Staff

Dave Anderson, Policy and Communications Manager

Dave Anderson is the Policy and Communications Manager for the Energy and Policy Institute.

Dave has been working at the nexus of clean energy and public policy since 2008. Prior to joining the Energy and Policy Institute, he was an outreach coordinator for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He is also an alumnus of the Sierra Club and the Alliance for Climate Protection (now the Climate Reality Project).

Dave’s research has helped to spur investigations into political attacks on clean energy and climate science by powerful special interests, such as ExxonMobil and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). His work has been cited by major media outlets, such as CBS News and the Wall Street Journal, and he has served as a speaker on panels at national solar industry conferences.

Dave holds a MA in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire, where he also received a BA in Humanities.

Stephanie Chase, Research and Communications Manager

Stephanie K. Chase is a Research and Communications Manager at the Energy and Policy Institute. Stephanie previously worked for the Public Counsel Unit at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office as a regulatory analyst, advocating on behalf of consumers. Prior to that, she worked for the Environmental Law and Policy Center as an associate attorney, covering Wisconsin and the Dakotas on a variety of issues, including clean energy development and natural resources protection.

Stephanie holds a J.D. and M.P.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.S. from South Dakota State University. She lives in Seattle with her family.

Keriann Conroy, Research Associate

Keriann Conroy is the Research Associate for the Energy and Policy Institute. Keriann has worked as a community organizer with the #TriHarder campaign, focusing on local, electric cooperative board reform and Colorado state climate legislation. She served as a research associate for Sustainable Development Strategies Group, analyzing the financial responsibility of municipal electric utilities in coal plant decommissioning.

Keriann graduated from the Master in Environmental Management program at Western Colorado University in 2019. Her masters’ thesis researched the role of democratic, public participation in rural electric cooperatives and their generation and transmission providers. She has published writings on the Koch Brothers, the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Rural Electrification Act, and Tri-State Generation & Transmission.

Shelby Green, Research Fellow

Shelby Green is a Research Fellow at Essential Information, a non-profit dedicated to providing information to the public on important policy topics and encouraging public participation. She’s working with the Energy and Policy Institute to research how to use data and social media to openly track how utilities evade accountability and climate responsibility.

Her interest in open communication extends to her position as Supervisor for Leon County’s (FL) Soil and Water Conservation District, where she relies on citizen scientists and public data to monitor the health of local resources.

Matt Kasper, Deputy Director

Matt Kasper is the Deputy Director of the Energy and Policy Institute. Before joining the Energy and Policy Institute in 2014, Matt was a research assistant for the Energy and Environment Policy Team at the Center for American Progress where he worked on state and local policy issues. Matt was also a fellow for Organizing for America in Indiana, and he spent time working in Hartford, Connecticut for the state legislature.

A native of Illinois, Matt graduated from Butler University in Indianapolis.

Jonathan Kim, Research Associate

Jonathan Kim is a Research Associate at the Energy and Policy Institute. He earned a Master of Public Affairs and Master of Science in Environmental Science from Indiana University’s O’Neill School for Public and Environmental Affairs, concentrating in Energy and Climate Solutions. While at the O’Neill School, Jonathan worked at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Liga para a Protecção da Natureza as an intern and with the Energy Justice Lab as a Research Associate. Prior to graduate school, Jonathan served as an Americorps volunteer in Danville, Virginia and worked on Capitol Hill. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, majoring in Economics, Political Science, and Environmental Studies and minoring in Mathematics.

Allison Kole, General Counsel

Allison Kole serves as general counsel to EPI.  She also directs EPI’s FOIA Advocacy Project, which helps researchers who are facing obstacles to receiving public records from state and federal agencies. Before joining EPI, Allison was Counsel to Essential Information Inc. assisting researchers at Essential, watchdog organizations, advocates, and journalists in public records challenges and other media law issues. Allison has successfully brought FOIA lawsuits against agencies including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Allison also spent two years on the litigation team for the landmark constitutional climate case Juliana v. United States and was a fellow with Earthjustice in Washington, D.C. She graduated from George Washington University Law School with recognition for her service to the community through GW’s health rights clinic.

David Pomerantz, Executive Director

David Pomerantz is the Executive Director of the Energy and Policy Institute.

Prior to joining EPI, David spent eight years working with Greenpeace to move the electric sector away from fossil fuel and towards renewable energy. As a senior climate and energy campaigner, David worked to push major internet technology companies, including Apple and Amazon, to power their data centers with 100% renewable energy. The campaign catalyzed hundreds of megawatts of new renewable energy development and helped to defend and expand renewable energy policies and investment in the United States and abroad.

In addition, David designed and implemented the communications strategy for Greenpeace’s work on electricity, leading to media coverage in Bloomberg Businessweek, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Wired Magazine. He also organized in communities in Ohio and New England for federal climate change and toxic chemical legislation. He previously worked as a reporter for newspapers in Boston and New York City.

Zehava Robbins, Counsel

Zehava Robbins serves as counsel to EPI and is the lead attorney for EPI’s FOIA Advocacy Project. She works with investigative journalists and researchers to fight for transparency and accountability under the federal Freedom of Information Act and state public records laws, filing administrative appeals and lawsuits where necessary to obtain responsive records.

Before joining EPI, Zehava worked as Public Records Counsel at Essential Information Inc. and as an Assistant District Attorney for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in their Conviction Integrity Unit and then their Civil Litigation Unit, where she handled requests and appeals under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Zehava clerked for Justice Frank Gaziano of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Charlie Spatz, Research Manager

Charlie Spatz is a Research Manager at the Energy and Policy Institute. Prior to joining EPI, Charlie was a researcher for the Climate Investigations Center where he uncovered thousands of records documenting how gas utilities undermine climate solutions at the local, state and federal levels of government. His research can be found in dozens of new outlets, including National Public Radio, Associated Press, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Vox.

Charlie has campaigned on climate and energy issues since 2014, which includes work with Greenpeace USA and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. He currently lives in Portland, Maine.

Sue Sturgis, Research and Communications Manager

Sue Sturgis is a Research and Communications Manager for the Energy and Policy Institute, focusing on electric utilities in the Southeast. Prior to joining EPI, she served as Editorial Director at the Institute for Southern Studies, a nonprofit journalism and research organization that publishes Facing South online magazine. There she covered energy, climate, and environmental politics. She has also worked as a reporter for daily and alt-weekly newspapers.

Sue’s interest in energy policy goes back to her childhood in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal mining region. She’s the granddaughter of an immigrant miner and a colliery worker, both of whom suffered from black lung, and the daughter of a power plant repairman and a nurse who trained in a state miners’ hospital.

Sue has won awards for her environmental journalism as well as for her reporting on nuclear energy security issues. She has appeared in documentary films on the Koch brothers and about North Carolina politics, and she has been interviewed by numerous media outlets about her work. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor’s in social work from Penn State. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, dogs, and cat.

Daniel Tait, Research and Communications Director

Daniel Tait is a Research and Communications Director for the Energy and Policy Institute. Prior to joining EPI, he was CEO of Energy Alabama, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization accelerating Alabama’s transition to sustainable energy through education, advocacy, and technical assistance.

Daniel has worked in sustainable energy since 2011 when a tornado outbreak in North Alabama motivated him to get involved with local efforts to build a more resilient and sustainable energy infrastructure. Daniel was named the 2015 International Young Energy Professional of the Year by the Association of Energy Engineers and acts as Treasurer of the Association of Energy Engineers, Huntsville Chapter.

Daniel is a graduate of Leadership Huntsville/Madison County’s Connect Program, Class 15 and the Alabama Leadership Initiative, class of 2016. He graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a degree in International Trade and Foreign Language and resides in Huntsville, Alabama with his wife and two children.

Itai Vardi, Research and Communications Manager

Itai Vardi is a Research and Communications Manager at the Energy and Policy Institute. Prior to joining the Energy and Policy Institute, he was an investigative journalist focusing on the fossil fuel industry and utilities, climate change denial and industry front groups, money in politics, and regulatory capture. His work appeared in such outlets as The Guardian, Huffington Post, DeSmog, and Mother Jones.

Itai also has a background in academia, where he conducted research and taught courses on the sociology of technology, social problems, and race & power. He has a MA in sociology from Tel Aviv University and a PhD in sociology from Boston University.

Karlee Weinmann is a Research and Communications Manager for the Energy and Policy Institute. In her previous role at the City of Minneapolis, she focused on climate and land use policy and led development of nationally recognized ordinances that increase transparency of home energy costs. Karlee was also a researcher for the Energy Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and, before that, a reporter covering Wall Street dealmaking for a legal newswire. She lives in Minneapolis.