Oregon’s Energy Future Conference

2020 Keynote Presentations

Power to the People: Creating a Just, Clean and Equitable Energy System

Presenter:
Jaimes Valdez, Portland Clean Energy Fund Startup Team

Jaimes works for the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, leading the launch of the groundbreaking Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund. Before taking this position, Jaimes worked for Spark Northwest, where he covered regulatory, market, and legislative policy issues and worked to create communities powered by affordable, locally-controlled clean energy. He has more than 15 years of experience in regional energy issues, including in project development, energy planning, utility marketing, and public advocacy towards an equitable, clean energy economy. Jaimes will guide us through the community-led efforts that created the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), and the upcoming funding opportunities for projects focused on addressing climate change, social benefit, and racial equity. He will also examine the systemic and technical barriers that have stood in the way of a just, clean energy transition in the Northwest, and what is needed to overcome them. Through images, stories, and data, he will shine a light on a path forward, providing tools to shift our regional energy and power systems.

NuScale Power: Advanced Nuclear for a Balanced Energy Mix

Presenter:
Jose N. Reyes, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of NuScale Power

Jose N. Reyes is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of NuScale Power, and the co-designer of the NuScale passively-cooled small nuclear reactor. An internationally recognized expert on passive safety system design, testing, and operations for nuclear power plants, Dr. Reyes has served as a technical expert at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and as an engineer with the Reactor Safety Division of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). He is Professor Emeritus in the School of Nuclear Science and Engineering at Oregon State University, where he taught for more than 30 years and served as head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2018.