Join industry experts and startups as we explore and showcase the innovations in our region that will drive our carbon-free power future.
Paul Lau, CEO & General Manager, SMUD
Keynote Speaker
As CEO, Paul leads the sixth largest community-owned electric utility in the nation serving a population of 1.5 million residents and managing a $1.7 billion budget.
A 40-year SMUD veteran, Lau has held several other executive leadership positions, most recently Chief Grid Strategy & Operations Officer.
Lau serves on the boards of the Large Public Power Council, American Public Power Association, California Municipal Utilities Association, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Smart Electric Power Alliance, Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation and the California Mobility Center and as a Commissioner of the Balancing Authority of Northern California. He serves on the boards of a number of Sacramento-area community organizations.
Active in international energy issues, Lau serves as a delegate with the United States Energy Association, where he has helped with electrification, operations and demand-side management in countries such as Bangladesh, India and Jordan.
A registered professional electrical engineer in the state of California, Lau received his bachelor’s degree in electrical power engineering from California State University, Sacramento. He also is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum.
Thomas Hall, Executive Director, SMUD
Keynote Speaker
Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. In addition to his work at CleanStart, he is an analyst at Clean Edge and advisor at SacEV. Thomas has been supporting, reporting, and connecting Clean Tech companies for the past 6 years. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.
Gary Simon, Chairman, SMUD
Moderator: Customers – Demand – Supply
Gary Simon is currently the Chairman of CleanStart, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating the success of clean tech businesses in the Sacramento region. Mr. Simon’s career spans 46 years as a senior executive with two Fortune 500 companies, a CEO of 4 small start-ups, President of international companies, worldwide energy company consultant, and government service. Most recently he was President and CEO of Atrex Energy, a manufacturer of small high-efficiency ceramic-based power generators for off-grid markets. He also was a Chairman of publicly-traded Capstone Turbine Corporation (CPST), and is Chairman of SmartPower, a non-profit organization promoting clean energy use. Mr. Simon has a BA from Indiana University and an MS from the University of California, Davis.
Rick Wylie, President, Villara Building Systems
Panelist: Customers – Demand – Supply
Rick Wylie is President of Villara Corporation, a major provider of Title-24 design and energy-efficiency strategies and installer of HVAC, plumbing, solar, and other energy saving products predominantly for residential new construction builders and multi-family new construction and retrofit contractors in northern California. Founded in 1947 under the name Beutler, Villara has a long history of craftsmanship and innovation. Under his leadership, Mr. Wylie, a technical engineer, visionary, and inventor, has spearheaded the drive for new and better products through continuous education and improvement. This innovative think-tank atmosphere has attributed to the patents Villara holds, as well as the multiple patents Wylie personally holds, including the Thermal Equalizer, Zoned Thermal Equalizer, Smart Vent, and other zoning control and fresh air strategies. Mr. Wylie graduated from the Apprenticeship Program at American River College in 1982 where he studied air conditioning and refrigeration, sheet metal, solar heating and welding. Mr. Wylie is currently a Board Member of the California Building Industry Association and the Building Industry Foundation Workforce Development Board.
Bob Guimarin, CEO and Co-Founder, Off The Wall Energy
Panelist: Customers – Demand – Supply
Bob has been developing innovative solutions in both corporate and startup worlds over many years. At IBM in the 80’s, he contributed to the transformation from mainframes to personal computers, remote computing, and advances in network security solutions. At Cisco Systems in the 90’s, he contributed to new router and switching solutions and was a ‘hands on’ contributor in bringing the benefits of the Internet to businesses and governments around the world. In 2006, he led Motorola’s global security software group developing security solutions and advanced encryption for cellular networks, smart cards, Wi-Fi and NFC systems. On the startup side, he founded a network consulting startup, he spun out of IBM, followed by an online insurance venture in 2000, and in 2014 was the founding CEO of Fornetix, a leading advanced encryption key management company. Founded in 2017, Off The Wall Energy is Bob’s third startup and the one he is most passionate about.
Sergey Vasylyev, PhD, President & CEO, Lucent Optics
Panelist: Customers – Demand – Supply
Sergey Vasylyev obtained his Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics from the National Academy of Science in Ukraine in 1996. Through his academic career, he published about 40 papers in the areas of astrophysics, solar energy, and optics. He is also an avid inventor with about 100 issued and pending patents in solar, daylighting, and energy-efficient illumination technologies. His inventions have been licensed worldwide and can be found in tens of millions of commercial products. Sergey is a founder and CEO of Lucent Optics, an innovation company developing and commercializing a US-made LED lighting technology that reduces the energy use in buildings and improves occupants’ comfort.
Diana Eastman, Owner, ThermēShade
Panelist: Customers – Demand – Supply
Diana Eastman, founder and owner of ThermēShade, graduated from the University of Southern California, then moved to Auburn in 1989. As an energy consultant, she knew that heat gains and losses through glass were often the weakest link in building efficiency and comfort. After years of research and testing, she developed a reflective material for her shades which manages solar heat gain through windows while allowing in the natural light. Conversely her shades increase heating efficiency in winter by blocking thermal energy without losing significant visibility. Advances in materials testing can now objectively measure performance with quantitative results, insuring interior spaces are more healthy and inviting.
Jerremy Spillman, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder, Hank
Panelist: Customers – Demand – Supply
Over the last 12 years Jerremy has worked in the clean tech space ranging from utility DSM program management to battery powered electric vehicle charging stations. Most recently Jerremy co-founded Hank, an A.I. powered HVAC management tool for commercial office buildings. Hank was recently acquired by JLLT to be positioned as their key tools to meet their impressive sustainability goals. Jerremy has a deep understanding of the complexities in utility scale programs, and the need from vendors and utility customers to make these programs successful.
Kevin Wolf, President & CEO, Wind Harvest International
Panelist: Utility Supply
Until his move to the role of CEO, Kevin served as Wind Harvest’s Chief Operations Officer, overseeing the company’s science, engineering, project development, and website. He facilitated the engineering team that developed the Wind Harvester Model 3.1, wrote all the grants, and developed the relationships and projects in Scotland, Barbados, and California. His science degree, environmental background, consensus-based facilitation expertise, and years of work with the company helps in his leadership role with Wind Harvest, where he now leads the capital raising campaign. Kevin graduated with honors from UC Davis in 1980 with a degree in Evolution and Ecology. He volunteers as the chair for the California Clean Money Action Fund, which works on campaign finance reform. He co-founded and lives at N Street Cohousing in Davis, CA.
Ezra Beeman Managing Director, Energeia
Panelist: Utility Supply
Ezra Beeman specializes in business strategy, asset transactions, contract structuring, energy and information technology, market design and industry regulation for major oil, gas and power companies across Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region. Ezra’s career at Ausgrid spanned a number of strategic and internal advisory roles, where he helped propel the company into a position of international leadership in new technology deployment. During his time there, Ezra built a reputation for tackling some of the company’s toughest challenges and achieving exceptional results.In addition to his consulting and utility experience, Ezra is an internationally recognized expert on smart grids, wholesale and retail markets, customer research, and demand response.
Panelist: Utility Supply
Drew Smith is a Sales Engineer and Smarter Grid Solutions. He joined in summer of 2021 and leads SGS’ North America Utility DERMS effort. Having grown up in New Orleans, Drew is acutely aware of the impacts of climate change and is passionate about helping utilities manage the energy transition. Prior to joining SGS, Drew worked in various roles in the renewable space.
Panelist: Utility Supply
Mr. Alfaro serves as Wallbox’s General Manager, North America. Mr. Alfaro has served as Wallbox’s General Manager, North America since January 2019. Mr. Alfaro is an electric vehicle (EV), energy and sustainability expert with more than a decade of experience working in the industry. Mr. Alfaro began his career in public policy roles in California in 2008, developing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs around smart buildings, e-mobility, and emissions reduction. In 2013, Mr. Alfaro joined Tesla to kick off the first ever cross country network of fast-charging stations throughout North America and later managed the rollout of fast-charging and destination charging stations across Southern Europe from Lisbon to Istanbul.
Panelist: Utility Supply
Jon is responsible for leading the identification, design, and contracting of virtual power plant grid service opportunities for Swell Energy. Previously, Jon spent 6 years as Senior Director of Product Strategy and Market Development with Sunverge Energy Inc., a battery storage hardware/software provider. He also sponsored the creation of energy storage incentives while managing CA’s Self-Generation Incentive Program, was program manager for CA’s California Solar Initiative program, and founded the Energy Advisory service while employed with the California Center for Sustainable Energy. Jon has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University and is a California registered Professional Engineer.