Ric is the founding executive director of GridLab, hired in 2017 to launch the organization. Ric leads the GridLab team of experts providing comprehensive technical grid expertise to policy makers and advocates. A recognized leader in renewable energy technology and policy, Ric has provided engineering support for more than 8 GW of utility scale solar projects worldwide, including several of the largest projects in the world.

Prior to GridLab, Ric was at Black & Veatch for 12 years where he was instrumental in building the global renewable energy consulting practice. While at Black & Veatch, Ric provided expertise to the Energy Foundation China program and had leadership roles on a number of high profile policy studies including 20 percent Wind Energy by 2030, and the California Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative.

Ric has a BSEE from Duke University and a Master’s in Renewable Energy Policy from CU Boulder.

Priya joined GridLab in early 2020 as the program director to help scale up GridLab’s efforts on electricity sector transformation. Drawing from a research and analysis foundation, she has held multiple technical leadership roles, and was most recently at the U.S. Agency for International Development – India for 5 years where she helped launch clean energy and air quality efforts, including India’s seminal Greening the Grid renewables integration study.

Earlier, she was at Energy and Environmental Economics (E3) for 5 years, where she led some of the sector’s early studies on distributed energy resources, deep decarbonization, and air quality impacts; and initiated E3’s India efforts. Prior affiliations include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Integral Group.

Priya has a PhD and MS in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she developed “data science” (Bayesian statistics and optimization) techniques for environmental sensing and energy efficiency diagnostics applications.

Taylor is responsible for GridLab’s communication and project management efforts, as well as operations and administration. Prior to GridLab, Taylor worked at Bright Power Inc., a leading provider of energy management services throughout the U.S. At Bright Power, Taylor supported a team of energy analysts, engineers, and software developers in delivering utility bill analysis to enable energy and water saving measures.

Taylor has a background in a range of clean energy technologies, and a passion for renewable energy development and climate change mitigation.

Taylor graduated from Emory University with a BBA from the Goizueta Business School and a double major in Environmental Sciences.

Kyra is GridLab’s Communications & Development Associate, leading the bulk of GridLab’s communications efforts, as well as operations and administration. She brings three years of experience from her role as a college Sustainability Assistant, where she developed educational materials and organized events to support the college’s carbon-neutrality goals. Prior to GridLab, Kyra interned at the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network where she researched regional philanthropy markets to promote strategic venture philanthropy for climate action. On top of supporting GridLab’s program work and grant reporting, Kyra manages GridLab’s social media and website, keeping both funders and stakeholders informed on GridLab’s activities. 

Kyra graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in Political Science and a double major in Asian Studies.

Casey Baker joins GridLab as a Senior Program Manager. Casey has spent over a decade in the utility industry working in a variety of roles including Transmission Planning, transmission interconnection contract management, Distributed Energy Resource Planning, and solar pv site management. Before joining GridLab, Casey managed the energy supply and microgrid program for Liberty Utilities’ California electric utility. He has extensive experience in the western transmission system and looks forward to helping support the nation’s efforts towards renewable energy development and resiliency.

Casey holds a MBA and BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno