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The USA ESCO Market – Trends and Barriers

The USA ESCO market – Trends and Barriers

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NAESCO will present the ESCO market in the United States and thus continue our presentations of central markets for ESCOs! NAESCOs Timothy Unruh, Executive Director, Donald Gilligan, President, and Natasha Shah, VP of Government Strategy, will each present their perspectives on the American ESCO market, which has existed for over 40 years and has developed a strong market and robust set of ESCOs engaged. It is the longest in existence, and the speakers will share their insights as to what has created it, how the US market functions and finally, what are the trends in the US that will affect the ESCO market in the future. There’ll be enough for all to learn from.

Meet the speakers

Timothy Unruh

Executive Director
Timothy Unruh
Organisation: National Association of Energy Service Companies

Email: Timothy.Unruh@naesco.org

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Bio

Dr. Timothy D. Unruh is the Executive Director of the National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO). In this role, he manages the representation of its member Energy Service Companies. NAESCO provides advocacy for the industry at the Federal, State and Local levels, and provides for member company Accreditation.

Prior to this role, Dr. Unruh was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Renewable Power at the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office of the US Department of Energy (DOE). As the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Dr. Unruh managed the nation’s renewable power research, while also providing oversight to the Grid Modernization Initiative.

Also, while at the DOE EERE, Dr. Unruh Directed the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). As FEMP Director, Dr. Unruh oversaw the implementation of policy and actions that resulted in energy efficiency implementation, renewable energy adoption, and reductions in energy and water use in Federal government operations. Dr. Unruh coordinates with DOE national laboratories and other Federal agencies in this capacity.

Dr. Unruh has a doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
Donald Gilligan

President
Donald Gilligan
Organisation: National Association of Energy Service Companies

Email: Donald.Gilligan@naesco.org

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Bio

Donald Gilligan is the President of the National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO), a trade association of 110 companies that deliver about $7 billion of energy efficiency and renewable projects annually in the US (www.naesco.org). He coordinates NAESCO’s state and federal advocacy activities, advocating for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability policies and programs in legislative, regulatory and policy forums. He has worked in the energy efficiency industry for 45 years, as a consultant, entrepreneur, and state government official. He also serves as the Board Treasurer of the Emerald Cities Collaborative (www.emeraldcities.org) and the Board Chair of PACENation (www.pacenation.org), and is a graduate of Harvard University
Natasha Shah

Vice President

Natasha Shah

Organisation: National Association of Energy Service Companies

Bio

Natasha is currently the Vice President of Government Strategy at the National Association of Energy Service Companies. Natasha has an extensive background in energy services, spending many years in leadership at leading US energy service firms, including NORESCO, Southland Energy, and Siemens. Her work spans the market from state and local, elementary and secondary school education, to university, and federal project development. Natasha is a capable leader in energy services from her technical background from Louisiana State University where she earned the Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering to her extensive training in LEED certification, leadership, and business development.
Søren Lütken

Chair of Global ESCO Network
Søren Lütken
Organisation: Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency

Email: soren.lutken@un.org

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Bio

Soren E. Lütken holds a PhD in assessing European energy utilities' investment strategies with respect to UNFCCC investment vehicles such as CDM. Further, he combines an MBA background with experience from 10 years of service in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tasked with multilateral finance advice and Danish bilateral climate change collaboration with China.

His approach to the energy sector is financial and political rather than technical. He has been working with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in Eastern Europe with e.g. EBRD financing in the 1990s, private energy infrastructure financing in Asia in the late 1990s, CDM investment, mainly wind energy and hydro projects, in India and China from 2003 onwards, and ESCO concept development in China's steel sector in 2008-2010.

Since joining the UNEP DTU (now UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre) and its climate change-focused advisory in 2010 his work has focused on the linkage between energy investments and the politically controlled frameworks that determine investment conditions. He initiated the Global ESCO Network in 2019, realizing the missing link between the climate change agenda and the obvious role of ESCOs in emissions reduction.

He has authored two books and several working papers, including ‘Corporate Strategies and the CDM – developing country financing for developed country commitments?’ published in 2008, 'Financial Engineering of Climate Investment in Developing Countries' published in 2014 and several guidebooks on climate action and sector-specific energy efficiency implementation, including UNFCCC Guidance.

He is the author of two books on climate finance (published at Edward Elgar & Anthem Press respectively) as well as numerous guides and working papers on NAMAs and climate finance.