds a dual B.A. in English and Philosophy from Boston College.