2022 SPEAKER SERIES

Solar Technologies & Removing Roadblocks to Implementation

In 2022 ,the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for Maryland calls for 30.1% of the power served to consumers in the state to come from Tier 1 sources, including at least 5.5% from solar generation. This panel will examine whether or not the target is being met and address how to remove some of the real or perceived roadblocks to achieving the RPS goal. Views will be considered from the perspective of the regional transmission organization, local land use and permitting, and entrepreneurs seeking to deploy cutting edge technologies. The session will also address models to finance solar installations, as well as nationally coordinated recycling efforts for the life cycle management of obsolete equipment.

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MODERATOR

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Stephanie Johnson

Executive Director, CHESSA

Stephanie Johnson

Executive Director
CHESSA

Stephanie has an extensive policy and advocacy background. She worked for the Association of Corporate Counsel for several years, where she oversaw international, federal, and state advocacy initiatives and developed policy strategies related to corporate compliance issues. In addition, she served as the Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for TESOL International Association, heading the association’s federal policy and communications departments. She is currently the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association, where she leads legislative and regulatory campaigns related to state-level solar energy in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. She has a M.A. in American Studies from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and a B.A. in English and Political Science from Indiana University.

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PANELISTS

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Adam Dubitsky

Director,
Maryland Land & Liberty Coalition

Adam Dubitsky

Director

Land & Liberty Coalition of Maryland

Adam Dubitsky serves as consulting state director for the Land & Liberty Coalition of Maryland. With chapters in 13 states, the non-profit bridges the communications and advocacy gap between state capitals where energy policy is made and the generally right-of-center rural areas ideal for many clean energy projects. Through the media, testimony, and direct engagement with landowners, officials, and stakeholders they advocate for clean energy from a conservative perspective including property rights, job creation, and American energy independence. Adam has 25+ years’ experience in public affairs. His clients have included trade associations, global law firms, Fortune 50s, and candidates for president, US Senate, and statewide office. After serving as Communications Director and Spokesman in Larry Hogan’s 2014 campaign for governor, Adam joined the Administration as Policy Director. Adam covered a range of policy areas and represented the Governor at national policy conferences. Adam previously worked on Capitol Hill as Senior Advisor to US Senator Scott Brown following a senior role in Brown’s 2010 upset victory for the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. In Massachusetts and Maryland, Adam’s creative, bipartisan approach to messaging helped little-known out-spent Republican candidates to triumph in blue states by communicating effectively across the political spectrum.

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Cindy McCabe

Associate Director,
Renewable Energy Programs,
Montgomery County Green Bank

Cindy McCabe

Solar Program Manager
Montgomery County Green Bank

Cindy McCabe works at the Montgomery County Green Bank as the Bank's Solar Program Manager.  Cindy started with the Green Bank after working as Residential Solar Sales Manager with Tesla and as Residential and Commercial Solar Project Manager with Ipsun Solar.  Cindy brings a wealth of experience in solar customer acquisition, contract management, and utility relations, as well as high level knowledge of solar project design, operations and maintenance. 

Originally from New Jersey, Cindy attended the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University.  After graduating from Rutgers, Cindy served in the Peace Corps in Bolivia where she became fluent in Spanish and completed a successful large environmental project for her site and for the surrounding areas.   Cindy later attended the School of Public Affairs at American University where she studied Environmental Policy and Statistics. 

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Robert Nicholson

Recycling Project Lead,
SEIA

Robert Nicholson

Recycling Project Lead
SEIA

Robert Nicholson spent the first 15 years of his career in the commercial nuclear industry managing environmental programs with a specific focus on waste recycling and ISO 14001 system development at facilities across the US. In 2003, he founded Uniwaste Services Corp, a specialized recycling company that specifically managed mercury and lead containing devices, including cathode ray tubes. He developed a collection infrastructure throughout the United States which was utilized by major OEMs. In 2012, he co-founded NEO Energy LLC. NEO was developed to explore the potential for creating energy projects in the US that use food waste to produce renewable energy and convert the resulting material into organic fertilizer. He received two patents for a conversion process he developed for producing fertilizer from liquid digestate.

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Bob Reid

Owner/President,
American Vertical Solar, Inc
(Invited)

Bob Reid

Owner/President
American Vertical Solar, Inc.

Growing up surrounded by people with a vast number of experiences made my formative years to lead me to spend my life solving problems and to seek answers and finally solutions. Having friends tell me about meeting Nikolai Tesla in person, friends who worked on the Manhattan Project, to being surrounded literally by scientists from Brookhaven National Lab to the inventors of the Mag Lev Train, the florescent light to the Micro Wave was wonderful. Leading and solving became a way of life. As the years passed, I was fortunate to travel up and down the East Coast for many reasons. One thing that first caught my attention was the solar farms- first with great appreciation but then with an ever-increasing fear for the loss of farmable land. Driven even more as community after community began denying solar farms, I was compelled to find a solution enabling them to in essence co-habit. In 2019 I finally, with the help of my associates and my friend and neighbor Dr. Nikolaus Simos "Niko", I found the solution. We now can develop 70Kw in 4-hour day on 1.5 square feet.

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Mark Sims

Sr. Manager-Interconnection Analysis,
PJM Interconnection

Mark Sims

Sr. Manager Interconnection Analysis
PJM Interconnection

As Manager of the Interconnection Analysis Department, Mr. Sims is responsible for technical analysis of new generation, merchant transmission, and long-term firm transmission service requests.

Mr. Sims joined PJM in 1999 as a power systems engineer. Over the next 10 years, he held various technical positions in the System Planning Division. Mr. Sims served as Manager, Transmission Planning for 9 years before moving to Manager, Infrastructure Coordination and most recently Sr. Manager of Interconnection Analysis.

Mr. Sims earned both a B.S.E.E. and a Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering from Penn State University.

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