2020 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings VIRTUAL

Tuesday, August 18

Efficiency Now More than Ever

Discussion about the urgency of addressing climate change and environmental justice, including the critical contributions that energy efficiency can make.

Gina McCarthy

Natural Resources Defense Council
President and CEO (and former EPA Administrator)

Gina McCarthy became the president and chief executive officer of NRDC in January 2020, leading more than 700 attorneys, scientists, advocates, and policy experts. McCarthy has been a leading advocate for smart, successful strategies to protect public health and the environment for more than 30 years.

McCarthy served as the 13th administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and as assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation under President Obama. Her leadership led to significant federal, state, and local actions on critical issues related to the environment, economy, energy, and transportation. She led initiatives that cut air pollution, protected water resources, strengthened chemical safety, and reduced greenhouse gases to protect more communities from negative health impacts. McCarthy signed the Clean Power Plan, which set the first national standards for reducing carbon emissions from existing power plants.

At the state level, McCarthy served as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, deputy secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development, and undersecretary of policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. In Connecticut, she was instrumental in developing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state effort to reduce emissions contributing to global warming, which has spurred economic growth, improved public health, decreased energy demand, and helped mitigate electricity price increases across the region.

At the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, McCarthy was a professor of the practice of public health in the Department of Environmental Health and currently chair of the board of advisors at the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE). She also serves as a member of the boards of the Energy Foundation and Ceres.

McCarthy holds a master's degree in environmental health engineering and planning and policy from Tufts University and a bachelor's in social anthropology from University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Wednesday, August 19

Efficiency: The Core of a Clean Energy Future

A panel discussion about links between energy efficiency and other important issues such as climate change, grid costs, economic burdens and environmental justice.

Cecil Corbin-Mark

WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Deputy Director/Director of Policy Initiatives

Cecil Corbin-Mark is WE ACT for Environmental Justice’s (WE ACT) Deputy Director and Director of Policy Initiatives. He holds a BA from Hunter College in Political Science and a M. Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University in England. Prior to joining WE ACT, Cecil worked for the following: the Bronx County District Attorney, NYS Justice Hon. W. T. Martin, the Mellon Minority Scholars Program and the NY Public Library.

Cecil is a father, a pilot and lives in the Hamilton Heights section of West Harlem in NYC, his family’s home for almost 90 years.

Wednesday, August 19

Efficiency: The Core of a Clean Energy Future

A panel discussion about links between energy efficiency and other important issues such as climate change, grid costs, economic burdens and environmental justice.

Leia Guccione

Rocky Mountain Institute
Managing Director

Leia Guccione is the Managing Director for RMI’s Electricity Program, where she leads RMI’s research and collaboration efforts to support the rapid transition to a low-carbon electricity system to support a secure, prosperous, and equitable US economy.

Since 2012, Leia has directed RMI’s research exploring the potential for distributed generation, distributed energy resources, and distributed battery technologies to disrupt utility business models and other aspects of the US electricity system—and advanced the development of targeted solutions for these innovations. Additionally, she’s led client engagements assisting leading utilities, public utility commissions, large corporations, states, and cities to develop evolved business models and policies.

Before joining RMI, Leia served in the US Navy as a nuclear-trained Surface Warfare Officer and continues to serve in the US Navy Reserves. She has an MS, Sustainable Development, University of London and a BS, Mechanical Engineering and Political Science, Iowa State University. She is a Professional Engineer, licensed in the State of Colorado.

Wednesday, August 19

Efficiency: The Core of a Clean Energy Future

A panel discussion about links between energy efficiency and other important issues such as climate change, grid costs, economic burdens and environmental justice.

Paul Hibbard

Analysis Group
Principal

Paul Hibbard is a Principal at Analysis Group, a Boston-based economic and financial consulting firm.  Paul is a former Chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and has held positions in both energy and environmental regulatory agencies in Massachusetts.  Paul has also served on the New England States' Committee on Electricity, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, and the Executive Committee of the Eastern Interconnect States' Planning Council.  In private practice, Paul provides technical, economic and policy analysis and strategic advice to public and private sector participants in the natural gas and electric industries. 

Paul holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of California at Berkeley.

Thursday, August 20

Advancing Energy Efficiency in Today’s Challenging Times

This panel of speakers (federal, state and local perspectives) discussed what they are doing to advance energy efficiency, and how we can help them, despite current challenges such as COVID-19, a fragile economy and other pressing issues that compete for attention.

Paul Tonko

U.S. Representative (D-NY)
Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Congressman Paul D. Tonko is a sixth-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York’s 20th Congressional District in the Capital Region, including the cities of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga Springs, and his hometown of Amsterdam.

Tonko is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and chairs the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, where he oversees a wide range of issues including clean drinking water, regulation of toxic substances and national climate action. For the 116th Congress, he joined the Committee on Natural Resources and continues to serve on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where he advocates for scientific integrity and public research.

In addition to his committee duties, Tonko co-chairs the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition. He is also a longtime honorary advisor of the Alliance to Save Energy, a bipartisan, nonprofit coalition that promotes energy efficiency across all sectors of the global economy.

Prior to serving in Congress, Tonko was the president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Before that, he served in the New York State Assembly for 25 years, 15 of which he was chair of the Committee on Energy. At the age of 26, he was the youngest person in the history of Montgomery County to be elected to the county’s Board of Supervisors, which he chaired until 1981.

Tonko graduated from Clarkson University with a degree in mechanical and industrial engineering and is a former engineer for the New York State Public Service Commission. He is a lifelong resident of Amsterdam, New York.

Thursday, August 20

Advancing Energy Efficiency in Today’s Challenging Times

This panel of speakers (federal, state and local perspectives) discussed what they are doing to advance energy efficiency, and how we can help them, despite current challenges such as COVID-19, a fragile economy and other pressing issues that compete for attention.

Vicki Hackett

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Deputy Commissioner

As Deputy Commissioner, Vicki is leading DEEP's Energy Branch as Connecticut transitions to a zero carbon electric grid. Her responsibilities include developing Connecticut's Integrated Resources Plan and Comprehensive Energy Strategy, overseeing procurements of clean energy resources, and developing policies and programs in the areas of energy affordability, energy efficiency, and strategic electrification of the transportation and housing sectors to help Connecticut achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

As the Director of Adjudications at the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Vicki oversaw the legal work of the agency and acted as general counsel to the Commissioners on matters including utility rate cases, mergers and acquisitions, regional and federal matters, and grid modernization.

As an attorney at the CT Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC), Vicki gained significant experience in utility finance and rate design, integrated resources planning, energy efficiency policy and program review, utility infrastructure planning, and consumer issues related to retail electric supply.  Vicki was a litigation attorney in private practice for four years prior to joining the OCC.

Vicki earned her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and her B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from Western Connecticut State University.

Thursday, August 20

Advancing Energy Efficiency in Today’s Challenging Times

This panel of speakers (federal, state and local perspectives) discussed what they are doing to advance energy efficiency, and how we can help them, despite current challenges such as COVID-19, a fragile economy and other pressing issues that compete for attention.

Kim Havey

City of Minneapolis
Sustainability Director

Kim Havey is the Director of the Division of Sustainability for the City of Minneapolis. In this role he is responsible for the development of policy in support of the city’s Climate Action Plan, a 100% renewable electricity community wide goal, the first in the nation Clean Energy Partnership, sustainable building policy, green zones and elevating racial environmental justice programs and policies that increased health and wealth in low income communities of color. 

Kim joined the City of Minneapolis after working at the Minnesota Department of Commerce where he led the development and implementation of solar policies and incentive programs that supported more than 4,000 new solar installations resulting in 60 MWs of distributed solar.  He also managed the communications team of the Minnesota State Energy Office.

Prior to that he co-founded Sustology, a sustainability consulting and clean energy development firm.  Kim acted as Chief Financial Officers and led its clean energy portfolio for nine years developing more than 10 MWs of solar energy throughout the state.

Kim earned a BBA in Real Estate and Finance from the University of WI - Madison and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of MN – Humphrey Institute.  He is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and is a US Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP).