Agenda

Monday 16 November 2020
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET
Moderator
Presenters

ESCO Advocacy and Support: Federal, State and Global ESCO Advocacy and Support Organizations

Moderator
Presenters

Dale Hahs

Technical Assistance Provider, Energy Services Coalition

Dale L. Hahs presently serves as a Technical Assistance Provider for the Energy Services Coalition State Technical Liaison team supported by a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Energy (USDOE). 

Aside from his active role with ESC and supporting state Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contracting (GESPC) programs, Dale contributes to support national efforts to advance the success of GESPC through work with US DOE’s MUSH Working Group.

Dale previously served as the Executive Director of the Energy Services Coalition where he filled the role of Technical Assistance Subject Matter Expert for Guaranteed Energy Saving Performance Contracting.  He has and continues to assist in the customization of GESPC programs for multiple states within their legislative and administrative framework and supports the continuous improvement of the nation’s compendium of best practices tools, resources, instruments and guides.  Prior to this role, Dale was a member of the leadership team of an ESCO for over a decade and has been engaged in energy efficiency providing client solutions for over 30 years.

Pierre Langlois

President, Econoler

Pierre Langlois currently acts the President of Econoler www.econoler.com, a renown international energy efficiency consulting firm. He boasts 35 years of experience in the clean energy sector, namely in the design, financing, implementation and monitoring of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and programs, both in North America and at the international level.

Pierre is a first-rate international expert in the development and implementation of pioneering innovative financial mechanisms and more specifically relation with the use of Energy Performance Contracting the use and operation of ESCOs. Over the course of his career, he has acted as member of the board of directors of several ESCOs worldwide and a few international organizations such as the Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) for which he acted as chairman of the board. His achievements with Econoler have been awarded numerous prizes, such as the “Legend in Energy” honor given by the Association of Energy Engineers and the Clean Technology Award by the Climate Technology Initiative and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at The Hague Climate Change Convention (COP 6).

Pierre has gained an impressive international experience in over 40 countries as part of assignments led or financed by major multilateral development banks, bilateral and multilateral development organizations, and many United Nations agencies.

He currently acts as the co-chair of the steering committee of the Global ESCO Network, an international organization developed by U.N. Environment Program- Technical University of Denmark (UNEP DTU) Partnership.

Jennifer Schafer-Soderman

Executive Director, Federal Performance Contracting Coalition

Cascade Associates is a governmental affairs consulting firm located in Washington, DC that primarily represents the energy efficiency community, companies and organizations.  The firm advocates policies that advance the position of energy efficiency and clean energy technology in an environmentally-friendly manner, and works to ensure adequate research, development, and demonstration funding for such technologies.

Ms. Schafer has more than 25 years of public policy experience in energy and environmental issues.  She began her work in governmental affairs for private clients in 1992 and has worked extensively with several Congressional Committees and Offices.  Ms. Schafer began her Washington tenure at the office of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, later serving as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy. 

In her capacity as President of Cascade Associates, Ms. Schafer is serving her 24th year as the Executive Director of the Federal Performance Contracting Coalition (FPCC) representing companies involved in Energy Savings Performance Contracting with the Federal government.  She also coordinates both energy efficiency businesses and advocacy organizations around Federal policy, working regularly with representatives of the Executive and Legislative branches of government to advance policy.

Timothy Unruh

Executive Director, NAESCO

Dr. Timothy D. Unruh joins NAESCO after over 26 years in energy efficiency and clean energy development.  Most recently, he served in two senior roles at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) – Director of the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Renewable Power.  As FEMP Director, Dr. Unruh helped launch the President’s Performance Contracting Challenge pushing for growth in performance contracting with the Federal Government, as well as eProject Builder targeting a common national platform for ESCO industry data. As DAS for Renewable Power, Dr. Unruh helped develop the Beyond Batteries initiative to explore innovative ways to provide grid services, including using building energy efficiency technologies to improve grid integration with renewable technologies.

Prior to his work at DOE, Dr. Unruh spend many years working for ESCOs. During his time at Custom Energy and ConEdison Solutions, he fulfilled performance contracting work in all markets (MUSH, industrial, commercial and federal), gaining expertise in business development, engineering, measurement and verification, legal and financial aspects of the industry, often through first-hand experience in fulfilling the work.  Early in his career, Dr. Unruh worked for CMS Energy, finding efficiency and power quality solutions for commercial and industrial energy users, where he developed his energy engineering foundation.

Dr. Unruh holds a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.  He also holds professional engineering licenses in 13 States and the District of Columbia.