March 10, 2016 - Lunch 
Jeremiah Miller, Senior Power Systems Analyst at Smarter Grid Solutions, discussed on the NY Prize feasibility studies in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. The project is led by Brooklyn's Friends of Community Board 6, the Red Hook New York Rising Community Reconstruction Planning Committee, Smarter Grid Solutions (engineering consultant), and IMG Rebel (financial consultant). Jeremiah Miller discussed the emergency preparedness origins of the project, how this is a community led effort and our stakeholder engagement process, and the practical options, challenges and barriers to community microgrids as seen through the Red Hook project. The presentation concludes with connecting NY Prize's community microgrid ambitions with New York' s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) ambitions for examples of future utility models. See the presentation here. 

February 11, 2016 - Lunch 
Professor Constantine Kontakosta of NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate highlighted the opportunities and challenges using existing and new streams of data to inform city operations, focusing on building energy data and energy efficiency programs. He concluded with the discussion of a new research initiative — the Quantified Community — that demonstrates the potential to advance urban design and planning by integrating urban IoT technologies, large-scale data fusion, and community engagement and problem-solving.

January 14, 2016 - Lunch 
Jim Gallagher provided an overview of his organization, the New York State Smart Grid Consortium, including some of the groundbreaking work of its member organizations, several of its high priority current activities and plans for the future. In particular, he discussed his recent experience as co-leader of the stakeholder process for Market Design and Platform Technologies as part of the NYS PSC's Rev Proceeding, the Consortium's work encouraging microgrids, collaborative efforts with several European utilities, and a new ARPA-E funded initiative to develop an innovative distribution grid simulation studio. See the presentation here. 

December 10, 2015 - Lunch 
 Nilda Mesa, the Director of the NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability discussed OneNYC: The Plan for A Strong and Just City. Her presentation will covered the four visions in OneNYC: growth, equity, sustainability, and resiliency as well as the short and long-term goals of the plan.

November 15, 2015 - Lunch 
Dr. Levi Tillemann, the Jeff and Cal Leonard Fellow at New America, discussed his new book, The Great Race, which recounts the story of the long battle between automakers for market share, profit, and technological dominance and a race to build the car of the future.

October 15, 2015 - Lunch 
Carl Liggio of Pharos Enterprise Intelligence and Frank Norcross of Bernhard Energy discussed a methodology to better evaluate a proposed distribution generation or energy efficiency project's emissions benefit. Carl Liggio explained the methodology and Frank Norcross provided a case study in applying the methodology used to evaluate the cogeneration plant at Hudson Yards. See the presentation here. 

September 17, 2015 - Lunch 
Ken Kramer of Rushton Atlantic compared structures, tax treatment, legal issues and economics of Yieldcos, REITs and MLPs, and how they might compete for renewable energy issuers and investors if permitted to do so.

February 12, 2015 - Lunch 
Charlotte Matthews, Vice President of Sustainability for Related Companies, discussed the business case of the Hudson Yards microgrid project. The project is being developed by Related Companies and Oxford Properties, in partnership with Bernhard Energy to serve five buildings (7.7 MSF encompassing commercial, retail, residential and cultural) with power and thermal energy. Ms. Matthews walked through the business case for the project and the hurdles behind its execution. She also emphasized the issues in developing distributed generation projects in New York City and where the PSC and ConEd can improve the operational climate. See the presentation here. 

November 13, 2014 - Lunch 
Greg Hale, Senior Advisor to the Chairman of Energy and Finance, Office of the Governor, State of New York, joined the monthly NYAEE Luncheon on Thursday, November 13th, 2014. Following up on last year's talk by Richard Kauffman, Greg provided an overview of the ongoing evolution of the New York State energy system, including the Public Service Commission proceeding on Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), New York Green Bank and the Clean Energy Fund. See the presentation here. 

November 3, 2014 - Special Event 
In keeping with our mission to advance the understanding and application of economics across all facets of energy development and use, including theory, business, public policy and environmental considerations, NYAEE hosted a special event on the Indian Point Nuclear Plant. In 2014, the operating licenses for Indian Point Unit's 2 and 3 are up for renewal, and Unit 2 had entered into a Period of Extended Operation while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission evaluates its extension. Several groups lobbied to shut down the facility as well as several advocating to keep it open. The special event featured a technical presentation outlining the operation and economics of Indian Point, and then a debate with individuals for and against closing the Plant. 

September 11, 2014 - Lunch 
H.G. Chissell of Viridity Energy discussed how the transformation of large commercial buildings into virtual power plants capable of load curtailments on demand to meet the rising issue of peak demand management could be a significant opportunity to strengthen resiliency and increase net operating income. This opportunity plays well into the overall vision of REV laid out by the PSC and ConED. The distribution utility of the future will rely on integrated consumers providing virtual power at critical times. These customer-side solutions will rely primarily on three energy asset categories: HVAC systems, distributed generation, and distributed storage. H.G. discussed the economics and changing landscape of these customer-sided solutions. 

May 22, 2014 - Lunch 
Julien Dumoulin-Smith Executive Director of Equity Research for Electric Utilities & IPPs Group at UBS Securities discussed the confluence of energy and environmental policies in New York and the Nation. The goal would be to put the states' latest policy objectives in the context of financial realities du jour. This includes carbon objectives, nuclear policy, commitment to restructured markets or lack thereof, and broader gas-electric coordination issues that appear to be lingering in the background. See the presentation here. 

May 13, 2014 - Lunch 
Dong Fu Ph.D. senior economist at Exxon Mobil Corporation presented ExxonMobil's "The Outlook for Energy," their long-term global view of energy demand and supply. Its findings help guide ExxonMobil's long-term investments. See the presentation here. 

March 27, 2014 - Lunch 
Robert Fox, AIA Partner at COOKFOX Architects and Terrapin Bright Green. Discussed the details of repowering the Salem Harbor Station by Footprint Power. The Salem Harbor Station, a 748 MW coal fired power station in Salem, MA, was oil and coal burning generators in the region. Upgrades and retrofits to improve emissions were prohibitively expensive for the plant's operator, and as a result it was ordered to shut down by 2014 for violations of the Clean Air Act. Footprint Power, a start-up power company dedicated to sustainable solutions, seized the opportunity to purchase the aging coal-fired power plant. Their intention is to redevelop the 65-acre site by demolishing the existing facility and constructing a new cleaner, gas-fired combined cycle facility on 20 acres of the existing site, allowing for mixed and industrial uses in the remaining area. The new state-of- the-art plant, slated to provide 630 MW of power and be in full operation by 2016, will not only reduce carbon emissions, but its "Quick Start" capability can help develop new renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power which need readily available backup power to account for constantly changing weather conditions.

February 27, 2014 - Lunch 
Mike Gordon, CEO of Joule Assets presented new financing options for energy efficiency and demand response markets. His talk provided an overview of new financing structures and highlighted how this structure may mitigate problems related to financing energy efficiency, demand response, and their joint utilization.  

January 23, 2014 - Lunch 
Colin Smart and Lucas Finco of Con Edison spoke about the changing demand management economics in New York City. The talk included a discussion about NYS Public Service Commission orders and cases related to Indian Point closure contingency planning. There was an indepth discussion about  Order Accepting IPEC Reliability Contingency Plans, Establishing Cost Allocation And Recovery, And Denying Requests For Rehearing, which contained approaches with regard to Transmission Owners Transmission Solutions ("TOTS") and  programs for Energy Efficiency ("EE") and Demand Reduction ("DR") for 100 MW of peak demand reduction and 25 MW of Combined Heat and Power ("CHP"). They also about a tariff submitted by Con Edison Company of New York on December 18, 2013  submitted a tariff filing in regard to their commercial demand response programs. The tariff filings included many changes to the incentives and program operations for the two commercial demand response programs Con Ed operates in New York. See the presentation here. 

December 19, 2013 - Lunch 
Bill Browing, Founder of Terrapin Bright Green LLC, did an environmental analysis of a mid-century office building. The lunch compared the relative opportunities of retrofit vs. high-performance replacement strategies, and explored three main conclusions of an in-depth analysis: 1) Maintain. Older buildings, if well-maintained, can achieve better-than-average efficiency, offering an intermediate stage of energy savings. 2) Retrofit. Deep retrofitting of early curtain wall office buildings could lower their energy use significantly. 3) Replace. A deep retrofit is unlikely for some buildings for a number of structural and financial reasons.   

October 24, 2013 - Lunch 
Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York, spoke about the Governor's strategic statewide plan to scale up clean energy, enhance New York's competitiveness for clean energy businesses, and make the energy systems more resilient and reliable. He provided an update on the Green Bank initiative. His talk was timely as it occured after the Green Bank Technical Conference being held on October 15 in Albany and before public comments were due on October 28th. 

September 26, 2013 - Lunch 
Professor Jason Bordoff, Director on Global Energy Policy, The School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, discussed emerging energy trends and how policymakers balance between competing economic, security, and environmental concerns based on objective, market-oriented analysis of how the energy landscape is changing. See the presentation here. 

July 25, 2013 - Lunch
Troy Devries, the Director of Research & Development for Consolidated Edison, spoke of the potential of energy storage in offering benefits for the electric grid system at various levels of operations: Transmission, Substations, Distribution and Customer Use. The presentation addressed considerations and drivers, namely the choice of technology, application and locale that impact the decision to implement as well as the economic viability of Energy Storage on the grid. See the presentation here. 

June 27, 2013 - Lunch
Dr. John Felmy, chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute, addressed the New York Association of Energy Economists about how business leaders can be part of a constructive public policy debate that leads to a new, fact-based, comprehensive energy policy.

May 23, 2013 - Lunch
Mr. John Licata argued it is important to consider the way New York must look at advanced energy. There is an economic disruption coming to the future of energy right here in New York. With the 2013 Hurricane Season quickly approaching, he believes it is important to consider perhaps some new areas of focus which could severely alter our energy landscape in the Empire State in years to come. This talk focused on how cybersecurity, water preservation, cogen plants and the growing potential use for natural gas will collectively redefine energy economics in New York. See the presentation here

April 25, 2013 - Lunch
Mr. Jonathan Schrag provided an overview of how resilience is being considered in state energy policy across the northeast and will highlight opportunities for New York State and New York City to advance resilient energy finance and planning.

March 26, 2013 - Lunch
Dr. Ben Schlesinger led a conversation about natural gas markets and energy policy issues. He discussed DOE's impending decision on LNG exports and New York's shale gas ban, and how (or if) these relate to gas markets. Oversupply of US shale gas is currently pushing drillers away from gas plays, driving them toward oil and toward international shales. Should America export natural gas or skilled labor? Starved of markets, US gas prices will take off as soon as supplies look they've peaked and are about to tighten, probably within a year or two. See the presentation here

February 28, 2013 - Lunch
Mr Robert Curry addressed the implications of the convergence of gas and electric generation now in ISO-NE and the likely occurrence of a similar problem in the MISO. He also discussed NG as a facilitator of more abundant distributed generation and the strain that will impose on the existing business model for electricity and for its regulation.

January 24, 2013 - Lunch
Dr. Seth Guikema discussed a model developed for a specific utility, a model that is in operational use, helping the utility plan its storm response efforts. He also talked about the broader area model applicable along the full U.S. coastline. The talk also discussed the "softer" side of this work, focusing particularly on communications with media outlets during hurricane Sandy when the work was featured on major news outlets such as CNN, Good Morning America, The Discovery Channel, and Bloomberg. See the presentation here

December 13, 2012 - Lunch
Ms. Jill Anderson discussed the New York Energy Highway Blueprint. The Blueprint was issued in October 2012 and provides a plan for carrying forward Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's proposal for a public-private partnership to modernize the New York State's electric power system. See the presentation here

November 29, 2012 - Lunch
Dr. Sergej Mahnovski discussed Hurricane Sandy, its impact on the power, natural gas and oil infrastructure of New York City. He provided a status update and lessons learned from the storm.

November 1, 2012 - NYAEE Special Event
An all-day program with speakers on air regulations, oil/natural gas conversion, and hydraulic fracturing. This was the first of a two-part series, with a focus on renewable energy planned for the WICE Spring 2013 conference.

October 25, 2012 - Lunch
Mark MacCracken discussed Thermal Energy Storage (TES) used for the off-peak cooling of buildings. TES systems have a long history around the world with over 6,000 commercial installations in 35 countries. By storing cooling at night, in the form of ice or chilled water, and using it during the day to cool the buildings, major reductions in on-peak electric demand and energy costs are realized. This talk demonstrated the basic types of TES systems, how they save energy and reduce costs, and how this relates to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. See the presentation here

September 27, 2012 - Lunch
Donald Jessome discussed the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) project. The CHPE project is a 1,000 MW, high voltage direct current power cable transmission project connecting the clean, low cost energy supply from the Quebec market to New York City. This privately financed, user pay merchant line is argued to lower costs by up to $650 million per year and reduce emissions without any government or rate payer support. It is expected to be completed in 2017. Mr. Jessome discussed the project's economic impacts and benefits to New York City. See the presentation here

August 23, 2012 - Lunch
Many states have highly ambitious renewable energy targets, such as California's 33% 2020 target. If we're going to reap their full economic and environmental benefits, we'll need to effectively deal with their variable output. Drawing mainly on Professor Benjamin Hobbs' experience in the California market, he touched on the operational issues that such penetrations imply, and then discuss what this means for the revenues and profitability of new generation. See the presentation here

July 26, 2012 - Lunch
Tom Fogarty and Robert Lamb discussed the profitability of renewable projects, lessons learned from Europe's feed-in tariffs, specific opportunities in stressed/distressed renewable power plants, and the future of carbon pricing in America.

May 24, 2012 - Lunch
Susan Leeds provided an introduction to the newly formed NYCEEC and discussed their first complete transaction financing the $1.4 million retrofit at 125 Maiden Lane. NYCEEC is an independent, non-profit financial corporation established by New York City to assist the City in implementing its Greener, Greater Buildings Plan and to advance the goals of PlaNYC.

May 17, 2012 - NYAEE Special Event
Buildings dominate New York City's carbon footprint. Approximately 75 percent of New York City's carbon emissions stem from energy used in buildings, and today's existing buildings will make up 85% of all real estate in 2030. To address the critical area of energy use in existing buildings, the City has enacted a set of efficiency requirements for existing private and public sector buildings. In December 2009, Mayor Bloomberg signed the four legislative components of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, the most comprehensive set of efficiency laws in the nation.

April 26, 2012 - Lunch
Professor Tim Mount discussed the implications of deferrable demand, such as electric vehicles and thermal storage along with the need to develop a regulatory environment in which all participants in the different markets for electricity and ancillary services, including customers, pay for the services they use and are compensated for the services they provide. See the presentation here