{"id":344,"date":"2019-09-23T11:05:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T15:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/?page_id=344"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:54:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:54:56","slug":"annual-summit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/annual-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Clean and Sustainable Energy Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

May 21, 2026
\nMontclair State University, University Hall, 7th Floor, Montclair, NJ 07043<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Clean Energy and Sustainability Analytics Center (CESAC) at Montclair State University is excited to organize its 7th<\/sup> Annual Clean and Sustainable Energy Summit<\/a> to accelerate actionable solutions in the field of clean energy. This summit presents an invaluable opportunity to advance discussions around the evolving clean energy economy throughout the State of New Jersey and beyond.<\/p>\n

The theme of this year\u2019s summit is Energy Affordability, Surging Demand and Market Uncertainty<\/em><\/strong>. The energy sector is currently facing a \u201cperfect storm\u201d defined by a rapid, unprecedented surge in electricity demand, severe affordability constraints for consumers, and significant market uncertainty regarding future infrastructure and regulatory landscapes. These issues have become tightly intertwined challenges, shaping energy policy, regulatory strategy, and investment decisions across the country. We are entering a new era where electricity becomes the dominant energy carrier, and meeting that demand will require faster grid expansion, more storage, flexible clean resources, and streamlined permitting and interconnection.<\/p>\n

Several converging forces are driving the fastest load growth the grid has seen in decades. AI workloads are far more energy-intensive than traditional cloud computing, with hyperscale data center campuses drawing as much power as small cities. EV adoption is accelerating, with fleets, buses, and logistics hubs adding concentrated load pockets. Building electrification via heat pumps and electric appliances is shifting winter peaks upward across many regions. Industrial reshoring of semiconductor fabs, battery plants, and clean-tech manufacturing is driving multi-gigawatt regional demand spikes. Affordability is becoming increasingly urgent as the cost of meeting rising demand is growing faster than household incomes. Key pressures include massive capital investment needs across transmission, distribution, generation, and storage; higher interest rates raising the cost of utility borrowing; aging infrastructure requiring full replacement; extreme weather driving reliability and insurance costs; and decarbonization mandates accelerating the retirement of legacy assets. The summit discussions will center around the following topics:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Powering Progress: Aligning Demand Growth with Grid Capacity<\/li>\n
  2. The Affordability Challenge: Balancing Energy Goals and Reliability in a High-Cost Era<\/li>\n
  3. The New Age of Electricity: Understanding the Demand Surge<\/li>\n
  4. Breaking the Bottleneck: Modernizing the Grid for a Clean Energy Surge<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The summit will bring industry experts, policymakers, academia, investors, technology startups, environmental groups, and a wide range of stakeholders for informed, participant-driven discussions on clean energy technology, policy and acceptance. The goal is to address uncertainty by encouraging collaboration and project development to support state and local governments in meeting their clean energy, environmental goals, and resilience.<\/p>\n

    Further, to support K-12 education, the summit is hosting the K-12 Keep Our Planet Green artwork contest that showcases artwork from New Jersey students and teachers for a chance to win prizes in elementary, middle school, and high school categories.<\/p>\n

    Since the founding of CESAC in June 2018, the Center has continued efforts to advance the sustainable clean energy economy providing research, analysis, education, and outreach on policies, technologies, and practices. The Center\u2019s approach is rooted in objective analysis, using science-based environmental and economic techniques for energy and environmental planning. CESAC\u2019s work provides real-world insights to regulators, businesses, and the public. While the Center fosters faculty and student research in clean energy and sustainability analytics, another key effort has been to facilitate collaborative discussion between energy stakeholders and policy makers. We hope that this year\u2019s annual summit will be an invaluable opportunity to address the evolving clean energy transition in New Jersey and beyond, and that together we can move toward a cleaner and more resilient energy future.<\/p>\n

    Speakers<\/h2>\n

    \n
    \n
    \"Benjie<\/figure>\n

    Benjie E. Wimberly<\/strong>
    \nNJ Senator (D-35), Community and Urban Affairs<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Linda<\/figure>\n

    Linda Greenstein<\/strong>
    \nNJ Senator (D-14), Assistant Majority Leader, Vice Chair Environment and Energy<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"John<\/figure>\n

    John McKeon<\/strong>
    \nNJ Senator (D-27), Energy and Environment Committee Innovation Partnerships at New Jersey Economic Development Authority<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Vin<\/figure>\n

    Vin Gopal<\/strong>
    \nNJ Senator (D-11), Majority Whip and Chair Education<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Elizabeth<\/figure>\n

    Elizabeth Noll<\/strong>
    \nSenior Strategist for Energy State of New Jersey<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Ravi<\/figure>\n

    Ravi Bhalla<\/strong>
    \nNJ Assemblyman (D-32), Environment and Solid Waste<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Wayne<\/figure>\n

    Wayne DeAngelo<\/strong>
    \nAssemblyman (D-14), Chair, Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Ed<\/figure>\n

    Ed Potosnak<\/strong>
    \nCommissioner, NJ Department of Environmental Protection<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Stuart<\/figure>\n

    Stuart Nachmias<\/strong>
    \nPresident and CEO, Con Edison Transmission<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Jonathan<\/figure>\n

    Jonathan Koppell<\/strong>
    \nPresident, Montclair State University<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Mark<\/figure>\n

    Mark McDonough<\/strong>
    \nPresident, NJ American Water<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Maria<\/figure>\n

    Marian Abdou<\/strong>
    \nCommissioner Emeritus, NJ BPU<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Zenon<\/figure>\n

    Zenon Christodoulou<\/strong>
    \nCommissioner, NJ BPU<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Binaya<\/figure>\n

    Binaya Srikanta Pradhan<\/strong>
    \nIndia Consul General<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Kathleen<\/figure>\n

    Kathleen Coviello<\/strong>
    \nChief Economic Transformation Officer, NJ EDA<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Dan<\/figure>\n

    Dan Fatton<\/strong>
    \nDirector Clean Energy, NJ EDA<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Michael<\/figure>\n

    Michael Egenton<\/strong>
    \nExecutive Vice President, Government Relations NJ Chamber of Commerce<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Erick<\/figure>\n

    Erick Ford<\/strong>
    \nPresident, NJ Energy Policy Coalition<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Bob<\/figure>\n

    Bob Gordon<\/strong>
    \nFormer Senator
    \nFormer Commissioner, NJ Board of Public Utilities
    \nCESAC Advisory Board<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Lora<\/figure>\n

    Lora Billings<\/strong>
    \nDean, College of Science and Mathematics, Montclair State University<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Pankaj<\/figure>\n

    Pankaj Lal<\/strong>
    \nFounding Director, CESAC<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Jason<\/figure>\n

    Jason Lemme<\/strong>
    \nManaging Partner, Hartree Partners<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Richard<\/figure>\n

    Richard Henning<\/strong>
    \nPresident and C EO, NJ Utilities Association<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Andrew<\/figure>\n

    Andrew J. McNally<\/strong>
    \nSenior Director, Government & Regulatory Affairs, South Jersey Industries<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Upendra<\/figure>\n

    Upendra Chivukula<\/strong>
    \nSenior Advisor, CESAC and Commissioner Emeritus, NJ BPU<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Glen<\/figure>\n

    Glen Thomas<\/strong>
    \nPresident, GT Power Group<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Christine<\/figure>\n

    Christine Bator<\/strong>
    \nCommissioner Emeritus, NJ BPU & Professor of Counsel Pearlman Miranda<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Jeffery<\/figure>\n

    Jeffrey Grant<\/strong>
    \nOwner, EnergyPlus Solutions<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Monica<\/figure>\n

    Monica J. Hlinka<\/strong>
    \nSenior Principal Analyst, S&P Global Energy<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"David<\/figure>\n

    David Wand<\/strong>
    \nAssistant Rate Counsel
    \nNJ Division of Rate Counsel<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Judith<\/figure>\n

    Judith Sheft<\/strong>
    \nExecutive Director, NJ Commission of Science, Innovation and Technology<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Adam<\/figure>\n

    Adam Zellner<\/strong>
    \nPresident, Greener by Design<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>


    \n
    \n
    \"Raj<\/figure>\n

    Raj Barua<\/strong>
    \nSenior Research Fellow, CESAC<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
    \"Steven<\/figure>\n

    Steven Goldenberg<\/strong>
    \nChair, Energy, Climate Change & Public Utilities Practice, Group. Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, PC<\/small><\/p><\/div>
    \n<\/p><\/div>\n

    Our Sponsors<\/h2>\n
    \n
    \n
    \"NJ<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    \"PSEG\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    \"SJI\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Agenda<\/a><\/span><\/div>
    Registration<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n

    View directions<\/a> to campus and from the parking deck to the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Clean Energy and Sustainability Analytics Center (CESAC) at Montclair State University is excited to organize its 7th Annual Clean and Sustainable Energy Summit to accelerate actionable solutions in the field of clean energy. This summit presents an invaluable opportunity to advance discussions around the evolving clean energy economy throughout the State of New Jersey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":46,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-344","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":968,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/344\/revisions\/968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/clean-energy-sustainability-analytics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}