Supercharging EV Growth: How Colorado has Accelerated Into the Lead

Garrett joined SEPA in 2021 as Principal, Electrification. He leads SEPAs work focused on the beneficial electrification of transportation and buildings. Garrett collaborates with the other SEPA focus area teams to help utilities and other stakeholders navigate a smooth transition to a highly electrified and low-carbon future.

Prior to joining SEPA, Garrett spent 8 years working at Rocky Mountain Institute. While at RMI, he built and led the electricity program in India that works to accelerate the integration of electric vehicles and clean energy portfolios. During his tenure at RMI, Garrett managed the Fleet Electrification program, co-led the EV-Grid initiative, and was deeply engaged in work related to energy storage, distributed solar, and load flexibility. He has extensive expertise in technical and business model aspects of EV charging infrastructure, EV-specific tariff design, energy storage, and demand side flexibility.

Garrett holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University and a MS and Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University.

Garrett is passionate about the environment and is an enthusiastic snowboarder, mountain biker, and general lover of the outdoors. He resides in the small town of Carbondale, Colorado with his wife Amy and his toddler son Noah.

Bill LeBlanc is a recognized leader in utility customer programs and strategies, with particular expertise in program design, marketing, market research, new product development, and behavior change. He assists utility clients in understanding their customer markets, providing tools and messages to sway customer demand, and creating overall market strategies. He has been a leader and innovator in energy efficiency and renewables throughout his 20+ year career, working for PG&E, EPRI, E Source, and consulting firms. In 1990, he founded the Association of Energy Services Professionals, still the industry’s major society. Bill is known for his creativity and problem-solving ability and is a sought-after public speaker. Before joining the utility industry, Bill worked for Disney as well as Apple.
In his spare time, Bill is also a standup comedian who performs all around the Denver metro area. He likes to incorporate humor, as well as his entertaining “man-on-the-street” PowerWalking videos to drive home his points.

Carrie is a public affairs and strategic program management professional with expertise developing impactful programs, policies and initiatives for local, state and federal governments, public and private corporations, and non-profit organizations with a primary focus on energy, sustainability and climate related issues. Carrie served as the Associate Director of Transportation at the Colorado Energy Office, which is committed to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), equitably investing in charging infrastructure, and incentivizing EVs, e-bikes, and other mobility options. During this time, Carrie was the senior program manager for the statewide EV CO education and awareness campaign. The campaign was designed to be complimentary to EV programs and policies in Colorado to accelerate the adoption of EVs by raising awareness, dispelling myths and misunderstanding, and provide up to date information about tax credits, EV benefits, and charging.

In January 2019, Will Toor joined the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) as its Executive Director, appointed by Governor Jared Polis. In this role, he has helped coordinate the development and implementation of the state’s Greenhouse Gas Roadmap, which serves as an action plan to achieve the state’s goals of a 50% reduction in GHG pollution from 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. Colorado is now on a path to over 80% GHG reduction in the electric sector by 2030, is in the top 2 states for EV market share, and is projected to achieve over 95% of the reductions needed to meet the 2030 economywide standards.

Prior to CEO, Will was the Transportation Program Director at the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP). Will served as Boulder County Commissioner for eight years, where he led the effort to create and adopt a countywide Sustainable Energy Plan, the BuildSmart green building code, the EnergySmart program, and the ClimateSmart Loan Program. Will also served as Mayor of Boulder for six years, where he developed Boulder’s community transit network and policies for denser, mixed-use urban infill development. Will previously served on and chaired the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG). He served on the Air Quality Control Commission and the state oil and gas task force. Will spent 12 years as Director of the University of Colorado Environmental Center, where he developed campus sustainability programs in the areas of solid waste, building energy use, and transportation planning. Will holds a BS in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago.