2022 SPEER Workshop Speakers

Monday, September 26

1:00-2:15 South-central Heat Pump Working Group
Tim McConkie, Project Manager, TRC Companies
Tim McConkie has been in the utility program implementation business for about a decade and is a HERS Rater with multiple BPI and certified green building credentials. His experiences include extensive hands-on planning, field investigation and performance testing within both single and multifamily applications. Today, Tim is the portfolio manager for multiple Texas utility clients engaged in a full spectrum of residential and commercial program offerings

Kandice Cohen, Director – Electrification of Heat, Trane Technologies
Kandice is currently the Director, Electrification of Heat for Trane Technologies, focused on building and executing Trane’s strategy around the megatrends of sustainability, decarbonization, and the electrification of heat.  Kandice specializes in market transformation towards technologies that lead to a healthier planet, healthier buildings, and a healthier population.

Previously to this role, Kandice spent 13 years engaged in the science of illumination and controls to enhance the quality of the lit environment for the benefit of occupants, as well as to maximize energy savings that achieve the goals of building owners and efficiency programs. She was awarded the distinct honor as a 40 Under 40 Innovator by Analytics Insight in 2022, Woman on the Rise by Paradigm for Parity in 2021 and was one of three women selected by LEDs Magazine as a part of their 40 Under 40 Inaugural Class of 2020.

Will Lange, Director Utility Marketing, WaterFurnace International
Will serves as Director of Utility Marketing for WaterFurnace International, a global leader in ground source heat pump technology. Will engages with all stakeholders to provide the information and tools need to succeed with heat pumps. Will is a graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy with several tours of active duty. He has over 25 years of advanced product design, development, and marketing in the heating and cooling sector.

2:30-3:15 Energy Efficiency Programs and the IOU’s…Working Together
Amy Martin, VP Consulting & Engineering, Frontier Energy
Amy Martin is Vice President of Consulting at Frontier Energy (formerly Frontier Associates). Starting her career in the energy field as an intern in 2008, Amy developed her energy efficiency skills conducting cost-effectiveness analyses, evaluation, measurement & verification activities, and program planning and design projects for clients in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Currently, she leads the Austin consulting team and works closely with regulatory commissions, statewide evaluators, utility representatives, and key stakeholders to facilitate activities in support of energy efficiency programs. Amy also provides support to all the Texas investor-owned electric utilities as administer of the EUMMOT organization.

Lark Lee, Senior Director, Tetra Tech
Lark Lee, a Senior Director with Tetra Tech, has been working on energy efficiency and demand response programs for over two decades. She first cut her teeth fresh out of graduate school by evaluating the statewide Wisconsin energy efficiency programs and nationwide energy efficiency programs in Mexico. She then led numerous energy evaluation projects Coast to Coast before finally getting to bring her commitment to evaluation best practices to her home state of Texas. Working closely with the Commission, she has been leading the statewide evaluation of the Texas investor-owned utilities since 2013. 

3:15 -3:45 Building Codes and Grid Resilience
Jason Vandever, Director of Technical Services, NAIMA
Jason has over 20 years combined experience in building construction and inspection. Prior to joining NAIMA, Jason was the Building Code Manager for SPEER for 7 years and previously the Chief Building Official for the City of Granbury for four years. He maintains nine (9) ICC certifications, is a Certified Building Official and a Texas Municipal League Leadership Fellow. He currently serves and has spent 5 years on the NCTCOG Energy and Green Advisory Board. Jason has an MBA from Texas Tech University. When he’s not educating about building science and the energy code he enjoys time on the lake wakeboarding with his wife and two children.

4:00-5:00 Low-income Energy Efficiency Barriers and Solutions
Stratton Lobdell, EZ Green Home
J. Stratton Lobdell has worked in the EE industry for the last decade in the Southeastern US. He spent a few years running residential incentive programs for Honeyewell before transitioning into low income direct install programs. He moved to ICF and ran commercial and residential program portfolios across multiple utilities in the Southeast. He is now working with EZ Green Home to expand their footprint in the low income residential market with a primary focus in MS. Before working in EE he ran a residential heating and air conditioning company in Raleigh, NC. Stratton holds a BS from Penn State and an MBA from NC State University.

Margo Weisz, Executive Director, TEPRI
Margo serves as Executive Director of Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI), an organization that advances equitable solutions for affordable, reliable and clean energy. She has played an integral in TEPRI; conceptualizing and helping to launch TEPRI in 2015 and serving on the Board until 2021. Prior to TEPRI, Margo was Principal at City Lights Group, a strategic consulting firm established in 2011 where she created strategic roadmaps, devised financial models, and conceptualized impact programs for public and private sector clients.

Margo’s background is in the community development finance industry where she was a founder and the Chief Executive at PeopleFund. Under her 15-year leadership, PeopleFund grew to a nationally recognized CDFI and thought leader on economic opportunity for underserved communities. Margo has received extensive recognition for her work, including the Exceptional Executive Leadership Award (ACF); “Profiles in Power” winner (ABJ) Social Entrepreneur of the Year (E&Y); and “Austinite of the Year.” She also served as a German Marshall Fellow.

Steve Wiese, Director of Implementation Services, Frontier Energy
Steve Wiese provides oversight for Frontier’s implementation division and is responsible for client communication, account management, and achievement of energy efficiency, demand response and renewable energy program goals. With over twenty-five years of experience, he brings a strong background in utility program design, implementation, and evaluation. His group currently administers programs serving low-income residents currently administers programs for AEP Texas, CenterPoint Energy, El Paso Electric, Texas-New Mexico Power Company, and Xcel Energy.

Tuesday, September 27

8:30-9 Breakfast Discussion: IRA Updates
Amy Beley, Vice President of Public Private Partnerships, Pearl Certification
Amy has over 15 years of working in residential energy.  Amy’s passion is helping good-quality companies make money doing the right thing. Her expertise spans multiple aspects of the residential energy efficiency industry, with a strong emphasis on how to enhance the contractor experience.  She’s provided training to 100’s of contractors, including many in the Pearl Network.  Ms. Beley has presented at multiple conferences and events across the country and consulted with programs designing contractor account services. She has a BA in Environmental Studies and Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Johns Hopkins University.  She serves on the board of the Building Performance Association.

Rick Counihan, Senior Vice President, AnnDyl Policy Group
Rick has over 25 years of experience helping private sector firms navigate the energy regulatory and legislative environment, including with Fortune 500 firms like Southern California Edison and Google, as well as innovative start-up firms including Green Mountain Energy, EnerNoc and Nest. 

In addition to his business experience, Rick has legislative experience at the state and federal levels including as Staff Director of the Energy Committee in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he authored the second state appliance efficiency law in the U.S., and six years on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s staff in the U.S. House of Representatives as the lead professional staff on the Energy Efficiency title of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Rick also was Vice President at the Electricity Innovation Institute (E2I), a nonprofit research institute affiliated with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to build public/private partnerships to improve the nation’s electricity system. 

9:15 – 10:00 Water Efficiency
Chris Wilcut, Energy Manager, San Antonio Water System
Chris has 11 years of experience and a technical background in building energy and water efficiency. For the first half of his career, Mr. Wilcut worked for energy engineering firms where he specialized in ASHRAE energy auditing and development of ECMs (energy conservation measures). In 2017, Mr. Wilcut transitioned to the public sector and served as both a Senior Energy Analyst and Climate Program Manager for the City of San Antonio. It was in these roles that Mr. Wilcut found his true calling as a big picture, task-oriented project manager focused on implementing projects and programs that save energy and water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   Today, Chris Wilcut is the Energy Manager for San Antonio Water System (SAWS) where he’s served in this role for a little over three years. Mr. Wilcut holds a BS in Natural Resources Management from Texas Tech University and is a Certified Energy Manager through the Association of Energy Engineers.

Matt Jensen, Strategic Energy Management Coach, Cascade Energy
Matt Jensen began his professional career with DuPont and has a deep background in control system design and commissioning. As an elected member of the North Salt Lake city council, Matt heard first-hand the successes the City’s water system enjoyed through a strategic energy management engagement led by Aquafficiency team of Cascade Energy and Hansen, Allen & Luce. Shortly after, he joined Cascade as an SEM coach and engineer focusing on helping water operators reduce their cost of operations through improved efficiency. Matt holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Spanish from the University of Utah.

10:00 – 10:45 SPEER IOU energy efficiency report
Noah Oaks, State & Local Policy Manager, SPEER
As the State & Local Policy Manager for SPEER, Noah tracks and analyzes state legislation and local ordinances in Texas and Oklahoma, develops policy campaigns to educate public officials and stakeholders on the benefits of energy efficiency, and assists SPEER program areas through policy efforts.

Prior to joining SPEER, he was a policy analyst for the Texas Department of Transportation working directly with the Texas Transportation Commission members providing analysis and developing strategy for statewide transportation initiatives. While completing his Master’s of Public Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University Texas at Austin he held a graduate research assistant position with the Center for Transportation Research. During the Texas 85^th Legislative Session he was the legislative intern with the Nature Conservancy Texas Chapter.

11:00-12:00 Advocacy
Kelly Herbert, Managing Director, SPEER
As Managing Director, Kelly heads the SPEER initiatives in collaboration with the SPEER staff and members, to achieve the organizations mission and purpose as the regional leader in education and promotion of energy efficient systems, practices, and distributed energy resources that strengthen local economies, improve health and quality of life, and protect the environment. Kelly was instrumental in the creation of SPEER and has been with the organization since its inception in 2014. She has worked in a variety of roles for SPEER from the Events Coordinator, Local Governments Program manager, Operations Manager to now the Managing Director.

Noah Oaks, State & Local Policy Manager, SPEER
As the State & Local Policy Manager for SPEER, Noah tracks and analyzes state legislation and local ordinances in Texas and Oklahoma, develops policy campaigns to educate public officials and stakeholders on the benefits of energy efficiency, and assists SPEER program areas through policy efforts.

Prior to joining SPEER, he was a policy analyst for the Texas Department of Transportation working directly with the Texas Transportation Commission members providing analysis and developing strategy for statewide transportation initiatives. While completing his Master’s of Public Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University Texas at Austin he held a graduate research assistant position with the Center for Transportation Research. During the Texas 85^th Legislative Session he was the legislative intern with the Nature Conservancy Texas Chapter.

Todd McAlister, Executive Director, SPEER
As Executive Director, Todd heads the SPEER initiatives in collaboration with the SPEER Board of Directors and Members, to achieve the organizations mission and purpose as the regional leader in education and promotion of energy efficient systems, practices, and distributed energy resources that strengthen local economies, improve health and quality of life, and protect the environment. Todd has been with SPEER since June 2019, and prior was the Executive Director of the Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association.

1:00-2:00 Local government action: energy efficiency, resiliency, policy
Greg Arcangeli, AE Utility Strategist, Customer Energy Solutions, Austin Energy Green Building
Gregory Arcangeli, LEED BD+C, WELL AP, is a Utility Strategist at Austin Energy Green Building and co-chair of the Carbon Leadership Forum’s Austin hub. He holds a Master of Architecture and a Master of Science in Architectural Engineering focused on building energy and environments, both from UT Austin. In previous roles, he has served as a building energy modeler and reviewer and as a designer at the firm of Massimiliano Fuksas Architect in Rome and MF Architecture and Kasita in Austin, TX.

Robert Borowski, Sustainability Officer with Capital Metro
Rob Borowski has been immersed in environmental issues for more than 20 years with positions at the Environmental Science Institute, University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and HEB. Rob currently serves as a sustainability officer at Capital Metro.

2:00-3:00 Importance of Performance Contracting & ESCOs
Timothy Unruh, Ph.D., Executive Director of the National Association of Energy Service Companies
Dr. Unruh has been involved in the ESCO industry for 25 years. His background includes working for an ESCO in nearly every role from engineering, project management, performance management as well as business development.  He spent several years with the US Department of Energy overseeing ESCO work for the Federal Government. His current role at NAESCO works to advocate for the ESCO industry.

Dub Taylor, Executive Director, Energy Services Coalition
Dub Taylor provided a career of service to the State of Texas, culminating as the Director of the State Energy Office. In this role, among other duties, Dub oversaw the role and function of ESCOs fulfilling work for state buildings. Dub currently serves as the Executive Director of the Energy Services Coalition where he works to bridge the gap between the ESCO industry and government officials overseeing ESCO work.

John V. Dawson, Ph.D., Consultant
Dr. Dawson has served the public in many ways during his career. His service has focused on all aspects of building management with an eye towards building improvements.  He has worked at the US General Services Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. John oversaw a large multi-stage project at Texas A&M University where he used the services of an ESCO to make campus building improvements.

William “Billy” McCord, Senior Business Development Manager, Ameresco
Billy McCord has worked in the energy services space for 22 years.  He assists clients with the development and implementation of energy infrastructure and renewable energy projects that meet their unique financial, technical, legal and administrative objectives.  Projects are typically designed to modernize and enhance building systems; reduce energy and water consumption; increase utility bill savings; reduce deferred maintenance backlogs, as well as generate on-site energy from traditional or renewable sources. This includes development of customized financial strategies for monetizing energy assets and the turnkey delivery of energy infrastructure projects through various financial vehicles, such as Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC), Public/Private Partnerships (P3) / Energy as a Service (EaaS) Agreements, Design/Build Agreements, and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).