V2G Conference Speakers
CCE is bringing together a group of highly respected experts who will speak, lead discussions, and contribute to the key deliverables to be produced: recommendations for the California Public Utilities Commission.
Additional speakers will be added to this page as their participation is confirmed.
Conference Organizer and Facilitator: Dr. Jose Torre-Bueno
Dr. Jose Torre-Bueno is a founder and the Executive Director of the Center for Community Energy. He is a green technology scientist and environmental advocate.
An expert in battery technology, photovoltaic systems, utility rates, and modeling energy demand, Torre-Bueno has become a contributor to the development of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs, and has been meeting with local governments to educate and encourage them to develop CCAs.
With over a decade of working in green technology, Torre-Bueno has extensive expertise in designing, optimizing, and building photovoltaic/battery combined systems. He has been awarded 34 patents for his inventions, and has a pending patent on using advanced mathematics to optimize the energy improvements to a building.
Torre-Bueno has decades of experience in presenting complex technical information to audiences with all levels of expertise, and has been a driver in groundbreaking product development for green technology and the biotech industries. He received his Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University.
Contact at The Center for Community Energy: jose.torrebueno@cc-energy.org
Speaker: Gustavo Vianna Cezar, Staff Engineer, SLAC/GISMo
Discussion Topic: Modeling and Assessment of EV Impacts in the Electric grid
Gustavo Cezar is a staff engineer at the Grid Integration Systems and Mobility (GISMo) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and also a PhD candidate at Stanford University. He is currently leading projects looking into minimize the impacts of electric vehicles into the grid, integration of grid edge resources, and assessing grid stability using cloud computing. He focuses on bridging the gap between hardware and software and taking academic research into real wdorld experiments. He oversees the GISMo lab and leads the team that developed the state-of-the-art Bits and Watts Lab at Stanford University.
Contact at Grid Integration Systems: gcezar@stanford.edu
Speaker: Bjoern Christensen, Managing Director, next-dimension
Discussion Topic: CA 2030 – What Role Will V2G Play?
Bjoern Christensen is the Managing Director of the consultancy company next-dimension, focusing on V2G, E-Mobility and CO2 reduction. He has been at the forefront of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-Grid-Integration (VGI) over the last 10 years, being one of the world’s key drivers of industry-defining projects and actual V2G commercial deployments serving as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Nuvve, the world leader in V2G solutions.
Christensen has been involved in eleven industry-leading V2G and smart-grid projects and initiatives since 2011. He has gained unique insight, experience and knowledge of what works, what doesn’t work and where the V2G transformation is heading.
Before Nuvve, Christensen had a long carrier with Siemens where he was the co-founder of Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) and served as President and CEO of SVC with worldwide responsibility for corporate venture investments in innovative startups.
Christensen holds a Master of Science degree from the Technical University of Denmark and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Contact at next-dimension: bjoern@nextdimen.com
Speaker: Jeffery Greenblatt, Ph.D., CEO and Chief Scientist, Emerging Futures, Inc.
Discussion Topic: “Using Grid-connected Vehicles to Reshape Electric Loads: Simulation Studies of California, the Midwest, and the Continental U.S.“
Jeffery Greenblatt (Ph.D. Chemistry, UC Berkeley) is a well-known expert in the fields of energy analysis, climate policy and sustainable transportation. After more than eight years as a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he left in 2018 to work full-time at Emerging Futures, Inc., a technology analysis consultancy he founded in 2016.
Jeffery’s professional research focus is broad, covering greenhouse gas reduction strategies across multiple sectors and timescales, including emerging technologies. A current focus is on electric vehicles and their interactions with electric grids. He has published several high-profile research studies on this and related topics, including in Nature Climate Change, Annual Reviews, Environmental Research Letters, and Energy Policy. Jeff previously worked at Google, Environmental Defense Fund, Princeton University, and NASA Ames Research Center. After 20+ years in California, he now lives in Portland, OR.
Contact info: (510) 693-6452, jeff@emerging-futures.com, Twitter: @energygeek
Speaker: Dr. Jerry Jackson, Smart Grid Research Consortium (SGR)
Discussion Topic: “An Empirical Analysis of a V2G Load Management Potential For a California Utility Using Utility Customer Load and Commuting Data”
Dr. Jerry Jackson is the leader and research director of the Smart Grid Research Consortium and president of the consulting firm, Jackson Associates. He is an energy economist with a specialty in modeling and assessing new energy technologies. He has assisted US, Japanese and European companies in analyzing and evaluating markets for fuel cells, microturbines, combined heat and power, cool storage, solar technologies, flywheels, energy-efficiency/demand response technologies and programs and a variety of smart grid technologies.
Jackson has also held positions of Signature Professor at Texas A&M University and Chief of the Applied Research Division at Georgia Tech Research Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Florida.
Contact at Smart Grid Research Consortium (SGRC): jjackson@smartgridresearchconsortium.org
37 N Orange Ave, Suite 500, Orlando, FL 32801 Phone: 407-926-4048 979-204-7821(cell)
Speaker: Timothy Lipman, Ph.D.
Discussion Topic: “Grid Integration of Electric Vehicles in California including Vehicle-to-Grid Power”
Timothy Lipman, Ph.D., is an energy and environmental technology, economics, and policy researcher with the University of California – Berkeley. He is currently serving as Co-Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), based at the Institute of Transportation Studies. He is also a Research Affiliate with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Dr. Lipman’s research focuses on electric vehicles, fuel cell technology, combined heat and power systems, renewable energy, and electricity and hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure. He completed a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Policy Analysis with the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis (1999) and also holds an MS degree from UC Davis in Transportation Technology and Policy (1998) and a BA degree from Stanford University (1990). He is a member of the Transportation Energy Committee of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science and Engineering, a member of the Advisory Committee for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and on the editorial boards of Transportation Research-D, Fuels, and the International Journal of Sustainable Engineering.
Dr. Lipman has led many research efforts at UC Berkeley and LBNL over the past 20 years, including those related to electric vehicle technologies, energy and transportation policy, hydrogen and fuel cells, energy market transformation, distributed power generation, and household travel behavior. Funding agencies and clients have included the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the California Energy Commission, the California Air Resources Board, the California Department of Transportation, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaboration, and various automakers and other private sector groups. His work focuses on the ability of emerging and transformative transportation and energy technologies to create new economic opportunities, provide for better and more equitable mobility and energy services for all economic sectors, and improve environmental and human health.
Contact at the University of California – Berkeley: 510-642-4501
Speaker: Marc Monbouquette, Enel X
Discussion Topic: The California Policy Landscape for V2G and Vehicle-grid integration.
Monbouquette is Regulatory Affairs Manager for Enel North America, Marc Monbouquette leads the company’s policy engagements in California and the West. These pertain to Enel’s diverse business lines and technology offerings, including demand response, behind-the-meter solar + storage, EV charging solutions, utility-scale renewable energy, and green hydrogen.
Prior to joining Enel, Monbouquette spent more than five years as an analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). In this role, he managed the policymaking process for several California policy initiatives focused on integrating DERs into utility distribution planning and grid operations, including distribution resource planning, smart inverter standards development, and interconnection reform. Marc holds a Master’s Degree in Energy Policy and Economics from Duke University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from Carleton College, and is a certified LEED Green Associate.
Contact at Enel X : Marc.Monbouquette@Enel.com
Speaker: Dr. Pierre-Oliver Pineau, HEC Montréal
Discussion Topic: “Profitability of V2G Under Current Tariffs and Peak Shaving Potential”
Dr. Pierre-Oliver Pineau is a professor at the Department of Decision Sciences of HEC Montréal and has held the Chair in Energy Sector Management since December 2013. He is an energy policy and management specialist, with a focus on electricity reforms. He has published many papers on the energy sector, most of them exploring the links between energy and some aspects of sustainable development. He participates regularly in the public debate on energy and has authored many reports for the Canadian government and other public organizations.
Dr. Pineau is a researcher and Fellow at the Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO). Before joining HEC Montreal, he was an associate professor at the School of Public Administration, University of Victoria (2001-2006). Pineau has a Ph.D. from HEC Montreal.
Contact at HEC Montréal: pierre-olivier.pineau@hec.ca
Speaker: John Sarter, Off the Grid Design
Discussion Topic: “The Silver Bullet” – Achieving Deep Decarbonization and Resilience through V2X Technologies
John Sarter is an innovator and entrepreneur in the converging fields of real estate, renewable energy, and EV transportation. The goal of his team of partners and colleagues is carbon neutrality and greenhouse gas (GHG) elimination within those three sectors. Since 1986, Sarter has owned and operated his California-based design and development firms, Sarter Construction & Design, Off The Grid Design, and US DOE award-winning Sol Lux Alpha in California since 1986. With Off the Grid Design, Sarter is leading the industry in the integration and development of carbon neutral living and transportation systems.
Sarter founded the Microgrid Development Group SF Bay Area in 2014 and currently consults with industry and policy leaders in the area of Zero Carbon community development. Sarter and colleagues are currently planning and developing renewable energy and storage projects in California and nationally, creating resilience and GHG reductions through the development of nanogrids, microgrids, and community microgrids.
Sarter brings project development expertise to the Climate Center’s Advanced Community Energy (ACE) Core team, and is on the Board of Directors for SmartBlock Communities. Sarter completed sustainable design and entrepreneurship studies at Santa Rosa J.C., Sonoma State University, and Stanford University.
Contact at Off The Grid Design: John.Sarter@offthegriddesign.org
Speaker: Scott Shepard, Analyst, Guidehouse Insights
Discussion Topic: “Optimizing EV Load Profiles to Benefit the Grid”
Scott Shepard covers emerging clean-technologies in transportation. In this role, he produces market forecasts, competitive landscape assessments, and technology overviews, and provides strategic consulting to technology vendors, investors, and stakeholders in relevant sectors. He has been an Analyst with Guidehouse Insights for nine years.
Contact at Guidehouse Insights: Scott.Shepard@guidehouse.com
Speaker: Marc Trahand, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Nuvve
Discussion Topic: “Nuvve’s V2G Operations and Grid Applications”
Contact at Nuvve: 858.250.9740