Registration

Registration, badge pick up will take place all day in the Conference Center. Upon arrival, please head to the Conference Center to pick up your badge and materials for the Forum.

Location: Ponte Vedra Inn Conference Center. (18 on Resort Map) 

Pickleball

Led by United Senior Fellow Ryan Katofsky, members and participants who want to play pickleball should meet at the Racquet Club (20 on Resort Map) at 10:00 am.

Bocce 

United Managing Director Harry Godfrey will lead a game of Bocce for members and Forum participants. Meet on the Croquet Lawn (14 on Resort Map) at 10:00 am.

Welcome Session

Advanced Energy United President & CEO Heather O'Neill will kick off the 2023 Leadership Forum with welcome remarks followed by a conversation with United Leadership about the organization's vision for achieving 100% clean energy and electric transportation in the United States. 

• Heather O'Neill, CEO & President, United 
• J.R. Tolbert, President, Counterspark 
• Amisha Rai, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, United  
• Adam Winer, Strategic Communications Director, United (moderator) 

Location: Florida Room

Welcome Dinner at the Surf Club

Dress Code: Business Casual

Breakfast & Networking

Welcome Remarks

Keynote Conversation - Industry's Role in Energy Justice 

Shalaya Morissette, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Chief of the Minority Business and Workforce Division

The Biden-Harris Administration and the Inflation Reduction Act have put equity at the center of the U.S. climate and energy infrastructure agenda in a way that no administration has ever done. This discussion will explore how the industry can seize the opportunity ahead to ensure clean energy development and equity go hand in hand and to bring cost savings, job creation, and economic development to marginalized communities and create opportunities for women and minorities.

Moderated by Laura Bartsch, Advanced Energy United

Advanced Energy’s Economic Development Potential Including – and Beyond – Jobs

United members will discuss the politics and strategy behind the siting of job-creating facilities, including manufacturing, centers, project hubs, and the like, as well as the impacts on building community support for the industry.

Panelists include: 

• Brady Walker, Head of Government Affairs & Market Strategy, Ørsted 
• Sarah Jewett, Vice President, Strategy, Fervo  
• Leslie Chang, Director of Policy & Strategy, Caelux
• Megan Beauregard, Chief Legal Officer, Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Enel (Moderator)

Refreshment Break

The Inside Story of a Transformative Campaign

An armchair conversation with Evan Wolfson, the founder of campaign that won marriage in the United States, and Amisha Rai, Vice President of Policy & Advocacy, Advanced Energy United.  

Wolfson founded and led Freedom to Marry, the campaign that won marriage in the United States, and is widely considered the architect of the movement that led to nationwide victory in 2015. The conversation will examine lessons learned on how to effectively activate key messengers, bridge a partisan divide, and build power to create a movement that could dramatically change the politics around clean energy in the states.

Strategy Sessions - Collaborate with Advanced Energy United policy team members and United members to develop advocacy, political and communications strategies to address cross-cutting industry challenges. 

Strategy Session 1: Moving the Needle on Siting & Permitting

Location: Tarpan Room

Approaches to solving clean energy’s siting and permitting challenges range from focusing on strengthening local community engagement to pushing policy reform at statehouses to ensure permitting process certainty and circumvent local opposition. This session, led by Advanced Energy United Managing Director Trish Demeter and United members, will develop strategies where United can add value to the efforts to improve siting and permitting in the states.

Strategy Session 2: The Path to a Clean, Electric Distribution Grid

Location: Silver Sand Dollar Room 

Collaborate with the United team and members to inform strategies and approaches working to ensure the grid can reliably and affordably support the electrification of the transportation and building sectors. Discussions will focus on how the U.S. can develop a supportive technology and investment environment, as well as the required regulatory processes and frameworks, to achieve grid readiness.

Lunch

Leveraging Philanthropic Support to Expand Market Share

Advanced Energy United has successfully leveraged the support of philanthropy to expand the issues and geographies where it can engage. How do we build upon these successes and continue to be a strategic partner to the climate and clean energy community?

Panelists include:

• Eugenia Gibbons, Program Director, Clean Power, Energy Foundation
• Amy Fuerstenau, Principal & Co-Founder, AC Strategies
• J.R. Tolbert, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Advanced Energy United (Moderator)

Strategy Sessions – Building a Clean Energy Movement

Realizing United’s 100% clean energy vision requires a paradigm shift to re-envision the regulatory structures, policy, and business models that have served as the foundation of our energy system for decades. Technology, economics, and the best policy proposals will not win this effort alone. A movement like we have never seen in the energy sector before is needed, with coordinated efforts to restructure existing systems, unseat interest-group influence, and quell partisan division that has shaped the national discussion of our energy transition. Participants will break out into two groups to dissect how the industry can address the following strategic topics:

Succeeding in Challenging Political Environments: We can’t shift to 100% clean energy and electrified transportation without winning in red and purple states. This session will explore what’s working and what hasn’t in more difficult venues across the country.

Expanding Allies in the Energy Transition: We’ve made enormous progress in accelerating the energy transition in recent years, but roadblocks remain. From coordinated opposition campaigns to siting and permitting to utilities blocking third parties from meeting energy needs, we must build bigger and stronger coalitions if we’re to meet our ambitious goals.

Refreshment Break 

Getting to 100% Clean Energy in States (with Goals) 
The vision of 100% clean energy has been laid for more than half of the US population with goals established in 22 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Hear law makers discuss challenges, gaps, and opportunities they see that can inform our roadmap to achieving these goals.

• Delegate Lorig Charkoudian, Maryland
• Delegate Rip Sullivan Virginia 
• Representative Marcus C. Evans, Jr.Illinois 
• Suzanne Leta, SunPower (Moderator)

Closing Remarks & Reflections

Closing Dinner

Dress Code: Business Casual

Networking Breakfast available for all participants prior to departure or Policy Council Meeting.

Policy Council Meeting 

Advanced Energy United's Q3 Policy Council meeting will be held. This meeting is invitation only for members of United's Policy Council.