The Rapidly Shifting Future of US Wind Energy

Speaker: Abby L Watson, Head of Government Affairs, North America, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy

The electricity industry worldwide is in the midst of transformational change. Between policy commitments to clean energy, corporate sustainability leadership, and a growing urgency surrounding climate change, the business of generating electricity has never seen such rapid shifts. Electricity generation is now about so much more than producing electrons – those electrons must be clean, delivered when they are needed, and will come from increasingly intermittent resources at increasingly longer distances from load as renewable energy reaches higher levels of grid penetration.

Concurrently, renewable energy generation technology is reaching record levels of cost-competitiveness. Wind energy today remains the most cost-competitive form of new renewable generation in most of the US, and in fact is the least-cost new source in many areas, beating out natural gas and other fossil fuels.

This talk will review the current policy framework surrounding utility-scale renewable energy, with a focus on wind energy, the coming offshore wind industry, and how onshore and offshore wind will play a role in decarbonization throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The discussion will also include upcoming regulatory challenges and the complementary roles that storage and solar will play in the grid of the future.

MAREA is so pleased to have Abby Watson as our speaker on Tuesday, August 27, at 7:00 at TEKPark (9999 Hamilton Boulevard, Breinigsville, PA 18031, between Kutztown and Allentown).

MAREA meetings are free and open to the public. All are invited! After the meeting, please plan to stick around and chat with friends old and new. Light snacks will be served. Hope to see you there!

For first-timers, please see TEK Park Directions for map and parking directions. (Signs for parking are posted about 30-min before event starts.) Any questions, call (484) 646-3295. Welcome!

Speaker Bio: Abby Watson leads government and institutional relations for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy in the North America, including federal and state policy and regulatory issues. For over ten years, Abby has worked with almost every type of renewable energy from nearly every perspective – development, construction, risk management, project management, manufacturing, sales, and policy. In her eight years’ experience with Siemens Gamesa, she moved from managing landowner relationships during development, to the sale of spare parts in support of its non-warranty fleet, and finally took a role leading government relations. As Head of Government Affairs, Abby manages strategic planning for government and institutional relationships, maintaining a close dialogue with the business development function for both the onshore and offshore business units, while also taking a hands-on role with state policy issues and new market entry planning. Abby is proud to be the founder and Advisor to the Board of the Philadelphia chapter of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE) and is an enthusiastic mentor and advocate for women in the renewable energy industry. Abby studied Geology at Bryn Mawr College, received a degree in Energy and Sustainability Policy from Penn State University, and will enter the Villanova Executive MBA program in the fall.