I’m an energy engineer, policy advocate, organizer, and strategy advisor for systems change.

Housing, water, and clean energy should be provided for all people in an overheating world. This principle and my perspectives as a queer immigrant shape my work.

I am currently developing my next contribution to the overlapping movements for energy justice, building electrification, and healthy housing. I am a member of the Climate and Community Project.

From 2022 to 2023, I founded then co-directed the People’s Utility Commons, a collaborative project that published a utility justice and energy democracy curriculum for scaling movement capacity from the ground up.

In 2021, I was part of the democratic, frontline-led design and launch of the Equitable Building Electrification Fund with the support of Kresge Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, The Summit Foundation, and Emerald Cities Collaborative.

Since 2017, I have advanced policy and movement infrastructure directly with Initiative for Energy Justice at Northeastern University School of Law, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, California Green New Deal Coalition, NEWHAB, Energy Efficiency for All in California, The Greenlining Institute, Energy Democracy Project, Energy Equity Project, Justice40 Accelerator, Energy Foundation, and others not listed.

I have instructed courses and provided guest lectures on energy policy and justice at Stanford University, the University of California, and the University of Michigan.

By request, I advise on strategies to build collective power and win local, state, and federal policy for democratic control of our built environment.

What's on my mind…

29 Nov 2023 Reflecting on Writing a Utility Justice Curriculum With movement support, this curriculum has been taught in person with nearly 100 activists and organizers across the country. We previewed the curriculum back in May with environmental and economic justice organizers in Detroit, and this fall they rolled out their own version in a community-facing series. Other organizers produced a podcast episode with their take on the history after we worked through the curriculum together in May.

29 Nov 2023 A Utility Justice Reading List Spanning utility history, economic theory, analysis of structural racism, and practical guides to organizing for utility justice going forward, this reading list is a deeper introduction for anyone using the People’s Utility Commons curriculum or anyone who wants to learn more about utility justice in a reading group.

11 Sep 2023 We Need Public Power for Energy Equity We have to expand public ownership of the electricity system rapidly and comprehensively. With more than one-quarter of all U.S. households currently experiencing deep energy insecurity, the requirement of private utilities to produce competitive profits for their investments is fundamentally opposed to the equally urgent tasks of resisting energy apartheid and greening our buildings and the power sector.

17 May 2023 Building Decarbonization has a Natural Gas Pipeline Problem In current policy and investment strategy, building decarbonization is treated primarily as an appliance swapping project. This micro-approach misses the systemic nature of the reduction of natural gas demand explicit in the swap: drawing down demand is ultimately a natural gas pipeline network decommissioning project.

12 Sep 2022 Don't Count Utility Shutoffs, Ban Them Utility shutoffs are a blunt tool that benefits utilities more than people. Creating new standards for counting them isn’t necessary and could potentially produce more harm than good. Our time will be better spent to try to ban them permanently and immediately.

See all my Notes.