Skinner will speak on the morning of Sept. 9. She is the author of AB 2514, which passed the California Assembly earlier this year and is under consideration by the state Senate. The bill mandates that all state utilities have energy storage components in their power generation portfolios by 2020. It was developed in partnership with California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor.

Smart Energy Storage Summit Director Bruce Haring commented on Assembly Member Skinner’s particpation in the Summit: “Energy storage is a game-changer, seen as a way to bring renewables more fully into the smart grid mix and ease the increasingly-complex problems of load management. We are extremely pleased that Assembly Member Skinner will be able to share her insights with our delegates on how energy storage requirements will help shpae the future of smart energy.”

Several billion dollars will be invested in worldwide energy storage and smart grid projects this year by government and the private sector, as the emerging players begin rolling out new technologies and initiating strong alliances.

Confirmed speakers at the event include opening session keynoter Dr. Imre Gyuk, U.S. Dept. of Energy program manager, energy storage systems; Carlos Coe, Chief Executive Officer, Xtreme Power; Scott Gardner, Managing Director, US Renewables Group; Pedro Gomez, Manager, Energy Efficiency & Development, California Energy Commission; Maurice Gunderson, Senior Partner, Energy & Materials, CMEA Capital; Mark Kapner, Senior Strategy Officer, Austin Energy; Craig Kuennen, Smart Grid Project Sponsor/Marketing Manager, Glendale Water & Power; Hal LaFlash, Dir. Integrated Resource Planning & Policy, Pacific Gas & Electric; Barbara Lockwood, Smart Grid Director, Arizona Public Service; Jim Pope, General Manager, Northern California Power Agency; Frank Ramirez, Chief Executive Officer, Ice Energy; David Wells, Partner, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; and Marianne Wu, Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures.

The two-day Smart Energy Storage Summit is part of the Smart Energy International Conference & Technology Expo, the industry’s platform to the future. Building on the success of Spintelligent’s Smart Energy East & West Coast Conferences over the last four years, Smart Energy International pulls together the best-of-breed from the smart energy conference series from across the U.S., pulls in the technological and financial interests and focus of Silicon Valley, and leverages Spintelligent’s international reach.