REV2025: Heating Decarbonization Strategies that Reduce Winter Grid Peak Impacts
Wednesday, October 15th, 2025 – 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Diamond i
This panel features regulators, utilities, energy experts, and businesses discussing how Vermont can maximize its unique topography, rurality, culture, and available natural resources to build a more resilient renewable grid system.
Moderator: Adam Sherman, VEIC
Adam is a managing consultant at VEIC. He leads VEIC’s Decarbonization Planning work, driving to significant GHG reduction across many market segments. As a nationally recognized expert in renewable heating and cooling, Adam works with clients to identify and enact measures that achieve building decarbonization goals. Prior to joining VEIC, Adam was the Program Director of the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC), which VEIC acquired in 2012. During his time at BERC, Adam supported efficient thermal energy programs through technical, economic, project development, policy, and regulatory work.
Speakers
Morgan Hood, Vermont Gas Systems
Morgan Hood currently serves as the Manager of Innovative Products and Services at VGS. She brings 17 years of experience in the energy industry to her work designing and managing products and services focused on decarbonization and efficiency. Morgan’s highly developed and wide-ranging customer engagement expertise with energy users – from the individual homeowner or renter to large industrial companies – helps her unlock the invaluable customer insights that fuel the product development process. Her method-based approach employs the principles of design thinking, value proposition design, and the business model canvas as creative frameworks for evidence-based decision-making.
Jake Marin, Efficiency Vermont
Jake Marin is the program manager for HVAC and refrigeration at VEIC/Efficiency Vermont. Here, he developed Vermont’s first heat pump program in 2014 and has continued to help develop programs and guidelines for the greater Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region through his collaboration with the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (NEEP). These programs have supported the installation of over 20,000 high-efficiency heat pumps and over 10,000 heat pump water heaters in Vermont alone.
Morton Bailey, Lyme Green Heat
Morton Bailey is the founder and president of Lyme Green Heat of Lyme, New Hampshire. In business since 2008, Lyme Green Heat provides central heating solutions and wood pellet heating fuel to residential, commercial, municipal, and institutional customers in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Northern Massachusetts. The company offers sales, service, and bulk pellet deliveries.
Rachael Mascolino, VEIC
Rachael Mascolino is a senior engineer, HVAC at VEIC. With extensive experience in engineering, HVAC systems, and energy efficiency, her concentration is on reducing the economic and environmental impacts of energy use for commercial and industrial clients in the Northeast, as well as efficiency utilities across the U.S. Rachael held the position of Interim Engineering Manager at the District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility from September 2012 to May 2013, where she mentored a team in energy efficiency improvements and program refinement. Prior roles include Facilities Engineer at Topnotch Resort and Spa and HVAC Facilities Engineer at IBM.
Peter Stewart, Hargassner North America
Peter Stewart leads Hargassner’s North American operations in advanced biomass heating systems, with extensive experience deploying sustainable energy infrastructure across Europe and North America. He specializes in designing high-efficiency, low-emission wood-based systems and district energy networks that complement electrification strategies and support community resilience. Peter brings a global perspective to grid-integrated heating solutions, emphasizing durability, clean performance, and the intelligent use of renewables in cold climates.