The future of energy storage in Minnesota

A natural convener and all-around social butterfly, Akisha Everett was welcomed to the Institute on the Environment’s Energy team in 2019 as the Energy Storage Project Manager. She has 15 years of project management experience working in Minneapolis with state and city health equity initiatives and performing in nonprofit management & administration. She is currently a student pursuing her degree in Multidisciplinary Leadership minoring in Sustainability and Communication. She proudly lists North Minneapolis as her hometown and firmly believes in the richness and potential of her community. As an engaged community resident, she participates as a board member of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Association, Cooperative Energy Futures as well as PRG, Inc., with a focus on creating possibilities for all communities and engaging residents from all neighborhoods.

"I grew up during the time of the first Earth Day and solar panels on the White House, which inspired my love affair with renewable energy. My favorite childhood memories were tent camping with my large family all over the U.S. and Canada. My parents also inspired me towards civil rights and social justice, and that motivated me to go to law school, work on political campaigns, and then run for political office. As a Minnesota State Senator for 18 years, I learned that making real environmental and clean energy progress is difficult and faces multiple obstacles, but that persistence, positive persuasion, following the facts and the voices of good people can prevail - and the stars align for bipartisan victories that make the future better. This happened in 2007 with the Renewable Energy Standard and the Next Generation Energy Act, and I believe it will happen again. MCEA has the expertise and tools that can drive that change and that's why I'm thrilled to be in the Climate Director position, at a time of urgency for equitable climate solutions. My special place is the St. Croix River." Ellen clerked for the MN Court of Appeals, was a Hennepin County Public Defender, served as Chair of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Energy/Environmental Advisor to Governor Dayton, and led the Energy Transition Lab at the University of MN. Ellen grew up in New Jersey, came to MN for college and never left. Graduated from Carleton College, and UMN Law School cum laude.

Dr. Perez is a Senior Researcher at Clean Power Research in California.  He currently serves on the boards of the American Solar Energy Society, the International Battery Energy Storage Alliance and Joint Forces 4 Solar. He is a trained scientist with 15 years of experience in the solar PV sector across multiple roles: C&I development, academia, corporate research and software development.  Marc holds his PhD, M.S. and M.Phil in Earth & Environmental Engineering from Columbia University in New York where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, Egleston Doctoral Scholar and was awarded the Star fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency.

As a senior project director for Clean Energy Group and Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), Todd Olinsky-Paul directs the Energy Storage and Technology Advancement Partnership (ESTAP), a federal-state funding and information sharing project that aims to accelerate the deployment of electrical energy storage technologies in the United States. Mr. Olinsky-Paul also works to advance distributed energy storage for resilience and cost savings through state policy and program development, economic analysis and regulatory reform.