Jesse Jenkins is one of the world’s foremost experts on the energy transition. A professor of energy systems engineering and policy at Princeton University, Jesse leads cutting-edge research on pathways to net-zero emissions, emerging energy technologies, electricity markets, energy policy, and clean energy infrastructure deployment. He’s a trusted voice for corporate leaders, investors, and policymakers navigating the rapidly evolving clean energy landscape.

Jesse is co-founder & CTO of Firma Power, LLC, where he leads development of the Firma OS optimization and decision support software suite.

He is also the co-host of Shift Key, a widely followed podcast examining the forces transforming the global energy system. His work has shaped national policy, informed major investment strategies, and helped organizations around the world think more clearly—and act more decisively—about their energy future.

Jesse earned a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, worked previously as a postdoctoral environmental fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and spent six years as an energy and climate policy analyst prior to embarking on his academic career. He served on the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine expert committee on Accelerating Decarbonization of the U.S. Energy System, was a principal investigator and lead author of Princeton's landmark Net-Zero America study, and leads the REPEAT Project (repeatproject.org), which provides timely, independent evaluation of federal energy and climate policies as they’re proposed and enacted. He has published over 45 peer-reviewed papers to date in high-impact journals including Science, Nature Energy, Joule and Applied Energy. Dr. Jenkins has delivered invited testimony to multiple Congressional committees and his research is frequently featured in major media outlets. His work guiding, shaping and evaluating American efforts to transition to clean energy was profiled in the Wall Street Journal, recognized with inclusion on the 2024 TIME100 Next list of the next 100 leaders shaping the future and TIME100 Climate list of most influential climate leaders, Vox.com's 2023 Future Perfect 50 list of leaders working on solutions to today’s (and tomorrow’s) biggest problems, and Environmental News Record's 2022 Top 25 Newsmakers list.

Dr. Jenkins serves on the advisory boards of Eavor Technologies, Rondo Energy, Dig Energy and Karman Industries and is a technical advisor to Energy Impact Partners and MUUS Climate Partners.

‍

Elliot Mainzer is President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in Folsom, California. For the last 25 years, he has been a leader in helping to achieve a reliable and affordable clean energy transition by working to support innovation and creativity in renewable energy development, transmission planning, market design and regional collaboration.

Mainzer joined the CAISO on September 30, 2020 after an 18-year career at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), including seven years as Administrator and CEO. At BPA, he led efforts to unlock the wind-energy potential of the Pacific Northwest, managed the development of BPA’s open-season model for transmission subscription and queue management, and worked to balance the needs of the Federal Columbia River Power System with the welfare of tribal nations and salmon protection.

Under Mainzer’s leadership at the CAISO, the organization has strengthened coordinated power and transmission planning with California’s regulatory agencies, integrated record-setting amounts of new power generation and the nation’s largest fleet of lithium-ion batteries, helped preserve overall system reliability during the record-setting Western heat wave of September 2022 and provided strategic leadership and direction for the CAISO’s new extended day-ahead market proposal.

Mainzer’s strong background and personal commitment to regional collaboration as an essential element of a reliable and affordable clean-energy transition have been a hallmark of his leadership at the CAISO, where he has also brought renewed focus on control center modernization, stakeholder engagement and program management in support of the organization’s new 2022-2026 strategic plan. A native of San Francisco, Mainzer has an undergraduate degree in geography from U.C. Berkeley and master’s degrees in Business Administration and Environmental Management from Yale University. He is a senior fellow of the Oregon Chapter of the American Leadership Forum, has served on the boards of the Electric Power Research Institute and the Energy Systems Integration Group, and currently serves as co-chair of the Western Electric Industry Leaders Group.

He and his wife Margaret have twin boys. Among his non-professional pursuits, Mainzer is an amateur jazz saxophonist and dedicated student of jazz theory and history.

Lanny Nickell is President and Chief Executive Officer for Southwest Power Pool. Lanny joined SPP in 1997 and previously served as Chief Operating Officer, Vice President of Engineering, and Vice President of Operations.  

‍

Lanny received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tulsa and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He has participated and continues to participate in numerous industry and philanthropic boards and organizations. Lanny and his wife have four children, and they reside in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

‍

John Wellinghoff is the Chief Regulatory Officer at Voltus and a nationally recognized leader in energy policy. He served two Presidential appointments as a Commissioner at FERC, including five years as Chairman, where he advanced grid modernization and clean energy integration.

‍