Catherine von Burg

Chief Executive Officer/President
SimpliPhi Power Inc.

Catherine Von Burg is a Founder and the President & CEO of SimpliPhi Power, a technology company that designs and manufactures non-toxic, efficient, and enduring energy storage and management systems that seamlessly integrate solar, wind, generator, or any other power generation source – in conjunction with or independent from the grid.

Catherine’s career spans a diverse portfolio of strategic planning, policy development, executive management, and multidisciplinary team building in the fields of biomedical engineering and research, health and human services and environmental conservation. Committed to the transformation of the grid and creating universal access to clean energy, she has published white papers and spearheaded national program, policy and business- initiatives with organizations such as Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Institute, Columbia University, NY March of Dimes Foundation, John Hopkins School of Biomedical Engineering, Wilderness Education Association and First 5 Commission of California.

In 2017, representing SimpliPhi, Catherine was nominated to participate in an exclusive entrepreneur program hosted by the U.S. Department of State and the Unreasonable Group. Global business leaders were carefully selected as being the best positioned to solve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Under Catherine's leadership, SimpliPhi has deployed energy storage solutions in 30+ countries, providing access to power in some of the harshest and most remote environments globally. The company has grown to offer a full range of mobile, residential and commercial storage solutions that combine non-hazardous lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) chemistry with proprietary manufacturing processes and materials, battery architecture, power electronics and Battery Management Systems (BMS). Catherine has also lead partnerships that have granted SimpliPhi batteries endorsement by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and exclusive ‘Special Permission’ by the FAA to air-ship worldwide.

Catherine graduated from Columbia University in New York and holds a Master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy.

Presentation(s):

• The Roles of Storage and DER in Disaster Recovery and Resilience

  Wednesday, September 26
  2:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Jan Ahlen

Director, Distributed Energy Resources
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

Jan Ahlen leads NRECA BTS initiatives on distributed generation and energy storage. In this position, he manages a portfolio of research projects, delivers strategic advice to co-ops, and serves as liaison to outside stakeholder groups. Previously, Jan served as Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager for NRECA, responsible for representing rural electric cooperatives before various federal agencies. In this position, Jan was NRECA’s Subject Matter Expert in retail rate design, utility business models, grid modernization, and retail market design. Prior to joining NRECA, Mr. Ahlen served as the energy lobbyist for the National Farmers Union. Jan holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MBA in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University.

Presentation(s):

• The Roles of Storage and DER in Disaster Recovery and Resilience

  Wednesday, September 26
  2:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Suzanna Mora-Schrader

Director, Utility Initiatives
Exelon

As Exelon’s Director of Utility Initiatives, Susan provides strategic policy coordination, analysis and project management in support of Exelon Utilities’ six brands – ComEd, PECO, BGE, ACE, Delmarva and Pepco. In doing so, she works closely with strategy, policy and regulatory groups within the company to provide linkage between corporate policy positions and business strategies and plans. Susan also supports Exelon Corporate and Exelon Utilities with external stakeholders, policymakers, trade associations and outreach campaigns. Issues of particular focus include electric vehicle infrastructure, renewable and microgrid integration, storage, security and resilience, and rate design.
Prior to joining Exelon, Susan was Pepco Holdings Federal Affairs Director, a position she took on 2008. In this role, she served as the company’s primary interface with the U.S. Congress, White House, federal agencies and national industry associations on a variety of issues impacting PHI utilities, shareholders, employees and customers. As a member of PHI’s policy team, Susan also assisted utility leadership develop base line policy positions to allow for consistency across the company’s four jurisdictions. Issues of particular emphasis in her portfolio at PHI included cyber and physical security, event response and recovery, grid resilience, and smart grid functionality.
She has completed the University of Idaho Utility Executive Program and the University of Wisconsin Advanced Rate Design Course.
Susan joined PHI after several years as a strategic public affairs consultant focused on assisting clients in their outreach to Congress on a wide range of issues in the technology and business arenas. Her clients included free trade advocates, microchip makers and biotech interests. Susan also spent over a dozen years lobbying across the country at the state and local levels for a variety of businesses and trade associations.

Susan holds an MBA in marketing and a Bachelor's in economics both from the University of Maryland.

Presentation(s):

• The Roles of Storage and DER in Disaster Recovery and Resilience

  Wednesday, September 26
  2:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Meghan Nutting, MPA

Executive Vice President, Policy and Communications
Sunnova

Meghan is the Executive Vice President of Policy and Communications at Sunnova Energy Corporation. In this role, she works closely with company and industry leaders, nonprofits, and state and federal policymakers and regulators, to craft and implement policies that provide a more stable, sustainable business environment for solar electricity generation. Prior to working at Sunnova, she served as the Director of Policy and Electricity Markets at SolarCity for nearly five years. She has also been employed as a legislative director for New York State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal and as a press secretary for U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe. Meghan has held policy positions at the World Bank; the British Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and a number of environmental organizations. In these positions, Meghan has worked on, advocated for, and impacted a significant number of energy and environment-related issues and policies. She attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and Princeton University for graduate school. Meghan currently resides in Denver, CO.

Presentation(s):

• The Roles of Storage and DER in Disaster Recovery and Resilience

  Wednesday, September 26
  2:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Craig Wooster

Presentation(s):

• The Roles of Storage and DER in Disaster Recovery and Resilience

  Wednesday, September 26
  2:30 PM – 4:00 PM