The UPWELLING: the Lone Star State's Role in the Future of Energy Abundance
UPWELLING: A process of renewal and transformation, where deep, untapped resources rise to the surface, bringing new energy and the conditions for growth. In nature, it replenishes ecosystems by delivering essential nutrients. In a broader sense, upwelling can represent moments of change—where fresh ideas, innovations, and leadership emerge to shape the future.
Join us for the first annual gathering of UPWELLING: The Lone Star State's Role in the Future of Energy Abundance.
We're bringing together some of the world's leading Investors, Innovators, Policy-Makers, Technologists, Philanthropists, Corporate Leaders, and Cultural Mavens to explore the future of energy, climate, and technology in our very own backyard. Come plug into to our Morning Coffee Sessions, Experts Panels, Roundtable Salons, Networking, and Happy Hours.
Agenda for Sunday, March 9th:
10am Event start
10:30-11:30am ClimateTech Coffee: The Path to Energy Abundance
As we work towards a future where energy is "too cheap to meter," we first have to confront the dual challenges of a generational increase in power demand and a backlog of new energy generation projects that haven't yet come online. Hear from energy experts and industry leaders about the emerging technologies and policies that can help usher in an age of energy abundance.
Moderator: James Gray, Seren Labs
Angela Kent, Ad Hoc Group
Tiffany Wu, McAdams Energy Group & Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI)
Jesse Peltan, Type 1 & Abundance Institute
11:30 - 12:30pm: Networking brunch
12:30 - 1:30pm: Keynote panel: Texas as leader of the energy transition
Moderator: Doug Lewin, The Energy Capital Podcast; Stoic Energy
Chris Moser, Head of Competitive Markets and Policy, NRG
Sean McEvoy, President, GridBeyond
Jason Ryan, Gov’t and Reg Affairs, CenterPoint, Chair Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources Taskforce
Daniel Baruch, Executive Director, ClimateTech Investments, J.P. Morgan
2:00 - 3:00pm The Intersection of Defense-tech and cleantech: Texas's defense innovation ecosystem and cleantech potential
Paul Farnan, Former, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy, and Environment), U.S. Department of Defense
John Stibal, Co-Founder & Managing Director, LEAP Manufacturing
Collin Belanger, CEO Sawtooth Advisors, Partner, Sawtooth Ventures
Joseph Kopser, Investor, Mentor and Special Advisor for Defense Innovation
3:15 - 4:15pm The Future of the Texas Grid
Barry Smitherman, Chairman, Texas Geothermal Alliance, former Chairman, Texas PUC, former Chairman, Railroad Commission of Texas
Michael Lee, former NA CEO, Octopus Energy
Hugo E Mena, P.E., Chief Growth Officer, Electric Power Engineers
Jonathan Tijerina, Vice President of Corporate Development, CPS Energy
4:30 - 6pm: Workshop: Activating the Central Texas Energy Ecosystem
In this interactive session we combine plenary discussion with curated break out groups to explore the following questions:
What is Texas’s potential role in leading the energy transition?
What would it take for Texas to realize this potential? What limitations and bottlenecks are constraining the realization of this potential?
What specific actions can each of us, as different members of the Texas energy ecosystem, take to unlock Texas’s potential to lead the energy transition?
6:30 pm: Clean Tech Office Hours with the UT Austin's Kay Bailey Hutchison Center and University Experts
This event is brought to you by: Green Workforce Collaborative, Austin Climate Hub, Seren Labs, the City of Austin's Office of Sustainability, the ATP Foundation, the Cometa Collective, and many more.