CPA Welcomes Two New Members to Our Community Advisory Committee

CPA welcomes Cort Cassidy and Diane Wallace as two new members of our Community Advisory Committee (CAC) who will serve as a key resource for CPA’s local community engagement efforts and renewable energy policy initiatives.

Cort Cassidy, who represents the South Bay region, is a local writer, producer, and author. In the early 1990s he co-created and produced one of television’s first weekly environmental series and in that role oversaw the presentation of information about energy-saving developments and new technologies.

Diane Wallace, who also represents the South Bay, originally served on the planning committee for the CCA that would ultimately become CPA. She works with the Sierra Club Water Committee and the California Democratic Environmental Caucus and will also serve on the Advisory Committee for the SoCal Water Dialog, sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District.

“I’m excited to learn more about what’s happening on the front lines of activism to advance renewable energy for the region and the state.” Mr. Cassidy stated, adding, “My hope and commitment is that the CAC will continue to support and elevate the CPA’s efforts to educate Californians about the availability and affordability of renewable energy and the vital importance of ending our addiction to fossil fuels, to realize ‘we can do this’.”

The CAC is made up of CPA customers who are local leaders in the areas of renewable energy, public health and community organizing and advise our Board of Directors on essential programs and community outreach that benefit families and businesses in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

CAC members come from a diverse cross-section of community and professional backgrounds and are committed to using their expertise on clean energy issues to improve the lives of the residents of Southern California, while strengthening the connection between CPA and our customers.

The CAC was officially launched in 2019, with the 15-member group representing seven sub-regions of our service area, including East Ventura/West L.A. County, West/Unincorporated Ventura County, the Gateway Cities, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, the Westside and Unincorporated Los Angeles County.

CAC meetings are open to the public and are held the third Thursday of each month from 1:00-2:30 p.m. To view CAC meetings, visit our public meetings YouTube channel and for additional meeting details, click here.

Sergei Kotsan

Sergei Kotsan serves the Energy Risk Manager for Clean Power Alliance. He has over a decade of experience working on quantitative research and modelling of the wholesale power markets as well as hedging commercial risk and market monitoring. He led commercial operations at TexGen and fundamentals research at Talen Energy on the power supply side. He also has utility experience at Portland General Electric and Pacific Gas and Electric evaluating market risks and financial valuation on the demand side. In addition, he worked at the Market Monitoring Unit at CAISO, developing dashboards and preparing market reports. Sergei holds Ph.D. in Economics from West Virginia University.

Rachel Allred

Rachel serves as Project Manager, Settlements for Clean Power Alliance. Rachel is responsible for reviewing and identifying discrepancies with our California Independent System Operator (CASIO) and bilateral counterparty invoices, validating transactions of wholesale market products, and performing after the fact analysis on settlements and Congestion Revenue Rights (CRR) to influence resource optimization and CRR strategies. Prior to joining Clean Power Alliance, Rachel served as a Power Settlements Analyst at Utah Municipal Power Agency for two years where she developed and finalized all settlement processes. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Lewis-Clark State College.

Riju Mondal

Riju serves as the Website Developer, Communications and Marketing at CPA. He brings over 10 years of software development experience in addition to having a strong background in information technology and server infrastructure. Riju oversees all web related functions at CPA to ensure that the organization is able to effectively sustain meeting the requirements of its rapidly growing digital presence. Prior to joining CPA, Riju worked as a digital content developer at Claremont Graduate University where he developed and launched an online learning platform for the federally funded POLARIS mentoring program for museum professionals. More recently, Riju founded and operated a web development and digital marketing agency which served government organizations, non-profits, and other multi agency partners. Riju holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems & E-Business from Cal Poly Pomona. Riju supports CPA’s overall goal and mission to a cleaner, brighter future.

Jacob Adamson

Jacob Adamson is an Analyst, Data and Systems, at Clean Power Alliance (CPA), where he collaborates with the Data and Systems team to develop and maintain robust data analytics frameworks. Jacob supports cross-functional departments in data enablement and business intelligence, focusing on automating reporting tasks and assisting staff with data requests. With a background in engineering, information technology, regulatory analysis, and data analytics, Jacob brings a wealth of expertise to CPA’s work in the renewable energy sector. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, is a former licensed professional engineer in the state of Colorado, and is a GCP certified professional data engineer. Outside of work, Jacob is passionate about outdoor recreation, conservation, and engineering sustainable community development.

Ammad Mansoor

Ammad serves as the Analyst, Strategic Finance at CPA. He comes to CPA with 3 years of prior experience in financial planning and analysis. Ammad most recently served as a Financial Analyst at Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of the Southern Company. In this role, he supported various areas in the Customer Experience division where he ensured timely and accurate financial reporting, conducted monthly expense forecasting, and created 5-year budgets with the approval of the Georgia PSC. He also sat on the 2024 Budget Committee where he contributed to developing guidelines for the company’s budgeting process and identifying areas for cost savings. Ammad earned his Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Central Florida.