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2023 NYC Solar + Storage Summit

Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM

John Jay College Gerald W. Lynch Theater

524 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019

Full Agenda

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8:30 AM - Breakfast and Networking

9:15 AM - Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:30 AM - NYC's Clean Energy Transformation

Join this morning conversation to gain insights into how NYSERDA and Con Edison are approaching the ambitious project of decarbonizing America’s largest City. There is no silver bullet, but rather a number of critically important initiatives that will ensure progress. This discussion will focus on how New York is advancing parallel efforts to reduce building emissions, electrify our buildings, prepare our grid for large-scale renewables and scale up local solar + storage deployment.

Tria Case, Executive Director, Sustainable CUNY (Moderator)
Anthony Fiore, Chief Program Officer, NYSERDA
Matthew Ketschke, President, Con Edison

10:00 AM - City Leadership to Accelerate Solar + Storage

New York City has ambitious climate and clean energy goals, but it also has a complex built environment and significant barriers to realizing its solar and storage potential. Join this panel to hear leaders at the NYC Mayor’s office and key City agencies discuss NYC’s local laws, pending zoning/permitting improvements, and other initiatives to accelerate solar and storage deployment.

Emily Sweeney, Solar Ombudsman, CUNY (moderator)
Julia Casagrande, Deputy Director, Clean Energy, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice
Gus Sirakis, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Buildings
Julian Bazel, Counsel, Fire Department of New York (FDNY)
Steven Caputo, Assistant Commissioner, DCAS Division of Energy Management

11:00 AM - Industry Innovation to Scale up Solar in the City

Nearly 40,000 NYC buildings have installed solar to date, but in a City with one million buildings; we are just getting started. The Inflation Reduction Act creates a ten year runway of federal support for the City to rapidly scale up solar adoption, helping building owners lower their electricity costs while complying with Local Laws 97, 92 and 94. Join this panel discussion with leaders from real estate and the solar industry to learn how companies are innovating to scale up solar in the City.

Luke Forster, Senior Business Analyst, DER, NYSERDA
Noah Ginsburg, Executive Director, NYSEIA (moderator)
Laura Humphrey, Director of Sustainability, L+M Development Partners
T.R. Ludwig, Founder and CEO, Brooklyn SolarWorks
Lincoln Xia, CEO, Accord Power
Noam Bar-Zemer, Northeast Policy and Strategy Manager, SunPower

12:00 PM - Lunch and Networking

12:30 PM - Distributed Conversations

These conversations bring stakeholders and decision-makers together to discuss important issues related to solar and energy storage; identify the key challenges in those areas; and propose solutions to address those challenges. Summit attendees may select the issue of their choice and sign up for seats at the dining room table dedicated to that issue.

1:30 PM - Afternoon Keynote: Lisa Garcia, EPA Region 2 Administrator

The EPA will play a major role in our clean energy transition, including regulating fossil fuel emissions and deploying the $27B Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, including $7B earmarked for solar. Learn more about these efforts from Lisa Flavia Garcia, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Region 2 office covering New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight federally recognized Indian Nations.

2:00 PM - NYC Mayor Eric Adams: City of YES Zoning for Carbon Neutrality

2:10 PM - Financing Solutions to Accelerate Solar + Storage

Between expanded federal tax incentives and the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the Inflation Reduction Act has unleashed billions of dollars in public and private capital that are flowing into the solar and storage industry as we speak. At the same time, interest rates are reaching record highs, creating a moment of immense challenges and opportunities for financing in the solar and storage industry. Join us for a dynamic panel discussion about how leading public, private and nonprofit clean energy financiers are navigating these challenges and harnessing these opportunities to accelerate solar + storage deployment in NYC and across the nation.

Louise Yeung, Chief Climate Officer, NYC Comptroller (moderator)
Gregory Randolph, Managing Director, New York Green Bank
Winston Chen, Director, Capital Markets, CleanCapital
Jay Merves, Director, Business Development, NYCEEC
Adam Gilbert, Head of Sales, Greentech Finance Solutions

3:00 PM - Expanding Access: Workforce, Housing and Community Solar

Ensuring equitable access to the benefits of clean energy is critically important, and there are unique challenges to overcome to bring solar, jobs and bill savings to low-income New Yorkers. Recent Federal, State and Local policy developments are accelerating progress on efforts to overcome these barriers and expand access. Join this panel to learn how leaders in affordable housing, community solar and workforce development are harnessing the Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act, NYSERDA funding, and bonus tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act to bring the benefits of solar and storage to New York City’s low-income communities.

Gaspar Caro, CUNY (moderator)
Anika Wistar-Jones, Director, Here Comes Solar, Solar One
Jason Kaplan, COO and General Counsel, PowerMarket
Charles Callaway, Director of Workforce Development and Founder, WE ACT for Environmental Justice / SUNS
Siobhan Watson, Deputy Director, Sustainability Programs, NYCHA

4:00 PM - NYC Storage: Mission Possible

Energy storage is a cornerstone of New York City’s clean energy transition, promising to provide resilience, reduced grid congestion, and the flexibility needed to replace in-City fossil fuel peaker plants with intermittent renewables. However, permitting, constructing and operating energy storage systems in NYC presents unique challenges. Join this panel to hear how companies are getting it done and how the City and State are providing incentives and reforming permitting/zoning to catalyze more in-City storage deployment.