Luis Andrade

Federal Water Financing Solutions
Thursday August 8 4:00 - 5:00 PM

Water & Environmental Program Director
U.S. Department of Agriculture - California

Matt Barnhill

Energy Tax Credit Programs
Wednesday August 7 3:30 - 4:15 PM

Senior Manager
CohnReznick LLP

Matt Barnhill, CPA, is a senior manager with CohnReznick’s Project Finance and Consulting Practice and is based in the Charlotte, NC office. He is a member of the Firm’s Renewable Energy, Affordable Housing, and Commercial Real Estate Industry Practices. He specializes in building and reviewing financial models, partnership tax accounting, transaction structuring advisory, and other technical services needed to support various tax-incentivized renewable energy and real estate projects. He has been with CohnReznick since 2014. Prior to joining CohnReznick, he worked in corporate financial planning & analysis, where he was responsible for creating and maintaining company budgets, forecasts, and financial reporting to management.

Matt supports clients by providing complex financial modeling and advisory services to developers, investors, lenders, and other project stakeholders. His knowledge and experience with numerous federal and state tax credit programs has led him to be involved in every stage of project development. In the renewable energy space, he has served as tax credit advisor on dozens of projects throughout the country, including solar, wind, and fuel cell technologies. He has also advised on projects utilizing Opportunity Zone capital. His understanding of stakeholder objectives allows him to find innovative solutions so that those objectives can be achieved.

Angela Blatt

Unlocking the Development Finance Toolbox
Wednesday August 7 12:45 - 1:15 PM

Director
Council of Development Finance Agencies

As Director of Knowledge & Networks Division with the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), Angela focuses on the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded initiative “Defining the Food System Asset Class,” whereby CDFA explores opportunities for the advancement of local and regional food systems using development finance tools. Through this initiative, Angela collaborates with communities across the country providing technical assistance and producing strategic plans for development finance strategies that meet infrastructure, agriculture, and small business needs to support equitable, local food economies. Angela leads CDFA’s Food Systems Finance Advisory Council, joining both the food and finance industries, administers CDFA’s Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, connecting food-related businesses and projects with development finance agencies, and manages the Food and Agriculture Finance Update monthly newsletter. In 2021, she gained certification as a Development Finance Certified Professional (DFCP) through the CDFA Training Institute.


A Navy Veteran, Angela holds two degrees from The Ohio State University: a Master of Public Administration with a focus on Food Policy from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Science from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Todd Guerrero

Legal, Policy & Regulatory Considerations for Energy Projects
Wednesday August 7 1:15 - 2:00 PM

Partner
Kutak Rock LLP

Todd brings more than 25 years of experience in the energy sector to assist clients in a range of business and regulatory matters within both the renewable and traditional energy industries, including project development, power purchase agreements, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreements, large energy facility permitting, contested cases and appeals. Todd has assisted clients develop hundreds of megawatts of solar energy facilities in the last few years alone.

Todd H Holder

Public-Private Partnerships (P3) to Support Water Infrastructure
Thursday August 8 3:00 - 3:45 PM

Senior Vice President, Business Development
Provident Resources Group Inc.

As Senior Vice President for Business Development, Mr.Holder takes a strategic role, responsible for developing and executing key corporate development objectives that continue to expand Provident’s mission areas, with a specific focus on essential services, projects and programs that offer clean, renewable, and sustainable energy solutions for communities that Provident serves. In his role, Mr. Holder cultivates and fosters new innovative partnerships with key market participants in furtherance of Provident’s core mission areas, spearheading the evaluation of each opportunity, and serving as Provident’s day-to-day representative on a wide variety of projects for the life of the engagement.

Prior to joining Provident, Todd spent 32 years serving state and local governments as a public finance investment banker, with a focus on public power, water & sewer, and other essential service infrastructure projects, for firms like Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets.

Mr. Holder received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, in addition to a B.S. in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, and a B.S. in Physics from Nebraska Wesleyan University. Mr. Holder currently holds the Series 7, Series 79, Series 53, Series 52, and Series 63 securities licenses.

Andrew Levine

Loan Programs for Energy Projects
Wednesday August 7 4:15 - 5:00 PM

Partner
Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young

As co-chair of the firm’s environmental practice group, Andy Levine is focused on cultivating and expanding the energy economy in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

Having started his career litigating multimedia enforcement cases against refineries, pipelines and solid waste companies, he was soon recruited by Waste Management to implement the very types of programs at issue in many of these cases. While at Waste Management, Andy oversaw landfill and transfer station expansions, permitting and compliance throughout the Eastern seaboard, and also developed the strategic landfill gas-to-energy program that formed the basis for his current energy practice in natural gas. As an experienced “deal architect,” he regularly seeks out and uncovers issues and needs among parties to a negotiation in order to maximize his clients’ opportunities to construct and operate energy and environmental infrastructure projects, obtain the best possible financing and tax treatment, and organize the most advantageous deal structure. He also finds the most strategic means for environmental compliance and permitting, with a keen focus on the clients’ business development plans, and most of all, the bottom line.

Scott Miller

Feasibility, Structuring & Sale of Bonds for Water Projects
Thursday August 8 2:00 - 3:00 PM

Principal
Baker Tilly

Scott Miller is a principal with Baker Tilly’s public sector municipal advisory practice. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the municipal advisor and utility rate industries. He has extensive experience with financial studies for municipally owned water, electric, gas, steam and sewage utilities, not-for-profit and investor-owned water and sewer corporations, regional water and sewer districts and conservancy districts. These studies often involve determining utility revenue and rate requirements, cost-of-service studies, rate design and the financial planning associated with the acquisition of capital.

John Pence

Framing the Energy & Water Infrastructure Financing Landscape
Wednesday August 7 12:15 - 12:45 PM

Attorney
Ice Miller LLP

John Pence is an attorney in Ice Miller’s Government Affairs and Regulatory Law group. John has extensive experience as a public affairs strategist, communications advisor, and business consultant. John helps with issue monitoring and engagement to support client policies, business strategies, and legal objectives. John merges the depth of his network with sound counsel and a trusted, insightful voice to strengthen his clients’ objectives domestically and internationally.

Prior to law school, John worked as a legislative affairs aide for the Office of the Indiana Attorney General. During law school, John was a legal extern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Indiana, an extern for the legal department of Cummins, Inc., and a law clerk for the firm.

Austin Thompson-Spain

Federal Water Financing Solutions
Thursday August 8 4:00 - 5:00 PM

Senior Program Manager
US Water Alliance

Austin is a Senior Program Manager at the US Water Alliance, a national nonprofit organization advancing policies and programs that build a sustainable water future for all. In this role, Austin assists with the Alliance’s technical assistance and field-building work as part of its National Environmental Finance Center. Before joining the Alliance, Austin was an Associate Director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Environmental Finance Center (UNC EFC). During her time at the UNC EFC, Austin led rates and finance-related technical assistance, applied research projects, and trainings for utility practitioners across the country. Prior to this, Austin pursued a PhD at NC State University, focusing her research on the connection between environmental finance and social equity. In addition to her PhD, Austin holds a BS in biological sciences from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University. Outside of work, you will probably find Austin trail running, riding her bike, or playing copious rounds of fetch with her dog.

James Vergara

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Finance
Wednesday August 7 3:00 - 3:30 PM

Chief Investment Officer/Chief Operating Officer
Home Run Financing

James Vergara is the chief operating and chief investment officer of Home Run Financing, the leading residential PACE lender, where he manages the underwriting, technology and servicing aspects of the business as well the company’s investor and capital markets relationships. Since joining HRF, James has overseen the transition of the company from a whole loan seller to a structured finance vehicle and completed four securitizations of R-PACE assets. Prior to joining HRF, James established the SprucePACE program at Spruce Finance. James started his career as a banker and trader at large investment banks in New York, including Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank. James is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sean Williamson

State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) Programs
Thursday August 8 12:45 - 1:45 PM

Policy Advisor
U.S. Department of Energy

Sean Williamson is a Lead Management and Program Analyst supporting Funding and Financing in DOE’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP). This includes oversight of the Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Capitalization Grant Program, Energy Savings Performance Contracting Campaign, and other state-led energy financing initiatives. Since joining DOE in 2016, Sean has developed DOE’s Commercial PACE Working Group, which resulted in $70 million in C-PACE-financed projects and led the first-of-its-kind study, Long-Term Performance of Energy Efficiency Loan Portfolios. Prior to joining DOE, Sean delivered water and energy financing technical assistance to communities in the Mid-Atlantic at the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center.