AI x Energy: Gridlocked or Grid Unlocked?

​The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is driving unprecedented energy demand, raising critical questions about its role in the future of the energy sector. Will AI serve as a catalyst for greater efficiency, accelerating electrification and investment in the energy transition? Or will the surge in large-scale computing loads heighten reliance on fossil fuels, and lead to increased electricity costs for consumers?

​Amber Mahone, E3’s Managing Partner, will moderate a panel featuring leaders from across the energy landscape, including utilities, advocacy, data infrastructure, and investment. Panelists include:

​-Gillian Clegg, Vice President of Energy Policy & Procurement, Pacific Gas & Electric
-David Fernandes, Head of Product Strategy, SoftBank Energy
-Skyler Holloway, Vice President of Portfolio & Strategy, Switch
-Elise Torres, Assistant Managing Attorney, TURN

​Together, they’ll explore how AI is reshaping electricity demand and what it means for reliability, affordability, and decarbonization.

​Please register for virtual attendance here: https://ethree.webex.com/weblink/register/rd0594c2b735aab465acc8c1e8f2d835a

​About us: Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (E3) works with clients across the entire power sector—governments and regulators, utilities, energy developers and investors, data centers and large energy users, nonprofits, and research organizations—giving us both a broad view of industry-wide trends and technical expertise in areas like load forecasting, rate design, resource adequacy, and market dynamics. We recently partnered with Virginia Assembly’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to assess how the state's data center boom—the largest in the world—can avoid a cost shift to ratepayers; explore that paper here.

​About the speakers:

​Amber Mahone, E3's Managing Partner, has nearly two decades of experience focused on clean energy economics and policy analysis. Amber has supported state energy offices and regulatory bodies to inform energy and climate policies, such as developing decarbonization strategies and pathways for the Hawai’i State Energy Office, the California Air Resources Board, and the Colorado Energy Office. She worked directly with California Governor Jerry Brown, employing E3’s analysis to advise him on setting the state’s 2030 climate target in Executive Order B-30-15. Amber also works extensively with utilities across North America who want to understand the impact of energy policies on their investment strategies. Through her work across the country overseeing E3’s hundreds of projects per year in system planning, asset valuation, and climate pathways, Amber has a unique and comprehensive vision of the energy sector. While she leads E3, she remains involved in key projects, especially in the emerging technology space.

​David Fernandes leads Product Strategy for SoftBank Energy, which is a US-based renewable energy infrastructure developer and IPP. SB Energy currently has 3 GW of operating power generation assets across the CAISO & ERCOT markets, in addition to a growth pipeline across the US. David is focused on developing solutions to meet US power load growth driven by data centers, manufacturing, and overall macro electrification trends. Prior to SoftBank Energy, David spent ~5 years at Microsoft where he led clean energy & decarbonization programs in the data center business. 

​Elise Torres is the Energy Team Assistant Managing Attorney at The Utility Reform Network (TURN). She joined TURN in 2014 and advocates for residential ratepayers at the California Public Utilities Commission on a wide variety of issues, including: alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure and rates, load growth and distribution system planning, investor-owned utilities general rate cases, and electric rate design. Torres previously worked at the CPUC’s Office of Ratepayer Advocates, and as an attorney for the California Department of Insurance. Prior to that, she was a fellow at the Center for Biological Diversity. Torres received her BS in City & Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and her law degree from UC Law San Francisco, where she also completed clerkships with the California Coastal Commission and the Environmental Law Foundation.

​Gillian Clegg is responsible for the planning, procurement, portfolio management, contract management and settlements of all gas and electric supply. In addition, she is responsible for developing and advocating for policy positions relating to energy procurement and wholesale market design in various venues. Gillian has more than two decades of experience in the energy policy and procurement field. Since joining PG&E in 2007, she has held key roles of increasing responsibility within the company's Energy Policy and Procurement team. Prior to joining PG&E, Gillian worked at Powerex, a power and natural gas trading company, in Vancouver, Canada. Gillian earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Simon Fraser University and a Master of Science in Mathematical Finance from the University of British Columbia. Gillian is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder.

​Skyler Holloway is the Vice President of Strategy and Portfolio at Switch, a leading designer, builder and operator of data center campuses specializing in AI, cloud, and enterprise solutions. In this role, Skyler is a leading contributor to data center design evolution to support AI workloads, front-end power planning and strategic market insights. In addition to his work at Switch, Skyler leads The Gannett Group, a boutique consulting firm in the digital infrastructure space. Prior to joining Switch, he spent five years at Meta, where he played a pivotal role in the global data center program, planning and executing ground-up campus developments and colocation build-outs to support Meta's suite of products. Skyler holds a Master of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

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