8:00 am - 9:00 am

Full Conference Networking Breakfast

8:00 am - 3:30 pm

Registration Open

9:00 am - 9:30 am
Room 225 C

A Legislative Chat with Senator Menéndez

Join us for this important conversation with one of our solar champions, Senator José Menéndez . During this intimate conversation, speakers will discuss the upcoming legislative session, engagement opportunities, recommendations and what to keep on your radar.

Moderator

Lynnae Willette, Director, Regulatory & Legislative Affairs, EDF Renewables

Speakers

• State Senator José Menéndez, State of Texas 

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Room 224

Title Insurance: A Risk Solution for Energy Projects
Business Lab | Open to all attendees | Sign-up to attend 

Join AmTrust Title for a Business Lab roundtable discussion about title insurance basics and energy project development. We’ll discuss why title insurance is needed, how to get started, and dive into the differences between residential & commercial title orders compared to energy orders. This is your chance to ask us all the questions you have always been curious about.

Discussion Leader: Travis Warren, Business Development, Energy Division, AmTrust Title

Helpful for project developers, utilities, lenders, and investors

9:35 am - 10:35 am

Crossing the Line: Engaging Non‐traditional Stakeholders in the Clean Energy Transition
Room 225 C

Strategic partnerships play a pivotal role in the clean energy transition, however key opportunities to engage stakeholders from traditional industries such as oil & gas are often overlooked. This session will focus on moving beyond bias and leveraging shared values to increase the adoption of renewable energy and other strategies that accelerate carbon reduction.

Moderator

Mary Palmer, Environmental Program Coordinator, Austin Energy     

Speaker

• Helen Brauner, Vice President, Business Development, Lightsource BP
• Gretchen Dolson, Director of Non‐Hydro, Renewables Practice Group, HDR
• Michael Jewell, Board Member, Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation and Managing Partner, Jewell & Associates 

Case Study: H2@Scale in Texas and Beyond, Establishing an Integrated System of Renewable Hydrogen Supply and Hydrogen End Use Applications
9:35 am - 10:05 am | Room 225 D

Supported by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the H2@Scale project intends to show that renewable hydrogen can enable grid resiliency, align domestic industries, increase competitiveness, and promote job creation.

Speakers

• Kate Strickland, Manager, Utility & Regulatory Strategy, SEPA
• Brian Weeks, P.E. – Senior Director, Business Development, GTI

10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Exhibit Hall Open

10:30 am - 11:30 am
Room 224

How Creating Better Customer Experiences Will Drive Business Growth in 2022
Business Lab | Open to all attendees | Sign-up to attend 

What is Customer Experience (CX), how does it differ from customer service, and how can optimizing it drive growth for your business? Discover how to design a Customer Experience so effective that current customers will turn into your most important source of new leads.

Discussion Leader: Shane Vadner, SDR Director, Get The Referral

Helpful for sales teams, business development, and customer service

10:35 am - 11:00 am

Exhibits and Networking Break

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

How Texas can Unlock the Values of Distributed Energy Resources
Room 225 C

This panel will discuss opportunities and challenges facing the Texas DER market, including customer-site solar, batteries, and electrification. Join expert panelists to discuss high level policy opportunities that can leverage the growing DER market to meet grid and resiliency needs. Discuss the opportunities and challenges at the implementation level as the market grows rapidly. What do utilities, municipalities and policy marketers need to consider today to establish efficient rules of the road for customer-sited DERs?

Moderator

Jeff Cook, Renewable Energy Policy and Market Analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Speaker

• Warren Lasher, President, Lasher Energy Consulting
• Kaiba White, Energy Policy and Outreach Specialist, Public Citizen
• Sterling Clifford, Manager, Government Affairs, Sunnova

Austin Climate Equity Plan Case Study: Leveraging Local Policies to Achieve Carbon-Neutrality
11:00 am - 11:30 am | Room 225 D

Using the Austin Climate Equity Plan as a case study, this session will discuss how local (i.e. city, school district) goals can be used to mobilize and consolidate sustainability goals (esp. in absence of State mandates). This session will focus on the City of Austin Office of Sustainability’s strategies for equitable community engagement, unifying a diversity of stakeholders behind a common vision, and ensuring alignment with other city plans and processes. Attendees will walk away with information about how to go through a stakeholder engagement process, establish metrics, evaluate strategies through a lens of equity, and unify disparate goals.

Speaker:

• Kelsey Hopkins, Content & Programs Manager, SEIA
• Phoebe Romero, Environmental Program Coordinator, Office of Sustainability at City of Austin

Natural Capital Value and Ecosystem Benefits of Solar: Beyond Pollination and Dual-use
11:30 am - 12:00 pm

Well executed ecosystem services bring benefits to the land that hosts solar projects and the surrounding ecosystem. While pollination and dual-use agriculture are an important part of the land use discussion, there are other ecosystem benefits that well-designed solar projects can provide. In this session, attendees will learn about the concepts of the Natural Capital Value of Solar and Ecosystem Service benefits in general, with a particular discussion of soil health and carbon sequestration on solar sites.

Speakers

• Kelsey Hopkins, Content & Programs Manager, SEIA
• Ed Brolin, Director of Market Development, Con Edison
• James Hartsig, Vegetation Manager, Invenergy

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Lunch

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Increasing Access to Clean Energy Through Community Solar & LMI Financing
Room 225 C

Community solar & innovative financing structures have a unique role to play in addressing barriers to accessing clean, reliable, and affordable energy. This session will discuss program and partnership strategies that allow developers to expand the benefits of solar energy to everyone, and specifically, how to bring these types of programs to Texas. This conversation will also address community solar’s role in energy justice as developers have an opportunity to bring access to LMI customers through innovative business models.

Moderator

Leigh Yeatts, Manager, Program Design, SEPA  

Speakers

• Micah Jasuta, Project Manager, Austin Energy
• Jason Pittman, Co-founder and President, Big Sun Community Solar
• Margo Weisz, Interim Executive Director, Texas Energy Poverty Institute

2:05 pm - 3:05 pm

Clean Technology Manufacturing in the Lone Star State
Room 225 C

Investments in clean technology manufacturing have ripple effects across the supply chain, real estate and other markets. Come hear how deployment of renewables in Texas has impacted the upstream and downstream economy.

Moderator

Steffanie Dohn,  Director of State and Regulatory Affairs, SOLV Energy

Speakers

• Paul Mutchler, Director of Commercial Operations; Department of Commerce Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee Member (REEEAC), Mission Solar
• Sam Harper, Director of Energy, Gerdau Steel
• Susan Frockt, Vice President, Strategic Market Development, INXEPTION

Case Study: The Life Cycle of a Texas Wind Farm
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm | Room 225 D

An integral part of the alternative energy landscape in Texas, RWE brings a wealth of experience and expertise to bear through the entire wind project life cycle. A case study will be examined, from development through construction and into operations. Topics will include new technologies, common obstacles and solutions, and siting and community relations opportunities.