We often hear that EVs are part of a clean energy future, but we also hear about the constraints on our existing grid. With so much misinformation in the public domain, this digital dialogue will call upon industry experts to demonstrate how EVs are going to be a part of the solution and what parts of the ecosystem — for example, battery storage, vehicle to grid integration, and software controls — will help us get there.
Veloz is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
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On The Grid: The Role of EVs in Energy Reliability
DIGITAL DIALOGUE SPEAKERS
Spotlight Speaker
Alice Reynolds
President
California Public Utilities Commission
Alice Reynolds was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as President by Governor Gavin Newsom on Nov. 22, 2021.
Previously, she served for three years as Governor Newsom’s senior advisor for energy. From 2011 to January 2019, she served in the administration of Governor Brown, most recently as the Governor’s senior advisor for climate, the environment, and energy and previously as chief counsel and deputy secretary for law enforcement at the California Environmental Protection Agency. President Reynolds began her public service career in 2002, serving 10 years as a deputy attorney general in the California Attorney General’s Office, where she litigated cases involving the protection of public trust lands, coastal resources, and public access, and other environmental issues.
President Reynolds holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a juris doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law where she graduated magna cum laude.
Speaker
Smriti Mishra
Senior Director of Strategic Growth and Partnerships
WeaveGrid
Smriti Mishra is Senior Director of Strategic Growth and Alliances at WeaveGrid. WeaveGrid provides utilities with a technology platform to actively optimize EV charging load, through greater understanding of customer behaviors and delivering on layered value streams for the grid. Smriti was among the founding team at WeaveGrid and led the team through several stages of 10x growth, including landing and launching programs with several of the largest utilities in the country. WeaveGrid delivers results for utilities on resilience, renewables utilization, load shifting, and customer engagement for EV charging. Smriti has expertise in energy innovation, aggregation, and building industry collaborations. Prior to WeaveGrid, she was a Director at National Grid, where she led joint ventures for distributed energy for the unregulated business. Smriti has also previously operated demand response portfolios as a P&L owner, whose team managed over $100M in annual revenue. She has developed several joint ventures that were first-of-kind with unique regulatory structures and bridges for public/private partnership, which each resulted in long term value for all stakeholders.
Speaker
Jennifer Cahill
Distributed Energy Resource Lead
Black & Veatch
Jennifer Cahill is Distributed Energy Resource Solution Lead at Black & Veatch. She is responsible for innovating, evolving, and developing lifecycle management for current and emerging solutions for distributed renewable energy projects, enabling optimal client experience and project delivery. Jennifer has over 23 years of energy experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering as well as a master of science in management.
Speaker
Jigar J. Shah
Head of Energy Services
Electrify America
As Head of Energy Services at Electrify America, Jigar is responsible for the company’s energy portfolio, including leveraging energy storage to manage electricity costs, engaging with utilities and wholesale energy markets on policy matters and rate structures, minimizing Electrify America’s energy carbon footprint, as well as addressing vehicle-grid integration matters. He plays a key role within the company managing the energy used from over 200 utilities by more than 3,500 individual ultra-fast DC chargers across over 800 Electrify America public charging stations – the largest open charging network in the United States supporting electric vehicle adoption. In 2021, these ~700 Megawatts (MW) of 150 kilowatt (KW) to 350 kW ultra-fast chargers dispensed 41.4 gigawatt-hours of energy to fuel more than 145 million electric vehicle miles, avoiding the use of 5.7 million gallons of gasoline.
Jigar was recently named as a Rising Star in the EV Industry by Business Insider for 2022. Jigar has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a minor in Business, from Cornell University, and a Master of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University.
Speaker
James Frasher
Manager of New Business Development, Grants and Innovation
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
Moderator
Josh Boone
Executive Director
Veloz
Josh Boone is the founding executive director of Veloz. Josh has worked in the zero-emissions vehicle field for more than 10 years, bringing the public and private sectors together to advance awareness, understanding and consideration for electric cars. He creatively brings his policy and technical background to grow engagement across a variety of networks to passionately implement Veloz’s Electric For All mission.
Previously, Josh was the deputy executive director of the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative upon which Veloz was founded. He led all Veloz development efforts to foster the initial concept, including directing work efforts to give the organization a name, brand, visual identity, philosophy and workplan while also spearheading board development.
Josh holds MS and BS degrees from the University of California, Davis, and has authored several scientific publications. He and his wife have three children and drive electric.