Marion Gold has served as Commissioner of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) since August, 2012. As leader of the OER, Dr. Gold is dedicated to working with public and private sector partners to provide sustainable, secure, and cost-effective energy services to all sectors of the community. Prior to joining the OER, she was the Director of the Outreach Center at the University of Rhode of Island where she established the URI Partnership for Energy and directed extension programs for communities and the public in energy, environmental horticulture, and urban agriculture. She served on the URI President's Council for Sustainability and on the RI Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council.

Dr. Gold has been a leader in environmental issues throughout her decades of public service. Early in her career she worked at the Department of Environmental Management and the RI Resource Recovery Corporation where she was instrumental in launching the first statewide recycling program in the country.

Dr. Gold continues to serve as an adjunct professor of Environmental and Resource Economics. She enjoys teaching courses on energy and energy economics, serving on graduate committees, and advising Energy Fellows.

Dr. Gold holds a BS with honors in Natural Resource Science and Policy from the University of Michigan, a MS in Environmental Economics from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Rhode Island. She is married with two children and lives in North Kingstown, RI. When not learning about the intricacies of energy systems, Dr. Gold enjoys hiking, travel, and spending time with family and friends.

Mike is the Deputy Director of the Climate Prediction Center (CPC). In this capacity, he provides support to the director ensuring the day-to-day operation of the CPC. Mike leads efforts to communicate CPC's goals and vision to customers, stakeholders, the media and the public, serving as CPC.'s point of contact for NWS Public Affairs. He also serves as CPC's property custodian and works to ensure the successful execution of budget priorities. He is also a member of the ENSO and seasonal forecast teams. He led CPC's real-time climate monitoring efforts throughout much of the 1990s and their forecast operations between 2002 and 2007. He has co-authored many peer-reviewed journal articles on numerous topics in climate variability and climate prediction, including papers detailing El Nino impacts around the globe. He received his bachelor's degree in Meteorology from Cook College, Rutgers University and his master's degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of Michigan. He began is career at CPC as a summer student in 1981.

John Huber is the first President of the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA).  Mr. Huber is a skilled association executive who has worked in a number of facets of association management.  These include being the chief lobbyist and counsel for the Petroleum Marketers Association of America.

Mr. Huber brings a number of skills that will serve the industry’s needs.  Mr. Huber has a strong understanding of energy policy and economics and how they affect the petroleum industry.  Through his years of lobbying, he also understands the delicate and vital relationship between the private sector and government.

As Chief Executive, Mr. Huber is responsible for developing NORA’s activities.  These include the development and management of a research and development program that will improve technology and fuel.  Improvements to education and training will also be vital, as a new curriculum is developed for service technicians and new training technologies are developed.  Finally, developing a consumer education program that raises the public’s awareness of oilheat’s benefits is a top priority.

Mr. Huber is a graduate of the University of Washington and received his law degree from Hastings College of the Law.  He is a Board Member of the National Low Income Energy Consortium, and has served as President of the Alliance for Fair Competition.

Bryan Just is a Senior Economist in the Policy Analysis Department at the American Petroleum Institute.  In his role, he works primarily in downstream fuels issues and manages related studies.  Other areas of work include policy and economic analysis related to industry issues and regulatory analysis related to National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Prior to joining API in 2007, Mr. Just’s professional experience included commodity analysis at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus.  Mr. Just holds a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University.

The Northeast Gas Association is a regional trade association that represents the natural gas industry within eight Northeast U.S. states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont). Its members include gas distribution companies in the multi-state region, as well as interstate transmission companies, LNG transporters, and over 250 associate member companies. These companies collectively serve over 9.5 million natural gas customers. The Association has offices in Needham, Massachusetts, and Parsippany, New Jersey.

Tom became president of NGA on January 1, 2003, when the organization was formed as a result of the merger of The New England Gas Association and the New York Gas Group. In this capacity he is responsible for the organization’s interaction with a host of regulatory, legislative and business organizations.

He has presented to such groups as the American Gas Association, Canadian Gas Association, U. S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers.

Tom previously served as president of The New England Gas Association from 1985 to January 2003; and as Acting Executive Director of the New York Gas Group from April 2001 to January 2003. Tom is a Past President of the Society of Gas Lighting, is Secretary and Treasurer of the Guild of Gas Managers and is a Past Chairman of the New England Society of Association Executives. He is a graduate of Holy Cross College and has done graduate work in Northeastern University’s MBA program.

Seth Kleinman has been with Citi since 2011 as Global Head of Energy Strategy, covering all aspects of global oil and gas markets.  His team advises clients, whether corporate, institutional investors or hedge funds on Energy-related investments across all geographies and time horizons.  Prior to Citi, Seth was Head of Oil Analysis for Glencore in London, and prior to that he worked at Hess Energy Trading and Morgan Stanley in New York and PFC Energy in Washington DC.

Ms. Alice Lippert has over 30 years in federal service.  She  is currently employed with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) where she serves as the Senior Technical Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Infrastructure Modeling and Analysis (EIMA). She was formerly the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for EIMA.  Ms. Lippert is also a Senior Energy Infrastructure Analyst for energy reliability and risk programs and has over 25 years dealing with energy supply disruptions and emergency response events. She is a resident senior expert on domestic energy markets, critical infrastructure and energy-supply trends.  She has extensive experience in working with State and local governments on energy assurance planning and contingency programs.
She holds an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin and a B.A. from the University of North Dakota.

Douglas MacIntyre is the Director of the Office of Petroleum and Biofuels Statistics for U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in Washington, DC.  Prior to this, Mr. MacIntyre was the Director of Energy Markets and Contingency Information for EIA.  He has a B.S. in Management Science Statistics from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University (Fort McNair, Washington, DC).

David Ortiz is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Infrastructure Modeling and Analysis (EIMA) in the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. The EIMA Division supports cutting-edge research and development that is focused on enabling new ways of delivering and managing electricity for a reliable, secure, resilient, and advanced U.S. energy infrastructure. The Division’s activities include advanced modeling and visualization, energy infrastructure risk analyses, reliability assessments, and synchrophasor-based tool development.

Prior to joining OE, Dr. Ortiz was a Senior Engineer and Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee-RAND Graduate School. At RAND, Dr. Ortiz built a multi-million dollar program of research and analysis in energy technology and policy. In 2006, in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, he led the RAND team that demonstrated a new approach to coastal planning for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Louisiana.  The State of Louisiana subsequently adopted the approach, using it to develop its 2012 Louisiana Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast.  In support of the 2012 Master Plan, David led a team of RAND researchers and modelers to develop a flood risk model.

David earned the Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan in Electrical Engineering in signals and systems.  He graduated cum laude from Princeton University, earning the B.S.E. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. David is a member of IEEE, the IEEE Control Systems Society, and the IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Jeffrey R. Pillon is the Director of Energy Assurance for the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO).   In this capacity he provides technical support to states nationally to update their energy emergency response plans and plans to enhance the security and resiliency of critical energy infrastructure.  Mr. Pillon also has a Special Term Appointment to Argonne National Laboratory, Infrastructure Assurance Center.

Mr. Pillon serves on the Government Coordinating Council for the Energy Sector under the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and is a member of the Electric Power Research Institute’s Energy Efficiency/ Grid Modernization Grid Public Advisory Group.  He is the past chair the NASEO Energy Data and Security Committee and a past chair of the Staff Subcommittee on Critical Infrastructure for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Mr. Pillon worked for the State of Michigan from 1973 to 2009.  He was Manager of Energy Data & Security for the Michigan Public Service Commission and was responsible for monitoring energy supply and demand, short term energy forecasting.  He also managed the Commission’s website and information technology applications.   He also served as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, was a member of the Michigan Homeland Security Preparedness Committee; Michigan Homeland Security Advisory Council; chaired the Michigan Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee.

Mr. Pillon is a graduate of Michigan State University in Political Science.

Adam Sieminski was sworn in on June 4, 2012, as the eighth administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). From March 2012 to May 2012, while awaiting confirmation as EIA administrator, Mr. Siemin¬ski served as senior director for energy and environment on the staff of the National Security Council.  From 2005 until March 2012, he was the chief energy economist for Deutsche Bank, working with the Bank’s global research and trading units.  Drawing on extensive industry, government, and academic sources, Mr. Sieminski forecasted energy market trends and wrote on a variety of topics involving energy economics, climate change, geopoli¬tics, and commodity prices.

From 1998 to 2005, he served as the director and energy strategist for Deutsche Bank’s global oil and gas equity team.  Prior to that, from 1988 to 1997, Mr. Sieminski was the senior energy analyst for NatWest Securi¬ties in the United States, covering the major U.S. international integrated oil companies.

He also had acted as a senior adviser to the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan policy think tank in Washington, DC.  He is a senior fellow and former presi¬dent of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics, and served as president of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts.In 2006, Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman appointed Mr. Sieminski to the National Petroleum Council (NPC), an advisory group to the secretary of energy, where he helped author the NPC’s Global Oil and Gas Study: The Hard Truths.

In addition to his affiliation with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he was also an advisory board member of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at Johns Hopkins University/SAIS.  He had also served as chairman of the Supply-Demand Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and as an advisory member of the Strategic Energy Task Force of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He is a member of the Washington, DC, investment professional society, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.  He received both an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University.

EIA DutiesEIA is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policy-making, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.  EIA provides a wide range of information and data products covering energy production, stocks, demand, imports, exports, and prices. EIA also prepares analyses and special reports on topics of current interest.

Mr. Smith was elected as Group Senior Vice President in January 2014 and is responsible for Enterprise's regulated natural gas liquids and refined products businesses. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Unregulated NGL Business from April 2012 to January 2014, as Vice President, Western Gas Gathering & Processing from January 2010 to April 2012, as Vice President, Rocky Mountain Gathering from January 2009 to December 2009, as Director, Rocky Mountains, January 2006 to January 2009, and Director, Commercial Development from October 2002 to December 2005. Prior to joining Enterprise, Mr. Smith served in marketing, engineering, and project management roles with Mapco Inc. and The Williams Companies.

Phil Squair serves as Senior Vice President, Public and Governmental Affairs, for the National Propane Gas Association. A seventeen-year veteran of NPGA, Phil Squair leads the association’s team of congressional lobbyists and political professionals dedicated to achieving the industry’s policy objectives. He also serves as point of contact with the Propane Education and Research Council, the industry’s Congressionally-authorized check-off program.

Phil Squair has been deeply involved in the industry’s policy initiatives over the years. Most recently, he led NPGA’s lobbying effort to gain enactment of two new federal laws: the Home Heating Emergency Assistance Through Transportation (HHEATT) Act of 2014 and the Reliable Home Heating Act of 2014. His work also helped convince DOT to implement regional hours of service exemptions and FERC to invoke emergency authority to prioritize shipments of propane for the first time in its history.

Phil Squair was at the forefront to position the industry favorably in the climate change debate. Other major issues where the propane industry has emerged victorious include resisting the Department of Homeland Security’s chemical facility regulations; challenging unjust and unreasonable rate increases on the propane pipeline infrastructure; extending alternative fuel tax credits for vehicles, forklifts, and refueling infrastructure; and enacting the Fuels Regulatory Relief Act exempting propane marketers from EPA’s Risk Management Program rules.

Phil Squair is the lead coordinator for Propane Days, NPGA’s annual legislative conference providing a forum for hundreds of industry leaders to build and solidify their relationships with Representatives and Senators.

Prior to joining NPGA, Phil Squair spent eight years directing governmental affairs activities for the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, and served on the legislative and campaign staffs of U.S. Representatives Bill McCollum (R-FL) and Don Ritter (R-PA) from 1986-1990.

Phil Squair earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) in 1986 from Hillsdale College in Michigan with a double major in Political Economics and History.

Jessie was appointed Policy Director for the newly created Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in May 2011. In that capacity she is responsible for overall policy coordination for the three branches of the agency.  In particular she has oversight of the development of a 21st century state energy policy and integrating it into the agenda of the Environmental Quality and Environmental Conservation branches of the agency.

Prior to joining the Department Ms. Stratton was Director of Government Relations for ENE (Environment Northeast), a not-for-profit regional research and advocacy organization, that concentrated on energy, climate and air quality issues.  She also served in the CT General Assembly from 1989-2003 where she chaired the Environment Committee for 10 years.  In that capacity she also served as the eastern region and later national co-chair of the Council of State Government’s Energy and Environment Committees. She currently serves as the executive branch co-chair of the Council’s National Energy and Environment Committee.

Mr. Veno is an expert on crude oil and refined product markets, on refining and marketing, and on energy economics and strategy.  Following IHS’ acquisition of Purvin & Gertz, Mr. Veno joined the legacy P&G Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) research team, where he has a variety of responsibilities involving NGLs analysis and forecasting, including performing custom research projects for individual clients.  He is also a contributor to the North American NGLs Market Monthly service and the author of topical papers on developments in North American and global NGLs markets.  Mr. Veno also coordinated the research effort for IHS CERA’s multiclient study NGLs Analytics and Insight: Rebalancing NGLs in an Unconventional North America. 
During his tenure with IHS, Mr. Veno has been a leader of IHS CERA’s global refining and marketing research activity, with particular expertise in North American refined product demand and pricing, light duty vehicle fleet modeling and transportation sector analysis, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) market analysis.  He has been a research leader of IHS CERA’s Automotive Scenarios Advisory Service, specializing in light-duty vehicle fleet modeling and analysis. He directs custom consulting projects for individual clients on topics relating, for example, to trends in regional refined product demand and waterborne/pipeline logistics, the market implications of transportation policy, and outlooks for unconventional fuel supplies, such as shale gas and NGLs.
Prior to joining IHS CERA, Mr. Veno directed the Oil Service at an international consultancy, where he was responsible for analysis of world and US oil markets and for crude and product price outlooks. He has conducted numerous studies for clients in the oil and energy industries and for national governments, including evaluations of refined product demand, refinery production and supply logistics, global geopolitical events, economic trends, and regulatory policies on oil markets. He has participated in several National Petroleum Council studies, including analyses of U.S. refineries, refined petroleum product supply, the cleaner fuels value chain, and fuel inventory dynamics.
Previously, Mr. Veno was Senior Petroleum Economist at Petróleos de Venezuela (USA) in New York, where he was responsible for short- and long-term oil market analysis for the US and global markets, and had similar responsibilities as a Senior Analyst with Conoco and the US Department of Energy.

Kevin Vesperman is the Administrator for the Division of Energy Services at the Wisconsin Department of Administration, which oversees the federal and state funded low-income energy assistance, energy efficiency  and weatherization programs, as well as the State Energy Office.

Mr. Vesperman has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry, including experience in fossil fuel procurement, business development and electric generation project development.  In these roles, Kevin has developed a broad understanding of the energy field.
                                                                                                                                  
He received a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering from UW-Platteville, and a Masters of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UW-Madison.