KEYNOTE SESSION

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
3:00 – 5:00 PM
Ballroom E-F-G

Open to ALL registered attendees

Welcome Address
David Wagman
Chief Editor, Power Engineering magazine and
Renewable Energy World North America magazine
Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America Conference Committee Co-Chair

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Mr. Jon Wellinghoff
Chairman
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Jon Wellinghoff was named Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency that oversees wholesale electric transactions and interstate electric transmission and gas transportation in the United States, by President Barack Obama on March 19, 2009. A member of the Commission since 2006, the U.S. Senate reconfirmed him to a full, five-year FERC term in December 2007. Chairman Wellinghoff is an energy law specialist with more than 30 years experience in the field. Before joining FERC, he was in private practice and focused exclusively on client matters related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and distributed generation. While in the private sector, Chairman Wellinghoff represented an array of clients from federal agencies, renewable developers, and large consumers of power to energy efficient product manufacturers and clean energy advocacy organizations. While in private practice, Chairman Wellinghoff was the primary author of the Nevada Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Act. The Nevada RPS is one of the two states to receive an “A” rating by the Union of Concerned Scientists. In addition, he worked with clients to develop renewable portfolio standards in six other states. The Chairman is considered an expert on the state renewable portfolio process and has lectured extensively on the subject in numerous forums including the Vermont Law School.

His experience also includes two terms as the State of Nevada’s first Consumer Advocate for Customers of Public Utilities. While serving in that role, Chairman Wellinghoff represented Nevada’s utility consumers before the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the FERC, and in appeals before the Nevada Supreme Court. While Consumer Advocate, he authored the first comprehensive state utility integrated planning statute. That statute has become a model for utility integrated planning processes across the country. Chairman Wellinghoff’s priorities at FERC include opening wholesale electric markets to renewable resources, providing a platform for participation of demand response and other distributed resources in wholesale electric markets including energy efficiency and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and promoting greater efficiency in our nation’s energy infrastructure through the institution of advanced technologies and system integration. He was instrumental in creating FERC’s Energy Innovations Sector (EIS), which is responsible for investigating and promoting new efficient technologies and practices in the energy sectors under FERC’s jurisdiction. Chairman Wellinghoff is co-chair of the Demand Response Collaborative launched jointly by FERC and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and is a member of NARUC’s Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Electric Efficiency and served as an advisor to the Defense Science Board’s Energy Policy Task Force. He is also on the Executive Leadership Team of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Green Transmission Efficiency Initiative. Chairman Wellinghoff also advises the Energy Foundation and the NRDC on China-U.S. energy policy matters. He recently returned from China where he headed a delegation of U.S. energy regulators.

Roger Duncan
General Manager
Austin Energy

Roger Duncan is the General Manager of Austin Energy, the Municipal Utility for Austin, Texas.  Austin Energy is the 9th largest public power utility in the country with 388,000 customers and serving a population of 880,000. The utility provides low-cost, reliable power and is nationally recognized for some of the most advanced and comprehensive energy efficiency and Green Building programs in the nation.

Roger Duncan has more than two decades of experience in City government including two terms as an Austin City Council Member from 1981 to 1985. He joined the utility in 1998 as Vice President for conservation, renewable and environmental policy. He was appointed Deputy General Manager in 2004. As Deputy General Manager, he managed Strategic Planning, Government Relations, On-site Generation, residential and commercial energy efficiency and Green Building. Prior to joining Austin Energy, Mr. Duncan was the Director of the Environmental Department for the City of Austin.

Roger serves on the Board of Directors of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the Electric Drive Transportation Association, the Public Sustainability Partnership and is on the Board of Trustees for the American Solar Energy Society.   Business Week magazine recognized Mr. Duncan as one of the “Top 20 Individual Carbon Reducers” in the world.

Roger holds a B.A. degree with a major in Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.

Roger enjoys reading, traveling, and going to the movies with his lovely wife.  

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Barry Smitherman (invited)
Chairman
Texas Public Utilities Commission

Martin Gross

Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards
The editors of PennWell’s renewable energy products present the first annual Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards. Categories include:
 
PROJECT of the YEAR
LEADERSHIP in RENEWABLE ENERGY
UTILITY-SCALE RENEWABLES
DISTRIBUTED & ON-SITE RENEWABLES
BUILDING-INTEGRATED RENEWABLES
INNOVATION in RENEWABLE ENERGY
READERS' CHOICE