Interstate Renewable Energy Council Welcomes Radina Valova as Regulatory Vice President
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Radina Valova as its new Regulatory Vice President.
Valova will provide strategic direction and oversight of IREC’s Regulatory Program, which works in states across the country to advance distributed energy resource (DER) regulatory best practices, in support of a 100% clean energy future that is reliable, resilient and equitable. She takes over for Sara Baldwin, IREC’s previous Regulatory Vice President since 2014, who accepted a new role earlier this summer.
“We are excited to have Radina join the IREC Team,” said Larry Sherwood, IREC’s President and CEO. “Her experience and skill will expand IREC’s leadership on the important policies needed to expand distributed energy resource deployment.”
“I am thrilled to join IREC’s team of dedicated and skilled experts,” Valova said. “I look forward to working with our partners and allies to push for advanced storage and interconnection policies, which are essential for states to achieve their climate and clean energy goals.”
Valova comes to IREC from the Pace Energy and Climate Center, where she served as Senior Staff Attorney and Regulatory Affairs Manager. In that role, she led the Center’s engagement in New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision, developed policy solutions for decarbonizing the buildings sector, and pushed for clean and affordable energy for low- and moderate-income communities.
Valova brings significant experience in energy and climate law and policy, with a focus on the electric and gas utility sectors, utility transformation, and a just transition to a decarbonized economy for underserved and disadvantaged communities. Her practice areas have included distributed energy resource policy, rate design, decarbonization, and utility rate making, among other utility regulatory issues.
Valova has led electric and gas utility regulatory interventions and managed regulatory engagement across a wide variety of stakeholders, from government to grassroots organizations. She has also worked on crafting new utility business models for a more transactive grid; reforming fundamental cost of service methodology and rate design principles to support customer investments in DERs and affordable energy rates; and developing recommendations for electric and gas benefit-cost analysis frameworks. She has developed reports, petitions, and public comments on nearly every major aspect of utility transformation, from community solar to data access to low-income customer clean energy programs.
Valova has a strong commitment to training the next generation of energy and climate advocates. As a current Adjunct Professor of Energy Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, Valova teaches J.D. and LL.M. students about the complexities of utility rate design and net metering, wholesale power markets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the conflicts between federal and state jurisdiction. She has also taught intensive seminars for grassroots and community-based organizations on the energy industry, regulatory proceedings, and the economic and regulatory fundamentals of the electric sector.
Valova’s published works include Zero Net Gas: A Framework for Managing Gas Demand Reduction as a Pathway to Decarbonizing the Buildings Sector, Revisiting Bonbright’s Principles of Public Utility Rates in a DER World, Transition Support Mechanisms for Communities Facing Full or Partial Coal Power Plant Retirement in New York, and The Utilities of Maryland’s Future: An Agenda for Transformation.
Valova is a graduate of Pace Law School, with a J.D. certificate in Environmental Law and a Masters of Law in Land Use and Sustainable Development. Prior to energy and climate law, she practiced commercial litigation, and before embarking on the legal path, she coordinated a sustainability program for community college students.
