Rich runs the US Team of RAP. RAP provides policy and technical support on energy to governments. RAP does this through direct technical assistance and through writing, collaborating and other means. By working with government, RAP works with all stakeholders. Rich has worked with RAP for 16 years. He is also a member of the board of the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, and co-chairs its EM&V Forum. www.raponline.org
Before joining RAP, Rich was Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service for nearly a decade. While commissioner, Rich was chairman of the National Association of State Energy Officials from 1998-2000, and co-founded EVermont, a public private consortium to promote the development of electric vehicles in 1993. Prior to that, Rich held engineering positions with VDPS. Rich began his career as an engineer in power generation with Philadelphia Electric. Rich received his engineering degree from Brown University and his masters in Engineering Management from Drexel University. Rich received the Mary Kilmarx Award from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and a service award from the National Association of State Energy Officials.
EXPERIENCE AT THE DISTRIBUTION EDGE
With RAP, Rich and the RAP US Team work with states trying to address regulatory and policy barriers to developing distributed resources, and continues to help accurately value distributed resources in the power system. Rich has also worked to make demand response count in wholesale markets and continues to oversee a collaborative process with seven PJM states on distributed resource deployment in a process called MADRI, and in the Pacific Northwest in a process called PNDRP. Rich and RAP are advising several PUCs on power sector reform.
With the State of Vermont, Rich’s agency supported the IRP process and worked to create a sound footing for energy efficiency, ultimately by contributing to the creation of Efficiency Vermont. He also drove in Vermont the start of net metering in 1999 and supported the sustainable development of biomass for energy in various forms. Since leaving state employ, Rich has worked with the Vermont legislature on a number of distributed resource matters including net metering, interconnection and district energy, and also served on the Clean Energy Development Fund, which provided capital support for distributed generation in Vermont.
DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANT TO OFFER TEAMS TRYING TO ACCELERATE THEIR PROJECTS
Insight in how to match policy priorities and long term goals with specific and practical implementation tactics.
WHAT PERSONALLY MOTIVATES YOU TO WORK ON ISSUES AT THE DISTRIBUTION EDGE?
Climate change mitigation and improved efficiency in the power system are consistent with an embrace of customer resources within utility regulation. Power sector transformation describes what states similarly inclined are doing now. The tragedy is if policy and regulation controlled by government decisions (noting that the absence of a decision is a decision) work to suppress the potential of these resources to deliver their value. Policy and regulation represent important societal goals. My work with RAP seeks to find their proper balance through creativity and recognition that technology offers significant value-add potential.
