Experts Only

This week's guest is Mona Dajani, partner and global leader of the Energy, Infrastructure & Water team at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. As an international known deal maker in the renewable energy industry for over 20 years, Mona has advised on multiple acquisitions, dispositions, financing, tax equity, leasing and project development transactions involving energy and infrastructure facilities. In this engaging episode, host Jon Powers explores Mona's two decades of experience in the renewable energy space along with market trends and investor appetite for energy storage.

This week we speak with David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy and co-Director of the Energy and Environment Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He founded and directs the Center’s U.S.-China Program. David has served in multiple senior positions in the government at the White House, State Department, and most recently the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to his role at the Department of Energy, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. This conversation centers around David’s 2019 Guide to Chinese Climate Policy and the pivotal role China plays in the solution to climate change.

In the first Experts Only episode of the new decade, Jon sits down with renowned climate scientist Dr. Michael E. Mann. Dr. Mann is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State and director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. His research involves the use of theoretical models and observational data to better understand Earth's climate system, and his conclusions have put him at the epicenter of the climate movement. Dr. Mann is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed and edited publications, numerous op-eds and commentaries, and four books, including: 'The Hockey Stick', 'Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines', 'The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial is Threatening our Planet', and the children’s book 'The Tantrum that Saved the World'. He is also the co-founder of the award winning science website RealClimate.org. For more on Dr. Mann, visit michaelmann.net.

On this special episode of the Experts Only podcast, CleanCapital CEO Thomas Byrne hosts a conversation at the 2019 NYSERDA Green Innovation Showcase (New York City, 11/6/19). Our guest is John Santoleri, partner and board member at Clean Energy Venture Group and Innovation Advisor for the NYSERDA Investor Advisory Board. Hear John's insights on the state of cleantech investing and why NYSERDA is “the largest cleantech investor you never heard of”.

On this special episode of the Experts Only podcast, Jon Powers moderates the keynote panel at Solar Storage & Finance 2019 (New York City, 10/29/19). "Terawatts & Trillions" explores the need for trillions of dollars in investment if we are to hit our climate change mitigation goals. At the same time, the power sector is undergoing a fundamental shift as generation becomes more decentralized, storage matures and comes down in cost and more technologies hit the sector. These factors create a huge opportunity for investors but the industry needs to provide comfort that the risks are low to attract more institutional funds. The panel discussion features: - Mona E. Dajani, Global Head of Energy and Infrastructure, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP - Rael McNally, Director of Real Assets, Infrastructure, & Renewable Power, BlackRock Alternative Investments - Simms Duncan, Senior Director of Project Finance and M&A, Lightsource BP

This week, Jon sits down with Ryan Popple, president and CEO of Proterra. Proterra is the leading innovator of zero-emission, battery-electric buses. This conversation centers on Ryan’s journey into the clean energy space and the role Proterra plays in leading the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. Prior to Proterra, Ryan was a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the senior director of finance at Tesla Motors, focusing on strategic planning, technology cost reduction and corporate finance. Ryan served in the U.S. Army, received a bachelor’s in business administration from the College of William & Mary and a master’s in business administration from Harvard University.

This week, host Jon Powers sits down with Jamie Redford, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Redford Center. A nonprofit media entity, The Redford Center engages people using film, video and new media to inspire environmental action. Jamie discusses his film “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution” and the dawn of the clean energy era. Prior to creating “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution,” Jamie has written, produced and directed a number of HBO films including “Toxic Hot Seat,” “Mann v. Ford” and “The Kindness of Strangers.” In addition, he has traveled the world as an American Film Showcase ambassador with his two award-winning documentaries: “Resilience: the Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” and “Paper Tigers.”

In this very special live episode of Experts Only, Jon Powers of CleanCapital hosts a panel of guests at the Solar Power International convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Guests include: Bill Bush | CFO, STEM Bill drives project financing efforts and corporate funding initiatives at Stem, which builds and operates the largest digitally connected energy storage network. Adam Browning | Executive Director, Vote Solar Vote Solar’s mission is to make solar a mainstream energy resource across the U.S. Adam co-founded the organization in 2002 and leads Vote Solar's team of advocates, experts and staff working to bring solar to the mainstream across the U.S. Emily Fritze | Director of Strategy & Business Development, Powerhouse Emily manages strategic partnerships, programming, and business development at Powerhouse, a network-driven venture fund that backs entrepreneurs building the future of energy and mobility. Jon and the panel discuss some of the exciting milestones the clean energy industry reached in 2019 and what's on the horizon in 2020. Appreciation to Nico Johnson of Suncast for hosting us at the North America Smart Energy Week Podcast Lounge.

This week on the pod we speak with Melanie Nakagawa, Head of Climate Initiative at Princeville Capital. Melanie previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation at the U.S. State Department (2015 - 2017) where she helped countries implement clean energy commitments and led engagements in high growth markets such as India and Morocco. Additionally, she served as a strategic adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, where she spearheaded engagements with the private sector that focused on climate investment and addressing climate change. Host Jon Powers speaks with Melanie about Princeville Climate, Princeville Capital’s fund which invests in growth-stage technology companies with a primary goal of having a positive impact on climate change in sectors such as Smart Grid, Advanced Mobility, Smart Cities, Industrial, Smart Agriculture and Resilient Health.

This week on the pod we speak with Mike Casey, president and founder of the cleantech public relations firm Tigercomm. Tigercomm has been involved in some of the most significant political and public affairs battles in the energy sector. Mike has a background in politics, having worked on the Dukakis (1988) and Clinton (1992) campaigns and later as Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Our conversation centers on the critical -- but often overlooked -- role that communications play in America's transition to a clean energy economy.

This week on the pod, we speak with Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the Renewable Energy Buyers’ Alliance (REBA). REBA works with businesses and organizations—Google, Facebook, and GM among them—seeking to procure renewable energy across the US. Our conversation centers on how the buying power of these large energy consumers is changing energy markets and driving America’s shift to clean energy economy.

On this episode of Experts Only, host Jon Powers talks with Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)and Ethan Zindler, head of Americas at Bloomberg NEF. Bloomberg NEF produces and BCSE underwrites the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, which provides up-to-date, accurate market intelligence about the broad range of industries that are contributing to the country’s move towards cleaner energy production and more efficient energy usage. The discussion highlights some of the insights in the 2019 Factbook and how businesses, advocacy organizations, and governments are making that research actionable as we drive toward a clean energy economy.

This week on the pod, we're speaking with Amy Francetic, Managing Director of Energize Ventures. Amy is a business executive and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the energy and technology. She is a successful entrepreneur, fundraiser, and investor, who just last year founded Energize Ventures: a $165 million venture fund, one of the largest first-time venture funds raised in Chicago in recent years.

This week, we're talking to Dr. Jennifer Gerbi, Associate Director for Technology and a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). In addition to supporting program development, recruitment, and coordinating project management across the Agency, her programmatic focus at ARPA-E includes improving energy efficiency and management of buildings via advanced sensing systems and storage, novel insulating materials for windows, as well as renewable energy generation via photovoltaics. Dr. Gerbi talks with us about how the agency's unique culture encourages innovation and current efforts to bring these exciting projects to market. ARPA-E's 10th annual Energy Innovation Summit brings together leaders in industry, academia, and government to think about America’s energy challenges in new and innovative ways. This year’s Summit will take place from July 8-10 at the Gaylord Rockies. To learn more about the Summit and to register, visit www.arpae-summit.com. For more information on the Pilot Request for Information, visit bit.ly/PILOTRFI for more information.

This week we're speaking with Andrea Luecke, President and Executive Director of the Solar Foundation. Andrea started out as the sole employee for The Solar Foundation in 2010 and has since expanded the organization from a shoe-string budget to a multi-million dollar set of programs dedicated to advancing solar energy growth. Prior to The Solar Foundation, Andrea ran the City of Milwaukee’s Department of Energy Solar America Cities program, “Milwaukee Shines,” implementing policies aimed at increasing solar energy capacity. For more about The Solar Foundation, visit https://www.thesolarfoundation.org/.