The Maui News

A Rhode Island public utilities commissioner and the managing director of the Climate Policy Lab will be the keynote speakers at the ninth annual Hawaii Energy Conference on May 10 and 12.

Abigail Anthony of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission will open the conference with the topic of “When Tradewinds Blow: Maintaining Course during the Energy Transition,” according to a news release.

Anthony is currently the chairperson of the Commission on Energy Resources and the Environment of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, as well as president of the Board of the New England Utility Cybersecurity Integration Collaborative.

On May 12, Amy Myers Jaffe, research professor and managing director of the Climate Policy Lab at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, will address the conference. A leading expert on global energy policy and sustainability, Jaffe chairs the steering committee of the Women in Energy Initiative at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy policy and is a member of the Global Future Council on Net Zero Transition at the World Economic Forum (Davos).

This year’s virtual conference is focused on “Electrification: Where are we now? What does the future hold?” In addition to the keynote speakers, the program will also include a conversation with Shelee Kimura, the newly appointed president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric. Kimura provided leadership for the company’s customer care initiatives through the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn and also led the development of Hawaiian Electric’s 2015-2020 Strategic Transformation Plan.

Other panel topics during the conference will focus on electrification and its connection with battery storage, energy efficiency, transportation, carbon and the community.

The virtual venue will open up to a week in advance, allowing attendees to network and explore a virtual exhibit hall where companies showcase their products and services.

For the full schedule, visit hawaiienergyconference.com/program/.