What to Expect
Accelerating the Transition 2026 will unite leaders from every sector — government, business, finance, academia, and civil society — for three days of learning, collaboration, and action.
Through plenary sessions, keynote addresses, and 8 specialized conference tracks, participants will explore the technologies, policies, and partnerships needed to scale the clean energy transition.
The conference is not a talkfest — it’s designed for results: connecting decision-makers to financing, showcasing scalable innovations, and strengthening regional and state-level momentum for climate action.
Daily Agenda
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM | Registration |
| 8:00 AM – 8:45 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM – 9:40 AM |
Welcoming Remarks & Opening Plenary Keynotes
Speaker: 9:00 AM – 9:10 AM: John J. Berger — ATT Founder and Director — Opening Remarks
Speakers: 9:10 AM – 9:40 AM: Fireside Chat with Jennifer Granholm (former U.S. Secretary of Energy) and John J. Berger
Speaker: 9:40 AM: Bill Shireman — CEO and President, Solution Citizen — Keynote
|
| 9:45 AM – 10:30 AM |
Plenary: Clean Energy Transition — Opportunities, Successes, Policies, and Stakes
Moderator: Dan Reicher — Senior Researcher, Stanford University; former Assistant Secretary of Energy
Speaker: Mary Nichols — former Chair, California Air Resources Board
Speaker: Tyrone Jue — Director, San Francisco Department of the Environment
Speaker: Saharnaz Mirazad — Executive Director, ICLEI USA
|
| 10:45 AM – 11:30 AM |
Plenary: Critical Obstacles to Clean Energy Expansion — Moving Faster Through Public-Private Collaboration
Moderator: Dan Lashof — Senior Fellow, World Resources Institute; former COO, NextGen Policy Center
Speaker: Nancy Skinner — Commissioner, California Energy Commission
Speaker: Veery Maxwell — Galvanize Climate Solutions
Speaker: Dan Kammen — ATT Advisory Board
|
| 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM |
Plenary Keynote: Energy Efficiency & Energy-Efficient Design — Our Greatest Energy Resource
Speaker: Amory Lovins — Cofounder, Rocky Mountain Institute; globally renowned expert on energy efficiency & renewables
|
| 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM – 2:20 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Track 1: Financing the Clean Transition — Green bonds, treasuries, partnerships, green banks
Track 2: Durable Low/Zero-Emission Energy-Efficient Buildings
Moderator: Steve Nadel — Senior Advisor, ACEEE
Speaker: Steve Wiel — ATT Advisory Board
Track 3: Current Status of Renewable Energy Technologies
|
| 2:30 PM – 3:20 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Track 1: Banking System Reform & Fossil Fuel Finance
Track 2: District Heating/Cooling, Microgrids, Virtual Power Plants, Heat Pumps
Moderator: Steve Nadel — Senior Advisor, ACEEE
Speaker: Jonas Birgersson — Chairman, ViaEuropa; Chair, EnergyNet Task Force
Track 3: Policies to Accelerate the Adoption of Renewable Technologies
|
| 3:30 PM – 4:20 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Track 1: Carbon Pricing and Eco-Investment
Track 3: Current Status of Renewable Energy and Storage
|
| 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM |
Free Public Lecture
Speaker: Jonas Birgersson — Chairman, ViaEuropa; Chair, EnergyNet Task Force; Senior Fellow, Global Urban Development
|
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM | Registration |
| 8:00 AM – 8:45 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM |
Welcoming Remarks & Opening Keynote
Speaker: 9:00 AM – 9:10 AM: John J. Berger — ATT Founder and Director — Opening Remarks & Day 1 Recap
Speakers: 9:25 AM – 9:50 AM: Fireside Chat — Liane Randolph, Former Chair, California Air Resources Board and Prof. Daniel Sperling — Founder, UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies
|
| 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM |
Track 3: Power Transmission Capacity — Siting, Reconductoring, Grid Access
Speaker: PG&E Representative
|
| 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Track 4: Smart Urban Development & Transportation — VMT Reduction
Moderator: Prof. Daniel Sperling — Founder, UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies
Speaker: Steve Price — President, Urban Advantage, Inc.
Speaker: Susan Handy — Professor and Director, National Center for Sustainable Transportation, UC Davis
Clean Energy Innovation and Equity
Speaker: Mayor Rey Leon — Mayor of Huron, CA and Founder/ED, The LEAP Institute
|
| 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM | Track 3: Expanding Wind, Solar, Geothermal, Energy Storage |
| 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Track 4: Transportation Electrification — EV Charging Deployment
Speaker: PG&E Representative
Speaker: Nancy Skinner — Commissioner, California Energy Commission
Speaker: Gil Tal — Director, EV Research Center, UC Davis
Track 5: Overcoming Barriers to Industrial Efficiency, Electrification, and Decarbonization
Speaker: Jeff Rissman — Energy Innovation
Speaker: John O'Donnell — Rondo Energy
Speaker: Teresa Cheng — Industrius Labs
|
| 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Special Featured Slide Show Presentation
Moderator: Rebecca Saltzman
Speaker: Steve Price — President, Urban Advantage, Inc.
Track 4: Low/Zero-Emission Shipping, Aviation & Trucking
Moderator: Colin Murphy — UC Davis Policy Institute
Speaker: Colin Murphy — UC Davis Policy Institute
Speaker: Teresa Bui — Senior Climate Campaign Director, Pacific Environment
|
| 4:00 PM – 4:50 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Track 4: Light Rail & High-Speed Electrified Rail
Track 5: Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration
Speaker: Diane Doucette — Co-Founder and President, Project 2030
Speaker: Judy Savitskaya — Stripe
|
| 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM |
Free Public Lecture & Panel: AI Data Centers — Energy & Environmental Challenges
Moderator: Harsha Saxena — Founder & CEO, International Institute for Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility
|
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 7:30 AM – 2:00 PM | Registration |
| 8:00 AM – 8:45 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM |
Keynote: Strategies for Accelerating the Clean Transition
Introduction: John J. Berger — Founder and Director, Accelerating the Transition
Speaker: Mark Jacobson — Stanford University
|
| 9:20 AM – 9:45 AM |
Keynote: California Natural Resources Secretary
Speaker: Wade Crowfoot — Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency
|
| 9:45 AM – 10:00 AM |
Presentation by Conference Sponsor
Speaker: Carla Peterman — President, PG&E
|
| 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM |
Beyond the Retreat: U.S. Mayors Advancing Climate Progress
Moderator: Kate Wright — Executive Director, Climate Mayors
Speaker: Mayor Raj Salwan — City of Fremont
Speaker: Mayor Vicki Veenker — City of Palo Alto
|
| 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM |
Net Zero, Data Centers and Environmental Justice
Speaker: Lauren Johnson — Climate Justice Manager, Environmental Defense Fund
|
| 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Track 8: California's Clean-Transition Efforts, Laws, Policies, Research, and Regulatory Accomplishments — Where Do We Go From Here?
Track 7: Environmental & Climate Justice
Track 6: Natural Climate Solutions — Carbon Ranching and Regenerative Agriculture
Speaker: John Wick — Carbon Rancher and Founder, Marin Carbon Project
|
| 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Climate Communications
Track 8: California's Key Implementation Challenges, Proposed Solutions, and Strategic Actions Needed
Track 5: Reducing Industrial Emissions Through Innovation, Electrolysis, and Hydrogen
|
| 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM |
Track 6: Managing Forests and Agricultural Lands for Climate Benefits
Moderator: Laurie Wayburn — Co-Founder, Pacific Forest Trust
Speaker: Will Horwath — Distinguished Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry
|
| 4:00 PM – 4:50 PM |
Track 8: Climate Resilient & Sustainable Communities — Why Climate Resilience Stalls at the Local Level & How to Unlock Real Delivery
Moderators: Tuong-Vi Gourfinkel and Marc Weiss
Speaker: Linda Egin — Sweden
Speaker: Dr. Dominika Pazder — Poland
Speaker: Dr. Agnieszka Rumiez — Poland
|
| 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM |
Evening Event: Keynote by Tyrone Jue and "Building Legitimacy: How Narratives and Public Engagement Can Unlock Climate Infrastructure Deployment" Off-site location to be announced Moderator: Tuong-Vi Gourfinkel
Keynote: Tyrone Jue — Director, San Francisco Department of the Environment
Speaker: Kim Grob — Founder, Right On
Speaker: Nathalie Birac — US General Manager, Laketricity
Speaker: Margaret Gordon — Co-Founder, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
|