The no-cost virtual Federal Utility Partnership Working Group (FUPWG) Seminar was held May 3-4, 2022 – 11am-4pm EDT. FUPWG provides a venue for information exchange and training that fosters effective partnerships between federal agencies and their serving utilities to develop solutions which leverage private sector investment in federal facility infrastructure to improve energy and water efficiency and support federal building decarbonization. All were invited to attend this virtual event.
FUPWG Seminar highlights include:
- Federal Energy Management Program, U.S. Department of Energy, and Council on Environmental Quality Updates
- New Federal Energy Goals and Requirements
- Federal Agency and Department of Defense Updates
- Utility Industry Perspectives, Priorities, and Other Updates
- Fort Bragg Case Study: Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) Project with Floating Photovoltaic
- UESC Best Practices and Success Stories
- Roadmap to Implementing Climate and Resilience Goals: Federal Agency Solutions
- Transacting for 24/7 Carbon Free Energy
- Electric ECM Opportunities
- UESC Overview Training
- Energy Lawyers and Contracting Officers Forum (ELCOF) (federal employees only – separate registration required)
Agenda and Presentations
Continuing Education Units
There is an opportunity to acquire continuing education units (CEUs) for your attendance at any of the five designated continuing education sessions at FUPWG. Select from the sessions below to take the assessment and obtain your CEUs.
Day 1: May 3, 2022
| Title | Time | CEU |
| Session 1: What's New in the Industry | 11:30 AM–1:00 PM | 0.2 |
| Session 2: Best Practices and Resources | 1:15 PM–3:00 PM | 0.2 |
| Session 3: UESC Overview Part 1 | 3:05 PM–3:55 PM | 0.2 |
Day 2: May 4, 2022
| Title | Time | CEU |
| Session 4: New Federal Energy Goals and How We Get There | 11:10 AM-3:00 PM | 0.4 |
| Session 5: UESC Overview Part 2 | 3:05 PM-3:50 PM | 0.2 |
Please, note that CEUs easily convert to other continuing education learning units.
.1 CEUs = 1 CLP = 1 LU = 1 CE = 1PDH
Energy Lawyers and Contracting Officers Forum (federal employees only)
Wednesday, May 4 – 9-10:30am EDT
The ELCOF is a venue to share information related to specific topics of interest for lawyers and contracting officers. For the spring 2022 meeting, ELCOF will be closed to federal attendees only. Topics will include interconnection and 179D commercial buildings energy efficiency tax deduction in addition to a facilitated discussion of topics brought up by attendees.
Speaker Biographies
Ebony Atkinson
General Services Administration
Ebony Atkinson is the GSA Public Utility Services Branch Chief and Contracting Officer for the GSA Natural Gas Acquisition Program and Areawide Contracting Program. Mrs. Atkinson's work involves providing client agencies with natural gas supply, access, and ease of ordering; managing utility services under the areawide program (i.e., electricity, natural gas, water, wastewater and steam); and providing access to unique energy procurement and contracting expertise. Over the past 13 years, she has led and supported energy and acquisition programs while providing contract management and technical support to government clients. Ebony received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree in English Art and Education from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Bonnie Bueter
General Services Administration
Bonnie joined GSA in 2022 from the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Prisons, where she had worked as a Contracting Officer since May 2009. Bonnie has twelve years of contracting officer and oversight experience, performing a full range of highly complex pre-award and post-award activities such as settling pre-litigation claim disputes/controversies; serving as the subject matter expert to the Bureau of Prisons' executive team regarding federal procurement law, claim disputes, and complex contract issues; and investigating and advising on a complex contractor fraud case leading to savings of over $100 million. Bonnie has also participated in the Court of Federal Claims, General Accounting Office, as well as state court actions.
Bonnie is a licensed attorney with a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law, Fayetteville, AR, and a Bachelor of Arts from Hendrix College, Conway, AR.
Sharon Conger
General Services Administration
Sharon Conger has worked for GSA's Public Buildings Service (PBS) since 1989. Sharon began in the PBS as a Realty Contracting Officer. Sharon spent 7 years as a Business Center Manager providing oversight of daily operations in the state of Colorado. Sharon's GSA experience encompasses a wide range of GSA activities, including property management, acquisition/contracting, asset management, real estate acquisition, project management, and financial management. In 2012, Sharon moved into her current role as the National Program Manager for energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) in GSA's Central Office Facilities Management Division and has overseen over $750 million of ESPCs since that time, largely through the National Deep Energy Retrofit Program. Sharon graduated from Colorado State University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Psychology.
Russ Dominy
Boston Government Services
Russ Dominy is an experienced acquisition professional, having served as the former acquisition director/chief of contracts office at NAVFAC Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center. Russ was the department head responsible for overall management of 50 employees, including 40 contracting personnel. Russ also has held positions as the supervisory contracting officer, procurement contracting officer (PCO), administrative contracting officer, contract specialist, acquisition manager, and contracting officer representative. Russ served as the PCO and source selection authority for all large contract actions, including over $1 billion in ESPC contracts. Russ was responsible for Command Government Commercial purchase card consisting of more than $2 million in transactions annually.
Denise Funkhouser
General Services Administration
Denise Funkhouser is Director of the Energy Division at the General Services Administration, which has an inventory of over 371 million square feet in over 8,800 assets. She is responsible for energy management, energy procurement, and performance contracting in GSA's portfolio. Her focus is on maximizing energy efficiency, energy savings performance contracts, analytics, energy procurement strategies, and leading the agency to reach the carbon pollution-free electricity goals in EO 14057. Prior to her role at GSA, she was responsible for managing the U.S. Secret Service facilities world-wide. She was also the Chief of Buildings Management and the National Telecommunications Manager for the Immigration and Naturalization Service at Headquarters and their Central Regional Director of Facilities and Engineering. Prior to government, she worked as a space planner for architectural/engineering firms and led space management at a commercial developer. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of General Administration from the University of Maryland.
Jeff Gingrich
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Jeff Gingrich manages program and training development for the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Utility Team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He is an advisor in supporting development of utility energy service contract (UESC) projects and develops resources and curriculum for the internationally accredited UESC training courses for federal agencies and regulated utilities.
Pam Griffith
DLA Energy
Pam Griffith is currently assigned as the Director for Installation Energy, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy, Fort Belvoir, VA. In this capacity, she provides centralized oversight and management of more than $5 billion in natural gas, electricity, coal, renewable energy, energy performance and utility service contracts supporting the installation energy needs of over 200 Department of Defense (DOD) and federal civilian customers across the U.S. and overseas. Ms. Griffith began her career with DLA Energy in 1989 and has held various positions throughout the organization. She is Level III certified in contracting under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act and is a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in Management and a master's of Business Administration.
Alex Hofmann
American Public Power Association
Alex Hofmann is the Vice President of Technical and Operations Services at the American Public Power Association (APPA).
Alex sits as a Principal member of the National Electric Safety Code Main Committee, was named one of industry's top 40 innovators by Public Utilities Fortnightly in 2017, and developed and piloted the Light Up Navajo project with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. He has been awarded three utility operations-related patents. He also sits on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Task Force on Emergency Preparedness, Recovery and Resiliency.
He oversees the safety, security, resiliency, energy services, reliability, and R&D portions of APPA member services. This includes programs like the Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo, mutual-aid, cybersecurity services, operations benchmarking, designation, and analytical services.
Alex assists the association and its members with technical advocacy before the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Office of Management and Budget, and other governmental and industry forums.
Before joining APPA, Alex worked to develop electric infrastructure models, distributed energy projects, and LEED certified electric systems. He earned his Master's in Public Administration from Columbia University in the City of New York, and his B.S. degree from the California State University of Monterey Bay.
Catherine Johnson
Department of Veterans Affairs
Catherine Johnson has over 30 years of experience with government environmental, fleet, and energy programs. She currently works on the Performance Contracting Team for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), overseeing development and implementation of VA's alternatively financed energy projects. She is the primary liaison for performance contracting in Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) 7, 8, 9, 12, and 16. Catherine earned a BS in chemical engineering and a MS in engineering management from the University of Maryland.
Matt Joyner
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Matt works as a project manager in NREL's Project Development & Finance Group within the Accelerated Deployment & Decision Support Center. His work is primarily focused on supporting the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) in performance contracting and distributed energy procurement. Prior to joining NREL, Matt was an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and worked as a construction project manager with NORESCO. He has experience overseeing and managing projects that include building management system and HVAC control upgrades, LED lighting retrofits, boiler and chiller installations, and combined heat & power plant build outs.
Lauren Khair
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Lauren Khair is a Director in NRECA's Business and Technology Strategies department. Prior to NRECA, she worked for the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA), where she developed and led the quality assurance process for the three major electricity surveys. At NRECA, she currently leads the Department of Defense engagement initiative. Lauren manages research projects totaling more than $8 million, primarily focused on military energy. A native of Northern Virginia, Lauren earned her B.A. from James Madison University and a Master's in Public Policy from George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government.
Steve Kiesner
Edison Electric Institute
Steve Kiesner is Senior Director of National Customer Solutions for the Edison Electric Institute. At EEI, Steve runs its National Key Accounts Program, which works to enhance opportunities and the overall business environment between EEI members and their large, multi-site national customers, including large chains, the Department of Defense, and technology companies. The program also serves as a clearinghouse of information about the industry to national customers. Under Steve's leadership, EEI serves as the platform for its members and multi-site national customers to engage one other: conduct business, develop mutually beneficial business models and approaches, and discuss important policy issues. Steve is also responsible for federal government and Department of Defense customer issues, including energy resiliency, federal contracting, and efficiency.
Seth Kirshenberg
Kutak Rock
Mr. Kirshenberg advises clients in the acquisition, selling, leasing and development of domestic and international energy and public-private partnership transactions. He works on all phases of projects including financing, development, operations, legislative authority development, federal agency policy, procurement and budgetary scoring, and other issues. He has closed over $16 billion of such transactions representing federal agencies, state and local governments, green banks, lenders, investors and developers.
In the energy arena, specific projects include ESPC/UESC, smart-grid, battery storage, smart-house demonstrations, photovoltaic (PV), low-flow turbine generation, wind, SMR projects, co- and tri-generation projects, and transmission lines. Further, he has worked on the securitization of pools of energy production and energy savings contracts for lenders, investors, state green banks and developers. He has written several books for U.S. DOE on federal agency projects.
Sandy Kline
Department of Navy
Ms. Sandy Kline is the Department of Navy's first Director for Installation Resilience and currently serving Ms. Berger, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment. Her responsibilities include policy development and program oversight for installation resilience to include energy, water, control system cybersecurity and climate resilience. Her extensive Navy background as an integrator and innovator uniquely qualify her for the challenges of the position. She previously served as the Deputy Director for the Department of Navy's $3.6 billion Military Construction Program and Chief Information Officer at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. She was the Director for e-Business and Acquisition Systems at Naval Sea Systems Command and a Logistician and Program Manager for S-3 and F-14 aircraft programs at the Naval Supply Systems Command.
Andrew Mayock
White House Council on Environmental Quality
As the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Andrew Mayock leads President Biden's efforts to improve the sustainability of the Federal government, including by helping Federal agencies prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change on their operations and services.
Andrew brings over 25 years of public and private sector experience to the Biden Administration, including service in the Obama and Clinton Administrations. In the Obama Administration, Andrew served as Deputy Director for Management and Associate Director for General Government Programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At OMB, he led OMB's management offices and the President's Management Council with a focus on digital services, cybersecurity, acquisitions, financial management, personnel and performance management. As Associate Director for General Government Programs, he oversaw policy and budget for six cabinet agencies comprising $225 billion of the President's budget and covering over one million federal employees.
Prior to his OMB roles, Andrew served as the Deputy Vice President for Compact Operations for East and Southern Africa at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He served as Executive Secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2009-2010.
In the Clinton Administration from 1995-2000, Andrew worked at the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. Andrew was a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2003-2009 and McKinsey & Company from 2017-2020, where he focused on public sector programs.
During 2019–2020, Andrew served on the steering committee of the Climate 21 Project, which delivered advice for a coordinated, rapid-start, whole-of-government climate response.
Andrew received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, law degree from The George Washington University Law School, and a master in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He and his wife have two children and reside in Washington, D.C.
Michael F. McGhee
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Michael F. McGhee is the Executive Director for Climate Resilience in the Office of the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience, and a member of the Senior Executive Service. His responsibilities include overseeing policies and programs to ensure climate, installation, and energy resilience and sustainable operations for DoD installations. He holds a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy, a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Arts in Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. McGhee has worked in an executive leadership capacity in the U.S. Department of Defense for 8 years with experience in energy and environmental strategy and policy, resilient and renewable energy project development, congressional affairs, and construction management, and most recently served in the Council on Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President. He is a former Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives and a licensed Professional Engineer.
Crystall Merlino
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Crystall Merlino is currently the Director for Resilience, Energy, & Sustainability at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the Director of this program, she is responsible for implementing policy and guidance for the Department and led the development of the DHS Climate Action Plan, submitted and approved by the White House in September 2020. Over the past 20 years she has led and supported large-scale government, sustainability, energy, and environmental programs and projects providing leadership, mentorship, contract management, research, and technical support to government and private clients. Crystall is a LEEP Green Associate, US Green Building Council, and sat on the board as president (2002) and secretary (2000). She was one of the original founding board members for the Building Commissioning Association, and participates in the Women's Council on Energy and Environment (WCEE). She is very active in her local government, serving as one of the Eco-City Ambassadors.
Rick Murphy
American Gas Association
Mr. Murphy works with AGA's member companies to explore and advance new business models and leadership strategies for natural gas utilities to deploy in an evolving energy economy. Mr. Murphy also serves as the Executive Director for the American Gas Foundation that funds independent, critical research that can be used to help formulate fact-based energy policies.
Prior to his current role at AGA, Mr. Murphy was Senior Vice President of Energy Solutions Services for National Grid, a natural gas and electric utility serving the northeast United States.
Mr. Murphy earned his MBA degree from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts - Lowell.
John Myhre
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
John works for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, providing training, technical analysis, and support for FEMP in the areas of performance contracting and distributed energy procurement. Prior to joining NREL, John served as a construction manager and public works operations manager in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps and as a mechanical engineer for the General Services Administration's Region 9 in San Francisco.
Tracy Niro
Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program
Tracy Niro is the Utility Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). Tracy chairs FEMP's Federal Utility Partnership Working Group (FUPWG) and is a recognized expert in federal energy procurement, alternatively financed projects, performance contracts, and federal energy policy. Tracy began her career in energy as a Staff Accountant at an investor-owned utility. Tracy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Brian Oakley
JLL
Mr. Oakley is a registered Municipal Advisor Principal and has advised on a wide variety of energy and transportation infrastructure transactions, many of which employed innovative financing and delivery approaches. Mr. Oakley is recognized as an expert in assisting Federal agencies, state and local governments, and corporations with project development, financing, and credit analyses. Over the course of his career, Mr. Oakley has advised on over $50 billion in energy and infrastructure projects and possesses in-depth knowledge of the credit criteria utilized by rating agencies and lenders for public private partnership financings. Mr. Oakley has also served as an advisor to bond trustees and lenders in assessing options for troubled infrastructure projects in bankruptcy. Before joining JLL via acquisition in 2018, Mr. Oakley was a Principal at Scully Capital Services, Inc. for over 23 years, where he led the firm's lender due diligence and public private partnership advisory practice.
Audrey Oxendine
U.S. Army Garrison Fort Bragg
Audrey Oxendine is the Chief of Energy and Utilities at U.S. Army Garrison Fort Bragg. She graduated NC State University in 1994 with a degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. Her career includes work in nutrient management planning for animal waste, design and construction of water and wastewater systems, and environmental compliance. In her current position, she manages a budget of over $100 million to pay utility bills, ensure utility maintenance, and to develop energy resilience and energy conservation projects.
Shanti Pless
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Shanti Pless joined the Commercial Building Research Group at NREL in 1999 with a focus on applied research and design processes for commercial building energy efficiency and building integrated renewable energy. This work has included facilitating numerous integrated design processes and energy modeling teams needed to realize cost-effective zero-energy commercial buildings.
Skye Schell
Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program
Schuyler Schell supervises project procurement and distributed generation services at the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), within the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the Department of Energy, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Schell leads the FEMP program relating to DOE ESPCs, UESCs, distributed energy project and procurement support, utility contract oversight, and other initiatives.
Before coming to the DOE in 2001, Mr. Schell served in a variety of capacities at a leading housing finance government sponsored enterprise in McLean, VA. These roles included: Director of Sales and Integration, Director of Structured Transactions, and Director of Marketing Strategy and Planning. Earlier in his career, Mr. Schell was Vice President for Secondary Marketing and Product Development for a Dallas based mortgage company and was an economist and the Director of Government Agency Relations for a trade association in Washington. He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the State University of New York at Albany, and a Master of Planning degree from the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.
Jennifer Shaltanis
Duke Energy
Jennifer Shaltanis has 14 years of experience in energy and environmental engineering, policy and management in public and private sectors. She has B.S. and Ph.D. degrees, and PMP, CEM, and ISO auditing certifications. Jennifer began her professional career in environmental engineering. She transitioned to energy/environmental sustainability in the federal sector, developing third party and other energy programs at agency headquarters. Jennifer eventually transitioned from public service to Duke Energy, where she serves as the Program Manager on the utility's federal team. Jennifer leads or assists in all aspects of UESC and related project development and execution for customers in Duke's seven-state territory. With more than $300 million in active project execution, Jennifer enjoys seeing the talent of her teams come to fruition and the genuine, strong partnerships the Duke team has with its customers.
Carolyn Snyder
Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Dr. Carolyn Snyder is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In this role, she leads a diverse energy efficiency program and R&D portfolio that includes advanced manufacturing, building technologies, federal energy management, low-income weatherization, and intergovernmental partnerships.
Previously, Dr. Snyder served as the Director of U.S. EPA's Climate Protection Partnerships Division. She led voluntary partnerships with thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations to remove market barriers for energy efficiency and renewable energy and accelerate emissions reductions. She oversaw the ENERGY STAR program, the Green Power Partnership, the Combined Heat and Power Partnership, the Center for Corporate Climate Leadership, and the State and Local Climate and Energy program.
Prior to EPA, Dr. Snyder supported both public and private clients on strategic management and environmental projects at McKinsey & Company. She served as a White House Fellow in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), working on cross-agency policy and management initiatives for the OMB Director. She also was the Director of Delaware's Division of Energy and Climate, where she created and led the new division and managed a wide range of energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate policy, and low-income weatherization programs. She earned a Ph.D. in Environment and Resources from Stanford University, Masters Degrees as a Marshall Scholar from Oxford and Cambridge, and a B.A. from Amherst College. Her scientific research has been published in Nature, Paleoceanography, and Climatic Change.
Mary Sotos
Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program
Mary Sotos is the Director of the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). She leads a team dedicated to helping federal agencies achieve sustainable facilities and fleets by assisting with federal-wide data collection and aggregation, developing reporting tools and technical assistance, and offering training and project funding.
Sotos previously served as a senior policy advisor with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, where she launched a revamped "Lead By Example" program to create new strategies to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water use across all state agencies. She also served as the agency's deputy commissioner for energy, directing the state's energy policies and programs. Sotos also worked at the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Program at the World Resources Institute, an international think tank, where she developed new global carbon accounting standards and tools used by thousands of organizations worldwide. Additionally, she partnered with corporate leaders to develop and advance new renewable energy strategies, tools, and policies to decarbonize the grid.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Brussels, Belgium.
Reid Spolek
Reid Spolek is Senior Energy Lead at Google, working to power Google's global data centers with around-the-clock carbon-free energy. Previously he led the renewable energy strategy for Amazon Web Services' data centers.
Reid previously worked in consulting, private equity, and non-profit strategy. He has a bachelors degree from Northwestern University and a masters in business administration from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Krista Stehn
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Krista Stehn is the Director for Installation Energy Resilience in the Office of the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment & Energy Resilience. In this position, she provides policy and governance for programs and activities that enable installations and energy infrastructure to be more resilient, sustainable, and cyber-secure. Her responsibilities include policy, program, and budgetary support to ensure installation energy resilience for DoD installations. Ms. Stehn has several years of experience within the U.S. Department of Defense supporting installation energy resilience, installation energy strategy and policy, and resilient, renewable, and energy efficiency project development. Ms. Stehn holds a Master of Public Administration from Troy University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech Communications and Political Science from the University of Washington. Ms. Stehn is also a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executive Fellows program.
J.E. "Jack" Surash
Department of the Army
Mr. Jack Surash was selected to the Senior Executive Service in 2005. He was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability in February 2021, having served in that role in an acting capacity since September 2016. In this position he is responsible for overall program direction, establishment of policies, development and refinement of strategies, and oversight for implementation of all programs and initiatives related to energy security and sustainability within the Army. As the Army's Senior Energy Executive, Mr. Surash coordinates and integrates installation (traditional as well as expeditionary) and operational energy programs and strategies. Previously he served as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) (IE&E) from January 20, 2021 to October 3, 2021 and as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (IE&E) from October 4, 2021 to April 4, 2022.
Mr. Surash came to the Pentagon from the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM), where he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Project Management. In that position, he led efforts for EM's annual $6 billion portfolio, served as EM's Head of Contracting Activity, oversaw procurement planning, contract management, and provided project management support. Prior to that role, he was Director of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Infrastructure and Facilities Management.
Stetson Tchividjian
D3 Energy
Stetson Tchividjian is the Director of Business Development for D3Energy, a solar developer that focuses exclusively on floating solar. D3Energy is a market leader in floating solar, having built and developed the most such systems in the United States, including projects for the U.S. Army, Comcast, Duke Energy, Miami-Dade County and Florida Power & Light.
Douglas K. Tucker
Department of the Air Force
Douglas K. Tucker is the Director, Installation Energy Policy and Programs, assigned to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Environment, Safety, & Infrastructure. His responsibilities include assisting and advising DASecAF in the development and oversight of installation energy policies addressing mission assurance through energy assurance. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas' College of Engineering (BSME), the Air Force Institute of Technology's School of Systems and Logistics (MSEngMgt), and Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business (MBA). He served for 30 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Tucker's service included command tours at the squadron, group, and air base wing level; a joint staff officer tour with U.S. Forces Japan; a political-military affairs tour with the U.S. Department of State; and a National Security Fellowship with Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has experience in facilities energy management, district heat network and heat plant modernization program development, alternative fuels, capital improvement project business case development, facilities and infrastructure investment strategy development, legislative affairs, program and project management, and installation operations and maintenance activities.
Otto Van Geet
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Otto Van Geet is a Principal Engineer at NREL. Van Geet has been involved in the design, construction, and operation of energy-efficient research facilities such as laboratories and data centers, office and general use facilities, and low-energy-use campus and community design. Van Geet was one of the founding members of the Labs21 (Smart Labs) program and provides technical guidance for the program. His experience also includes renewables screening and assessment, PV system design for on- and off-grid applications, energy audits, and minimizing energy use. Van Geet has authored many technical reports and conference papers and been recognized with many awards from professional associations, including the 2007 Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management.
He lives with his family in a zero electrical energy off-grid passive solar house with a 2 kW PV/hybrid power system and solar water heating that he designed and built 25 years ago.
Deb Vásquez
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Deb Vasquez works for DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. As the technical lead for the FEMP Utility Program team, Deb has over 20 years of experience building and delivering UESC related training, resources, and technical assistance to federal agencies and utilities developing UESC projects. Deb is a professional mechanical engineer and previously worked for the Federal Aviation Administration as a regional energy manager, facilities engineer, and mechanical engineer for design and construction.