Bill Abolt is a Vice President at AECOM where he leads the company’s Smart Energy practice and focuses on energy, sustainability and smart, resilient urban infrastructure in the largest metropolitan economies in North America. He has over 31 years of experience managing complex environmental, energy and public issues and programs.

Mr. Abolt has developed, administered and implemented comprehensive energy and sustainability programs for utilities, government and private clients. He currently serves as principal in charge of several smart energy, sustainability and resilience projects including the City of Berkeley’s Energy Assurance Microgrid; Boston’s Smart Utilities Vision Master Plan; Smart City and Microgrid support for ComEd, an Exelon Utility; Chicago’s 100 Resilient Cities Strategy; and the Detroit Sustainable Action Agenda.

Previously, Mr. Abolt served as Environment Commissioner, Director of the Office of Budget and Management and Chief of Management, Office of the Mayor, for the City of Chicago, where he was responsible for developing Chicago’s strategy to become one of the greenest cities in the nation.

William Alexander, President GEM Energy, has over 30 years of experience in the global energy and facilities industry. Mr. Alexander has established and run successful energy service businesses and launched many innovative products for leading companies in the industry. Mr. Alexander has held key leadership roles in management, strategy, sales, marketing, and operations in companies providing energy services, performance contracting, energy procurement, energy management, renewable energy, asset ownership, green and sustainable building solutions, distributed generation, HVAC,  building automation, fault detection and diagnostics, and facility management solutions. Mr. Alexander brings this wealth of experience and expertise in his oversight of GEM Energy to ensure exceptional value is created for our clients.

Forest Bradley-Wright is the Energy Efficiency Director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy working primarily in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. His work focuses on increasing investments in energy efficiency and demand side management as alternatives to traditional power generation, driving effectiveness of efficiency programs in the Southeast, and expanding energy saving opportunities for underserved customers.

Prior to joining SACE, Mr. Bradley-Wright worked for 14 years with the New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy, where he was responsible for regulatory policy strategy, technical analysis, and governmental relations. His efforts contributed to the implementation of utility-scale energy efficiency portfolios, enactment of Integrated Resource Planning rules, protection of solar net metering, and major investments in utility-scale renewable energy. He has also worked on utility ratemaking proceedings, utility mergers and acquisitions, and demand side management potential studies.

Mr. Bradley-Wright’s undergraduate and Masters studies were at Tulane University in International Development, Environmental Law, and Sustainable Development Practices.

Peter Flynn is Executive Vice President of Bostonia Partners, a financial services and investment-banking firm that concentrates principally on structuring innovative financing solutions, as well as providing independent financial advisory services to both the public and private sectors. Mr. Flynn focuses on financing infrastructure projects with a focus on energy efficiency, distributed generation, and renewable energy projects, as well as public private partnerships, project finance, real estate finance, and securitization.

At Bostonia, Mr. Flynn has financed approximately $3 billion in federal, municipal, and commercial energy projects. Mr. Flynn has served as lead banker for a number of signature financings, including a $260 million federal energy infrastructure transaction at Tinker AFB which is the largest-ever federal ESPC; a $207 million innovative microgrid project for the Food and Drug Administration in Maryland; a 4.8MW solar PV system operating on U.S. Army land serving the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; and the largest-ever international federal energy savings project, a $102 million co-generation project for the U.S. Navy at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. In addition, Mr. Flynn recently completed Bostonia’s first cross-border commercial energy financing in Ontario, Canada.

Mr. Flynn is a frequent speaker on topics including financing of energy and infrastructure projects. He is the author or co-author numerous articles including “Investing in Innovation” that appeared in the Military Engineer Year-In-Review, “Renewable Energy Financing under ESPC Authority” that appeared in the ACORE Industry Review of Renewable Energy for Military Installations, and “Unique Issues Associated with Financing Federal Government Receivables” that appeared in The Journal of Structured Finance.

Mr. Flynn serves as a member of the planning committee for the Department of Energy’s Energy Exchange workshop and trade show. He is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Syracuse University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Anna Garcia is the Director of the Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy. She provides leadership to maximize the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy through technology deployment, accessing new partnerships and resources, and communications and outreach activities.

Previously, Ms. Garcia served as Executive Director of the Ozone Transport Commission, the organization of 12 states and the District of Columbia created by Congress in 1990 to assess and coordinate the development of policies to reduce regional ground-level ozone or "smog" in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Before joining the Commission, Ms. Garcia was Director of Operations and State Programs for the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions, a non-profit that is a division of the Global Environment and Technology Foundation. She provided unique environmental and energy expertise through creating partnerships with and among state agencies to design multi-pollutant strategies that have both environmental and economic benefits.

Ms. Garcia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Princeton University and an Executive Master of Business Administration from the George Washington University.

Etan Gumerman is a senior policy associate at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. At the Nicholas Institute, he has led several energy and climate policy research projects. His recent works includes assessing cost-effective energy efficiency potential in the South. Previously, he led the Nicholas Institute's emissions and reduction analysis for the state of Utah, based on Utah's Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change recommendations to the Governor.

Mr. Gumerman’s background is in engineering and policy with considerable experience in modeling. Before joining the Nicholas Institute, he was involved with a wide range of energy and climate change policy projects. At Lawrence Berkeley National Lab he was the lead modeler and analyst for the Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future project, coordinating the efforts of scientists at five national laboratories.

Mr. Gumerman has investigated appliance standards’ effects on energy, load shapes, peak effects, and emissions. He has worked with California’s Air Resources Board evaluating the effectiveness of California’s Smog Check program.

Mr. Gumerman holds an M.S. in Engineering and Policy, from Washington University and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jason Hartke was named President of the Alliance to Save Energy in 2018, bringing more than a decade of leadership experience in energy efficiency and sustainability. The Alliance – a nonprofit, bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders – has worked for more than four decades to advance energy efficiency worldwide to achieve economic growth, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security, affordability, and reliability.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Mr. Hartke oversaw the Department of Energy’s efforts to advance and accelerate energy efficiency in commercial buildings, a sector that accounts for nearly 20 percent of the nation’s energy consumption. Mr. Hartke led the roughly $30 million program, working closely with national laboratories and partners in industry to develop and deploy innovative solutions, strategies and technologies aimed at unlocking significant energy savings.

Before his tenure at DOE, Mr. Hartke spent nearly a decade as a senior executive at the U.S. Green Building Council, where he led national and international green building programs and campaigns designed to help strengthen the economy and protect the environment. As Senior Vice President of global policy development, Mr. Hartke oversaw mission-critical policy and advocacy efforts that helped result in the passage of historic federal investment in green building, new federal leadership programs in energy efficiency, and a fourfold increase in green building policies at the state and local level. He also led several signature national advocacy programs in sustainable and resilient communities, energy efficiency, green schools and green affordable housing.

Over his career, he has created numerous collaborative initiatives and partnerships with other organizations, including the C40 Climate Leadership Group, the World Green Building Council, the National League of Cities, the American Institute of Architects, the Real Estate Roundtable and the Natural Resources Defense Council. 

Mr. Hartke also served in the Clinton Administration, working in the West Wing of the White House in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, a policy and outreach team that serves as the president's liaison to state and local elected officials throughout the country. Early in his career, Mr. Hartke was an award-winning journalist, working as a reporter with the Connection Newspapers covering state and local politics, real estate, land use and community affairs.

Mr. Hartke received his Ph.D. in public policy from George Mason University. He holds his Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Robert Johnson is Senior Vice President and Group Head, Federal and National Accounts at Hannon Armstrong with responsibility for growing financing solutions in the federal sector and with national account customers. Mr. Johnson has been at the leading edge of the energy efficiency industry where he has built businesses across a broad range of systems in the energy services business.

Prior to joining Hannon Armstrong, Mr. Johnson held executive leadership positions at early stage start-up organizations in the energy efficiency market. Prior to these assignments, he held senior leadership positions in multinational organizations such as Cooper Industries and Ingersoll Rand (Trane) where he led institutional sales for North America. Prior to this assignment, he held the global sales leadership role for Johnson Controls’ Federal Systems Division. Mr. Johnson began his career at Honeywell, where he held leadership positions in various divisions of Honeywell during his 15 year tenure there.

Mr. Johnson has been published in Military Engineer magazine and holds a Bachelor,s degree in Economics from the University of Maryland.

Based in Olympia, WA, Jim Lazar has maintained a consulting practice in electric and natural gas utility ratemaking and resource planning since 1982. His clients have included municipal and cooperative electric utilities, natural gas utilities, regulatory commissions, state consumer advocates, and public interest organizations in the United States and Canada. Mr. Lazar is the principal author of handbooks and articles on rate design, renewable energy integration, consumer participation in electric utility planning, integrated resource planning, and incentive regulation. He has assisted RAP since 1998, working on projects in the U.S., Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines, Poland, Hungary, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Samoa.

Mr. Lazar is a founding board member (1981) of the NW Energy Coalition, with 33 years of service to date.  He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Public Counsel Section of the Washington attorney general for 25 years of service assisting the state’s consumer advocate.

Mr. Lazar holds a Bachelor's in Economics from Western Washington University, and completed graduate studies at that institution and the University of Washington.

Charles McGinnis is Vice President, Performance Infrastructure and Solutions Sales, North America for Johnson Controls Building Technology and Solutions.

Mr. McGinnis’ responsibilities are to advance and execute a growth strategy to achieve short- and long-term plan commitments to profitably grow the Performance Infrastructure-Energy Solutions business for Johnson Controls-North America. Key initiatives are to reinforce existing practices and establish new standards for strategic projects, sales management practices, recruiting/hiring, forecasting, sales training, marketing, and innovation. He manages the Vertical Market Teams, Proposal Development Team, Solutions Program/Product Managers and Government Facing Business Consultants
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Joining Johnson Controls in 2000, Mr. McGinnis has held positions of increasing responsibility in branch management, regional management, and national director roles, most recently serving as Director of Higher Education and State Government Markets for the Energy Solutions business. He has been a two-time Masters Award winner and Chairman’s Team Award recipient for Global Growth.

Prior to Johnson Controls, Mr. McGinnis worked for Honeywell Inc., Erie Controls, North American Mechanical Inc. and Siemens Building Technologies in sales management, product management, operations, and general management roles. He previously taught courses in Automatic Controls at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Engineering and Professional Development.

Sean Murphy is a Scientific Engineering Associate in the Electricity Markets and Policy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Mr. Murphy’s research focuses on the ESCO industry and utility-administered energy efficiency programs. Prior to joining the Lab, he studied the urban photovoltaic potential in India as a visiting researcher at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and worked on energy efficiency policy and evaluation at National Grid. Mr. Murphy holds a B.S in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Mary-Suzanne Powell is Area General Manager for Johnson Controls in the Southeast US, Performance Infrastructure. Johnson Controls is a global diversified technology and multi industrial leader serving a wide range of customers in more than 150 countries. Ms. Powell is responsible for managing the Performance Infrastructure business for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Puerto Rico with over $1.4B in active energy guarantees and projects related to smarter, safer, sustainable, and more resilient cities, campuses, hospitals, and commercial buildings.

Ms. Powell has over 20 years of experience in higher education, K-12, state and local government, healthcare, hospitality, and commercial buildings focused on energy, construction, and smart technology; where she has held various and increasing levels of management and responsibility. Her direct reports manage sales, engineering, and operations functions.

She has held leadership positions in multiple not-for-profit, community, and charitable organizations such as President, Junior League; the Spirit of 67 Foundation, Home Safe and Place of Hope, the School District of Palm Beach County Independent Referendum Oversight Committee, The Education Foundation, and the Economic Council of Palm Beach County.

Paul Robinson assumed duties as Chief, Energy Division, Installation Support and Programs Management Directorate, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), on 30 December 2012. In this role, Mr. Robinson provides USACE leadership for energy programs and initiatives, overseeing execution with the Army’s portfolio of energy programs and partnering with Corps Districts, research labs, industry, and federal and state agencies in the world-wide support to the Army’s land-holding commands (Installation Management Command, Army Materiel Command, National Guard, and Army Reserve), Army Civil Works, as well as Department of Defense and other non-DoD agencies, to reduce fossil-fuel dependency, increase energy efficiency and security, and adopt alternative energy sources. Mr. Robinson also provides key planning, operations, and acquisition support to the Army’s Office of Energy Initiatives for development of large-scale, private sector-financed renewable energy projects.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Robinson served as a Senior Program Manager for the Corps’ Northwestern Division in Omaha, Nebraska, where he provided leadership for execution of $5.7 billion in military construction projects while overseeing U.S. Air Force and DoD MILCON efforts for the region. Mr. Robinson also served as Chief, Operations & Maintenance, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Hood, Texas, overseeing facilities management for the nation’s largest military installation and championing critical energy initiatives recognized by the Secretary of the Army for innovative technology.

Mr. Robinson enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1988 and earned a commission in 1993. As a Civil Engineer Corps Officer, Mr. Robinson served in both Public Works and Contract Administration roles in support of Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

Mr. Robinson holds a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a Masters of Business Administration with concentrations in Strategic Management and New Venture and Business Development (Entrepreneurship) from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the George Washington University. Mr. Robinson is also a member of the Army Acquisition Corps and certified in facilities engineering and contracting.

Mr. Schwerman has 12 years of experience in the energy services industry. As the Manager of Measurement & Verification (M&V) group, Mr. Schwerman is responsible for the measurement and verification of energy, cost, and maintenance savings generated by our performance contracting projects. The group’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, data collection, measurements, and analyses to establish baseline energy performance of customers’ facilities; the preparation and implementation of M&V plans to determine project performance; ongoing measurements and analyses to verify post-construction savings; the preparation of periodic reports to our customers; and the management of customer relationships during our projects’ performance periods. By measuring and verifying the energy, cost, and maintenance, savings generated by  projects, the M&V team gives customers both quantitative proof as well as performance assurance that their projects are performing as expected.

Mr. Schwerman develops and implements M&V plans for energy savings performance contracting projects at universities, hospitals, and municipal, state, and federal government facilities. The M&V group works with project developers and senior project engineers to develop ECM-specific M&V approaches, evaluate project performance risk, analyze savings calculations, review final M&V plans, and develop construction and service phase M&V budgets. Mr. Schwerman works with the development team to analyze and normalize utility data using linear regressions and other analyses. He supervises baseline and post-installation data collection, including trend data from building automation systems, field measurements, data loggers, and performance tests. Mr. Schwerman provides technical assistance with ongoing review of data from energy management systems, including troubleshooting, diagnostics, and energy savings analysis. He prepares and reviews annual savings reports prepared by the M&V specialists in the group.

Mr. Schwerman holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri.

Natasha Shah is a Vice President at NORESCO, responsible for federal business activities. One of the largest energy services companies in the U.S., NORESCO uses design-build, performance-based contracting vehicles and asset monetization solutions to deliver energy and maintenance cost savings and infrastructure upgrades to existing facilities.

Ms. Shah has 19 years of experience in the development and execution of energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. She has led the implementation of strategic business plans, directed recovery and development initiatives for underachieving businesses, and is active in several industry trade organizations, including serving as the Board Chair of NAESCO.  Ms. Shah holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University.

Robert R. Somers, II, is the president and co-founder of 2rw Consultants, Inc., an engineering firm that emphasizes energy efficient analysis and design. Mr. Somers is the principal responsible for energy services and software development. He has worked in the energy field since 1975 for both public and private sector clients, leading project teams in the evaluation, design, and commissioning of energy efficiency projects nationwide in the built environment for both new construction and renovation.

Mr. Somers is a professional engineer registered in 14 states and the District of Columbia, a LEED AP, a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a LEED accredited professional. His experience ranges from thermal energy storage research to energy audits of large complexes including the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Mr. Somers spearheaded 2rw’s technical support services for the Virginia Division of Energy for many years, during which time he conducted training sessions for technical and non-technical audiences, developed guidelines for a photovoltaic manufacturing grants program, and authored technical manuals for engineers and architects.

Mr. Somers has many years of experience in renovation design, building assessment, commissioning, construction administration, and energy auditing, as well as central HVAC plant assessment and HVAC system design. Mr. Somers has led teams of architects and engineers in the administration of evaluation, design, commissioning, and construction of comprehensive engineering projects for numerous clients throughout the United States. He has an extensive background in analysis and design of mechanical and electrical systems to reduce energy consumption and costs.

Mr. Somers holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Colonel Nello Tortora joined Southland Energy as Director of Federal Programs in April 2013 after retiring from 27 years of service in the United States Army. As an Army combat engineer officer, Col. Tortora served all over the world in assignments of increasing responsibility from platoon leader to brigade commander. In his last assignment, he served as commander of the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Huntsville, Alabama 2009-2012.

Col. Tortora previously commanded the New York District of the Corps from 2006-2009. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the University of Texas Graduate School of Engineering, and the National Defense University.

David Weiss is a Partner at Bywater Partners LLC where he specializes in offering strategic and tactical guidance along with project development to companies in energy services, renewable energy, utility, and distributed energy businesses. He also provides his clients with a well-balanced perspective on issues within the alternative energy markets and leverages his full and diverse range of 25 years of experience in assessing mergers and acquisition targets.

Prior to starting his consulting practice with Bywater, Mr. Weiss was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Pepco Energy Services. Mr. Weiss had overall responsibility for all divisional functions including profit and loss, marketing, business development, operations, project management, and project financing. During his 17-year tenure with Pepco Energy Services, Mr. Weiss was instrumental in the award of the largest federal government energy savings performance contract, the largest single roof-top solar project in the U.S. and one of the largest federal co-generation projects for the National Institutes of Health. Mr. Weiss was also responsible for the development and operations of all co-generation, renewable energy, and district energy facilities.

Prior to Mr. Weiss’ tenure with Pepco Energy Services, he managed the implementation of utility demand-side management programs and a design/build group for XENERGY. He has testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Energy to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as an expert in the energy services field and is the immediate past Chair of the Board for the National Association of Energy Services Companies.