2021 SPEAKER SERIES

Building & Bankrolling Energy Projects

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

The project development pathway can be complicated and treacherous! This session provides navigation assistance for project developers and identifies programmatic solutions that Maryland may consider. Green bonds, green banks, and catalytic capital funds, and model programs other states have successfully deployed, will be featured.

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MODERATOR

Jason Schwartzberg

President
MD Energy Advisors

Jason Schwartzberg

President
MD Energy Advisors

After identifying the need for a diverse and approachable energy company focused on unparalleled customer service, Jason co-founded MD Energy Advisors in 2010 as a nights and weekends project with two business partners and $10,000.

Focusing on anticipating and solving energy problems and reducing energy spend to maximize profitability, the company was sustainable by late 2012, and Schwartzberg and his business partners took the leap to focus on the business full-time.

Through Schwartzberg’s leadership, MD Energy Advisors has grown from humble beginnings to over 25 full time employees. Service offerings include energy brokerage, energy efficiency, renewables, energy staffing and CPACE financing.

Schwartzberg’s civic engagement includes past president of the alumni association for McDonogh School, real estate committee for The Associated and Board of Directors for Northwest Hospital.

Jason earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Loyola University Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in government from Franklin & Marshall College. He recently graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and ICIC’s Inner City Capital Connections executive leadership training program.

Jason resides in Cockeysville with his wife, two children and English Cream Golden Retriever, Bo.

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PANELISTS

Joel Cohn

Partner
CohnReznick

Joel Cohn

Partner
CohnReznick

Joel Cohn is a partner in CohnReznick’s Transaction Consulting Group. Since 1995, he has provided transaction structuring advice and technical services to sponsors of various tax credit projects including, among others, renewable energy projects. His broad experience in raising tax equity brings to bear solutions where business goals and tax rules would appear to conflict.

Joel believes the key is having an understanding of the goals of the various stakeholders and the alternative ways those goals can be achieved. Joel’s advice has included maximization of credits through re-categorization of costs, contract restructuring and tax planning, all while working within the framework of tax law; creation of transaction structures designed to satisfy the key agendas of various stakeholders; exit strategy development for investors/ developers, including the creation of various option strategies; development of strategies that maximize sponsor return on investment; and creation of transaction structures that permit economic participation by not-for-profits.His tax credit transaction experience includes several hundred projects throughout the country.

Joel has contributed policy advice to working groups across the country, advising on both federal and state tax credit law, consequently generating substantial improvements to the programs and to the public’s understanding of the law.

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Bryan Garcia

President and CEO
Connecticut Green Bank

Bryan Garcia

President and CEO
Connecticut Green Bank

Bryan Garcia is the president and CEO of the Connecticut Green Bank the nation’s first state-level green bank. The green bank model demonstrates how smarter use of public resources can attract more private investment in the green economy reducing the burden of energy costs on households and businesses, creating jobs in local communities, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global climate change. With its message of “inclusive prosperity,” the Connecticut Green Bank won the “Innovations in American Government Awards” in 2017 by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation – read Inclusive Prosperity and the Green Economy.

Bryan is the Co-Chair of the Financing Solutions Working Group of the State Energy Efficiency Action Network of the USDOE, on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Connecticut (Co-Chair), and the Center for Sustainable Energy, and on the advisory boards of the University of Connecticut School of Engineering and the Yale Center for Business and the Environment.

He holds a B.S. degree in political economy of natural resources from U.C. Berkeley, M.P.A. in public and non-profit administration and an M.B.A. in finance from New York University, and an M.E.M. degree from Yale University.

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Abigail Johnson

President/Owner
Abacus Property Solutions, LLC

Abigail Johnson

President/Owner
Abacus Property Solutions, LLC

Abby Johnson is Executive Director and founder of the Virginia PACE Authority (VPA) and President of Abacus Property Solutions (Abacus).  Since 2012, Abby has specialized in PACE financing, advising commercial building owners, lenders and public sector clients in PACE project and program development. She has been instrumental in developing PACE programs around the country through crafting of PACE legislation, creating program guidelines, and launching and administering PACE programs.

Prior to specializing in PACE, Abby worked for over 15 years in commercial real estate in the US and Europe as an architect, management consultant, and commercial mortgage banker.  She is the recipient of numerous awards at both the state and national level and has been successful in garnering numerous grants around energy efficiency and resiliency. Abby is active in supporting affordable housing, sustainability and economic development, evidenced by her service as a Board member of Virginia Housing, PACE Nation, the MidAtlantic PACE Alliance, and Wahoos for Sustainability.  She has a Bachelor of Architectural History from the University of Virginia and a Master’s in Business from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

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Kerry O'Neill

CEO
Inclusive Prosperity Capital

Kerry O'Neill

CEO
Inclusive Prosperity Capital

Kerry leads Inclusive Prosperity Capital, a not-for-profit investment fund that was spun out of the Connecticut Green Bank to scale up impact for underserved communities and underinvested markets across the country. Inclusive Prosperity Capital operates at the intersection of community development, clean energy finance and climate impact with a collection of products and strategies that use an “ecosystem” approach to matching capital supply with project demand through mission-aligned partners on the ground.

Kerry’s work at IPC and previously at the Connecticut Green Bank managing single family and multifamily financing programs and low-to-moderate income initiatives has given her tremendous exposure to the kind of institutional challenges – and opportunities – associated with clean energy investing for underserved communities. She and her team use a channel marketing and partnership origination approach and a variety of financial structures, all sharing a focus on reducing energy burdens by expanding access to credit.

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Benjamin Rupert

Energy Project and Procurement Manager
Maryland Clean Energy Center

Benjamin Rupert

Energy Project and Procurement Manager
Maryland Clean Energy Center

Mr. Rupert brings more than 15 years of experience developing, creatively financing, and implementing clean energy projects and programs to the Maryland Clean Energy Center. He has spent significant time working in both the public and private sectors, and has unique experience developing collaborative procurement solutions to implement cost effective clean energy projects. He has provided technical support and leadership for a wide array of energy projects, including energy efficiency, combined heat and power, microgrid, energy storage, and renewable energy systems including solar, wind, renewable natural gas (RNG), and biomass.

Beyond technical energy expertise, Ben holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy. He has significant experience developing and implementing climate and energy policy at the state and local levels, and has served as a building codes and standards advisor for the States of Washington and California. He is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM), has served on the board of directors for the Association of Energy Engineer’s National Capital Chapter since 2016, and is a past president of the organizations Pacific Northwest Chapter.

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