The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) has welcomed three new members to its board of directors. According to SEPA, the board consists of 21 members representing a cross-section of energy industry representatives, including executives from utilities, solar firms and other distributed energy technology developers, as well as former policymakers. Each board member serves a three-year term. The three incoming board members include the following:
- Jim Alberts, senior vice president for customer cervice at Hawaiian Electric Co., who is spearheading the utility’s integration of distributed energy resources to help reach Hawaii’s mandate to run 100% on renewables by 2045.
- Robert “Rob” F. Caldwell, president of Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology, who is managing and continuing to expand a portfolio of wind and solar projects across the U.S. Duke Energy Renewables is an unregulated division of Duke Energy. Caldwell also manages the distributed generation portfolio for the regulated utility.
- Matt Handel, vice president of development for solar, distributed generation and energy storage at NextEra Energy Resources, whose responsibilities at the company have grown in the past few years from solar development to include storage, demand-side management and microgrids.
“As SEPA has expanded its mission to embrace a range of distributed energy resources – including solar, storage, demand response and electric vehicles – we knew our board had to reflect the scope of change and innovation going on in all aspects of our industry,” said SEPA President and CEO Julia Hamm. “With their broad and deep experiences at very different companies, Jim Alberts, Rob Caldwell and Matt Handel each understand, in unique ways, that the technology, business, and regulatory paradigms in the energy industry must and can change in ways that balance the interests of all stakeholders.”