The Ascend Summit brings together prominent electric power experts to offer new perspectives on wholesale electricity markets, resource planning, green energy purchasing, battery storage, and merchant portfolio management.
We hope you can join us in 2025...dates to be announced!
Stay Informed on Summit 2025The wide-scale adoption of renewable energy continues to create unprecedented structural change in energy supply. The Ascend Summit explores how to maximize the value of renewable project development and clean energy procurement by:
Professionals involved in utility and power planning, clean energy procurement, power development, and project financing including:
Take a deep dive into the exigent drivers for valuation, commercial structuring, and power procurement planning by attending Ascend’s pre-conference workshops.
Registration for Pre/Post Summit Workshops is required to attend.
How to Build Value for Storage and Renewable Assets
Commercial Origination, Portfolio Management & Budgeting: Gain Clarity and Confidence in Market Operations
Clean Power Supply Procurement & Reliability Planning: Partnering for Better Outcomes
Sponsored by:
Speaker:
Dr. Gary Dorris, CEO, Ascend Analytics
Pathways toward clean power grid from the longest tenured commissioner at FERC addressing transmission build-out, wind monopolies, interconnection queue, rational economics vs regulatory precedence, and distributed vs utility scale resources.
Keynote Speaker:
Allison Clements, Commissioner, FERC
The rapid acceleration of the Energy Transition has created new opportunities and challenges. In this panel, we will explore what to expect next on a pathway of decarbonization marked by burgeoning demand. We will discuss the macro drivers, economic opportunity, hourly RECs, and impediments of queue reform, transmission, and reliability.
Moderator:
Dr. Gary Dorris, CEO, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Allison Clements, Commissioner, FERC
Dennis Dyc-O'Neal, Chief Operating Officer, Central Coast Community Energy
Vibhu Kaushik, Global Head of Energy, Utilities, & Storage, Prologis
John DeAngelis, Senior Energy Director, Meta
Sponsored by:
Review current power purchase values and trends that indicate future offtake prices along with the implications of 24x7 green on renewables, REC values, and storage. Changes to the future value of RECs will become time-sensitive (hourly) and have significant implications for choices made today. Additionally, a tightening capacity market creates additional exposure factoring into supply decisions. This session will explore, from the purchasing perspective, how to best position clean supply with an evolving future while meeting supply goals. Topics include what it takes to realize 24x7 green, offtake structures and pricing for flexible loads, market conditions and expectations for future of procurement.
Moderator:
Paul Eory, Director of Resource Planning, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Rich Flanigan, Senior Manager of Wholesale Marketing & Supply, Grant PUD
Erik Haug, Vice President of Energy Marketing, Apex Clean Energy
Scott Wrigglesworth, Energy Risk & Portfolio Management, Silicon Valley Clean Energy
The pathways to 100% clean power require significant irreversible commitments today to realize future goals. Learn the strategic approaches, critical criteria, and supply fundamentals necessary to commit capital today and advance these goals with minimal regret. This session will also discuss what makes a clean supply portfolio robust and how the marginal cost of abatement can achieve more productive carbon reduction value beyond the power sector.
Moderator:
Brandon Mauch, PhD, Managing Director of Resource Planning, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Pedram Mohseni, Senior Director of Power Supply & Fuels, Duke Energy
Jared Ellsworth, Director of Transmission, Distribution & Resource Planning, Idaho Power
Changes in tax equity and the transfer of tax credits have changed the capital stack for project financing. Merchant developers with large tax credits are challenged to meet the risk criteria of traditional tax equity. For utilities with hundreds of billions of dollars in tax equity, this session will explain how to monetize these credits through new transfer vehicles.
Moderator:
Gabrielle Jacques, Senior Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright
Guest Speakers:
George Barlow, Partner, Novogradac & Company
Andrew Waranch, CEO, Spearmint Energy
David Haug, CEO, Bildmore Clean Energy
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:
From datacenters to COOPs, loads are finding new pathways to secure clean power with less dependencies and costs through localized direct connections. Bypassing jammed interconnection queues and the economics and timing of hyper-localized power are disrupting the landscape of traditional power procurement.
Moderator:
Nick Devonshire, Senior Director of Investments and Capital Markets, CleanCapital
Guest Speakers:
Mark Gabriel, CEO, United Power
Richard Walsh, CEO and Co-Founder, Madison Energy Infrastructure
Joshua Rogol, President, Strata Clean Energy
Sponsored by:
The emerging standard of 24x7 clean creates hourly REC values and premiums for clean sundown energy and the opportunity for storage to realize REC values. With multiple approaches for around-the-clock clean energy from hourly load matching to measuring the locational marginal emissions the costs of compliance and value of hourly REC‘s change. Learn how to harness this value with corporate and utility leaders at the forefront of carbon free procurement.
Moderator: Mark Dyson, Principal, RMI
Guest Speakers:
Lena Perkins, PhD, Director of Planning & Technology, Palo Alto Utilities
Michael Leggett, Co-Founder, Ever.green
Henry Richardson, Senior Analyst, WattTime
With 1 GW of revenue insurance supporting project finance in 2024, this panel explores the economic value of tail risk protection on project returns.
Moderator:
Adam Hise, Managing Director of Storage Risk Solutions, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Greg Silverberg, PhD, SVP of Strategy & Capital Efficiency, REV Renewables
Craig Gustafson, Associate Director of Energy Storage, Scout Clean Energy
David Stripling, Senior Director of Origination - Energy Storage, Ormat
Christopher Giuffre, Chief Strategy Officer, Co-Founder, USQ Risk
The leading trading teams now rely on the predictive power of algorithmic bidding platforms, leveraging supervised and reinforced machine learning, to manage bidding for their energy storage assets. This session explores how traders integrate these new tools to maximize returns and improve risk management at their organizations.
Moderator:
Mike Huisenga, Managing Director of Bid Optimization, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Daniel Casement, VP of Market Operations & Structuring, Arevon Energy
Grant McDaniel, Director of Hybrid Engineering, Wellhead
Doug Sherman, Chief Commercial Officer, Perfect Power
Ted James, President, ACCURE Battery Intelligence
Sponsored by:
Transitioning from fossil to renewables holds the potential to create cycles of excess and shortages leading to depressed and extreme prices. Where, when, and how do opportunities unfold for renewables, storage, and DERs and what are the indicators of opportunity?
Speaker:
Brent Nelson, PhD, Managing Director of Markets & Strategy, Ascend Analytics
Bringing storage and renewable projects through the gauntlet of commissioning is no small feat, requiring coordination between owners, service providers, and the ISO. It is possible, though, to mitigate the potential risks of delays and operational challenges. We’ll explore lessons learned and strategies to align stakeholders to drive smooth delivery, asset performance, and financial expectations.
Moderator:
Jeff Hartsough, Managing Director of Asset Operations, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Bob Moye, PhD, Senior VP, Tyr Energy
Adam Nygaard, Director of Business Development, FlexGen
Ivan Srdjevic, Business Development Executive, Mortenson
Irrational exuberance or carpe diem: will today's winners be tomorrow's losers? In this panel, we'll explore what are projects selling for, rationalizations, and assessment of the current market conditions for asset sales by market, state, and location. What creates sustained project value and when is it at risk?
Moderator:
Rahm Orenstein, Managing Director of Ascend Energy Exchange, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
John Switzer, CEO, SMT Energy
Hagen Lee, CEO, Peregrine Energy Solutions
Joe Santo, Director of Investment, Arevon Energy
Jeff Clay, COO, Belltown Power
Joel Vyduna, EVP of Commercial & Technology, Key Capture Energy
As AI adoption grows, data center load growth is expected to accelerate as well. Can we forecast the demand curve? Is it linear? Is it geospatially static? Is it entirely CFE-based? Is load balancing an offset? Is technology and design an offset? A panel of industry veterans will deep dive into everything data center to better understand the added stress on energy transition.
Moderator:
Paul Saferstein, Senior Advisor for Data Centers, Ascend Analytics
Guest Speakers:
Bill Stein, Executive Managing Director, Primary Digital Infrastructure
Matt Pfile, CEO, Crane Data Centers
Michael Day, Advanced Energy Lead, Trane Technologies
Enjoy Boulder's best local hikes with your Ascend guides.
We have two hike options: one more strenuous, and one more flat. Transportation to/from Chautauqua will be provided. If you are hiking, wear sturdy shoes and be prepared for changing weather conditions. For those not wishing to hike, we will have lawn games at Chautauqua Park.
Black Diamond: 1st/2nd Flatirons Trail
Strenuous 3.6 miles with 1,446 feet of climbing
Blue Square: Bluebell Trail to Enchanted Mesa
Moderate 2.5 miles with 500 feet of climbing
Green Square: Lawn games of Chautauqua Park
Relaxing 0.0 miles with 0 feet of climbing
Transportation Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:
Advance your skills and market knowledge with technical sessions across the Ascend product suite.
Registration for Pre/Post Conference Workshops is required to attend.
PowerSIMM for Planning & Portfolio Management
Market Intelligence & BatterySIMM: ISO Updates, Price Forecasting, and Product Features
SmartBidder: New Bidding Agent Frameworks to Maximize and Calibrate Risk-Return
For those wishing to stay in Boulder throughout the afternoon, Ascend staff are available to be your guides to local breweries, road cycling, gravel cycling, or eBiking around town. Please notify Ascend if interested.
A - PowerSIMM Planner
B - PowerSIMM Portfolio Manager
C - BatterySIMM
D - SmartBidder
For those wishing to stay in Boulder throughout the afternoon, Ascend staff are available to be your guides in local breweries, road cycling, gravel cycling, or eBiking around town. Please notify Ascend if interested.
Brandon Mauch, PhD, Director of Resource Planning Analytics; and Zach Brode, Manager of Analytics.
Scott Wrigglesworth, VP of Operations & Strategy
Brent Nelson, PhD, Managing Director of Markets & Strategy; Santiago Saravia, Renewable Energy Analyst; Robert LaFaso, Manager of Resource Valuation
Jeff Hartsough, Managing Director of SmartBidder; Tapas Peshin, Manager of Bidder & Trading; Jonah Simon, Director of Battery Products Development
CEO & President
CEO & President
Dr. Gary Dorris is a trailblazer in the realm of renewable energy and recognized as a visionary expert with over two decades of pioneering solutions for energy risk management and portfolio planning. As the founder and CEO of Ascend Analytics, he has spearheaded the organic growth of the company into a prominent provider of cutting-edge quantitative software solutions for energy portfolio management and data infrastructure. With an exceptional understanding of applied economics and finance as a Ph.D. from Cornell University and his remarkable track record spanning more than twenty years, Dr. Dorris has consistently worked at the forefront of innovation in the field of renewable energy and battery storage. His groundbreaking analytical innovations have paved the way for the development of over a dozen proprietary software applications, utilized by a vast network of over 300 energy and renewable resource companies. Dr. Dorris holds a PhD in applied economics and finance from Cornell University, a BS in mechanical engineering, and a BA in economics with magna cum laude distinction, also from Cornell University.
Managing Director of Markets & Strategy
Managing Director of Markets & Strategy
Dr. Nelson leads the forecasting practice at Ascend Analytics and is a renowned expert in new market dynamics, storage and renewable project valuation, resource planning, and renewable integration. Prior to joining Ascend, Dr. Nelson was an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northern Arizona University, while also holding a collaborative appointment with the directorate of Scientific Computing and Energy Analysis at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He also worked for the US Department of Energy from 2014-2016, focusing on technology research and development programs for energy efficiency and demand side management. Dr. Nelson holds PhD and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a bachelor ‘s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Director of Resource Planning Analytics
Director of Resource Planning Analytics
Dr. Brandon Mauch leads a team of analysts at Ascend in providing modeling support for resources planning. He is currently managing work for NorthWestern Energy and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Prior to joining Ascend, Brandon was a Senior Program Manager for CLEAResult Consulting where he managed utility energy efficiency and demand response programs for Midwestern utilities. Before that, he was a Utility Regulation Engineer for the Iowa Utilities Board where he worked on regional energy policy issues, resource planning and rate cases for Iowa’s investor-owned utilities. Brandon holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University where his research focused on wind power forecasting and risk assessment of wind forecasts. He also holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas.
Managing Director of Storage Risk Solutions
Managing Director of Storage Risk Solutions
Mr. Hise leads the development and commercialization of insurance-backed revenue risk transfer offerings for clean energy assets. Mr. Hise founded and led the EnSurance team at Ascend, developing novel risk shifting products to advance storage and renewable energy deployment. Prior to Ascend, Mr. Hise held management roles at Scout Clean Energy and provided strategy consulting with emerging renewable tech businesses. Mr. Hise holds an M.S. in Environmental Science & Engineering from UNC, Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Biological Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Senior Manager of Portfolio Analytics
Senior Manager of Portfolio Analytics
Dr. Fisher leads the Ascend Portfolio Analytics team and has spent the last 15 years of his career in the energy industry, most recently as Duquesne Light’s head of business development where he grew a development platform for the utility’s unregulated businesses. Dr. Fisher has a deep understanding of what developers and project finance professionals need across the project lifecycle. His doctoral research at Carnegie Mellon explored the technical, economic, and emissions impacts of distributed storage, where he created a battery optimization model that explored how storage behaves when responding to retail and wholesale value streams. Dr. Fisher holds a Ph.D. in energy policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in economics and BAS in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Managing Director of Asset Operations
Managing Director of Asset Operations
Mr. Hartsough leads the SmartBidder business, Ascend‘s real-time operations optimization platform for storage, renewables, hybrids, and load. He works across the technical and commercial teams to drive platform innovation centered on customer needs and ensure customers fully realize the value of SmartBidder‘s optimization capabilities. Prior to joining Ascend, Mr. Hartsough was a senior product manager at Cisco Systems, and led product development on energy, IoT, and cybersecurity products. He holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Yale University.
Managing Director of Ascend Energy Exchange
Managing Director of Ascend Energy Exchange
Mr. Orenstein leads Ascend Energy Exchange, an analytics-based marketplace that enables Ascend customers to buy and sell high quality energy storage and renewable energy projects effectively. Prior to Ascend, Mr. Orenstein spent 15 years holding executive positions in the renewable energy industry, including as CEO of Sunflower Sustainable Investment, Ltd (TASE: SNFL), a global developer and IPP of renewable energy and energy storage; VP Business Development – Energy Storage and VP Business Development – Americas, at Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA), a global developer and IPP of renewable energy and energy storage.
Mr. Orenstein holds an MBA from Reichman University and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tel Aviv University.
Director of Business Development
Director of Business Development
Ms. Dolch is the Director of Portfolio Risk Solutions for Ascend Analytics, where she leads portfolio risk management, resource planning, and reliability analysis. Ms. Dolch brings to Ascend Analytics over 15 years of energy market experience, including optimizing reliability and financial margins, settlements, and bringing to market innovative software analytics that assist companies to best manage increasingly complex market conditions. Prior to Ascend, Ms. Dolch was a business development leader at Integ Consulting, a leading software firm specializing in generation solutions for utilities. Her achievements included the expansion into international markets, and the establishment of a substantial market share in the private equity sector. Ms. Dolch earned her BS from Rutgers University.
Director of Analytics & Strategy
Director of Analytics & Strategy
Zach Brode leads resource planning, portfolio management, and valuation projects. He also manages the development of PowerSIMM. Zach joined Ascend after completing his M.A. in Economics at the University of British Columbia. At Ascend, Zach works with utility clients to model energy systems in support of capacity planning and resource assessment and valuation. He also has experience with avoided cost analysis and new resource power procurement analysis.
Mr. Brode joined Ascend after completing his M.A. in economics at the University of British Columbia, and his B.A. in economics and mathematics at Wheaton College.
Managing Director of Business Development
Managing Director of Business Development
Prior to joining Ascend Analytics, Mr. Huisenga was a Senior Vice President and Energy District Business Line Leader with WSP USA, a Top 5 ranked design firm by Engineering News Record (ENR), spending 15 years in roles covering sustainability services, renewable energy, and management. Mr. Huisenga experience also includes leading Product Strategy for Spruce Power, a Residential Solar & Battery Storage Asset Management firm. Mr. Huisenga earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa and his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Director of Forecasting & Valuation
Director of Forecasting & Valuation
Robert LaFaso leads Ascend Analytics’ Market Intelligence (AscendMI) day-to-day practice area, which encompasses the development of long-term supply-stack, market-price, and project-economics forecasts. His work influences Ascend‘s software suite, as AscendMI forecasts drive the analytics behind PowerSIMM and BatterySIMM. Mr. LaFaso conducted the Valuation Due Diligence for many significant M&A transactions, including the multi-gigawatt portfolios behind TerraGen’s sale to Masdar and Origis Energy’s sale to Antin Infrastructure Partners. Mr. LaFaso holds a B.S. in Energy Systems Engineering from the University of Wyoming and a M.S. in Engineering Management from the Colorado School of Mines.
VP of Valuation & Portfolio Management, PowerSIMM
VP of Valuation & Portfolio Management, PowerSIMM
Dr. Shalom Goffri brings extensive expertise in power markets, power asset valuation, procurement strategy, decarbon-ization, and due diligence to Ascend Analytics. He advises private and public sector clients on clean energy business strategy, technology and market assessments, policy analysis, and M&A. His knowledge spans wholesale markets, community solar, and distributed resources.
Before joining Ascend, Dr. Goffri led the power markets team at Guidehouse's Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure practice, focusing on M&A due diligence and strategy projects in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. He has developed detailed cost, performance, and financial models for clean energy systems and analyzed the levelized cost of energy across various global regions and technologies.
Dr. Goffri also has a background in research, having worked at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Managing Director of Risk Management & ESG
Managing Director of Risk Management & ESG
Dr. Carlos Blanco provides expertise to Ascend's clients in analytic modeling, forecasting, optimization, and simulation, while also advancing software products and services. An internationally recognized expert in energy risk management and climate change risk, he advises global clients on risk policy development. His expertise in risk management and climate risk has made him a sought-after trainer and presenter. Before Ascend, Dr. Blanco co-founded Black Swan Risk Advisors and served as VP of Risk Solutions at Financial Engineering Associates. He has published over 150 articles and taught finance at UC Berkeley, specializing in risk management and market risk models. Dr. Blanco holds a PhD in finance from Universidad Complutense, Madrid, where he was awarded magna cum laude distinction. He also has a masters degree in investments and international economics from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Manager of Energy Engineering & Analytics
Manager of Energy Engineering & Analytics
Dr. Peshin leads the Smartbidder Analyst team providing quantitative analysis and client support to optimize battery energy storage and renewable energy resource bidding in live operations in Wholesale Electricity Markets. Previously, Dr. Peshin worked as a Schneider Fellow with Rocky Mountain Institute, Shultz Energy Fellow with California Air Resources Board and as a Senior Operations Research Analyst with PCI Energy Solutions. At PCI, Dr. Peshin worked extensively with utilities facilitating their membership in the Western EIM. He holds a PhD in Energy Science & Engineering from Stanford University, a Master's in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from Panjab University.
Senior Energy Analyst
Senior Energy Analyst
Dr. Vilar serves as a member of the Ascend Analytics' PowerSIMM team. Dr. Vilar joined Ascend in 2023 and has 10 years of experience in energy markets (eight in Brazil, two in the US) - focusing on power portfolio and risk management. Prior to joining Ascend Analytics, he worked at Wood Mackenzie's Energy Management (US) and taught Introductory Finance at Sao Paulo Business School. Dr. Vilar also worked as intelligence and risk director in Brazil, developing risk policies and tools, and thermal and solar assets modeling/valuation. Dr. Vilar holds a PhD in finance and an MSc in economics and finance from the Sao Paulo School of Economics.
Director of Resource Planning
Director of Resource Planning
Mr. Paul Eory, Director of Resource Planning, brings more than 12 years of energy sector expertise to Ascend and leads Ascend Analytics Resource Planning group. Mr. Eory started his career at Bay City Electric Light & Power, where he managed energy efficiency programs and later joined Lansing Board of Water & Light as the modeler for their integrated resource plan. Prior to Ascend, Mr. Eory spent 8 years leading IRPs, FP&A, rate setting, and strategic planning initiatives at the largest municipal utility in Michigan. Additionally, he spent a year on the Board of Directors for American Public Power Association’s R&D Program, DEED, supporting municipal utilities with research, pilot projects, and education to improve the operations and services of public power utilities. Mr. Eory earned his B.B.A. in International Business & Economics from Saginaw Valley State University.
Renewable Energy Analyst
Renewable Energy Analyst
Mr. Saravia serves as a senior renewable energy analyst on the storage products team, where he leads valuation efforts for dozens of storage projects across deregulated U.S. power markets, including project finance and M&A support for over 5GW of hybrid and standalone projects in Texas and California. Mr. Saravia is an expert on location-specific Inflation Reduction Act tax incentives for renewable and storage projects, having developed maps to identify current and future eligibility. Mr. Saravia earned his bachelor‘s degree in environmental Analysis and Economics from Pomona College.
Senior Advisor for Data Centers
Senior Advisor for Data Centers
Paul Saferstein, CFA has over 25 years of experience as a data centers, telecom, and utilities investor at AllianceBernstein, Morgan Stanley, ACQ, and other hedge funds. Most recently, Paul was a contract Chief Strategy Officer for Standard Power, where he spearheaded its AI hyperscale data center strategy. Previously, Paul was a portfolio manager at First New York, where he focused on global capital markets and digital infrastructure, utilities, and crypto industries. Mr. Saferstein graduated Cornell University with a BA in Asian Studies and holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. He studied at the Stanford Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan, lived in Tokyo, and is fluent in Japanese.
Manager of Resource Planning
Manager of Resource Planning
Ben Anderson, Senior Energy Analyst, provides modeling support and analysis for integrated resource planning and forecasting. Prior to joining Ascend in early 2023, Mr. Anderson worked with Colorado Energy office to model pathways for the state to reach 100% clean energy by 2040 and he did portfolio management for various developers. In addition, Mr. Anderson spent five years as a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), focusing on wind energy and microgrid modeling. Mr. Anderson holds an M.A. and B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
Energy Analyst
Energy Analyst
Mr. Martin Chown works as an Energy Analyst on the SmartBidder team, helping Ascend deliver expertise in energy markets, optimization techniques, and battery technology to its clients. His role focuses on developing advanced bidding strategies and analyzing electricity market fundamentals to strengthen SmartBidder's competitive positioning.
Before joining Ascend full-time, Mr. Chown earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in 2022 and interned with Ascend’s BatterySimm team, where he developed novel techniques for simulating real-time electricity prices. He then pursued a Master of Science in electrochemistry from the University of Oregon, specializing in optimizing lithium-ion and zinc batteries. During his time at Sila Nano, he contributed to multiple electrolyte patents.