Board of Advisors
Mark Ahlstrom
Mark Ahlstrom
Board president, energy systems integration group, nextera energy resources, utility variable-generation integration group
Mark Ahlstrom is Vice President of Renewable Energy Policy for NextEra Energy Resources and WindLogics, NextEra’s subsidiary known for meteorology, energy analytics and renewable energy integration. NextEra is North America’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. Mark is particularly interested in the integration of variable generation into power systems and electricity markets. He is actively involved at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group (UVIG), and many other activities across North America to support the economic and reliable use of higher levels of clean energy. Mark is currently the President of the UVIG Board of Directors.
Sara Baldwin
Sara Baldwin
DIRECTOR OF ELECTRIFICATION POLICY, ENERGY INNOVATION
Sara is the Director of Electrification Policy for Energy Innovation – a nonpartisan energy and climate policy firm – where she leads efforts to develop and advance policies to enable economy-wide electrification. Sara provides assistance to state and federal U.S. policymakers and other stakeholders on pathways to support the electrification and decarbonization of buildings, vehicles, industry and other sectors of the economy. Prior to joining Energy Innovation, Sara served as Vice President of Regulatory for the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), where she led IREC’s engagement on distributed energy resource regulatory policies in states across the country and supported organizational development, planning and strategy. Sara serves on the Advisory Board of Grid Lab, is the former host of the Grid Geeks podcast and the current host of Energy Innovation’s podcast, Electrify This!.
Sachu Constantine
Sachu Constantine
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VOTE SOLAR
Sachu Constantine is the Executive Director of Vote Solar. From 2017 to 2022, Sachu served as Vote Solar’s Regulatory Managing Director, as well as the organization’s Interim Executive Director in 2021. A leading national expert in the regulatory landscape of the solar industry, he has an impressive track record of successfully guiding strategy and operations for teams of energy experts and advocates. Reporting to the Board of Directors, Sachu leads an accomplished team in setting the direction and strategic roadmap for Vote Solar. As the organization strives to deepen its work on deploying equitable clean energy solutions across the country, he ensures that Vote Solar holds fast to its unique position in the clean energy landscape while pursuing bold new initiatives. With almost three decades of work in the energy and environmental field, Sachu has a track record of success in advancing a just, sustainable world powered by clean energy. His experience, which includes both national and international work, has allowed him to develop a well-rounded perspective on the value of solar energy, particularly in combination with efficiency and electrification. Before joining Vote Solar, Sachu served as the Director of Policy at the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) for five years. There, he was responsible for directing CSE’s policy, regulatory and legislative efforts and building its reputation as a leader in the clean energy arena. He has also held senior positions at SunPower Corporation, the California Public Utilities Commission and the Alliance to Save Energy. In addition to his role at Vote Solar, Sachu serves on the Board of Directors for Code Cycle and as a Public Works Commissioner for Berkeley, California. He has authored numerous research papers and made presentations to legislative and regulatory bodies across the United States. Sachu received a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley. He has spent time living and working in Germany and Hungary and was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, before settling in Berkeley. In his free time, Sachu loves to cook and build slightly off-kilter woodworking projects out of whatever recycled materials he can find.
Mark Dyson
Mark Dyson
PRINCIPAL, ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE
Mark is a principal with the Electricity Practice at Rocky Mountain Institute, where he has worked since 2008 and currently leads RMI research and collaboration efforts around the roles that distributed energy resources can play in grid planning and investment. At RMI, Mark has led cutting-edge research projects on the value that renewable energy, demand flexibility, and storage offer customers and the grid, and has advised clients including large utilities, regulatory commissions, oil majors, and clean-tech companies on distributed energy topics.
Rob Gramlich
Rob Gramlich
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, GRID STRATEGIES LLC
Rob Gramlich is Founder and President of Grid Strategies LLC where he provides economic policy analysis for clients on electric transmission and power markets in pursuit of low-cost de-carbonization. He is co-founder of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, the WATT Coalition, and the Future Power Markets Forum.
Rob oversaw transmission and power market policy for the American Wind Energy Association from 2005 through 2016 as Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs, Interim CEO, and Policy Director. He was Economic Advisor to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III from 2001 to 2005, Senior Economist at PJM Interconnection in 1999 and 2000, Senior Associate at PG&E National Energy Group in 2000-2001, and an analyst at the FERC Office of Economic Policy, ICF Resources, the World Resources Institute, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the 1990s. He testifies frequently before the US Congress, US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), US Department of Energy, and state legislatures and regulatory commissions. He has served on advisory committees for the U.S. Department of Energy and the North American Energy Standards Board, on boards of a number of regional clean energy organizations.
Bryan Hannegan
Bryan Hannegan
PRESIDENT AND CEO, HOLY CROSS ENERGY
Bryan Hannegan is President and CEO of Holy Cross Energy, a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative utility providing electricity and energy products and services to more than 42,000 customers in Western Colorado. Prior to joining Holy Cross in July 2017, Bryan was an Associate Laboratory Director at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he co-founded the US Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative and started up the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), a unique “distribution grid in a box” enabling utilities, entrepreneurs and consumers to work together on cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy systems. Earlier in his career, Bryan held senior leadership roles at the Electric Power Research Institute, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Lorenzo Kristov, PHD
Lorenzo Kristov, PhD
PRINCIPAL, MARKET AND INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY, CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR (CAISO)
Lorenzo develops CAISO policy in the areas of market design, transmission planning, new generator interconnection, and integration of distributed energy resources. During the industry restructuring of the 1990s he worked at the California Energy Commission developing the rules for retail direct access, and before that he was a Fulbright Scholar in Indonesia working on a commercial and regulatory framework for direct foreign investment in power generation.
John Moore
John Moore
DIRECTOR, SUSTAINABLE FERC PROJECT, ENERGY & TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM, NRDC
John Moore focuses on developing a modern, flexible, and efficient high-power electrical grid that will help accelerate renewable and clean energy use. He advocates on behalf of the Sustainable FERC Project and other environmental groups before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and regional transmission organizations. Prior to joining NRDC, Moore was a senior attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, where he coordinated clean transmission initiatives and managed ELPC’s clean energy development program.
Hannah Polikov
Hannah Polikov
MANAGING DIRECTOR AT ADVANCED ENERGY UNITED (AEU)
Hannah Polikov is a Managing Director at Advanced Energy United (AEU), a national association of businesses that are making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. At AEU, Hannah leads public utility commission (PUC) engagement efforts, to date holding over a dozen regional and national forums for PUC commissioners and staff to discuss cutting edge advanced energy issues and best practices. The forums have been co-hosted by the Chairs of 17 state PUCs and attended by commissioners from over three dozen states. Previously, Hannah held senior energy policy roles with the State of Maryland and a member of the U.S. Congress, and practiced law at a large firm. Hannah received her BA and JD with honors from Duke University.
Ronny Sandoval
Ronny Sandoval
MANAGING PRINCIPAL, REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT
Ronny Sandoval is a Managing Principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project. He works with regulators and stakeholders to develop strategies and best practices to increase efficiency of electricity systems and maximize opportunities for a sustainable, affordable energy system. His experience in the electric utility sector includes distribution engineering, DERs, grid modernization, and customer engagement.
Previously, Ronny was business strategy manager at Accenture, regulatory director at Vote Solar, president at ROS Energy Strategies, and senior director of grid modernization at Environmental Defense Fund. He also worked at Con Edison for twelve years as an engineer and senior specialist, performing technical studies, developing long-range system plans, and expanding the role of DERs. Ronny Sandoval currently serves as Vice Chair of the board of directors at Interstate Renewable Energy Council. Ronny holds a B.S. in Mathematics from New York University, a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business.
Vijay Satyal
Vijay Satyal
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, WESTERN RESOURCE MARKETS
Vijay was previously a senior policy advisor at the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), where he advised WECC’s CEO, executive management and staff on energy policy and regulatory issues. Satyal played a critical role in helping WECC’s executive management develop strategic responses and served as a liaison between WECC and western states’ energy offices and utility regulators.
Prior to his time at WECC, he was a senior policy analyst at the Oregon Department of Energy, where he held several responsibilities, including advising the Governor’s Office on renewable energy and emerging grid technologies. He also served as the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s first policy economist, and was a senior consultant at Navigant, where he assisted utilities in developing risk assessments for compliance with North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards.
In addition, for the past 12 years, Vijay has worked as an adjunct professor at Oregon State University’s School of Public Policy, where he teaches graduate level (master and doctorate) classes on renewable and international energy policy.
Lisa Schwartz
Lisa Schwartz
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE ELECTRICITY MARKETS AND POLICY GROUP, LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY
Lisa Schwartz is deputy leader of the Electricity Markets and Policy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She manages the energy efficiency team, utility regulation projects, and training for public utility commissions on distribution systems and planning. Previously, she was director of the Oregon Department of Energy, where earlier in her career she was a senior policy analyst. At the Oregon Public Utility Commission, she led staff work on resource planning and procurement, demand response, and distributed and renewable resources. She also was a senior associate with the Regulatory Assistance Project, providing assistance to government officials on energy issues.
Curtis Seymour
Curtis Seymour
FOUNDER, AC STRATEGIES
Curtis is a co-founder and partner at AC Strategies, where he works with foundation and NGO clients to design and implement clean energy and climate policy strategies in the US. Curtis has nearly two decades of experience in clean energy and climate policy working for industry, government and the nonprofit sector. Prior to co-founding AC Strategies, Curtis was Vice President of Policy at Energy Foundation where he co-developed the States Program and previously led the Renewable Power program. He previously worked in the renewable energy industry, leading state legislative and regulatory affairs for a major renewable energy company, developing innovative partnerships between solar companies and utilities and advising foreign companies on US market strategy. In government, Curtis worked at the California Public Utilities Commission as an advisor and senior analyst to advance key renewable energy policies, which helped kickstart California’s globally recognized solar energy market.