Texas Grid Crisis: The Solar + Storage Opportunity

On-Demand Webinar | Free

This webinar was recorded on March 9, 2021.

Join as leading experts in the Texas renewables space discuss how solar and storage performed during the Texas Grid Crisis—and share the bright-hot opportunity set for these grid resources in the Lone Star state and beyond moving forward.

Learning Objectives:

Get an insider’s view on the Texas electricity market and the recent grid crisis
Understand how solar and energy storage performed and their contribution to the grid
Learn how solar and storage can become critical reliability and resiliency resources to firming grids and microgrids in Texas and beyond

Speakers

Karl Rábago

Rábago Energy LLC, Principal, Former Austin Energy Executive and former Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas
Karl R. Rábago operates an energy consultancy as Rábago Energy LLC, based in Denver, Colorado. Karl recently led the Pace Energy and Climate Center, at the Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains, New York, where he also taught energy law. Karl has 30 years of experience in energy and climate policy and markets and is recognized as an innovator in utility regulatory issues relating to clean and distributed energy services and technologies.

Karl serves as Chair of the Board of the Center for Resource Solutions, a San Francisco based non-governmental organization that manages the Green-e Certification program for green power products, and on the Board of Solar United Neighbors.

Rábago has been a Commissioner on the Texas Public Utility Commission; a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Energy; Vice President of Distributed Energy Services at Austin Energy; Director of Regulatory Affairs for the AES Corporation and AES Wind; Managing Director & Principal of the Rocky Mountain Institute; and Energy Program Manager for the Environmental Defense Fund.

Cathy Redson

Business Development Manager, Aggreko, PLC
Cathy Redson has over a decade of commercial, technical, and policy experience in the North American renewable energy industry, with extensive involvement in Texas. She is currently working as a Business Development Manager with Aggreko Microgrid and Storage Solutions designing and installing solar PV, wind, and energy storage systems, as well as renewable + thermal microgrid projects with full islanding capability.

Aggreko is a global provider of temporary power solutions, known for rapid response to emergency power disasters as well as both on- and off-grid large industrial power projects. Aggreko has five large energy storage installations in Texas, including their Austin Texas Operations and Test Center. As the storm loomed, Aggreko worked closely with their clients to be sure the systems were prepared to weather the storm and provide resiliency for the ERCOT grid.

Cathy lives in Austin, and had direct involvement with the Polar Vortex Storm of 2021.

Amy Heart

Senior Director of Public Policy, Sunrun
Amy Heart is the Senior Director of Public Policy with Sunrun. Sunrun is the largest dedicated residential solar + storage company in the United States, and has been offering solar solutions in Texas since 2017. Amy leads Sunrun’s Texas policy efforts as well as leading its regulatory team for the Eastern US. Prior to joining Sunrun in 2014, Amy worked with the City of Milwaukee Office of Sustainability and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. Amy Heart is a graduate of Marquette University Law School. You can find her @theamyheart

Moderator

Peter Kelly-Detwiler

Author of “Energy Switch” and Contributor at Forbes
Peter Kelly-Detwiler has 30 years of experience in the electric energy arena, with much of his career in various areas of competitive power markets. He is a former SVP at Constellation Energy, and established their Demand Response Group and built it to achieve 850 MW of dispatchable capacity, before doubling its size with the acquisition of a competitor in the space. He’s currently a leading consultant in the electric industry, focusing specifically on the rapid pace of transformation in the grid. He provides strategic advice to clients and investors, helping them to navigate the transition of the electric power grid.

Mr. Kelly-Detwiler offers numerous keynotes and workshops on a wide range of topics with a specialty in energy storage. He has also written widely on energy issues for Forbes.com and GE, with over 300 articles to his credit. His book on the transformation of electric power markets – “The Energy Switch” – will be published by Prometheus Books in June of 2021.