New York Energy Week Shines a Light on Startups
Angelique Mercurio and Emily Bjorklund stopped by FOXBusiness.com on day one of New York Energy Week 2014 to discuss the lineup of events.
The idea for New York Energy Week came from EnerKnol, the energy data startup co-founded by Mercurio and Bjorklund. Both have a background in commodities trading: Mercurio worked most recently for Barclays, while Bjorkland got her start in commodities at UBS.
“We said, what could really happen if all the entrepreneurs and innovators came together with the big utilities and large major oil and gas companies, if we can get them to come to New York and be a part of the conversation,” said Mercurio. “And that’s really the goal: In order to be successful, [it’s necessary to] get investment in the energy industry and really transform the whole industry starting right here in New York.”
Bjorklund said 3,000 people attended last year’s events; this year, the team is expecting roughly 6,000 attendees.
“We are out to transform the energy industry through better access to energy policy information, because the industry is highly regulated and there are more than 2,000 different regulators. So we built a single platform that acts as a one-stop access for energy investors and decision-makers to get energy regulatory filings and policies,” said Mercurio.
Here are some of the highlights from the week’s lineup of events:
• Monday: New York Energy Week Opening Ceremony panel, featuring Con Edison’s President and CEO John McEvoy and National Grid President Kenneth Daly; • Tuesday: NYEW Solar Breakfast, featuring Solaire Generation CEO Laurence Mackler and SunEdison founder and former CEO Jigar Shah; • Wednesday: NYEW Clean-tech Startups Showcase, featuring a pitch competition judged by Loeb & Loeb partner Joe Daniels, Recyclebank senior VP Erika Diamond, Exelon Corp. assistant general counsel Jeanne Dworetzky, and Archer Gray COO Tom Ryan
The full list of events can be viewed here. All events are free, and invitations can be requested online.