Monday Morning Sessions — May 1, 2023 VerdeXchange Conference
7:45 AM VX2023 Welcome (BH)
8:10 AM
Stephen Cheung, President & CEO, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation
Morning Plenary I: Status of National & Subnational Policy & Funding to Scale Projects to Equitably Meet the Climate Imperative (BH)
MODERATOR: Laura Friedman, Transportation Committee Chair, CA Assembly
PANEL: Benoit Charette, Minister for the Environment & the Fight Against Climate Change, National Assembly of Québec; Wade Crowfoot, Secretary, CA Natural Resources Agency; Mark Pestrella, Director, LA County Public Works; Jonathan Weisgall, VP of Governement Affairs, Berkshire Hathaway Energy
8:55 AM
Morning Plenary II: Decarbonization Through Electrification: Can the Grid Reliably Support it? (BH)
MODERATOR: Jim Kelly, Director, S&C Electric
PANEL: David Hochschild, Chair, CA Energy Commission; Darcie Houck, Commissioner, CA Public Utilities Commission; Steve Powell, President & CEO, Southern California Edison; Gideon Kracov, Governor’s Appointee, CARB/South Coast AQMD
9:45 AM -
10:35 AM
Getting Sh*t Done: Assessing & Permitting to Accelerate Project Delivery (R)
MODERATOR:
Tanya Peacock, EcoEngineers
PANEL:
Rick Beuttel, Bloom Energy
Stephanie Macoritto, LADWP
Kimberlina Whettam*, KW&A
Managing Weather Whiplash: Adapting the West’s Water Systems to a New Normal (C)
MODERATOR:
Felicia Marcus, Stanford University Water in the West
PANEL:
Adel Hagekhalil, Metropolitan Water District
Bill Swanson, Stantec
Keith Lilley, LA County Public Works
10:45 AM11:35 AM
A Just Energy TransitionClimate Equity & Environmental Justice (R)
MODERATOR:
Jessica Brown, Office of LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto
PANEL:
Darcie Houck, CPUC
Kristen Torres Pawling, LA City Councilmember Katy
Yaroslavsky
William Funderburk, PermaCity Foundation
Heather Rosenberg, Arup
11:40 AM12:25 PM
Utility Undergrounding: Addressing the High Cost of Resilience (R)
MODERATOR:
Jim Kelly, S&C Electric
PANEL:
Hiroshi Tomita, GEO SEARCH Co, Ltd.
Alex Nazarchuk, City of Santa Monica
Stephanie Clements, StreetsLA
Transportation Investment on Steroids: Scaling Wisely & Sustainably (C)
MODERATOR:
Katy Young Yaroslavsky, LA City Council/LA Metro Boardmember
PANEL:
Hilary Norton, California Transportation Commission
Randall Winston, Office of City of LA Mayor Karen Bass
Heather Repenning, LA Metro
Powering Next Gen Clean Trucks & Fleets (C)
MODERATOR:
Terry O’Day, In-Charge Energy
PANEL:
Nate Baguio, The Lion Electric Company
Alex Rafiee, Gemini Motor
Michael Lord, Toyota
What is the Future of Natural Gas in California? (WCT)
MODERATOR:
Jim Kelly, S&C Electric
PANEL:
Siva Gunda, California Energy Commission
Nate Taylor, SoCalGas
Cathy Reheis-Boyd, Western States Petroleum Association
Rountable: Accellerating thru Leverage Project (Boardroom)
(By-Invitation only)
CONVENERS:
Fiona Ma, Treasurer, State of CA
Arnab Pal, USDOE Loan Programs
Office
Matt Horton, Milken Institute
Robert Hertzberg, Mission Possible Project
Dan Weinstein, CTI Housing Minh Le, LA County ISD
Hilary Norton, CTC
An Energy Reserve for California: Next Generation Energy Efficiency (Br)
MODERATOR:
Marcie Edwards, S&C Board
PANEL:
Siva Gunda, CEC
Dana Fischer, Mitsubishi Electric US
Ross Zelen, CA Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies
Noah Newmark, 360 Power Group
Philip Raffi, Peak Power
The Climate Transition: Leave No Worker Behind (H)
MODERATOR:
Panama Bartholomy, Building Decarbonization Coalition
PANEL:
Jon Switalski, Rebuild SoCal Partnership
Daniel Curtin, California Conference of Carpenters
Rusty Hicks, Fmr. LA County Federation of Labor
Ruben Aronin, Better World Group
Assessing the Current State of the California Environmental Quality Act (Br)
MODERATOR:
Janna Sidley, Little Hoover Commission
PANEL: Nicole Gordon, Sohagi Law Group
Doug Carstens, Carstens, Black & Minteer
Trevor Macenski, Stantec
10:35 AM - 1:35 PM (C)
VX2023 Water Charrette (WCT)
(By- Invitation only)
CONVENERS:
Adel Hagekhalil, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District
Mark Pestrella, Director, LA County Public Works
Martin Adams, General Manager & Chief Engineer, LADWP
Brian Jordan, TetraTech
Roundtable:
Roundtable: Update: Will We Ever Update the Delta Water System’s Plumbing? (WCT)
MODERATOR:
Michael George, Fmr. Delta Watermaster, CA State Water Resources Control Board
PANEL: Jay Ziegler, Delta Watermaster, CA State Water Resources Control Board;
Charley Wilson, Southern California Water Coalition
Monday Afternoon Sessions—May 1, 2023
VerdeXchange Conference
12:00 PM
12:25 PM
VX 2023 Luncheon Served (BH)
Luncheon Plenary: Moving Equitably from Policy Goals to Shovels in the Ground (BH)
INTRODUCTION: Stephen Cheung, LAEDC
SPECIAL REMARKS: Tamotsu Saito, NEDO
MODERATOR: Marcie Edwards, Fmr. LADWP
PANEL: Arnab Pal, US DOE-LPO; David Hochschild, CEC; Mike Levin, US House of Representatives, Martin Adams, LADWP
1:50 PM
Post Luncheon Plenary: Upgrading & Greening Our Air & Sea Ports—The ROI (BH)
MODERATOR: Katherine Perez, Arup
PANEL: Phillip A. Washington, Denver International Airport; Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach
2:25 PM
Post Luncheon Recognition: Hydrogen Cities: It’s Getting Real—Meeting the Energy Transition Moment with Three Hydrogen City Mayors (BH)
Kathryn Barger, LA County Board of Supervisors; Eiko Yoshida, Mayor, Namie Town, Japan; Mitch Roth, Mayor, County of Hawai’i; R. Rex Parris, Mayor, Lancaster, CA
OffShore Wind: Challenges & Potential (R)
MODERATOR:
David Hochschild, California Energy Commission
PANEL:
Tyler Studds, Gold State Wind
Karen Boutros, CPP
Investments
Sarah Friedman, Better World Group
3:35 PM4:25 PM
2:35 PM3:20 PM 4:30 PM5:15 PM
You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure: Methane Mitigation (C)
MODERATOR:
Ross Zelen, CA Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies
PANEL:
Penfield Tate III, Project Canary
Judy Lai Norling, Carbon Mapper
Aaron Van Pelt, QLM Technology, Ltd.
Ed Newton, SoCalGas
Education Facilities & Sustainability: Aligning Decarbonization & Resiliency (Br)
MODERATOR:
David Vela, LACCD Board
PANEL:
Beth Tomlinson, Stantec
Rueben Smith*, LACCD
Nick Melvoin, LAUSD
How Do We Scale-up Water Recycling in Southern CaliforniaGetting to 100% (WCT)
MODERATOR: Mark Gold, NRDC
PANEL:
Keith Lilley, LA County Public Works
Rob Thompson, OC San Dr. Craig Bartels, Hydronautics
The Food-Energy-Water Nexus: An Agriculture Rennaissance for Resilience (Br)
SPEAKER
A.G. Kawamura, Solutions from the Land
MODERATOR:
Felicia Marcus, Stanford Water in the West
PANEL:
Nurit Katz, UCLA/LADWP
Charley Wilson, Southern CA Water Coalition
What’s the ROI on Investments in MultiBenefit Stormwater Capture & Reuse? (H)
MODERATOR:
John Withers, OC San Board of Directors
PANEL:
Liz Crosson, Metropolitan Water District
Ed Othmer, North America Wet Weather Sector
6:15 PM
The Quiet Challenge of EV Charging Infrastructure: How Do We Pay for it? (Cr)
MODERATOR: Cecilia Estolano, Estolano Advisors/Better World Group
PANEL:
Hector De La Torre, CARB Minh Le, LA County ISD Yamen Nanne, LADWP Cory Bullis, FLO
Adapting the San Pedro Bay Ports to Climate Change (R)
MODERATOR: Janna Sidley, Port of LA
PANEL:
Hector De La Torre, CARB Chris Cannon*, Port of LA Noel Hacegaba, Port of Long Beach
Investing in Cycling & Micromobility Infrastructure (R)
MODERATOR:
Yuval Bar Zemer, Linear City Development LLC
PANEL:
Naoki Hara, JFE Engineering America
Steve Burger, LA County Public Works
Aaron Paley, CARS
ESG: The Future of Sustainable Investing (H)
MODERATOR:
Mike Wallace, Persefoni
PANEL:
Jasmine Jiang, Sunstone Management Inc.
Lisa Woll, USSIF
Mike Lombardo, Kayne Capital
Next Generation Investment in Clean Energy & Climate Solutions (H)
MODERATOR:
Anil Tammineedi, Angeleno Group
PANEL:
Tom Soto, Latimer Partners LLC
Allan Emkin, Meketa Investment Group
Jake Levine, US International Development Finance Corporation
Karen Boutros, CPP Investments
WTC-LA/VX23 Consular Panel (WCT)
MODERATOR: Stephen Cheung, LAEDC/WTC-LA
PANEL:
Ambassador Marcelo Dantas, Consul General of Brazil
Kenko Sone, Consul General of Japan
Reception to Follow
VX2023 Canada-Hosted Dinner (By Invitation)
Tuesday Morning Sessions—May 2, 2023 VerdeXchange Conference
7:45 AM VX2023 Welcome (BH)
David Abel , VerdeXchange;
INTRODUCTION: Stephen Cheung, Los Angeles Economic Development
Corporation REMARKS: Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles
8:00 AM
Morning Plenary: The Intended Legacies of Public Investments in Transportation & Sports Infrastructure (BH)
MODERATOR: Renata Simril, LA84 Foundation
PANELISTS: James T. Butts, City of Inglewood; Samantha Bricker, Los Angeles World Airports; Ernesto Chaves, LA Metro
9:10 AM10:00 AM 10:10 AM11:00 AM
Intelligent Cities— Reimagining Curbside Policy for Rightsizing & Electrifying First/Last mile Delivery (C)
MODERATOR:
Rick Cole, Office of LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
PANEL:
James T. Butts, City of Inglewood
Marcel Porras, LA Metro
Connie Llanos, LADOT
How Might Electrification, Autonomous Vehicles, & AI Reshape Urban Mobility (H)
MODERATOR:
Mary Nichols, Commission on the Future of Mobility
PANEL:
Blair Schlecter, Stantec GenAV
Ram Ramaseshan, Tata Elxsi
William Rouse, ASC- Yellow Cab of Los Angeles
Is Residential Solar Dead in California?
Opportunities & Promise of Solar + Storage for Underserved Communities (H)
MODERATOR:
Eliot Abel, Namaste Solar
PANEL:
Derek Chernow, Coalition for Community Solar Access
Chris Worley, Sunrun
Andrew McAllister, CEC
Arash Saidi, LADWP
Is High Speed Rail Still a Mirage in the Desert? (C)
MODERATOR: Arthur Sohikian, High Desert Corridor JPA
PANEL: Ben Porritt, Brightline West Patrick Jacob, Alstom TBA, California HSR*
Equitably Re-Envisioning Parks: The Rise of Play Equity (Br)
MODERATOR:
Renata Simril, LA84/LA City Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners
PANEL:
Joe Edmiston, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
Aaron Paley, CARS
Nick Melvoin, LAUSD
Cathy Santo Domingo, City of LA
Housing Affordability: Rethinking the Urban Planning Paradigm (Br)
MODERATOR:
Shmel Graham, Ashurst
PANEL:
Gail Goldberg, Fmr. Planning Director, City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego
Ben Stapleton, USGBC-LA
Brittany Moffett , Arup
Larry Kosmont, Kosmont Companies
Circular Economy
Solutions for Waste & Recycling Markets (R)
MODERATOR:
Coby Skye, LA County Public Works
PANEL:
Rachel Machi Wagoner, CalRecycle
John Shegerian, ERI
Yoshimi Yamamoto, Resonac Corporation
E-Waste Technologies
Addressing the Plastic Crisis (R)
MODERATOR:
Robert Hertzberg, Mission Pos-sible Project
PANEL:
John Shegerian, ERI
Shinya Shimizu, Elephantech
Brad Haydel, USC
9:10 AM - 12:00 PM
VX H2
Super Track (WCT)
9:10 AM – 10:00 AM:
Hydrogen’s Promise and Role in the Energy System
MODERATOR: Brian Goldstein, EIN
PANEL: Tak Yokoo, Japan Hydrogen Forum
Eric Guter, Air Products; Angelina Galiteva, CAISO; Daisuke Yanagisawa, Mitsui & Co.
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM:
H2 Innovations: Ports and Goods Movement
MODERATOR: Jim Kelly, S&C Electric
PANEL: Patrick Jacob, Alstom; Toru Sugiura, Toyota Tsusho America Inc.
Troy Collard, PACECO Corp.
10:30 AM – 11:15 AM:
Going All-In: US & Global Hydrogen Strategy
MODERATOR: Tanya Peacock, EcoEngineers
PANEL: Eiji Ohira, NEDO
11:10 AM12:00 PM
Adapting the Built Environment for a Decarbonized Future (R)
MODERATOR:
Panama Bartholomy, Building Decarbonization Coalition
PANEL:
Andrew McAllister, CEC
Windie Yancy, LADWP
Beth Tomlinson, Stantec
Heather Rosenberg, Arup
EV Adoption—Moore’s Law? (C)
MODERATOR:
Felicia Williams, City of Pasadena
PANEL:
Alex Haring, Advanced Transport Bloomberg NEF
David Jacot, LADWP
Ryan Harty, American Honda Motor Co, Inc.
How Planning with Digital Twins Will Changes Cities & The World (Br)
MODERATOR:
Thomas Aujero Small, Culver City Forward
PANEL:
Myrna Bittner, RunWithIt Synthetics
Dan Mapes, The Spacial Web Foundation
Rob Lempert, RAND
Philip Allsopp, Orbis Dynamics
Arnab Pal, USDOE LPO
Dave Edwards, Air Liquide Justin Ward, Toyota
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM:
H2 Innovations: Production
MODERATOR: Brian Goldstein, EIN
PANEL: Mariam Awara,Pulsenics
David Charette, CHARBONE Hydrogen Corporation
Jag Singh, Golu Hydrogen; Tomoyuki Koide, Tsubame BHB; Yoshimi Yamamoto, RESONAC Corporation
ULI FUTUREBUILD
ULI FUTUREBUILD ULI FUTUREBUILD ULI FUTUREBUILD
VerdeXchange Conference
12:00 PM
Luncheon Plenary: Climate Game Changers: Meet the Innovators (BH)
MODERATOR: Jim Kelly, S&C Electric
SPEAKERS: Carol L Folt, University of Southern California; Martin Muoto, SoLa Impact; Jake Levine, US Development Finance Corporation; Hiroshi Tomita, GEO SEARCH Co, Ltd.
1:25 PM
1:45 PM-
2:35 PM
Post Luncheon Plenary: Hydrogen Cities: It’s Getting Real—Meeting the Energy Transition Moment with Three Hydrogen City Mayors (BH) MODERATOR: Lex Heslin, ENSO Infrastructure
Eiko Yoshido, Mayor, Namie Town, Japan; Mitch Roth, Mayor, County of Hawai’i; R. Rex Parris, Mayor, City of Lancaster, CA
Multimodal & Active Transportation: A Vision for the Future of LA—Cities Built for People are Good for Business (R)
MODERATOR:
Michael Schneider, Streets for All
PANEL:
Yuval Bar Zemer, Linear City Development LLC
Gleam Davis, Mayor of Santa Monica
Lava Sunder, Fmr.Culdesac
Tempe
Natalie Freidberg, Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce
2:55 PM3:35 PM
Affordable Housing: The Vienna Model (R)
MODERATOR: Alex Fisch, CA Department of Justice
PANEL:
Gerhard Mayer, GGLO Architects
Helmi Hisserich, Global Policy Leadership Academy
Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, LA Fam-ily Housing
RESPONDER: Jason Ward, RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness
3:50 PM
Neighborhoods as Energy Resiliency Hubs (C)
MODERATOR:
Rick Cole, Office of LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
PANEL:
Neil Navin, SoCalGas
Panama Bartholomy, Building Decarbonization Coalition
Steven Bingler, Concordia
Jacki Bacharach, South Bay Cities Council of Governments
RESPONDER: Andrew McAllister, CEC
India’s Climate Tech Leadership on Scaling Collaborations with California (H)
MODERATOR: Gunjan Bagla, Amritt, Inc.
PANEL:
Siva Gunda, CEC Aditya Ramji, India Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Research Centre, ITS Jessica Lall, CBRE
Elders Forum: Who Will Use Government to do What Needs to be Done: Has California Lost its Edge? (H)
PANEL: Mary Nichols, Commission on the Future of Mobility
Steve Peace, Fmr. CA Legislator
VX2023 Closing Reception
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
LA County DEO Ensuring Diversity in the Green Economy Forum (C) (By-invitation only)
MODERATOR:
Jeffrey Wallace, LeadersUp & LA County Workforce Development Board Commissioner
PANEL:
Isidro Villanueva, LAC DEO
Lujuana Medina, LAC ISD Green Initiatives
Stella Ursua, GRID Alternatives
Megan Horn, Studio-MLA
2:00 PM - 4:15 PM
VX H2 Super Track Continued (WCT)
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM:
Accelerating Goals: Zeroing-out Carbon Emissions
MODERATOR: Lex Heslin, ENSO Infrastructure
PANEL: Matt Grigori, SoCalGas
Go Tejima, Toyota Research Institute
Virgil Welch, Caliber Strategies
2:30 PM – 3:15 PM: Accelerating Infrastructure: Hydrogen Hubs
MODERATOR: Robert Hertzberg, Mission Possible Partnership
PANEL: Tyson Eckerle, GO-Biz; Jason Caudle, City of Lancaster; Riley Saito, County of Hawai’i; Brian Goldstein, EIN
Janna Sidley
William Funderberk Go Tejima
Karen Boutros
Brian Jordan Brad Haydel
Mike Wallace
Hiroshi Tomita
Ram Ramaseshan Fiona Ma
Philip Allsopp
Nate Baguio
Justin Ward Gunjan Bagla
Matt Horton Hydee Feldstein-Soto
Michael Galvin Jason Caudle
Mariam Awara
Jasmine Jiang Katherine Perez Matt Gregori Jag Singh
Brendan Mullins
Philip Raffi
Charles Wilson
Mike Stone Arash Saidi Gleam Davis
Riley Saito
Jacob Lipa
Jules Radcliff
Daniel Mazmanian
Ana Bandea
Yoshimi Yamamoto
Winnie Lee
Shun Sakaguchi
Martin Howell
Simon Bluestone Jimmy Chen
David Brulotte
Connie Llanos
Rick Taylor
Andrew McAllister
Mitch Roth
Jay Ziegler
Jessica Brown
Jake Levine
Chris Cannon
Josh Newman Rueben Smith
Jessica Lall
John Keisler
Steve Burger
Yuval Ben Zemer
Ernesto Chaves
Rachel Machi Wagoner
Nick Melvoin
Aaron Paley
Shinya Shimizu Victoria Simon
Patrick Jacob Dan Mapes Ben Porritt Blair Schlechter
Noah Newmark Michael Schneider
Marcel Porras Lava Sunder Windie Yancy Ryan Harty
