Speakers
Julia Hamm
President and CEO, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Maria Pope
President and CEO, Portland General Electric
Speaker
Melissa Washington
Senior Vice President, Customer Operations and Chief Customer Officer, ComEd, ComEd
Speaker
Bonnie Latta
Sr. Project Manager, TVA
Speaker
Sara Norris
Program Manager, Austin Energy
Speaker
Sydnie Lieb
Energy and Environmental Policy Manager, Xcel Energy
Moderator
Ernie Palomino
Sr. Distribution Planning Engineer, SRP
Speaker
Larry Bekkedahl
Senior Vice President Advanced Energy Delivery, Portland General Electric
Speaker
Larry Bekkedahl is responsible for advancing PGE’s strategy to build the grid of the future — one that is resilient, smart, and delivers a clean energy future.
He oversees PGE’s strategic system architecture and system upgrades, which will serve as the foundation for the smart grid of the future. This includes initiatives related to system integration and operations, smart cities, enabling distributed energy resources, energy storage, dispatchable standby generation, transmission system performance and market interfaces, as well as research and development.
Bekkedahl joined PGE in 2014 as vice president of Transmission & Distribution. He has more than three decades of leadership experience in the energy industry. Before joining PGE, he was senior vice president for transmission services at the Bonneville Power Administration and held leadership positions at Clark Public Utilities, PacifiCorp and Montana Power Company.
He has a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Montana State University and serves on the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Research Advisory Committee, the Stanford University Bits and Watts Advisory Council, the University of Akron Energy Advisory Committee, and the All Hands Raised board for Portland Public Schools Foundation.
Ann Collier
Research Analyst, Research and Industry Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Carter Prescott
Director of Electrification, Southern California Edison
Speaker
Garrett Fitzgerald
Sr. Director, Electrification, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Andrew Price
Business Development Manager, Clean Power Research
Speaker
Nancy Harvey
Chief DEI Officer, NYPA
Speaker
Courtney Galatioto
Chief of Staff and VP, Strategic Partnerships, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Scott Vogt
VP of Strategy and Energy Policy, ComEd
Speaker
Kate Strickland
Manager, Utility and Regulatory Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Becca Trietch
Manager, Research and Industry Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Jenell McKay
Development Manager, Advanced Clean Technology, San Diego Gas & Electric
Speaker
Ashley Dickens
Sr. Project Manager, Innovation, TVA
Speaker
Last spring, Ashley Dickens joined the Innovation and Research team at TVA to lead the Innovation Network, which aligns innovative activities and ideas at TVA through a single front door. The Innovation Network establishes a standard approach and ensures sustainability of innovative efforts across the organization.
After graduating from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelors in Political Science, Ashley entered the Army as an Arabic Linguist. After five years of service, Ashley rejoined the civilian world and began her career at TVA in 2008, carrying on the family tradition of service as she followed in the footsteps of her mother and her grandfather before her. She received a Masters of Science in Sustainability in 2012. Upon graduation, Ashley worked as Renewable Energy Analyst supporting all of TVA’s Renewables programs. In 2016, she joined EnergyRight for Business and Industry, supporting the team’s marketing and communications efforts while managing National Account customers. Her previous role included managing My Energy Advisor, a cobranded online platform offering energy resources to businesses and industries.
Ashley lives in La Vergne, TN, with her husband Nicholas and their children, Hayden, Brenya and Lucas. She enjoys hiking, reading and playing with her quarantine English bulldog pup, Doof. She enjoys being a social butterfly and taking her kids to concerts in her Nissan Leaf!
Jared Leader
Sr. Manager, Research and Industry Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Lakin Garth
Sr. Manager, Research and Industry Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Speaker
Mary C Palmer
Environmental Program Coordinator, Austin Energy
Moderator
Courtney Kennedy
Manager, Alternative Energy Program, OPPD
Speaker
Bryce Yonker
Executive Director, Grid Forward
Moderator
Erin Miller
Assistant VP, Energy Policy & Sustainability, American Municipal Power, Inc.
Speaker
Janet Gail Besser
VP, Regulatory and Business Innovation, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
William Ellis
VP, Government and External Affairs, Pepco Holdings
Speaker
Peter Muhoro
Chief Strategy, Technology & Innovation Officer, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative
Moderator
Luke Whittemore
Transportation Electrification Engineer, PGE
Speaker
Kyle Cherrick
VP, Business Development, Electrum
Speaker
Greggory Kresge
Sr. Manager, Utility Engagement and Transportation Electrification, World Resources Institute
Speaker
Jason Krupp
Sr. Project Manager, TVA
Speaker
Angela Long
Manager of Planning and Strategy, Portland General Electric
Speaker
Dylan Lockwood
Sr. Content Editor, Zpryme
Speaker
Audrey Burkhardt
Energy Storage & Resiliency Product Manager, Portland General Electric
Speaker
Dan Cross-Call
Director, Market Development & Regulatory Innovation, Uplight
Speaker
Mac Keller
Senior Analyst, Research and Industry Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Moderator
Briana Kobor
Program Manager, Global Energy Regulatory Policy, Google
Speaker
Bill Sproull
VP, Business Development, ESS, Inc.
Speaker
JOSEPH SULLIVAN
Head of Sales & Business Development, PXiSE Energy Solutions
Speaker
Brad Davids
Head of Utility Business Development, SPAN
Speaker
Desiree Villalobos
Senior Manager, eMobility Business Development & Partnerships, Southern California Edison
Speaker
Shinjini Menon
Managing Director, Regulatory Affairs, Southern California Edison
Moderator
Jillian Page
Manager - Business Customer Relations, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE)
Speaker
Steve Thrall
Vice President of Development - North America, eleXsys Energy
Speaker
Scott Martin
Chief Strategy Officer, SMUD
Speaker
Adam Schultz
Lead, Electricity & Markets Policy Group, Oregon Department of Energy
Speaker
Jason Altamirano
Vice President, TITAN Freight Systems Inc
Speaker
Emilie Bolduc
VP, Distributed Energy Resources, New York Power Authority
Speaker
Michael M. Bell
Workforce Development Director, California Mobility Center
Speaker
Suzy Oversvee
Senior Program Manager, Energy Service Policy and Strategy, Snohomish County PUD
Speaker
Michael Sheehan
Chief Customer Officer, BrightNight
Speaker
David Logsdon
Director of Electrification and Strategic Technology, Seattle City Light
Speaker
PATTI J BEST
Senior Program Specialist, Idaho Power
Speaker
Charity Fain
Executive Director, Community Energy Project
Speaker
Hamody Hindi
Transmission Planning Engineer, Department of Energy Office of Electricity
Speaker