Alissa uses dynamic market data to provide clients with actionable insights that help them create the optimal customer experience. She specializes in identifying emerging trends and creating a strategic plan for implementation of best practices. Her research experience spans over a decade of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in furthering customer experience and user experience, as well as process, product, and technology innovation.

Daniel Merchant leads E Source’s Sales and Account Management teams. He’s passionate about providing excellent customer service throughout the sales process and during members’ interactions with E Source and its innovative solutions. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry, with a specialization in customer recruitment and retention. Before joining E Source, Daniel held executive roles in customer service and client relations, business development, marketing, and operations.

Charles Bayless was one of the first utility leaders to recognize the promise of distributed generation as a less-risky and cleaner alternative to investment in large, conventional central-station generation. Until June 2008, he was president and provost of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

Ralph Cavanagh has been with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) since 1979; he served for 10 years, from 1993 to 2003, as a member of the US Secretary of Energy’s advisory board. His focus over the past 30 years has been the role of electric and natural gas utilities and the opportunity to transform them into the economy’s most important clean energy investors, with special emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

John Di Stasio was formerly the general manager and CEO of SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District). While with SMUD, his accomplishments included offering some of the lowest electricity rates in California and improving reliability. He was also instrumental in securing a $127.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy to pursue a smart grid infrastructure project.

Julia Hamm has 15 years of experience advising and collaborating with utilities, manufacturers, and government agencies on renewable-energy and energy-efficiency strategies and programs. Hamm has been with Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) since 2004, gaining the knowledge and experience that makes her one of the world’s foremost experts on the nexus between utilities and solar energy. She guides and oversees all of SEPA’s research, education, and collaboration activities for its more than 1,000 member companies.

Sue Kelly’s primary challenge as leader of the American Public Power Association (APPA) is to guide the association’s efforts to influence the US Environmental Protection Agency’s power sector climate policy in a way that acknowledges the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining the financial health of public power. Prior to becoming president and CEO, she was APPA’s senior vice president of policy analysis and general counsel.

Amy Thompson provides guidance on membership services and consulting offerings for utilities across the western US and Canada. She has more than 20 years of executive sales experience, having previously worked as vice president of Sales with Clean Energy Collective, a company focused on community solar. Amy has an entrepreneurial background, owning multiple businesses in the construction, real estate, corporate advertising, and marketing spaces. She received a BA in psychology from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.

Jim Rogers was Duke Energy’s president and CEO beginning in 2006; he was elected chairman in 2007, and served until his retirement in 2013. Rogers spent 25 years in chairman and CEO positions, working with Public Service Indiana and Cinergy in addition to Duke; he has been a leading force for innovation in utility business models and the transition to a more climate-friendly energy economy. In 2009, Newsweek named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world, citing his capacity to dramatically increase the production of electricity from renewable energy.

Scott Ungerer has been a recognized leader in venture capital investing for the traditional and advanced energy sectors for nearly 20 years, and he has a proven history in investment and management operations.