SEPA Announces New Chairs for Energy Storage and Testing & Certification Working Groups

Blue Planet Energy’s Matt Roberts and Consumers Energy’s Rosanna Kallio Assume Leadership Roles

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) announces that Matt Roberts, director of market development at Blue Planet Energy will serve as chair of the SEPA Energy Storage Working Group. Rosanna Kallio, senior engineer II in the grid modernization department at Consumers Energy will serve as vice-chair of the SEPA Testing and Certification Working Group.

“Though many barriers remain, energy storage is already having a transformative effect on our power system planning and operations by improving reliability and resilience, and enabling widespread adoption of renewables by communities around the world,” said Matt Roberts. “I’m honored for the opportunity to work with the experts at SEPA and innovative thinkers from across the industry to advance energy storage adoption and deployment.”

Matt brings more than 15 years of experience in energy policy, communications, and market development with a recognized expertise in renewables, distributed generation, and sustainable infrastructure. Prior to joining Blue Planet Energy, Matt was the executive director of the Energy Storage Association. He also coordinated the first-ever White House Summit on Scaling Renewable Energy and Storage with Smart Markets. The SEPA Energy Storage Working Group was most recently chaired by Chris Johnson, CEO of Blue Planet Energy. The Group has nearly 400 members, and is focused on tackling obstacles to enable widespread deployment of energy storage from pilots to full programs.

“Matt’s extensive leadership and diverse background in the energy storage industry will help SEPA’s Energy Storage Working Group comprehensively understand the successful programs and strategies that are accelerating energy storage,” said Kate Strickland, manager, regulatory and business innovation at SEPA. “I look forward to continuing to work with Matt and Blue Planet Energy on the opportunities ahead.”

Rosanna Kallio touts over 25 years of electric utility experience, and currently leads grid modernization projects related to DER integration at Consumers Energy, including Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), substation modernization, and the development of a Grid Modernization Incubator test and training facility. Rosanna will serve as vice-chair of the SEPA Testing and Certification Working Group alongside Cuong Nguyen from NIST. The Group is focused in 2022 on developing Interoperability Implementation Profiles for DER.

“I am honored to serve as vice-chair of SEPA’s Testing and Certification Working Group, which includes the Interoperability Profiles Task Force,” said Rosanna Kallio. “With the increasing penetration of DER to meet clean energy goals, modernization of the grid is a priority for utilities. Interoperability remains critical to managing large amounts of data interactions and supporting decentralized grid-edge intelligence. I am excited to help lead the industry in the development of these important interoperability profiles.”

“Rosanna brings decades of experience in utility project development and new technology implementation,” said Daisy Chung, manager, technical programs at SEPA. “I have enjoyed collaborating with Rosanna through her participation in the SEPA Testing and Certification Working Group and its associated interoperability task forces in recent years. I look forward to her continued leadership to further the development of DER interoperability solutions for grid integration.”.