Speakers:
- Ken Smith, president and CEO of Ever-Green Energy
- Rao Konidena, Rakon Energy LLC
Summary: Konidena and Smith offered their perspectives on the emerging energy trends.
Key discussion topics:
- Grid transformation
- Electrification
- The role of district energy in electrification
- Renewable thermal energy
- Market sensitivities and anticipated triggers
- Energy policy
- Distributed energy
- Dynamic load modeling and grid flexibility
- Community-scale energy systems and planning
- Emerging and disruptive technology
About the Speakers
Ken Smith, Ever-Green Energy – President and CEO of Ever-Green Energy and its parent company District Energy St. Paul. A recognized leader in community and campus scale energy systems, Smith is actively engaged in industry, policy, and academic forums addressing a low carbon energy future. Prior to joining Ever-Green Energy in 2006, Smith worked globally in the engineering and construction industry for over 20 years: planning, designing and implementing mission critical projects, including central plants, microgrids, datacenters, and facilities for advanced tech industries, campuses, international airports, and U.S. Department of Defense. Read full bio here.
Rao Konidena, Rakon Energy LLC – Rao Konidena has nearly two decades of experience in manufacturing, consulting, and grid operator environments. Most recently Konidena was with Midcontinent ISO (MISO) as Principal Advisor for Policy Studies working on energy storage and distributed energy resources. Konidena has worked in several roles in core transmission planning areas of resource adequacy, economic planning, business management, and policy functions. Read full bio here.