New England’s Evolving Electricity Landscape

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 4:00 p.m.
Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall, Thayer School of Engineering

Staff, students, and the greater community who are interested in attending can register here.

Visiting Speaker: Amber Hewett

Offshore wind power is a booming global industry – it supports over 80,000 jobs in Europe and consists of over 4,000 turbines worldwide. But only five of those turbines stand in U.S. waters. While the U.S. is nearly three decades behind Europe, the offshore wind story on this side of the Atlantic is finally gaining traction. In 2016, Massachusetts made a large-scale offshore wind commitment, just before the nation’s first (and still only) five offshore wind turbines began generating power off the coast of Rhode Island. Since then, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia have all taken action to play a role in launching the industry. As momentum picks up, major questions are still to be answered: what is the most ideal transmission strategy? Is it possible to protect wildlife and habitat while taking on such immense projects? Should states be coordinating or competing? Where will the turbines be built and which ports will deploy them? The National Wildlife Federation’s Amber Hewett will dig into all of this and much more – leaving us with a big picture understanding of what needs to happen to start bringing the benefits of offshore wind power to the U.S., where challenges may arise, and why states all along the coast should have a plan to get in the game.

Earth Week

Tuck Sustains, Thayer, and the Dartmouth Energy Collaborative will also be involved in programming for Earth Week. More information to come soon!

Visiting Speaker: Jackie Roberts

On Monday, April 15, the Revers Center for Energy, Center for Business, Government and Society, and the Visiting Executive Program are excited to support the upcoming visit of Jackie Roberts, Managing Director and the Chief Sustainability Officer for The Carlyle Group, who will be visiting Tuck in conjunction with the spring mini-course, Managing Stakeholder Issues in Private Equity, taught by David Marchick.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Roberts spent 17 years at the Environmental Defense Fund where she launched and led the first-ever NGO-Business Corporate Partners, served as Director of Sustainable Technologies and Senior Director of the Climate and Energy Idea Bank. Previous jobs included a one-year faculty appointment at Harvard Business School and work as an engineer at EPA.

Ms. Roberts holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Yale University, an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and a Masters in environmental studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Staff and students who are interested in attending can sign up here.

Contest Deadline: Hanover Green Energy Program Submissions

Tuck’s Revers Center for Energy is proud to sponsor a contest for ideas to name Hanover’s new Green Power Purchasing Program. Submit ideas by April 11.

Submit your ideas here.

Dartmouth Energy Collaborative Lunch and Learn

In November 2018, staff from the Revers Center for Energy and 10 of the Center’s 12 MBA fellows traveled to Puerto Rico for a five-day trek to study the factors that contributed to the prolonged power outage, why it took so long for the island to rebuild its electrical grid, and what policies, regulations and commercial investment might support a more resilient and clean energy system over the long term. April Salas, Executive Director of the Revers Center for Energy, supported the team in organizing meetings with various stakeholders on the island including the Governor’s Recovery Office director for infrastructure, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, independent power producers such as AES and EcoElectrica, SunRun, and a member of Rocky Mountain Institute’s Islands and Electricity Puerto Rico microgrid team, among others.

Kevin, Mathew, and Vengatesh will share their experience, sights and conclusions from their visit.

 Staff and students who are interested in attending can sign up here.

Visiting Speaker: Greg Gatta

On Monday, April 8, The Revers Center for Energy is excited to host Greg Gatta, former CEO of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, who will be visiting Tuck in conjunction with the spring mini-course, Managing Stakeholder Issues in Private Equity, taught by David Marchick, former Managing Director and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at The Carlyle Group. Mr. Gatta’s visit is supporting the case study discussion around, “A Good Deal Gone Bad,” related to Carlyle’s investment in the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery Complex. He will share his experiences and analysis of the good and bad decisions the company made with respect to this investment.

The Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining Complex operates two domestic refineries —Girard Point and Point Breeze—in South Philadelphia. The refinery processes approximately 335,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the largest oil refining complex on the U.S. Eastern seaboard.

Mr. Gatta has a background in private equity, formerly with Pegasus Capital, and now advises The Carlyle Group and one other private equity firm.  Greg has a BS in Biological Sciences, and an MBA, with distinction, from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

The Revers Center for Energy is hosting a meet and greet with Greg just prior to the start of the class and a dinner following.

Staff and students who are interested in attending can sign up here.

Northwestern Kellogg Energy/Strategy Case Competition