Solar + Wind Finance & 
Investment Summit 2026

Meet Ascend Analytics

Dates:

March 15-18, 2026

Location:

Arizona Biltmore, LXR Hotels & Resorts, Phoenix

Meet with Ascend Experts

Brent Nelson, PhD, Managing Director of Markets & Strategy

Dr. Nelson leads Ascend Analytics’ forecasting practice, delivering market insights that support storage and renewable project valuation, resource planning, and investment strategy. His work focuses on emerging market dynamics, renewable integration, and the impacts of technological change on power systems. Prior to joining Ascend, Dr. Nelson held academic and research roles at Northern Arizona University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy, where he focused on energy efficiency and demand-side management research.

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Shalom Goffri, PhD, VP of Valuation & Portfolio Management

Dr. Goffri brings extensive expertise in power markets, power asset valuation, procurement strategy, decarbonization, 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.

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A photo of William Hargett, Vice President, Ascend Analytics

William Hargett, Vice President

William Hargett leads business development for Ascend Analytics' PowerVAL business, a platform which provides developers, investors, and utilities with bankable and regulatory accepted wholesale and retail price forecasts for their projects by performing dispatch simulations to match customers' specific use cases. William  has extensive expertise in market strategy and execution, project acquisition and Mergers & Acquisitions, and tenders and competitive bids. 

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Rahm Orenstein, Managing Director of M&A Transactions

Rahm Orenstein leads Ascend Energy Exchange, an analytics-driven marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of storage and renewable projects. With 15 years in renewable-energy leadership, Rahm applies Ascend’s forecasting and consulting strengths to help utilities, developers, and investors enhance asset value and streamline M&A and PPA transactions. Book a meeting with Rahm to learn the latest M&A and PPA Market Outlook forecast from Ascend Analytics.

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Erik Schwartz, Director of Capital Markets

Erik Schwartz works with financial institutions investing in energy, guiding investment teams through quantitative insights that strengthen asset valuation, portfolio strategy, and long-term decision planning. With more than two decades in energy-market leadership across Refinitiv, EnergyGPS, Energy Ventures Analysis, Genscape, and Point Carbon, Erik developed a skill set centered on market intelligence and commercial development that supports disciplined capital deployment.

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Erin Vasseur, Director

Erin Vasseur leads business development, delivering regulatory-accepted price forecasts that support investment-grade decisions for developers, investors, and utilities. By applying advanced dispatch simulations to specific customer use cases, Erin enables accurate project valuation in evolving markets. With extensive experience in renewable energy and power, she bridges technical insights with commercial needs to drive clean energy deployment and strategic planning in a rapidly transitioning energy landscape.

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Ferdinand Rapant, Director

Ferdinand Rapant is Commercial Leader for Eastern Merchant Markets and is focused on directing commercial strategy in the developer and IPP client space.  Ferdinand's background includes two decades of energy-market expertise and over 6GW of successful power projects across renewables, storage, thermal space, as well as significant experience in digital transformation with several of the largest IPP's and regulated utilities in the US.

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Danielle Zurek, Director

Danielle Zurek is Director for Eastern Merchant Markets, where she focuses on building strategic partnerships across the power value chain, supporting developers, IPPs, and investors as they navigate increasingly dynamic and volatile markets.  Her market intelligence experience from Rystad Energy and developer perspective from Convergent Energy + Power span renewables, energy storage, low-carbon fuels, and evolving grid dynamics, enabling her to translate market fundamentals and advanced analytics into bankable, defensible commercial insights.

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Ari Greenberg, Chief Revenue Officer

Ari Greenberg leads Ascend Analytics’ growth and go-to-market strategy, overseeing business development, demand generation, and customer success. He aligns commercial execution with measurable customer outcomes across utilities, developers, IPPs, corporates, and financial institutions. Ari brings decades of leadership across energy analytics and SaaS, with a record of building high-performing sales organizations and scaling global revenue teams. Prior roles at Zema Global, Darcy Partners, AlphaSense, and S&P Global reflect his focus on disciplined forecasting, cross-functional alignment, and customer-first operating models that drive sustained growth.

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Join Our Presentation!

State of the Storage Market & the Road Ahead

Monday, March 16, 11:20am | Speaker: Brent Nelson, PhD

Despite the cancellation of 21 GWh of BESS factory capacity in 2025, the US storage market started strong with over 2 GW deployed in Q1, largely driven by utility-scale projects. While investment uncertainty remains, the OBBB Act’s tax incentive timelines spared storage from the worst cuts and spurred activity in the latter half of the year. Developers and investors are adapting to evolving compensation models and financing structures, and storage continues to attract investment. How are timelines and strategies changing with the new landscape, and how can development and investment innovate to drive future growth? This panel will examine the state of the storage market, including deployment trends, financing shifts, supply chain strategy, business models, and technology outlook.

Review the full program agenda here.

M&A Market Trends & Hot Opportunities

The Ascend Energy Exchange, the industry’s market-leading M&A advisory platform leveraging the deepest pool of qualified buyers and sellers, combines bankable asset valuations with complementary portfolio management & risk mitigation solutions.  

Explore current M&A trends, market comps, buyer priorities, and opportunities to acquire pre-qualified assets across ERCOT, MISO, SPP, ISO-NE, and other regions. Book a meeting with Rahm Orenstein to learn more.  

About Ascend Analytics

Ascend Analytics is the leading provider of market intelligence and analytics solutions for the power industry. The company’s offerings enable decision makers in power supply, procurement, and investment markets to plan, operate, monetize, and manage risk across any energy asset portfolio. From real-time to 30-year horizons, their forecasts and insights are at the foundation of over $50 billion in project financing assessments. Ascend provides energy market stakeholders with the clarity and confidence to successfully navigate the rapidly shifting energy landscape.