Date: October 25, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM EDT / 1:00 PM CDT / 11:00 AM PDT / 6:00 PM GMT
Sponsor: NextEra Analytics
Duration: 1 Hour
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SummaryThe potential of severe, prolonged, and widespread disruption to critical infrastructure represents a growing threat made worse by more frequent bouts of extreme weather. Unfortunately, recent outages have made the power sector all too familiar with the increasing threat. Extreme weather is creating more close calls and outright disasters for energy companies from electric utilities to independent power producers (IPPs) – and by extension commercial and industrial (C&I) companies. As risks from extreme weather grow, energy infrastructure owners must invest in resiliency to handle these increasingly common hazards, so they don’t metastasize into catastrophic events. C&I companies must also be able to diversify their energy procurement and management strategies. This webinar explores how improved data collection and analytics helps a diverse array of energy infrastructure and C&I companies better predict, manage, and recover from extreme weather like heat waves, severe cold, floods, wildfires, and more.
Speakers
Richard Walker
Senior Director - Science and Asset Performance
NextEra Analytics
Rick Walker is the Sr. Director of Science and Asset Performance at NextEra Analytics (NEA). NEA is NextEra Energy’s leading energy research firm that develops forecasting and optimization software solutions that enable low-cost, sustainable power systems and is a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources – the world’s leading generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Rick and his teams are responsible for delivering business value and increasing profitability through the application of scientific principles, research and development, optimization, and advanced analytics for new and existing products.Rick joined NEA in 2005 and was responsible for the execution and improvement of the wind resource assessment and wind farm design process for internal and external customers. Since then, he has held analytical- and leader-based roles in virtually every part of the company and has been responsible for developing and advancing many of the core software products and services being used today.Rick’s core strengths are applied meteorology, numerical weather prediction modeling and data analysis. Rick is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist through the American Meteorological Society and holds a B.S. in Meteorology from Millersville University and a M.S. in Atmospheric Science from University of Wyoming.
Senior Director - Science and Asset Performance
NextEra Analytics
Rick Walker is the Sr. Director of Science and Asset Performance at NextEra Analytics (NEA). NEA is NextEra Energy’s leading energy research firm that develops forecasting and optimization software solutions that enable low-cost, sustainable power systems and is a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources – the world’s leading generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Rick and his teams are responsible for delivering business value and increasing profitability through the application of scientific principles, research and development, optimization, and advanced analytics for new and existing products.Rick joined NEA in 2005 and was responsible for the execution and improvement of the wind resource assessment and wind farm design process for internal and external customers. Since then, he has held analytical- and leader-based roles in virtually every part of the company and has been responsible for developing and advancing many of the core software products and services being used today.Rick’s core strengths are applied meteorology, numerical weather prediction modeling and data analysis. Rick is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist through the American Meteorological Society and holds a B.S. in Meteorology from Millersville University and a M.S. in Atmospheric Science from University of Wyoming.
Anya Castillo
Director - Energy Management
NextEra Analytics
Dr. Anya Castillo is the Director of Energy Management at NextEra Analytics, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. In this role, she leads the development and automation of trade strategies for both ISO-integrated and tariff optimization applications including storage technologies, hybrid energy facilities, distributed energy resources and virtual power plants. NextEra 360 empowers customers to visualize progress toward decarbonization goals, design cost-effective energy systems and maximize the profitability of power generation through algorithmic trading strategies. She was appointed to this role in November 2023.Prior to joining NextEra Energy Resources, she was a Senior Member of Technical Staff with Sandia National Laboratories where she was principal investigator on a $2 million to $3 million annual portfolio of high-growth R&D opportunities focused on facility aggregation, infrastructure resilience and electricity market design. Dr. Castillo also served as an Operations Research Analyst with the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) and has held various research appointments through DNV Kema, Resources for the Future, National Science Foundation MIT Energy Initiative and IBM Research. Dr. Castillo holds a doctoral degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in engineering systems division from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Director - Energy Management
NextEra Analytics
Dr. Anya Castillo is the Director of Energy Management at NextEra Analytics, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. In this role, she leads the development and automation of trade strategies for both ISO-integrated and tariff optimization applications including storage technologies, hybrid energy facilities, distributed energy resources and virtual power plants. NextEra 360 empowers customers to visualize progress toward decarbonization goals, design cost-effective energy systems and maximize the profitability of power generation through algorithmic trading strategies. She was appointed to this role in November 2023.Prior to joining NextEra Energy Resources, she was a Senior Member of Technical Staff with Sandia National Laboratories where she was principal investigator on a $2 million to $3 million annual portfolio of high-growth R&D opportunities focused on facility aggregation, infrastructure resilience and electricity market design. Dr. Castillo also served as an Operations Research Analyst with the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) and has held various research appointments through DNV Kema, Resources for the Future, National Science Foundation MIT Energy Initiative and IBM Research. Dr. Castillo holds a doctoral degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in engineering systems division from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Keith Harding
Supervisor of Science
NextEra Analytics
Keith Harding is a Supervisor of Science at NextEra Analytics (NEA). NEA is NextEra Energy’s leading energy research firm that develops forecasting and optimization software solutions that enable low-cost, sustainable power systems and is a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources – the world’s leading generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Keith’s team is responsible for building, maintaining, and improving algorithms that support NextEra Energy and its goal of achieving zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 2045.Keith joined NEA in 2016 as a Senior Research Scientist and was primarily responsible for developing algorithms for prospecting new wind/solar/storage/hydrogen sites, building models that evaluated near-term and real-time wildfire risk, examining the impact of climate change on wind/solar resource, and improving models that evaluated the performance of NextEra’s wind fleet. His work has played a key role in helping NextEra Development find opportunities for new wind, solar, storage, or hydrogen projects.Keith has a background in meteorology and climate science. He received his B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in Land and Atmospheric Science from the University of Minnesota, and a PhD in Land and Atmospheric Science from the University of Minnesota. From his time as a graduate student and Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Keith has seven first-author publications on the impacts of irrigation on regional rainfall, potential impacts of climate change on Midwestern U.S. extreme rainfall events, biofuel impacts on regional climate, and the impact of various teleconnections on Midwestern severe rainfall events.
Sponsored by:
Supervisor of Science
NextEra Analytics
Keith Harding is a Supervisor of Science at NextEra Analytics (NEA). NEA is NextEra Energy’s leading energy research firm that develops forecasting and optimization software solutions that enable low-cost, sustainable power systems and is a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources – the world’s leading generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Keith’s team is responsible for building, maintaining, and improving algorithms that support NextEra Energy and its goal of achieving zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 2045.Keith joined NEA in 2016 as a Senior Research Scientist and was primarily responsible for developing algorithms for prospecting new wind/solar/storage/hydrogen sites, building models that evaluated near-term and real-time wildfire risk, examining the impact of climate change on wind/solar resource, and improving models that evaluated the performance of NextEra’s wind fleet. His work has played a key role in helping NextEra Development find opportunities for new wind, solar, storage, or hydrogen projects.Keith has a background in meteorology and climate science. He received his B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in Land and Atmospheric Science from the University of Minnesota, and a PhD in Land and Atmospheric Science from the University of Minnesota. From his time as a graduate student and Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Keith has seven first-author publications on the impacts of irrigation on regional rainfall, potential impacts of climate change on Midwestern U.S. extreme rainfall events, biofuel impacts on regional climate, and the impact of various teleconnections on Midwestern severe rainfall events.
Sponsored by:
