13th Annual AESP-NEEC Conference Speaker Biographies

Ron Araujo has more than 29 years of experience in the energy industry working in various roles within the Northeast Utilities. His broad background includes work in operations management, project/product management, and the marketing and sales of energy/energy services to major commercial and industrial customers. He currently is a Board member for the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships and the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Board (EEB). Other accomplishments include being a speaker for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s nationally televised broadcasts on energy management and restructuring of the electric industry.

Currently Ron is the manager of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Implementation department at Northeast Utilities. The Energy Efficiency Implementation department manages and implements electric and natural gas energy efficiency and load management programs to customers of Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas. Ron has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Connecticut and a certified energy manager with the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).

Patrick Coleman manages the Massachusetts’ Building Asset Rating pilot and supports Massachusetts’ policy and program development to increase investment in the energy efficiency of the commercial buildings sector. He supports the development and implementation of policies related to the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2020, including the state’s building energy codes and deployment of technologies and practices to realize zero-net energy buildings. Before joining DOER, Pat worked in Boston and New York City on affordable housing policy issues. He holds degrees from Boston College and MIT.

Kevin Doyle is an independent Boston-based consultant serving environmental and sustainability industries since 2007. He provides labor market research, strategic planning, employer engagement, facilitation and training. Kevin leads workforce development programming for the member companies of the New England Clean Energy Council through the NECEC Institute. As part of that work, he co-manages the Massachusetts clean energy education directory at www.cleanenergyeducation.org, leads the NECEC’s partnership with MassCEC on the Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Internship Program, serves on the BW Research Partnership team for the annual Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report, and leads energy efficiency labor market studies for utility companies and government agencies.

Before 2007, Kevin was the National Director of Program Development at the national headquarters of Environmental Careers Organization (ECO), a former national nonprofit organization. In that role, he was a senior leader in designing and financing employer-supported work/learning programs at public and private employers that launched the careers of more than 11,000 undergraduate and masters students. Kevin’s work has been noted by New York Times, Boston Globe, Boston Globe Magazine, Newsweek, Forbes, E Magazine, Marketplace Money, Living on Earth, National Public Radio, Sierra, Outside, Chronicle Channel 5 (Boston), Mass High Tech News, Boston Business Journal, and more. He co-hosted a green jobs DVD series. Kevin is the co-author of four popular books about environmental careers for Island Press, including The ECO Guide to Careers That Make a Difference: Environmental Work for a Sustainable World and The Complete Guide to Environmental Careers in the 21st Century. He is currently at work on a new e-book about environmental career trends.

Amanda Dwelley is an Associate Director at Opinion Dynamics. She applies research methods and statistical and analytical techniques from multiple disciplines to develop innovative approaches to assessing program impacts, including the assessment of pilot and behavioral programs. She is driven to find insights and opportunities in customer and program data, and applies data mining and modeling techniques used in the energy and consumer products industries to develop customer segmentation and program propensity scores that can be used to improve program uptake. Across many projects at Opinion Dynamics, Amanda is involved in implementing and overseeing data management and integration, including the integration of customer, program, sociodemographic and geographic data. She is also involved in research instrument and sample design for baseline studies involving energy and end-use metering, light loggers, and on-site audits.

Amanda brings years of experience in interactive marketing research and analytics for clients such as General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Wells Fargo, and General Mills to the Opinion Dynamics evaluation team. In this capacity, she has analyzed market and customer data to inform brand strategy, customer segmentation strategy, marketing tactics, and website design. In addition, she has established measurement systems for online and multichannel marketing activities to test the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Amanda holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Paul Gromer is President of Peregrine Energy Group. Founded in 1992, Peregrine helps public and private organizations make sense of complex energy data and reduce their energy costs and emissions. Peregrine provides utility information management, benchmarking, program and project management, and monitoring and verification of energy savings. Before founding Peregrine, Paul was the Massachusetts Commissioner of Energy Resources and Chairman of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Council. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard Law School.

Michael McAteer works for National Grid, a major electricity and natural gas energy delivery company in the Northeast with its US office in Waltham, Massachusetts. Michael is Director of the company’s Customer and Business Strategy organization focusing on the Rhode Island jurisdiction and customers. He is responsible for the design, development and strategic planning of National Grid’s products and services that feature sustainable design in the built environment. Prior to joining National Grid, he spent five years with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s Department of Energy Resources and was responsible for its policies and regulations directed to utilities within the commercial and industrial sector. He sits on Rhode Island’s Energy Resource Management Council and is currently Vice-President on the board of directors of the New Buildings Institute, a nonprofit public benefits corporation, helping to make buildings better for people and the environment. He holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Rebecca Ann Meyer is a Senior Program Administrator-Evaluator at Northeast Utilities. She develops and administers energy education programs and customer outreach initiatives, including eesmarts, a K-12 learning initiative for Connecticut educators and students, the Museum Partnerships program which funds energy exhibits at the Connecticut Science Center, Trash Museum and Stepping Stones Museum for Children, and the Clean Energy Communities program that helps local towns and clean energy task forces promote energy efficiency. Rebecca also project manages curriculum training and workforce development initiatives in partnership with the Connecticut Technical High School System on the 17 school E-House project and CT Clean Trades program. Rebecca previously worked as a research assistant for a digital policy think tank in Washington, D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from North Carolina State University and a Master’s degree in Environmental & Natural Resources Policy from George Washington University.

Harvey Michaels teaches energy efficiency with focus on strategy innovation, and directs the MIT Energy Efficiency Strategy Project, which conducts business/policy studies of utility, community, and smart grid-enabled efficiency deployment models. Harvey also participates in the MIT Energy Initiative and the Campus Energy Task Force. From 1997 to 2007, Harvey led Nexus Energy Software (now Aclara Software) which builds utility efficiency and customer service Web sites, as well as Meter Data Management systems. Before founding Nexus, Harvey was president of XENERGY (now part of DNV/KEMA Consulting and Con Edison Solutions), which specialized in efficiency resource studies and analysis systems.

Carl Spector is Director of Climate and Environmental Planning for the City of Boston. Before joining City Hall, he worked on a wide variety of environmental and energy issues at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. General Accounting Office, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and in private industry.

Michael Stoddard is the Executive Director of the Efficiency Maine Trust. On July 1, 2010, the Trust assumed the management of all funds and programs of Efficiency Maine, including the electric and gas conservation programs, the Energy and Carbon Savings (or RGGI) Trust, the State Energy Program (SEP) efficiency programs, and most energy-related projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Trust’s mission is to help Maine consumers save energy, save money, meet environmental goals, and stimulate the state’s economy by administering cost-effective energy efficiency and alternative energy programs. Before coming to the Trust, Michael was Senior Counsel at ENE (Environment Northeast), a non-profit research and advocacy group that specializes in energy policy. Michael was appointed to the Maine Energy Conservation Board and also to the Governor’s Emergency Energy Task Force. Michael holds degrees from Williams College and the University of Maine School of Law. Michael resides in Portland, Maine.

Carol White is Director of Program Strategy for Massachusetts at National Grid. As Director of Program Strategy, Carol oversees National Grid’s Massachusetts electric and gas energy efficiency program planning and evaluation efforts. She is also responsible for providing strategic direction and support of these efforts. In addition, Carol serves as National Grid’s representative on the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council. Prior to joining National Grid, Carol was the Manager of C&LM Services at Eastern Utilities. She has over 30 years of experience in the energy business. Carol is actively involved in many professional and trade associations including the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) where she serves on the Board of Directors, the International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC) where she serves on the Board of Directors and the Conference Planning Committee, and the Board of Directors of TopTen USA. Carol has a B.A., Economics and Mathematics from Boston University, an M.A. in Economics from Boston University and an MBA from Northeastern University.