Senior Director - Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Practice Lead
Sustainable Energy Advantage
Tom Michelman, Senior Director and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) practice area lead at Sustainable Energy Advantage (SEA), has over twenty-eight years of experience in electric industry and renewable, retail & wholesale energy markets.
Since joining SEA in December 2013, Tom has led deep dive analyses of DER renewable markets in all covering the northeast from Virginia to Maine as well market entry / opportunity assessments that have covered all the US state markets. Highlighted analyses include program revenue forecasting, total addressable market assessments, queue forecasting, and market fundamentals supply, demand, price forecasting of the Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland SREC markets. Related, Tom initiated and manages the Massachusetts Solar Market Study subscription service.
For public clients he has conducted due diligence and advised on the terms and conditions for a variety of power purchase / net metering offtake agreements and procurements. He innovatively structured, drafted and led sophisticated RFPs for net zero schools that incorporate the upside of battery storage savings and revenue capture via a shared savings / benefit structure.
For institutional clients, a municipal opt-out aggregator, and a community solar back-office firm he has conducted market research, supported planning and operations, and analyzed various methods of renewable energy procurement to satisfy environmental and additionality goals.
Tom has participated in numerous analyses for statewide energy offices, most prominently, Massachusetts Post-1600 MW solar study, and a lead participant in the MA Solar and Net Metering Task Force and the 2019 New Jersey SREC Successor Program Study.
Prior to joining SEA Tom co-founded and was a Principal at Boreal Renewable Energy Development to cost effectively implement distributed generation renewable energy projects.
Prior to founding Boreal, Tom worked as an energy consultant for KEMA for ten years primarily focusing on its retail energy practice and analyzing the impact of energy efficiency programs.