UCS experts will present findings from their Data Center Power Play analysis, which explores how data center electricity demand can impact our electric grid through different policy scenarios. Studying states in the Midwest specifically, they will also talk through the electricity system cost impacts and health and climate costs associated with data centers, while discussing how state policy and regulation can affect affordability. Join AEC staff, Maria Fernanda Chavez, and Brady Watson Wednesday, July 29 at 11 a.m. EDT.

Maria Fernanda Chavez is a Senior Analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy program. In this role, she focuses on the capabilities of renewable energy technologies and the importance of equitable and justice-centered policies for a clean energy transition. She has been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio, 27 WKOW and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for her original analysis on the economic, health and climate impacts of data center load growth in Wisconsin. She has also written for Utility Dive and been quoted in The Bay State Banner on equitable battery storage implementation.

Brady Watson is the Campaign Officer for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In his role, Brady supports the program’s work in Midwestern states, federal regulatory and legislative work, and state implementation work. He also leads the energy program's outreach work on data centers. After freelancing in the film and television industry, Brady worked as a civic engagement coordinator for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, where he managed organizing efforts around fuel efficiency standards.

This free webinar is part of AEC's Energy, Environment, and Equity Forum.

Electrical utilities are overcharging customers who heat with electricity, and it's causing energy bills to go up when customers switch from natural gas to heat pumps, which is creating a major—and artificial—barrier to building electrification. Join AEC staff and Juan-Pablo Velez Wednesday, July 22 at 11 a.m. EDT for a presentation that will explore why the overpayment problem arises, how it affects heat pump economics, and how to fix it with dedicated heat pump rates.

Juan-Pablo Velez is the Founder and Executive Director of Switchbox, a nonprofit think tank that works on state-level clean energy policy.

This free webinar is part of AEC's Energy, Environment, and Equity Forum.

Join AEC staff and Elena Krieger Wednesday, July 15 at 11 a.m. EDT for a presentation that will explore a portfolio of state policy opportunities for achieving energy affordability in alignment with a clean energy transition, including near-term relief and protection for households, building decarbonization efforts, utility reforms to rein in spending and improve accountability, and non-rate funding and financing mechanisms to support affordable, clean energy.

Elena Krieger, PhD, is the Senior Director of Research and Policy at Just Solutions, a national nonprofit focused on advancing equitable energy and climate strategies. Her work aims to accelerate the transition to clean and renewable energy resources, and to develop transition pathways that realize health, environment, equity, and resilience co-benefits, with a particular recent focus on energy affordability. She is a member of the second cohort of New Voices at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and a member of the Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group to the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission. Elena holds a BA in Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics from Harvard and a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton, where her research focused on optimizing energy storage for renewable energy systems.

This free webinar is part of AEC's Energy, Environment, and Equity Forum.

Join AEC staff and Mary Wambui Wednesday, July 8 at 11 a.m. EDT for a presentation that will explore Ms. Wambui’s recent 350 Mass article, “The High Cost of Cutting Energy Efficiency: Why a $1 Billion Rollback Would Harm the Communities We Claim to Protect.”

Mary Wambui is a regional leader in housing and energy equity, serving as the Director of Asset Management, Residents, and Energy at the Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA), a social justice ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. A former Senior Greg Torres Fellow at MassINC, she brings deep expertise in community advocacy and policy design to her role as a Councilor on the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC), where she represents residential consumers and co‑chairs the Energy Equity Working Group. Mary plays a key role in shaping Massachusetts’ clean energy transition through her work on the Grid Modernization Advisory Council’s Equity Working Group and her board service with the Massachusetts Energy Transformation Advisory Board, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Climate Exchange, and the Coalition for a Better Acre. Her leadership has made her a trusted voice on issues of affordability, access, and justice.

This free webinar is part of AEC's Energy, Environment, and Equity Forum.

Join AEC’s Bryndis Woods, PhD, Joshua R. Castigliego, and Tanya Stasio, PhD, Wednesday, May 27 at 11 a.m. EDT for a presentation that will discuss how new gas-fired resources in the energy sector can contribute to higher customer bills.

This free webinar is part of AEC's Energy, Environment, and Equity Forum.

Join AEC, Marriele Mango and Todd Olinsky-Paul, Senior Project Directors at Clean Energy Group (CEG), Wednesday, May 13 at 11 a.m. EDT for a presentation providing an overview of policies, programs, and projects that advance the equitable deployment of BTM battery storage. Speakers will also discuss efforts to replace polluting peaker power plants with battery storage, including a presentation of a Clean Energy States Alliance and Strategen analysis that demonstrates how batteries can cost-effectively replace aging fossil-fueled peakers in ISO New England.

Marriele Mango is a senior project director for Clean Energy Group. In this role, Marriele manages technical assistance and capacity building programs to support critical service providers and community-based organizations in their efforts to development resilient power projects that benefit marginalized communities. She also leads CEG's efforts advocating for resilient power as essential to public health and emergency response, especially for high-risk and medically vulnerable populations. Marriele holds a M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School.

Todd works on CEG’s Resilient Power Project in the areas of solar+storage for critical infrastructure energy resiliency, distributed energy storage policy and economics, and is the CEG/CESA lead for state energy storage policy support. He also directs CESA’s Energy Storage and Technology Advancement Partnership (ESTAP) project, which aims to accelerate large scale electrical energy storage deployment through collaborative efforts between state energy agencies, US DOE Office of Electricity and Sandia National Laboratories. His recent work has focused on supporting state energy storage program and policy development, particularly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, with independent research and analysis in the areas of energy storage with equity, virtual power plants, battery storage as an efficiency measure, policy best practices, interconnection barriers and energy storage benefit-cost analysis. Todd holds an M.S. in Environmental Policy from Bard College and a B.A. from Brown University.

This presentation is part of AEC's Energy, Environment, and Equity Forum.