Powering Progress Summit
For the first time, Earth Finance is convening Powering Progress Summit during Pacific Northwest Climate Week, bringing together senior leaders across energy, finance, policy, utilities, infrastructure, investment, and corporate sustainability for a half day convening focused on the evolving realities shaping the energy transition.
Hosted by Earth Finance and industry leaders, the summit will explore how leaders across sectors are navigating rising infrastructure demands, geopolitical complexity, energy security, investment coordination, and the operational realities of implementation in the transition to a lower-carbon economy.
Structured across two connected sessions followed by an invitation-only dinner for a select cohort celebrating the launch of Earth Finance’s forthcoming Spatial Finance platform, the summit is designed to move from systems-level dialogue and policy dynamics to implementation-focused discussion.
THE SUMMIT
1:30 PM – 3:20 PM | SESSION ONE
Shifting Public Policy & Markets: Lessons from Washington, Oregon and California
Participants will arrive at 1pm, with coffee and light refreshments provided.
Lessons from Washington, Oregon, and California. A leadership forum on the premier West Coast climate policies and market lessons — cap-and-invest, clean fuel standards, renewable energy, grid modernization, and the investment moving alongside them.
Opening Keynote: A Decade of West Coast Climate Leadership
Hon. Jay Inslee, Washington Governor, 2013-2025
The Linked Market: Building a West Coast carbon economy
Senator Sharon Shewmake, State of Washington
House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, WA House of Representatives
Geoff Potter, Québec Government Office in Seattle
Hon. Reuven Carlyle
Fuel for Resilience: Scaling SAF as energy security
Ryan Spies, Managing Director, Sustainability, Alaska Airlines
Lauren Kickham, Climate Innovation Fund, Microsoft
Jake Gentry, Executive Director, Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator
From Breakthrough to Buildout: Deploying capital at scale
Aaron Bernstein, Head of Partnerships, Gigascale Capital
Ben Eidelson, Partner, Stepchange
Hon. Reuven Carlyle
3:50 PM – 5:00 PM | SESSION TWO
Thriving in an Energy-Constrained World
Participants will arrive at 3:20pm, with coffee and light refreshments provided.
The era of guaranteed power is over. Access to reliable and affordable energy sources now determines where and how companies can grow. This session explores the business case for place-based energy security — assessing risk and opportunity across your sites, quantifying the financial impact, and building a strategy, including how to fund it.
Fireside chat: Can we build it in time?
Meredith Connolly, Director of Policy and Strategy, Climate Solutions
Kevin Hagen, former CEO of CEBA and VP of ESG at Iron Mountain
Moderated panel: How corporates can turn energy risk into competitive advantage
Hannah Badrei, Ph.D., SVP, Global Energy Advisory Services, Trio Advisory
Sean Mackin, General Manager, Energy Purchasing, Costco Wholesale
Elias Hinckley, Energy Tax Partner, Baker Botts
Ron Stimmel, Former CEO, Noria Energy
Garrett Kephart, CEO, Earth Finance