The CEDMC Spring Symposium | Norma Hertzog Community Center
Cultural Experiences
The Council’s 2024 Spring Symposium*:
Empowering Local Solutions: California’s Leadership in Clean Energy
Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, with reception until 6:30 pm (Registration opens at 8:00 am)
Location: Norma Hertzog Community Center, 1845 Park Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
The Spring Symposium is the Council’s one-day professional education conference, focused on practical approaches that can be taken to more effectively deploy efficiency and demand management resources to achieve California’s clean energy and decarbonization goals. Topics include a combination of technical and policy issues.
Agenda
Welcome
●
Joe Desmond
, Executive Director, CEDMC
Keynote Speaker
●
Arnab Pal,
Clean Infrastructure Advisors, Inc. and Founder, Deploy Action
Session 1: Balancing Policy Priorities and Costs: Insights from Across the Country on the Energy Transition
The Next Move: State and Local Leadership in a Shifting Landscape. With shifting federal priorities, local and state leaders are crucial to advancing decarbonization and equity. This panel explores DSM trends and program innovations—what’s working in other states, key challenges, and strategic takeaways for California—offering actionable insights to sustain progress in uncertain times.
●
Richard Hart
, Industry Program Director, ACEEE
●
Rodney Sobin
, Senior Fellow, National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)
Karen Zelmar
, Former Program Manager for Home Energy Rebate Programs, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
● Moderator:
LeAndra Archuleta
, VP, Growth Management & Strategy, Energy Solutions
30 min. Networking Break
Session 2: Rate Affordability and Energy Decarbonization: California’s Priorities and Concerns
● Moderator:
Cici Vu
, Director, Energy & Climate Equity, DNV
60 min. Lunch Break
Session 3: Utilities’ Vision: Ensuring an Affordable Clean Energy Future
California faces many challenges as our utilities must simultaneously address the interconnected priorities of affordability, equity, and climate goals. Representatives from leading utilities will share their vision for a carbon free energy future. Through a Q&A, this panel will then explore approaches to balancing infrastructure and customer needs, while highlighting strategies like flexible load management and targeted Demand-Side Management (DSM) programs to reduce costs and support an affordable, sustainable energy future.
●
Yuri Freedman
, Senior Director, Southern California Gas Company
●
David Jacot
, Director of Distributed Energy Solutions, Los Angeles Dept of Water & Power (LADWP)
●
Erica Keating
, Principal Manager of Customer Demand & Generation Programs, Southern California Edison (SCE)
● Moderator:
Cody Coeckelenbergh
, Vice President, ICF
Session 4: The Role of Regional Government Coalitions: Collaborating for an Equitable Energy Transition
This session will highlight the critical role of regional government coalitions in advancing a clean energy future by showcasing current efforts, emerging initiatives, and emphasizing their significance in their importance in balancing equity, affordability, and decarbonization goals. It will feature models like the SoCal Equitable Building Decarbonization (EBD) Coalition’s vision for Southern California, the innovative work of San Diego Regional Energy Network (SDREN), and the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) program vision as a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA). Through these examples, the session will illustrate how regional collaborations are driving impactful progress toward transformative energy solutions.
●
Sona Coffee
, Senior Program Manager, Local Government Programs, Clean Power Alliance
●
Lujuana Medina
, Division Manager, County of Los Angeles - ISD Environmental Initiatives Division
Colin Santulli
, Director of Programs, San Diego Community Power
● Moderator:
Kodie Baig
, Portfolio Director, ICF
30 min. Networking Break
Session 5: Prioritizing Local Needs: Ensuring Community-Centric Program Design
In this session, we will explore strategies for centering community voices in the design and delivery of energy and sustainability programs. Panelists will share approaches for building authentic partnerships, identifying community priorities, and translating local input into actionable program design. CPA (local programs on EV, Storage, and Procurement Challenges and Programmatic solutions).
Emilie Bolduc
, Chief Commercial Officer, Edo
Emily Fisher
, Sr. Program Manager, San Diego Community Power
Mauricio Blanco, Maroma Energy Services
Moderator:
Andrea Marr
, Senior Vice President, Cadmus
Closing Remarks
●
Chris Burmester
, Chief Strategy Officer, Energy Solutions, and CEDMC Board Chair
Networking Reception
Appetizers, beer, and wine served.
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Ticket Pricing
CEDMC Member $450
Non-Member $550
Utility/REN/CCA, Non-profit: $195
Gov't, State & Federal Agency, Student, Academic : $95
In-person only, no online viewing option.
CEDMC Sustaining Members receive two complimentary tickets. For your discount code or to learn how to be come a Sustaining member, email
admin@cedmc.org
.
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Lodging
For lodging, we recommend the
Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa
. We do not have a discount code to book a room.
Happy Hour
All registrants are invited to an informal Happy Hour in the Hilton Lobby, at the
Bristol Palms Pizza Ba
r on Tuesday, May 13, starting at 5:00 pm. We will have appetizers and a space for you to come and network. No need to register, just stop by!
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*
Further details and more speakers are being added, s
ee the website for all the details:
cedmc.org/events/spring-symposium
Information Source: California Efficiency + Demand Management Council | eventbrite