The ESM program launched its spring speaker series by hosting David Hochschild, Chair of the California Energy Commission, who met with students and talked about California’s sweeping efforts to decarbonize the energy system. Commissioner Hochschild characterized the current moment as the beginning of “The Great Implementation,” in which the state has made its commitment to …
Category: Guest Speaker
Francesca Wahl – Tesla
Francesca Wahl, Senior Charging Policy Manager, Public Policy and Business Development at Tesla, was the featured guest speaker for a webinar held on October 9th at 12:00pm PDT. Francesca previously held roles at SolarCity, and the Silicon Valley Leadership group, and is on the advisory board for the ESM program at USFCA. The webinar was …
Adam Palay – Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Adam Palay, an Associate Analyst at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, was the featured guest speaker for a webinar held on October 2nd at 12:00pm PDT. The webinar was co-hosted by Dr. Jim Williams and Fred Wellington of the USFCA Energy Systems Management faculty. Adam spoke about his unorthodox path journey into climate tech, the value of …
ESM Guest Speaker Series – Saving the Grid in an Emergency: Three Perspectives on Demand Response
Graduates of the class of 2020 were hosted by Professor Jim Williams and ESM Program Director Fred Wellington for an informative talk on the challenges and opportunities in demand response programs implemented by Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs). ESM alumni Brandon Britt (Dispatch Operations Manager @ Voltus, Inc.), Randy Chiu (Program Manager, Demand Response Operations @ …
ESM Speaker Series – Class of 2020 Alumni
Please join us for a Zoom-based ESM Alumni Speaker Series event. This lecture and discussion will cover the topic of Saving the Grid in an Emergency: Three Perspectives on Demand Response. Date: Wednesday, November 16th Time: 12pm-1pmHost: Jim WilliamsTopic: Saving the Grid in an Emergency: Three Perspectives on Demand Response Speakers: Brandon Britt (ESM '20)Dispatch …
Guest Speaker Series Event
Dear ESM Community, Please join us for another Zoom-based webinar lecture as part of our guest speaker series. This lecture and discussion will cover the topic of the electric vehicles outlook after the Inflation Reduction Act. Date: Wednesday, Nov. 9th Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Format: Zoom webinar presentation with Q&A Host: Jim Williams Speaker: Francesca Wahl of …
Guest Speaker Series Event
Please join us for a Zoom-based webinar lecture as part of our guest speaker series. This lecture and discussion will cover the topic of the investment outlook for key emerging decarbonization technologies. Date: Wednesday, November 2nd Time:12pm-1pmFormat: Zoom webinar presentation with Q&AHost: Jim WilliamsSpeaker: Adam Palay, Breakthrough Energy Ventures Zoom link: https://usfca.zoom.us/j/83389684441 Thank you and …
Fall 2022 ESM Community Reception
ESM students, alumni, faculty, and staff joined together last week at the ESM Community Reception. The event provided an opportunity to network, meet new faculty and staff, and watch a special presentation by Professor Jim Williams, who discussed his latest work on decarbonization and recent California and federal climate legislation.

Carbon-Neutral Pathways for the United States
Carbon-Neutral Pathways for the United States was held on 10th February 2021. The event was held with respect to the groundbreaking study by our own faculty Dr. Jim Williams, who was the lead author and Ryan Jones, of Evolved Energy Research, where they discussed about their findings on decarbonizing the US energy system. The recording …
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Climate Startups: Innovations for the Energy Transition
Climate Startups: Innovations for the Energy Transition was held on October 21st 2020. The panelists for the session included Katie Ryan, from WattTime, Daniel Schwab, from Brightmerge, and Matt Campbell, from Terabase. Read more about the panelists: Katie Ryan - Deputy Director, WattTimeKatie is a Deputy Director at WattTime.org - a nonprofit software tech-based startup dedicated to …
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