Inclusive Financial Solutions for Faster Energy Transitions

Familiar financial instruments used to pay for building energy upgrades in the housing sector effectively redline the clean energy economy and hamper decarbonization. At the prevailing pace, the U.S. would reach its 130 million households in two centuries. 

Responding to the challenge, inclusive utility investment policies have produced promising results in an uncommon combination of both red and blue states. This method of site-specific investments in grid-edge upgrades is secured with a utility tariff that assures site-specific cost recovery. Field experience shows it can address persistent barriers while also highlighting some pre-existing conditions that still need attention. 

In this Energy Policy Seminar, Holmes Hummel and Tamara Jones, Co-Executive Directors of Clean Energy Works, offered insights into a leading edge of policy innovation for faster paths to 100%. 

Recording

About the Speakers

Holmes Hummel, PhD, Energy Equity & Just Transitions, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford, and Founder, Clean Energy Works

Dr. Hummel is a Managing Director at Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy and Co-Executive Director of Clean Energy Works, a public interest organization that accelerates adoption of inclusive financial solutions for essential clean energy upgrades. Drawing on two decades of experience spanning academia, private sector, government, and civil society organizations, Dr. Hummel focuses on integrating energy equity and just transitions across the fields of energy technology, finance, and policy. 

Previously, Dr. Hummel served as the Senior Policy Advisor in the Department of Energy’s Office of Policy & International Affairs during the Recovery Act era of 2009-2013 and served as a Congressional Science Fellow for Jay Inslee. Dr. Hummel earned a interdisciplinary doctorate degree from Stanford for work on the policy implications of technology scenarios for 100% clean energy.

Tamara Jones, Co-Executive Director, Clean Energy Works

Tamara is the Co-Executive Director of Clean Energy Works. She has served as Director of programs and policy for mayoral administrations in Atlanta and Houston, as Chief of Staff to a Houston City Councilmember, as the Executive Director of the Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON), as the founder of the Social Justice Impact Project / Inquiring Systems Inc., and as a consultant guide to dozens of organizations over ten years of independent practice.

In the energy sector, Ms. Jones held positions of Director of Program Development & Government Relations at Southface Energy Institute and Director of Programs and Services for the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA). At SEEA, she administered regional energy efficiency building retrofit programs for which she was designated a White House Champion of Change in 2011. Ms. Jones holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Philosophy from Long Island University Brooklyn Campus and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Yale University.