EcoMotion President, Ted Flanigan, has extensive experience in public speaking, delivering addresses across the United States and in many countries around the world. Lincoln Park, Earth Day 20 Chicago, and 20,000 people at center stage. The closing keynote for the Asian Clean Energy Expo in the Philippines. Keynote speaker for the MIT Environmental Colloquium; at the Aspen Institute.
He has been consistently rated high among his peers at conferences for his presentation style and bold content, an edge he claims comes from years of performing music on stage. What will fuel the future? What are you — an an individual — willing to do to make a difference? How can we each Save a Ton of CO2 to lessen our total footprint?
His presentations are sobering while highly motivational, including “the Great Climate Challenge and Opportunity,” “Screaming Past Net Zero,” the “Realities of Effective Solar Policies,” “Riding the Wave of Green Careers,” and “Iceland’s Carbon and Energy Transformation.”
Selected Presentations by Ted Flanigan
Oregon State University Lecture — Bend, Oregon
“Ultimate Disruption: 40 Years of Change to the U.S. Electric Utility Industry”
This 2026 presentation provides a 40-year perspective on the major changes in the American power sector. It begins in 1892 with Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street Generating Station… and shifts from utilities as vertically integrated monopolies to all the competitive forces that have disrupted a once stodgy, cost-plus industry. The lecture covers demand-side management, direct access, the rise of CCAs, and competitive power markets. Presented to engineering students, the one-hour lecture was followed by an hour of point-counterpoint discussion. A white paper of the lecture is also available at no charge from EcoMotion.
2025 Space Energy Presentations — California
“Capturing Solar Power in Space and Bringing it Down to Earth”
Ted Flanigan presented on Space Energy – and particularly the Solaren Corporation’s technology – to utilities, CCAs, and other utility associations in California. Space-based solar power has the promise of providing 24*7 baseload renewable power… a very sought-after commodity given California’s SB 100 goal for 2045, compounded by even-more aggressive municipal decarbonization goals. The lectures described the technology and other organizations around the world pursuing it. A white paper on the same topic is also available.
Harvard University Law School’s Climate Solutions Living Lab — Cambridge, Massachusetts
“Crafting and Financing Carbon-Free Microgrids”
In this presentation, Ted Flanigan first provided the basics… defining microgrids, islanding, grids a different scales, their technical components, etc. He then presented case studies… from the first microgrid… Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street Station in New York City, to the impressive Coop City project in the Bronx, to the experimental Stone Edge Farm demonstration, and EcoMotion’s six-campus project in Salinas. That project gave rise to the term — Powered Emergency Response Centers — microgrids that can provide huge school and community benefits in emergencies with carbon-free, unlimited power in the event of a prolonged power outage. The presentation concluded with “threading the needle,” and financing microgrids by a) defining critical loads, b) design that enables tight control of power usage, and c) giving batteries “a day job” to produce revenues on a daily basis to offset the expense of resilience.
Plug in America:
Annual Board Meeting Facilitation — Los Angeles, California
Ted Flanigan was pleased to be asked to facilitate Plug In America’s annual board meeting in 2023. Tensions between highly motivated staff and the organization’s board – many of whom played key roles in establishing PIA – warranted facilitation. Now that electric vehicles are established in North America, and that was essentially PIA’s mandate – to spur their adoption and establish their place in the auto marketplace, the meeting addressed possible next steps such as how to support the rise of charging infrastructure, EV access for lower-income drivers, and shared EV programs. To loosen up the meeting participants, Ted used breaks in the multi-day program to teach Tai Chi to the board and staff.
Irvine City Council Briefing on Energy Storage — Irvine, California:
“Energy Storage: Industry Trends and Opportunities”
This presentation to the Irvine City Council frames up the “Lithium-ion Revolution,” how new forms of energy storage are transformative. The presentation briefs council members on new terms, interpreting load profiles, and opportunities for Irvine including emergency preparedness and resilience for municipal buildings.
Law Seminars International — Los Angeles, California
“Changes and Challenges for the Vertically Integrated Utility Model”
Presentation focused on a number of disruptors, such as energy storage and its pivotal support for solar, and its use in launching hybrid electric buildings. The presentation covered a vision for community and distributed storage. Another disruptor, Zero Net Energy… leaving utilities with fewer and fewer kilowatt-hours to sell. The presentation ends with means for utilities to survive and thrive, competing to sell the hardware and services, for instance solar, EV charging etc, – that other firms are now profitably providing, 2016
E-Source Forum – Denver, Colorado
“Tailoring the Message”
Ted Flanigan presented “Tailoring the Message” at the E Source Forum in Denver, presenting outreach strategies for diverse power consumers. The talk focused on how we first acknowledge the widely differing customers that any utility has… citizens, tribal members, home and business owners, schools, volunteers, CBOs, NGOs, chambers, file and police departments, and contractors to name a few. And these power consumers that utilities are working hard to engage… are in different age groups, and different distinguishing features… such as Tall Clubs!
Ted presented the sensitivity that he and his team have tried to employ… working with Russian immigrants in West Hollywood and a foster grandma in San Bernardino, working with school children from all backgrounds, senior citizens on fixed incomes, the broad LGBTQ community, not to mention differing religions and their churchgoers. The audience was divided into small groups to devise strong communication skills for a number of simulated communications.
American Council for an Energy-Efficiency — Phoenix, Arizona
“The Role of Efficiency in the Utility of the Future”
EcoMotion developed a strategy and then presentation for getting the City of Los Angeles to 100% renewable by 2025. This was done under contract for mayoral candidate Mitchell Schwartz. To achieve the goal will require quantum-leap strategies, like a 20x efficiency gain. Another option… tearing down decrepit properties and rebuilding green. These could be owned and maintained by utilities, a new ownership model for housing.
North American Carbon World — Los Angeles, California
“Three Co-Benefits of Corporate Climate Responsibility”
Ted Flanigan presented three wins for corporations taking green actions. First, some corporations – such as Kimco Realty – can install solar on their rooftops and sell lower-cost power to their tenants while creating new profit centers. Second, corporations such as Capital Group Companies, can attract and retain top talent. Third, banks and others can increase worker productivity through better lighting, better comfort, and limited shaded solar-port parking that will attract early birds getting to work sooner each day!
State of California State Compensation Insurance Fund
The Power of the Increment Lunch and Learn
EcoMotion’s President, Ted Flanigan, was pleased to be the motivational lunch and learn speaker for the State of California State Compensation Insurance Fund, an organization that is focused on climate change and its employees’ actions to promote sustainability.
The virtual lunch and learn focused on sustainability, its seven spheres, and the massive carbon threat to sustainability. Then the focus was on individual carbon footprints, and then how to cut carbon in our lives, in both really simple and big ways… from installing LEDs, carpooling, buying locally, to reducing packaging.. The presentation was peppered with actions that each of us can take daily to “Save a Ton” of carbon.
The talk ended with a vision of the future of a higher quality of life, with new integrations… like smart cars integrated as appliances, supporting not only our own carbon reductions but also providing community benefit through vehicle to grid integration. V2G is a win-win advance, and a harbinger of synergies that will actually enhance the quality of our lives while mitigating environmental damages.
Glendale Library Talk — Glendale, California
“A Carbon Conversation”
EcoMotion’s President, Ted Flanigan, led a presentation on shaping the energy future of the City of Glendale. He relayed to students and community members in the audience the best sustainable energy practices for municipalities such as Glendale, how to revolutionize and build resilience in the energy and power systems in the City.
The ideas presented during the panel were a part of an EcoMotion report commissioned by city officials last year that offers various ways to meet the city’s goal of completely clean energy usage by 2035. The ideas in the EcoMotion report, which gathers best energy practices from across the nation and world, covers topics surrounding energy efficiency, load management, and distributed energy resources.
The Benefactor Investment Model
EcoMotion and GreenerU team up to offer a financing mechanism to fund energy-efficiency projects and renewables for nonprofit organizations.
Our Benefactor Investment Model (BIM) is a charitable giving method that: a) provides institutions capital needed to implement a climate action plan, b) provides donors the opportunity to support institutions while making an attractive return on their investment & c) makes benefactors investors first, then donors. Check out this webinar to learn more.
The Center for Green Schools Energy Resilience Webinar
“Powering Schools with Solar + Storage & Microgrids”
EcoMotion sponsored the webinar on School Energy Resiliency: Solar+Storage and Microgrids. The speakers, including Ted Flanigan, expanded on how schools across the country are taking energy resilience into their own hands by switching to electrically powered systems, and installing 100% clean renewable energy and storage on site. Ted presented EcoMotion’s work with energy resilience and greening schools, notably the development of six, fully financed, carbon-free microgrids in Monterey County. He went on to discuss a number of school projects, underscoring the synergy between responsible energy management and student education. He also highlighted EcoMotion’s current advisory role exploring the use of electric buses as resilience tools, thanks to vehicle-to-grid technologies.
Venture Café Global Earth Night Webinar — Cambridge, Massachusetts
“Carbon-Free Energy Resilience”
Venture Cafe Global and Coalesce, headed up by Sierra Flanigan, hosted an annual Earth Day celebration. EcoMotion’s Ted Flanigan was a featured speaker at the virtual Earth Night conference highlighting EcoMotion’s works with sustainable solutions and carbon-free energy resilience. Ted presented EcoMotion’s Seven Spheres of Sustainability, current sustainability projects, previous work developing six carbon-free microgrids in Monterey County, and the exciting vehicle-to-grid future. He also shared EcoMotion’s Sustainability Tips, encouraging participants to achieve a more sustainable future.
Kayne Anderson — Beverly Hills, California
Renewable Energy Fund Kick-Off Keynote Speaker
Ted Flanigan was the featured speaker at the luncheon launch of Kayne Anderson’s Renewable Energy Fund at the Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria in June 2019. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP is known for its expertise in natural gas and its distribution. It is now offering its investors a new service… a fund for investments in renewables, notably utility-scale solar and wind. Ted presented “The Big Picture,” his talk highlighting the fantastic energy trends of our lifetimes, from the plummeting costs of solar and wind, and their commensurate rise in capacity, the rise of electric cars and now buses, and in the coming future… hybrid buildings!
EUEC Conference — San Diego, California
“Microgrids: Powered Emergency Response Centers”
Ted Flanigan presented the Santa Rita Union School District story in San Diego… the tale of developing and fully financing six, independent, carbon-free microgrids in Salinas, California. The paper was presented as part of the Microgrid and Energy Storage panel at the EUEC 2019 conference at the San Diego Convention Center. Ted’s presentation was titled, “PERCs: Powered Emergency Response Centers” and provided the audience with the genesis and implementation of resilience on these campuses, while highlighting the financing and operational aspects of the innovative project. Ted was on a panel with officials from Bloom Energy, Solar Turbines, and Engie. Thanks to the PERCs that EcoMotion developed, today SRUSD students can shelter in place during grid outages thanks to robust solar, significant storage, and sophisticated microgrid and energy management controls. EcoMotion supported the district with a vision, a financing strategy, and ongoing quality control to assure project success in the form of indefinite, carbon-free power generation and use.
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority
“The Big Picture Presentations”
For fourteen years, EcoMotion provided solar consulting and support services to LA Metro. In addition to monitoring all of Metro’s solar systems on a daily basis, EcoMotion trained Facilities Management staff on how to maintain the solar systems, while updating staff on notable developments with solar and storage. At the onset of each division’s technical PV training, Ted presented “The Big Picture” and made clear the important role of Metro staff in properly maintaining existing solar and preparing for additional arrays and storage capacities. A highlight of each presentation was a video featuring the Energy Vault, gravitational storage system followed by a discussion of the pros and cons of a number of storage technologies and how storage is a game-changer to ubiquitous renewable energy use.
North America Carbon World – Los Angeles, California
“Corporate Responsibility and Carbon Reductions”
Ted Flanigan presented means for corporate responsibility through the deployment of solar power at the North America Carbon World conference hosted by Climate Action Reserve at LA’s new and impressive Intercontinental Hotel. Based on recent EcoMotion experience, Ted detailed three drivers for cost-effective, corporate action. Kimco Realty created a new and viable profit centers to install solar and to sell green power to tenants. Capital Group notes that one of primary drivers for going solar – and for all its green actions – is to attract and retain top talent. Cathay Bank in El Monte, California made a huge statement with its award-winning solar ports, but also created shade for 350+ parking spots, nearly all of its parking lot. To get shade, Cathay’s chairman mused, perhaps workers may well come to work early.
Santa Monica Climate Fest — Santa Monica, California
“The Future of Energy”
On May 19, 2018 Ted Flanigan served on “The Future of Energy Panel” at Santa Monica’s Climate Fest. Ted presented means for smart energy management – through efficiency, behavioral conservation, solar and now… storage and EV charging. Ted presented his own journey at his Glendale home, concluding with next steps to further reduce his carbon footprint. Throughout the presentation, he saluted the audience for their actions to date and encouraged them to call Solar Santa Monica for technical assistance with next steps in carbon free power and mobility. Concurrently EcoMotion’s Senior Solar Specialist presented a 31- slide deck of the nuts and bolts of going solar for Santa Monica apartment dwellers and condo owners.
Accelerated Energy Investment Forum: University of California at Irvine
“Microgrids and Powered Emergency Resilience Centers”
The Santa Rita Union School District Story was the feature of Ted Flanigan’s talk at the Accelerated Energy Investment Forum, held at The Cove at the University of California at Irvine. The presentation focused on how private sector financing made energy resilience possible for a small school district serving disadvantaged communities. Other speakers included State Senator Kevin De Leon.
Asian Clean Energy Forum — Manilla, The Philippines
Ted Flanigan delivered the closing keynote speech for the Asian Clean Energy Forum in 2008. He presented radical change in the electric utility industry, lessons from North America and Europe and hope for Asia, witnessed by delegates at the Forum.