Team

IREG is a network of international renewable energy policy experts, who advise businesses, investors, and policy makers. The team has proven expertise, market insights, and policy solutions to support renewable energy market growth. Biographies of the network members are available here.  

Wilson Rickerson is the CEO of Meister Consultants Group (MCG), an international consultancy focusing on renewable energy and climate policy. Mr. Rickerson is an expert on international FIT design and has conducted policy analyses in numerous jurisdictions around the world.He recently worked with Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors to develop the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (GET FiT) concept in response to a request from the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change. As part of the project, the MCG team analyzed how international climate finance mechanisms could support existing FITs in developing countries, and conducted outreach to over 100 international stakeholders. Mr. Rickerson also led the development of the global semiconductor industry association’s (SEMI) FIT position paper, and is currently developing a FIT rate setting methodology with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory based on surveys of international rate setting approaches. In the US, Mr. Rickerson has supported FIT design proceedings in Hawaii, California, and Vermont. He has also worked on feed-in tariff analysis projects sponsored by the the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Windustry, the World Future Council, and others. Prior to his work in renewable energy, Mr. Rickerson worked in the field of international development, supporting overseas projects in Ghana, Jamaica, and the West Bank. He holds a Masters in Energy and Environmental Policy from the University of Delaware and a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William and Mary.
 
Dr. (des.) David Jacobs is independent energy policy consultant and researcher at the Environmental Policy Research Centre in Berlin (FFU, Freie Universität Berlin). His research focuses on support mechanisms for renewable electricity. For his PhD project he analysed the historic development of European feed-in tariff schemes in comparison (Germany, France and Spain). Besides, he is co-author of “The Feed-in Tariff Handbook” (Powering the Green Economy, Earthscan) and a large number of other publications on support instruments for renewable electricity. He was engaged as a consultant for feed-in tariffs in a large number of countries, including Israel, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, the UK, India, Malaysia, Ghana and Kenya. Previously, he worked project-based for the OSCE, the German Bundestag, the German wind energy association BWE, the World Future Council and a number of research institutes. He has an academic background in International Business and Cultural Studies.

Toby Couture is Director of Energy Analysis with E3 Analytics, an energy consultancy based in London. He focuses on the economic and financial aspects of renewable energy markets. Couture has worked with a wide range of companies, including Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management Group and Navigant Consulting, and he has collaborated with a number of private equity firms in the UK and Europe. He has authored several influential reports for the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), and worked with jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and Canada on renewable energy policy issues. He has lived in Africa, Europe, North America and the UK, speaks five languages, and has a wide range of experience in both emerging and developed markets. Couture is a recent Fulbright recipient, holds a Masters in Energy and Environmental Policy from the University of Moncton, in Canada, as well as First Class Honors in Philosophy from Mount Allison University. He is currently completing an MSc. in Financial and Commercial Regulation at the London School of Economics, in London.

Christina Hanley is a consultant specializing in feed-in tariff policy and renewable energy finance in both in the US and internationally. Ms. Hanley is currently supporting the European Climate Foundation and Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors with a public sector analysis on renewable energy finance. The report, GET FiT Plus: De-Risking Clean Energy Business Models in a Developing Country Context, will be released in April 2011. The analysis has included organizing a workshop side event at the Cancun climate change conference (COP-16) which brought together public sector organizations and a consultation with public donor countries, multi-lateral development banks, and economic development organizations to further develop DBCCA’s GET FiT concept. Prior to joining MCG, Ms. Hanley consulted to DBCCA, where she supported in the development of the bank’s Transparency, Longevity, Certainty (TLC) framework for assessing how advanced feed-in tariffs can drive investment in renewable energy technologies. While consulting for DBCCA, Ms. Hanley also co-authored studies of how renewable energy policy design impacts investment risk, and how project development risks can be mitigated in both the developed and developing world. Ms. Hanley holds a joint Master in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and the Hertie School of Governance.

Mauricio Solano-Peralta currently works for Trama TecnoAmbiental, a Spanish consultancy firm specialized in renewable energy mini-grids, eco-building design and consultancy services on energy-related areas, as project manager and representative for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Previously Mr. Solano worked as an energy specialist for the Department for Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States, under the Section of Energy and Climate Change Mitigation, where he supported the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Program and the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, among other projects. Mr. Solano also conducted research and collaborated with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, Institute for Energy, Renewables Unit in Ispra, Italy on rural electrification and renewable energies to reduce environmental impacts and improve social well-being through the use of an off-grid feed-in tariff (the Renewable Premium Tariff) in developing countries. He also worked with the Biofuels Unit of the Inter-university Research Center for Sustainable Development at the University of Rome La Sapienza. He holds a BSc. in industrial engineering from the the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica and a Master’s degree from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands).

Chris Greacen has worked on policy and hands-on implementation of renewable energy from village to government levels. As co-director of the non-profit organization Palang Thai he helped draft Thailand Very Small Power Producer (VSPP) policies, which account for over 800 MW of renewable energy on-line and additional 4100 MW with signed PPAs as of March 2010. He conducted dozens of studies on renewable energy and power sector planning and governance in Thailand, including a government-commissioned study that helped shape Thailand’s design of its feed-in tariff program. As a World Bank consultant he has worked since 2008 with the Tanzanian Energy Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) to draft guidelines and rules for Tanzania’s Small Power Producer (SPP) program. The program includes both on-grid and off-grid components. With the Border Green Energy Team (BGET) he has led installation of 13 pico-hydropower projects with remote communities in the Thai-Burma border area, as well as a dozens of solar electric installations. His PhD dissertation from the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at the University of California at Berkeley focused on micro-hydroelectricity in rural Thailand. He also has a BA in Physics from Reed College with a thesis on solar photovoltaic semiconductor physics. He has worked on renewable energy projects in Nepal, India, Burma, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Guatemala, Tibet, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and on Native American reservations.

Benjamin K. Sovacool is currently an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.  His research interests include the barriers to alternative sources of energy supply such as renewable electricity generators and distributed generation, the politics of large-scale energy infrastructure, designing public policy to improve energy security, and building adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change in least developed Asian countries. He has served in advisory and research capacities at the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Electric Power Networks Efficiency and Security Program, Virginia Tech Consortium on Energy Restructuring, Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,  Semiconductor Materials and Equipment International, U.S. Department of Energy’s Climate Change Technology Program, and the International Institute for Applied Systems and Analysis near Vienna, Austria.  He is the author or editor of six books and more than one hundred peer reviewed academic articles on various aspects of energy and climate change, and he has presented research at more than fifty international conferences and symposia.  He is a frequent contributor to Energy Policy, Electricity Journal, Energy, and Energy for Sustainable Development.

Hilary Flynn is Director of International Business at Meister Consultants Group, focusing on sustainable energy policy analysis and development, market assessments, and system dynamics. She has advised electric utilities, government agencies, product manufacturers, engineering firms, non-profit organizations and financial institutions on renewable energy and emissions markets, energy and climate policy, and business strategy. She has been a consultant on feed-in tariffs to various clients.  She is currently assisting the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board with feed-in tariff rate setting for community-based projects. For this project she is performing research on debt, equity and ownership considerations to be used in rate-setting models.  She also recently worked with the Inter-American Development Bank to propose feed-in tariff designs for two countries in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.  This work included an assessment of national conditions and energy policy goals that could require divergence from the “best practice” feed-in tariff design features in order to be more suitable within the LAC context.   Previous work experience includes positions with PHOTON Consulting, MJ Bradley & Associates, and Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development. Ms. Flynn has been a speaker on a range of climate and energy topics (including feed-in tariffs) at events in the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America, and has published her work in peer-reviewed journals and trade magazines. Ms. Flynn earned an MS (on computer simulation modeling of energy policy) from Washington State University and a BS from Rutgers University.

Chad Laurent, Esq. is a consultant and attorney specializing in renewable energy law and policy, sustainable business strategies, and renewable energy project development. Chad recently completed a study on the legal ability of US states to set feed-in tariff rates for the Rockefeller Brother’s Fund and supported a legal study of U.S. feed-in tariffs performed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.  Chad was the lead author on a paper for the World Future Council analyzing the myths and misconceptions surrounding feed-in tariff policies   and has contributed to a number of publications on feed-in tariffs including writing for the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum and Public Utilities Fortnightly.  Prior to attending law school, he was the Manager of Renewable Energy Programs for the Massachusetts Energy Consumers’ Alliance. While in law school, Chad worked in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and interned in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in the Energy and Telecommunications Division. Chad’s professional experience also includes work with the Environmental Defense Fund and the Rocky Mountain Institute. He holds a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School where he was a Rappaport Honors Fellow in Law and Public Policy, and a Bachelors of Science from the University of Michigan in Environmental Policy & Behavior and Natural Resource Ecology & Management where he received the Lyle E. Craine award for environmental policy. He is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.