UT Energy Week 2023
What Starts Here Energizes the World
Speakers and Panelists
Tramaine Anderson
Vice President for Instruction
Odessa College
The Permian Basin as a Model Regional Energy Innovation Hub
Tramaine Anderson, Ed.D. serves as Vice President of Instruction at Odessa College. Odessa College (OC) is a leading higher education institution in the Permian Basin. OC has been a long-serving leader college in many categories, recently the college received a Leader College of Distinction with Achieving the Dream. OC has been named one of the top 10 community colleges in the country by the Aspen Institute. Tramaine has had over a 15-year career in higher education, with over a decade of teaching U.S. History, and as part of the Academic Affairs team at Tarrant County College District as an Assistant Director of Institutional Assessment. Tramaine is a native of West Texas, having grown up right in the middle of the Permian Basin. She has a distinct passion for instructional excellence and finding ways to support students on their journey to attain a college education. Tramaine is a proud graduate of Howard College (A.A. General Studies), University of North Texas (B.A. History), the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (M.A. History), and a Doctorate in Education from Capella University.
Luke Bassett
Former Senior Professional Staff Member Advising Chairman Joe Manchin III
U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
How will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Impact Energy-Related Investments and the Tax Equity Market?
Luke H. Bassett is a former Senior Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where he advised Chairman Joe Manchin III (D-WV) on climate, renewable energy, energy tax, and research and development policy. In that role, he drafted or negotiated major provisions of the Energy Act of 2020, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which together form the new core of United States climate, energy, and economic policy. Prior to joining the Energy Committee, Bassett was Associate Director of Domestic Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress and previously served as an appointee at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Bassett has master’s degrees in environmental management and ethics from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Yale Divinity School and is originally from Milton, West Virginia.
Andy Bowman
Chief Executive Officer
Jupiter Power LLC
How will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Impact Energy-Related Investments and the Tax Equity Market?
Andrew Bowman is a serial clean energy entrepreneur and published author. Over his 25 year career in renewable energy he has developed or had management responsibility for development of more than 3,600MW of wind and solar and 650 MWh of energy storage projects now operating across the US.
Bowman is founder and CEO of Jupiter Power LLC, a pioneering US energy storage platform started in 2017. Backed by BlackRock’s Diversified Infrastructure business under BlackRock Alternatives, Jupiter develops, finances, owns, operates and trades power daily from energy storage projects in target markets across North America. The company currently has more than 1,000MWh of energy storage projects either operating or in construction and is developing 11GW of additional projects from California to Maine.
Prior to Jupiter, Bowman was CEO and founder of Pioneer Green Energy LLC (2009-15), Chief Development Officer at E.On Climate & Renewables (2007-2009), SVP Development at Airtricity (2004-2007), and CEO and founder of Renewable Generation Inc. (2001-2004).
Bowman is author of The West Texas Power Plant That Saved the World (Texas Tech University Press, 2021) and lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.
Marit Brommer
Executive Director
International Geothermal Association
The New Promise of Geothermal Energy
Marit Brommer is the Executive Director of the International Geothermal Association (IGA). She took seat in April 2017 coming from the Oil and Gas sector with a decade of experience in technology deployment and geoscience portfolio management. Marit is a passionate geologist with a Masters from the Free University in Amsterdam and a PhD from TU Delft. She is dedicated to transition the IGA into a professional body renowned for its geothermal expertise, networking opportunities and global presence. In addition she is keen to strengthen the activities with Clean Energy partners with a commitment to a low-carbon future energy mix.
Steve Brown
Founder & Board Officer
Clean Energy Fund of Texas
Moving Toward an Equitable Energy Future
Steve’s career spans well over 20 years of government relations, public affairs and energy sustainability experience. He was the 2014 Democratic Nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, which made him the youngest African American to win a statewide primary in Texas.
Steve is currently the President of Capital Assets Energy LLC, a successful clean energy development consulting firm that specializes in financing retrofits of commercial, non-profit and multi-family properties with energy efficient and renewable energy improvements. To date, Capital Assets has secured close to $5 million in capital for energy efficient/renewable energy retrofits throughout Texas through the C-PACE program. Capital Assets has also helped to develop over 500 MWs of utility scale solar, assists local governments on their green energy procurement strategies, and organizes communities around environmental justice.
Steve is also the Founder and CEO of the Clean Energy Fund of Texas Inc (TxCEF). TxCEF is focused on making the emerging green economy affordable and just for all Texans. We believe that an equitable transition to clean energy will help to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis, eliminate energy poverty, create green jobs and catalyze economic development opportunities in historically under-resourced communities.
W. Victor Brownlees
Director of Finance
City of Baytown
The Future of Clean Hydrogen in Texas
Victor recently took on the newly created role of ‘Director of Strategic Growth and investment’ for the City of Baytown, Texas. As such he provides executive leadership to the City’s ambitious agenda for economic growth and inward investment – a major component of his role is facilitating the City’s relationships with some of the largest petrochemical companies in the world. Previously Victor served as the City’s Chief Financial Officer (and he still retains responsibility for overall oversight of City finances). He is an Ulsterman by birth and served as Chief Executive Officer for a number of local/municipal governments in the UK prior to relocating to the US in 2017.
Jay Chang
Managing Director
CCA Group
How will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Impact Energy-Related Investments and the Tax Equity Market?
Jay Chang, Managing Director, is an experienced asset-based financing professional within the energy and transportation sectors who represents sponsors and investors in the formation, execution, and implementation of financial solutions. As a lead facilitator in wind and solar opportunities, he applies his structured financing, market analysis, and execution experience to deliver value creation through transaction success and ease. Over the past 16 years, he has accumulated a wealth of experience, but more importantly, a diversity of experience through his prior roles at developers and investment banks. Jay has been involved in both tax-oriented and debt capital investments that span over $14 billion of capital investments, representing more than 7,000 MW of installed generation capacity.
Prior to joining CCA Group, he was a Director in the Leasing and Asset Finance Division of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) where he was focused on structured finance investments in renewable energy projects. His involvement included representing approximately 4,000 MW of installed electric generation capacity and $8 billion in capital investments. Prior to MUFG, he held positions at Enel Green Power and Deutsche Bank. Jay earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Shawn Cumberland
Managing Partner, Energy Transition
Encap Investments, L.P.
How will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Impact Energy-Related Investments and the Tax Equity Market?
Michael S. Cumberland (“Shawn”) (60) is a Managing Partner of EnCap Energy Transition Fund (EETF) and has over 30 of years of experience in power and gas infrastructure. Just prior to forming EETF, Mr. Cumberland was with Prisma Energy II, a private entity focused on investments in energy storage. Previously, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Cumberland was Head of North America for Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and established the U.S. office. During his tenure at Quinbrook, the U.S. team originated three major portfolio companies: Scout Clean Energy (a wind development company), GlidePath Power Solutions (a battery and distributed power developer), and Arevia Power (developer of the Gemini Solar Project in Nevada, approximately 1GW). He originated and managed the investment in Scout, which represents one of Quinbrook’s largest investments.
From 2002 to 2016, Mr. Cumberland was with Arctas Capital Group, a company he co-founded that was an investor and advisor on several renewables and other energy infrastructure projects, both domestically and internationally. Previously, Mr. Cumberland was with Enron, where he held senior executive roles, including President of Enron Caribbean, a role that was responsible for 15 energy businesses in eight countries (including power generation and distribution, gas pipelines, gas processing, LNG, and LPG) and served on the boards of two regionally listed companies. Mr. Cumberland was also previously a Senior Managing Director at El Paso Merchant Energy, and was a co-founder of both The Wing Group and Power Pacific Company –firms that developed power infrastructure investments in emerging markets. Mr. Cumberland started his career in 1986 as a corporate securities and finance attorney in the Houston and London offices of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.
Mr. Cumberland holds a Juris Doctor degree and a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin where he graduated with honors and highest honors, respectively. He serves on the Advisory Board of the renowned Energy Institute of the University of Texas, a multi-disciplinary research organization that taps 350 energy-related facility and researchers across 30 energy centers. Mr. Cumberland previously served on the board of directors and audit committee for Saavi Energia, the fourth largest independent power company in Mexico, until the sale of the company by Actis Capital in August 2021. Mr. Cumberland also sits on the boards of Catalyze, Broad Reach Power, Jupiter Power, Solar Proponent and Triple Oak Power.
David Dankworth
Hydrogen Portfolio Manager
ExxonMobil
The Future of Clean Hydrogen in Texas
David Dankworth has spent the over 25 years working for ExxonMobil, where he currently holds the title of Hydrogen Portfolio Manager.
He has held many different, highly varied positions in multiple U.S. and overseas locations. Following completion of his Ph.D. in chemical engineering, David joined the company as a researcher in reactor engineering, progressed into management roles mostly in the downstream petroleum-refining side, but with work in issues and projects related to chemicals-manufacturing technology, too.
David then returned to research as a Distinguished Scientific Advisor, serving as a liaison between the senior executives and the researchers in the company. In this role he looked at the various technology needs and connected with experts to explore collaborations for solutions, including other scientists and engineers throughout ExxonMobil, university professors, technical experts at the U.S. Dept. of Energy, and then share the resulting insight to develop technology portfolios that can be considered to address the significant technological challenge at hand.
David obtained a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Rice University and a Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, from Princeton University, with a year spent studying at Cambridge University.
Matt Gallagher
President & CEO
Greenlake Energy Ventures
Opening Keynote
Prior to Greenlake, Mr. Gallagher served as President and CEO of Parsley Energy. He joined Parsley Energy in 2010 to build the Engineering Department. He was named Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2014. In January 2017, Gallagher was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer, before being named Chief Executive Officer in 2019. Prior to his time at Parsley, Gallagher spent five years at Pioneer Natural Resources in a variety of engineering roles.
A third-generation petroleum engineer, Gallagher has a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He served on the boards of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, the American Exploration and Production Council, and the Permian Strategic Partnership. Gallagher is currently on the boards of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chesapeake Energy Corporation and is a Venture Partner at NGP Energy Capital.
Dana Harmon
Founder and Principal
Juniper Advisory Group
Moving Toward an Equitable Energy Future
Dana Harmon is the Founder and Principal of Juniper Advisory Group, a consultancy advising NGOs, local governments, and corporate partners working to solve complex energy, environmental, and social challenges. She previously served as the founding Executive Director of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, where she had overall strategic and operational responsibility for execution of the organization’s mission to advance equitable solutions for affordable, reliable, and clean energy so all people can thrive. Dana has held leadership positions in two successful energy technology start-ups after an early career in management consulting. She is a Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an Energy Transition Fellow of the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute, and an Austin Under 40 Award recipient. She serves on the Research Advisory Board of the American Council for An Energy Efficient Economy in Washington, D.C. and the City of Austin Resource Management Commission. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two daughters.
John L. Hall
President and CEO
Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC)
Moving Toward an Equitable Energy Future
John Hall is the President and CEO of the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), a research hub providing independent analysis on energy, air, water, and resilience issues to find scientific solutions for a sustainable and equitable future. His policy and research expertise includes environmental justice, clean energy, climate resilience, and emerging technologies that reduce air and climate pollution while supporting economic growth and job creation.
Mr. Hall has been a thought leader and practitioner on the impacts of energy on air quality, the environment, communities, and climate for thirty years. He previously chaired the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), which preceded the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). He created a framework (now state statute) to manage the Edwards Aquifer; established Texas’ first Task Force on environmental justice issues; and developed pollution prevention initiatives to reduce air toxics and hazardous waste. Mr. Hall implemented the Mickey Leland Environmental Internship Program at TCEQ, which has provided internships to nearly 3,000 college students. He also held leadership roles at the Environmental Defense Fund, focusing on clean energy efforts in ten of the largest states in the U.S., and vehicle electrification initiatives in Texas.
Marilu Hastings
Executive Vice President
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
The Permian Basin as a Model Regional Energy Innovation Hub
Marilu Hastings is executive vice president (EVP) of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation in Austin. She is the former chief innovation and strategy officer at CGMF.
As EVP, Marilu leads and is a catalyst for enhancing the programmatic direction of the foundation. She guides the conception and implementation of programs and initiatives with the program teams to ensure that the foundation’s priorities align with the mission and values of benefactors George and Cynthia Mitchell. In addition, Marilu directs CGMF’s Mitchell Innovation Lab, a varied portfolio of breakthrough sustainability ideas and opportunities that the foundation develops and incubates.
Marilu convenes high-profile, collaborative efforts to promote Texas’s transition to sustainability, including initiatives to protect habitat and species from energy sprawl, address ongoing drought and water management challenges, foster sustainability education curriculum and practices, and adopt clean energy policies. She is also a sought-after strategic and organizational-development advisor to non-profit organizations, foundations, and academic organizations.
Prior to CGMF, Marilu held leadership positions from 1996 to 2008 at the Houston Advanced Research Center, a non-profit research organization founded by Mr. Mitchell. Her work focused on enhancing the integration of social sciences into environmental decision-making. She analyzed the dynamics of environmental decision-making within the oil and gas industry, especially in sensitive and remote environments.
Marilu serves as a member of the National Petroleum Council at the U.S. Department of Energy. She is chair of the University of Texas’s Energy Institute Advisory Board; chair of Environmental Defense Fund’s Texas Advisory Board; a member of the Advisory Board of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin; and a trustee of the Regional Endowment for Sustainability Science. Marilu is a fellow of the Houston Advanced Research Center. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability.
Marilu earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science from Duke University, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.
Andrew (Drew) Higgins
Senior Director | Products & Services
CPS Energy
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and the Grid
Andrew joined CPS Energy in June 2019 as Senior Director, Product and Services. Andrew’s areas of expertise are Leadership, Strategy Development, Product Management, Data Architecture, Data Monetization, Innovation, Digital Transformation, Customer Experience, User Centered Design and Agile Process Management.
Andrew came from Detroit to San Antonio where he served as a senior leader within the CDAO (Chief Data and Analytics Office) responsible for product development. Andrew oversaw the large-scale core capability expansion that allowed for the development of commercial data products and services, and the data monetization strategic roadmap that generated revenue streams of over $160M. Andrew constructed a two-sided marketplace for vehicle data, delivering more than $36M in incremental profits yearly. Andrew also was the lead negotiator for partnerships with key suppliers to bring to market over 7 unique products that were industry firsts. Finally, Andrew directed the creation of critical IP, keeping General Motors as a leader in the connected car industry in the face of increasingly litigious regulatory and compliance environment including the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and the GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation).
Prior to General Motors, Andrew held numerous positions at USAA (United Services Automobile Association) in areas of Digital Marketing, Data and Analytics, and Product Management creating strategies for multiple primary business lines,
enterprise marketing, customer experience and innovation. Andrew designed, developed, and executed a framework for the acquisition of ZAG (now known as True Car). And pioneered Lean UX and Agile business practices leading to the
transformation in experience delivery.
Andrew served in the United States Marine Corps from 1998-2006 and holds a Bachelors of Science from The United States Naval Academy and an MBA from The University of Texas, McCombs School of Business in Austin, TX.
Rayyan Islam
Co-Founder and General Partner, Industrial Decarbonization
8090 Industries
The New Promise of Geothermal Energy
Rayyan Islam is a serial entrepreneur, investor and advisor focused on industrial technology and the low-carbon economy. The companies he’s invested in and advised have grown to over $8B in market value.
Rayyan is the Co-founder and General Partner at 8090 Industries, a VC firm that focuses on leading the next industrial revolution by building scientific and technological breakthroughs into industrial giants. At 8090, Rayyan steers its Decarbonization initiative, in partnership with prominent industrial and energy leaders from around the world, to invest and accelerate breakthrough technologies decarbonizing every industrial sector driven by radical economic advantages. To this end, Rayyan has led investments and serves on the boards of Cemvita, Quaise, Gold Hydrogen, Infinium, Oklo nuclear and Circ, amongst others.
Rayyan has spoken on venture capital and climate technologies at NYU, Stanford, and the United Nations and his work has been featured on Business Insider, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Yahoo Finance and more.
Influenced by his family upbringing in Bangladesh, he personally witnessed the ramifications of climate change and energy insecurity at a young age and its impact on communities around the world. Determined to make a serious dent on the issue, Rayyan supported a cadre of climate solutions, drafted policy recommendations to President Joe Biden’s climate transition team and founded the decarbonization focused newsletter Decarbon Weekly, which counts leading climate scientists, members of state and local governments, founders, investors and foundations amongst its over 5,000 subscribers.
Rayyan currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife, son and daughter.
Brian Korgel
Director
Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
Opening Remarks on Wednesday
Brian A. Korgel is the Director of The University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute, Rashid Engineering Regents Chair Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Education and Outreach Director for the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials (CDCM) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). He also directs the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for a Solar Powered Future (SPF2050), the Nanotechnologies area of the UT Austin Portugal Program at UT, and serves as Associate Editor of the journal, Chemistry of Materials. He is a former Fulbright Fellow and has been Visiting Professor at the University of Alicante in Spain, the Université Josef Fourier in France and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCLA in 1997 and was a post-doctoral fellow at University College Dublin, Ireland, in the Department of Chemistry. He has given more than 260 invited talks and published more than 280 papers. He is also an artist, exploring language and human/technology cohabitation. He has co-founded two companies, Innovalight and Piñon Technologies, and received various honors including the 2012 Professional Progress Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and election to Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Lisa Martin
Vice President, Electric System Engineering & Technical Services
Austin Energy
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and the Grid
Lisa Martin took the role of Vice President of Electric System Engineering & Technical Services in August 2022. She is responsible for leading Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Planning, T&D Engineering, System Operations & Advanced Technologies, Emergency Management, and Electric Service Delivery Shared Services to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of electric service and associated information to our customers.
Martin joined Austin Energy in 2010 and has served in several Compliance and Engineering positions, including roles as Generation Compliance Analyst; Critical Infrastructure Protection Analyst; Transmission Service Compliance Program Manager; Project Manager of the Technology Strategy & Roadmap Project; Program Manager of Advanced Technology working on distributed energy resource integration and the Austin SHINES project; and Director of Austin Energy Corporate Compliance Programs.
Prior to joining Austin Energy, Martin worked in power and gas origination and energy markets for Southern California Edison. During her college years, she worked for companies including Shell Exploration & Production Company, UPS, and the American Transmission Company. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration in Operations Management. Martin is a licensed professional engineer and attended the University of Idaho Energy Executive Course.
Jeff Miers
Global Director of Partnerships and Alliances for the Energy & Utilities Industry Business Unit
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Between Two Cacti with Brian Korgel: Jeff Miers Explains Amazon’s approach to solving the world’s climate crisis
Jeff is the Global Director of Partnerships and Alliances for the Energy & Utilities Industry Business Unit at Amazon Web Services (AWS), based in Houston. At AWS Jeff works with traditional oil and gas, renewable energy producers, and utility customers and partners on solutions to key business and operational challenges. Prior to joining AWS, Jeff was a Managing Director at Accenture where he spent 27 years leading consulting and systems implementation projects with clients through all aspects of the energy industry, including upstream, downstream, oilfield services, deregulated gas and power. Jeff serves as a member of the board of directors for Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, Spring Spirit and the Galveston Bay Foundation, and previously served on the board of the Houston Golf Association. Jeff holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin with highest honors.
Courtney Mooney
Director, Investor Relations
RBC Capital Markets
How will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Impact Energy-Related Investments and the Tax Equity Market?
Courtney Mooney joined RBC as a Director, Investor Relations in the Boston office reporting to Yonette Chung McLean. Ms. Mooney will manage new and existing investor relationships for RBC’s syndications and co-investments in renewable energy tax credit investments. In this role, she will oversee the negotiation and closing of investments, including on-going support post-closing, and provide support in structuring and marketing RBC’s funds. Prior to joining RBC, she spent eight years at Nixon Peabody LLP, where she represented investors and syndicators in renewable and low-income housing tax credit transactions. Ms. Mooney received a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics from New York University. Ms. Mooney is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Billy Murphy
CEO
University Lands
The Permian Basin as a Model Regional Energy Innovation Hub
Billy joined University Lands in 2022 as Chief Executive Officer. He has over 15 years of experience in land and minerals management, including oil and gas, renewables, and low carbon solutions. Prior to joining University Lands, Billy was an executive officer at King Ranch, Inc. He started his career at Bracewell LLP in their energy transactions group.
Billy graduated from Texas Tech University and South Texas College of Law. He and his wife, Margaret, have three children and live in Houston.
Sheila Olmstead
Professor of Public Affairs
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin
Keynote Address: Policy approaches to Decarbonization: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Sheila Olmstead is a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), a visiting fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) in Washington, DC and a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Mont. From 2016 to 2017, she served as the senior economist for energy and the environment at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Before joining UT in 2013, Dr. Olmstead was a senior fellow (2013) and fellow (2010–13) at RFF, as well as associate professor (2007–10) and assistant professor (2002–07) of environmental economics at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is currently an editor of the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. She has also served as vice president and a member of the board of directors of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, as associate editor of Water Resources Research, as co-editor of Environmental and Resource Economics, book review editor of Water Economics and Policy, and as editorial council member for the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Dr. Olmstead holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University (2002), a master’s in public affairs from The University of Texas at Austin (1996) and a B.A. from the University of Virginia (1992).
Chendhil Periasamy
VP of Energy Transition
Air Liquide
The Future of Clean Hydrogen in Texas
Dr. Chendhil Periasamy is the Vice President, Energy Transition, for Air Liquide based in Houston, TX. Chendhil is responsible for leading implementation of the Air Liquide Americas hub energy transition roadmap and continually evolving the strategy to achieve Air Liquide Group’s ambitions. Collaborating across various internal teams, customers and partners, he is supporting energy transition growth projects that reduce carbon emissions and advance the development and deployment of the renewable, low-carbon hydrogen economy. Previously, Chendhil led an R&D team at Air Liquide Innovation Campus in Delaware and established R&D
demonstration projects and strategic partnerships with the US Department of Energy and industrial/academic players. Chendhil has been with Air Liquide for 15 years and holds a Ph. D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma.
Arvind Ravikumar
Research Associate Professor | Co-Director, Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab
Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
Making sense of data: Accurate carbon accounting across global energy supply chains, Keynote Address
Dr. Ravikumar is the co-Director of the Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL) at the
University of Texas at Austin and a faculty in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering.
He has published over 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals, primarily in the areas of greenhouse gas
emissions measurements and energy systems analysis. Dr. Ravikumar has been a lead investigator for
several large-scale, field campaigns in the US and Canada on methane emissions from oil and gas supply
chain and evaluating new technologies for monitoring greenhouse gases. He co-led the development of
the FEAST model that is currently used by the US Environmental Protection Agency in developing
methane emissions regulations. He routinely advises state and federal governments on methane emissions
policy and currently serves on the US Department of Transportation’s Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee.
He is also part of the National Petroleum Council committee that is responding to the Secretary of
Energy’s request for information on greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas systems. Dr. Ravikumar
is a non-resident fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines and
graduate with a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Maria Reyes
Deputy Director
Commission Shift
Moving Toward an Equitable Energy Future
Dr. Maria Antonieta Reyes is an immigrant from Mexico. After high school she went into the U.S. ARMY, where she started her pursuit of higher education. Driven by public service, she taught government and public administration in her hometown, focusing on public awareness, democratic principles and practices, and empowerment for eight years before moving into the environmental community last year. Her research is interdisciplinary with a focus on political theology, political theory, and public administration theory. Her studies and teachings led her into the area of political power, identification of discriminatory systems, and public education and empowerment. The environmental community has allowed her to serve with passion through a communion spirited by action.
Pedro T. Santos
Executive Chairman, CTO & Founder
Andalusian Energy & CNGmotive
The Future of Clean Hydrogen in Texas
Pedro Santos is a world-renowned expert and holder of important intellectual property in the field of CNG and Hydrogen. Aside from technical architecture for Andalusian, he oversees strategic initiatives. He founded Andalusian & CNGmotive in 2016 after a 6yr experience with CNG in the US. Prior to Andalusian he was the founder of OsComp/Hicor, energy technology companies with Energy Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Statoil as investors. Pedro has over 20 years of experience in rotating machinery including compression and combustion engines and is responsible for the first commercial M-1004 compliant hydrogen fuel tenders for railroads. He holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an MS in Natural Gas Engineering and Project Management from the University of Oklahoma, a BS degree in International Business and Marketing from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from the PUCMM Dominican Republic.
Sunday Shepherd
General Manager, Corporate Strategy
Chevron Strategy and Sustainability
The Permian Basin as a Model Regional Energy Innovation Hub
Sunday Shepherd leads Chevron’s Corporate Strategy group, with accountability for corporate strategy development and alignment, enterprise risk management and investment governance. Sunday is passionate about building collaborative relationships within Chevron and across industry to ensure all voices are heard and to drive value. She chaired Chevron’s Executive Women’s Group in Houston from 2016-2019.
Sunday joined Chevron in 2000 as a geologist and has worked in both exploration and reservoir management assignments in the United States, Venezuela and Singapore. Prior to her current role in Corporate Strategy, Sunday led Chevron’s Mid Continent Applied Reservoir Management team. Sunday’s prior roles include Exploration and Regional Manager roles in US Gulf of Mexico, Exploration Advisor for Chevron’s Asia Pacific E&P headquarters in Singapore, Development Geologist in Chevron’s Latin America Business Unit on a heavy oil field in Venezuela, and Earth Scientist and Team Leader in Chevron’s Energy Technology Company consulting on reservoir issues on many global projects.
Sunday earned a Bachelor of Science in Geological Sciences from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina (an Historically Black University where she received a minority scholarship) and a Master’s in Geological Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin. Sunday currently lives in Houston where she enjoys exploring the city’s food and arts scene (take out and patios!) and competing in Monopoly marathons with her three children and husband Ryan.
Britton Smith
SVP Electrification & Chief Strategy Officer
Blue Bird Corporation
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and the Grid
Britton Smith joined the Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) as Senior Vice President, Electrification and Chief Strategy Officer in March 2022. Blue Bird is an iconic American brand and leader in electric and low-emission school buses. In his current role, Smith is responsible for further strengthening Blue Bird’s leadership in electric-powered school buses, expanding the company’s electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, and establishing strategic partnerships to drive performance.
Smith has over 20 years of leadership experience in public and private-equity-owned companies across manufacturing, industrial, healthcare, financial services, and services sectors. Most recently he served as Director, Strategy and Deal Advisory at KPMG. Before then, Smith held various executive roles, including Chief Operating Officer at financial services company DFC Global Corp, and Associate Principal at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Smith holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with Highest Distinction from the United States Naval Academy.
Barry Smitherman
Chairman, President, and Co-founder
Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance (TxGEA)
The New Promise of Geothermal Energy
Barry Smitherman is an attorney, consultant, private investor, and board member for not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. He is the Chairman, President, and co-founder of the Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance (TxGEA) and serves as an independent director of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP), a Houston-based electric and gas delivery utility.
In 2022, Barry was honored by the Texas Law Alumni Association as a Distinguished Alumnus for Community Service.
Barry served on the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 through 2014, and was Chairman of the Commission from March 2012 through August 2014. Initially appointed by Governor Rick Perry to a vacant seat on the RRC, Barry ran for statewide election, in November 2012, garnering 73% of the general election vote. In 2014, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Texas Attorney General.
Prior to joining the RRC, Barry was on the Public Utility Commission of Texas, from April 2004 through July 2011, and served as Chairman for the last four years of his tenure. During this time, he served two terms on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC,) Chairman of the NARUC Gas Committee, the ERCOT Board of Directors, the Southern States Energy Board, the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission, and the Regional State Committee of the Southwest Power Pool.
Barry was formerly on the Board of Directors of NRG Energy, Inc. Before joining NRG, he was a partner at Vinson & Elkins, LLP.
Prior to beginning public service, Barry spent 16 years as an investment banker, holding leadership positions with J.P. Morgan Securities, The First Boston Corporation, and Banc One Capital Markets, where he was a Managing Director and National Head of the Public Finance group. During this time, he led over $7.5 billion in tax-exempt bond and note offerings saving hundreds of millions in debt service for state and local governments.
Barry received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law, his M.P.A. from Harvard University, and his B.B.A. summa cum laude from Texas A&M University. He has been married for 36 years, has four grown children, and one adorable (and smart) granddaughter.
Cindy Taff
CEO
Sage Geosystems
The New Promise of Geothermal Energy
Cindy D. Taff has over 35 years in the O&G industry, most recently serving as VP of Unconventional Wells & Logistics over Shell’s global operations. She led a team of over 350 Shell staff and 1200 contractors across five countries, accountable for an annual spend of $1.0-1.2 billion. Cindy is the CEO of Sage Geosystems, a growing company based in Houston providing solutions for both energy storage and geothermal base production deep in the earth.
David Tuttle
Research Associate and Lecturer
Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
The New Promise of Geothermal Energy
Dr. Tuttle is a Research Associate in the Energy Institute at University of Texas at Austin. His lifelong passion in the automotive space intersects with many years of experience in information technology and interest in the diffusion of innovation in the research areas of EV adoption, integration of EVs with the grid, alternative fuel and advanced powertrain vehicles, the associated market and technical factors that affect the electric grid and DERs, renewable energy systems, and autonomous vehicles. David was the team manager for the 2007 UT DARPA Urban Challenge Autonomous vehicle team.
Dave is a former IBM and Sun Microsystems executive with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, B.S. & Master of Engineering degrees with highest honors in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville and an MBA from UT-Austin.
His diverse career has included leading the design of the Data Cache Unit of the high-performance microprocessor in the original IBM POWER-1 RISC/UNIX computer system, leading the team in the Apple/IBM/Motorola alliance that designed the first high-performance microprocessor used to launch the original Apple PowerMac, leading the team that designed the POWER2-SC microprocessor used in the 1997 IBM Deep Blue Supercomputer that beat World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, and building from scratch Sun Microsystem’s Austin design center for power efficient highly multi-threaded CPUs. He is also presently a Commissioner on the Electric Utility Commission overseeing Austin Energy, Austin’s local municipal electric utility.
Andy Uhler
Energy Journalism Fellow
Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin | Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University
The Future of Clean Hydrogen in Texas
The Permian Basin as a Model Regional Energy Innovation Hub
Andy Uhler is an award-winning public radio correspondent and host. He’s currently a journalism fellow through a partnership between UT’s Energy Institute and Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. He started his journalism career as an undergraduate at KUT, the University of Texas at Austin NPR affiliate. He transitioned to music journalism in 2006, becoming the senior producer of Texas Music Matters. After completing a Master’s degree in global policy studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2014, he returned to KUT to help launch the Texas Standard. The following year, he took a job as a sustainability reporter at American Public Media’s Marketplace where he remained until accepting this fellowship.
Ken Wisian
Associate Director: Environmental Division
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin
The New Promise of Geothermal Energy
Ken Wisian, Ph.D., Major General USAF (retired), is responsible for coordinating environmental related research. He came to the Bureau from the Center for Space Research. Previously, Dr. Wisian was a senior state executive responsible for disaster recovery, oil spill prevention and response, and coastal infrastructure and environmental protection for Texas. As a military officer, General Wisian participated or lead military disaster response efforts for the Shuttle Columbia crash and multiple hurricanes. Dr. Wisian is a geophysicist whose main research is in geothermal systems, modeling, and instrumentation and data analysis. Other current research includes; autonomy/drones, applied gravity, planetary geology/space exploration, infrastructure resiliency and international relations.
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