SEPA Welcomes Energy Industry Innovators to Board of Directors

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) has named three new members to its Board of Directors, all energy industry executives driving business and technical innovation at their respective companies.

The three incoming board members are

• Jim Alberts, Senior Vice President for Customer Service at Hawaiian Electric Company, who is spearheading the utility’s integration of distributed energy resources to help reach Hawaii’s mandate to run 100 percent on renewables by 2045.
• Robert “Rob” F. Caldwell, President of Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology, who is managing and continuing to expand a portfolio of wind and solar projects across the country. Duke Energy Renewables is an unregulated division of Duke Energy. Caldwell also manages the distributed generation portfolio for the regulated utility.
• Matt Handel, Vice President of Development for Solar, Distributed Generation and Energy Storage at NextEra Energy Resources, whose responsibilities at the company have grown in the past few years from solar development to include storage, demand-side management and microgrids.

The SEPA Board of Directors is composed of 21 members, representing a cross-section of energy industry representatives, including executives from utilities, solar firms and other distributed energy technology developers, as well as former policy makers. Each board member serves a three-year term.

“As SEPA has expanded its mission to embrace a range of distributed energy resources — including solar, storage, demand response and electric vehicles — we knew our Board had to reflect the scope of change and innovation going on in all aspects of our industry,” said SEPA President and CEO Julia Hamm. “With their broad and deep experiences at very different companies, Jim Alberts, Rob Caldwell and Matt Handel each understand, in unique ways, that the technology, business, and regulatory paradigms in the energy industry must and can change in ways that balance the interests of all stakeholders.”

“What always impresses me about my colleagues on the Board is their tremendous commitment to SEPA’s mission,” said Chairman Steve Malnight, Senior Vice President for Regulatory Relations at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. “The diversity of views we hear at every meeting provides a model of the kind of active engagement and collaboration across different segments of our industry that is essential to advance the transition to a clean energy future.”

Media contact: K Kaufmann, [email protected] or 202.379.1637.

About SEPA
The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is an educational nonprofit working to facilitate the utility industry’s transition to a clean energy future through education, research and collaboration. SEPA offers a range of research initiatives and resources, as well as conferences, educational events and professional networking opportunities. SEPA is co-founder and co-sponsor of Solar Power International and winner of the Keystone Policy Center’s 2016 Leadership in Energy Award. For more information, visit www.sepapower.org.