Leading up to the Global Climate Action Summit, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Energy Commission (CEC), and California Air Resources Board (CARB) will host a series of practitioner workshops. The series of workshops are intended as a sidebar during the Summit to highlight tangible progress, concrete actions, and best management practices for decarbonizing, financing, and managing energy systems. We hope you will join top leadership from the CPUC, CEC, and CARB and other domestic and international practitioners for a robust discussion.

You may view the Practitioner Workshops live: www.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc.

Please direct questions to GCAS_CPUC@cpuc.ca.gov.

September 11, 2018

8:00am – 8:30am: Coffee/Networking

8:30 am – 8:35 am: Welcome from Alice Stebbins, Executive Director, California Public Utilities Commission

8:35 am – 8:45 am: Opening Remarks by President Picker, California Public Utilities Commission

8:45 am – 9:45 am: Panel 1 - Convergence: Decarbonization, Decentralization, and Digitization

• The global energy sector is transforming rapidly. With this transition, consumers are finding they have more choice and more chances to manage their energy usage, but also more opportunities to consume energy. The convergence of the Internet of Things and overall greater digitization of our lifestyles coupled with decentralized energy resources presents robust opportunity for decarbonization. Greater control over the generation-to-consumption chain provides chances to improve sustainability and energy efficiency. This is where developing the right regulatory framework to maximize these benefits in the face of innovation and shifting technology is critical.
• What are the regulatory strategies that can best accelerate decarbonization, without impinging on reliability or affordability?
  
• Featuring:
• President Michael Picker, California Public Utilities Commission
• Commissioner Montserrat Ramiro Ximénez, Comisión Reguladora de Energía, Mexico
• Commissioner Griffin, Hawaii Public Utilities Commission
• Thierry Lepercq, Executive Vice President Research, Technology & Innovation, ENGIE
• Anne Hoskins, Chief Policy Officer, SunRun
• Moderated by Susan Tierney, Senior Advisor, The Analysis Group

9:45 am – 10:45 am: Panel 2 - Optimizing the Low Carbon Grid

• Integrating zero-carbon resources into the grid present both opportunities and challenges. Planning for resource adequacy with these resources requires greater flexibility in planning and reforming pricing mechanisms to recognize the value these resources can provide, among other considerations. This panel will explore flexible approaches that have been implemented to encourage integration of these zero carbon resources into the grid.
• What approaches to flexibility have been implemented by California and beyond to encourage integration of these zero carbon resources into the grid?
• Featuring:
  • Commissioner Liane Randolph, California Public Utilities Commission
  • Chair Robert Weisenmiller, California Energy Commission
  • Chairman Dave Danner, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission
  • Stacey Crowley, Vice-President, Regional and Federal Affairs, California Independent System Operator
  • Moderated by Edward Randolph, Director, Energy Division, California Public Utilities Commission

10:45 am – 11:45 am: Panel 3 - Energy Efficiency

• Energy efficiency – avoiding the wasteful use of energy to meet customer and industry needs – has a long history of success in the U.S. and other regions. This panel will explore how the use of clean electricity to displace fossil fuels for heating and other building purposes is beginning to reshape the energy efficiency space.
  
• What happens when the low-hanging fruit recedes? What new policies can capture a much larger fraction of cost-effective energy efficiency?
• Featuring:

• Commissioner Carla Peterman, California Public Utilities Commission
• Commissioner Andrew McAllister, California Energy Commission
• Chair Megan Decker, Oregon Public Utility Commission
• Carolyn Szum, Assistant China Energy Group Lead, U.S.-China Clean Energy Center-Building Energy Efficiency
• Moderated by Steve Cowell, President, E4TheFuture
  

11:45 am – 12:00 pm: Closing Remarks by Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board

September 12, 2018

8:00am – 8:30am: Coffee/Networking

8:30 am – 8:45 am: Opening Remarks by Commissioner Karen Douglas, California Energy Commission

8:45 am – 9:45 am: Panel 4- Financing Clean Energy Technologies

• The upfront capital costs of renewable and other clean energy are frequently an impediment to deploying these carbon-free or low-carbon technologies. Although the overall capital costs of renewable energy projects have dropped dramatically since the early 2000s, lenders may be hesitant to finance some of these projects because of the upfront, significant capital infrastructure investments required, some of these technologies due to their high capital costs and regulatory uncertainty, unless they can prove a dedicated revenue stream for debt service. Further, the uncertainty around financial incentives, such as the production tax credit and investment tax credit, under the current administration and Congress has resulted in a chilling effect on the industry. This panel will explore the role policy can play in building financeable projects, and also the ever-growing need for public-private partnerships in climate finance to leverage existing public dollars for clean energy projects.
  
• In the face of regulatory uncertainty and rapidly changing technology, how do we continue to finance nascent and existing clean energy technologies? How do we commercialize these technologies?
• Featuring:
• Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance, Office of the Governor of New York
• Dan Adler, Vice-President for Policy, Energy Foundation
• Rick Needham, Partner, The Rise Fund
• Steve Westly, Founder and Managing Parner, Westly Group
• Moderated by Sanjiv Malhotra, Director, Energy Investment Center, U.S. Department of Energy
  

9:45 am – 10:45 am: Panel 5 - Climate Adaptation and Resiliency

• Climate change is intensifying weather events, and we are seeing increased severity and frequency of climate-related events. Globally, we are experiencing dramatic changes in temperatures, sea level rise, drought, coastal storm surges, and wildfires that, among other impacts, cause undue strain on transformers, increased line losses between electric generators and load, and increased overall electric demand. Substantial efforts are being undertaken to increase grid resiliency through the hardening of infrastructure, increased coordination efforts, and deployment of new technologies, including distributed energy resources. Similarly, jurisdictions continue to increase adaptation efforts through the assessment of and planning for system vulnerabilities.
  
• What direct actions can governments take to strengthen climate adaptation and resiliency?
• Featuring:
  • Commissioner Rechtschaffen, California Public Utilities Commission
  • Chairman Robert Weisenmiller, California Energy Commission
  • Michelle O'Connell, Vice-President of Opertions for Staten Island, ConEdison
  • John Holmes, Director, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) for the National Academy of Sciences
  • Moderated by Commissioner Liane Randolph, California Public Utilities Commission

10:45 am – 11:45 am: Panel 6 - Women in Clean Energy

• Women are key contributors to the rapidly evolving clean energy landscape. This panel will engage women leaders, who are transforming the U.S. energy sector by advocating for and implementing solutions that reduce emissions.
• How have these women shaped the clean energy landscape and what are their lessons learned?
• Featuring:
• Commissioner Guzman Aceves, California Public Utilities Commission
• Commissioner Karen Douglas, California Energy Commission
• Abby Hopper, President and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association
• Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO, Energy Storage Association
• Moderated by Emily Kirsch, Founder & CEO, Powerhouse

11:45 am – 12:00 pm: Closing Remarks by President Picker, California Public Utilities Commission

Note: Although a quorum of Commissioners, their advisors or other decision-makers may be present at these workshops, no action will be taken.