Daniel Potash
Independent Consultant | Independent Consultant
Speaker
Track D: Clean Energy Transition: Challenges and Opportunities
Session D1: Funding Opportunities for the Energy Transition
March 11, 2026 | 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Financing Decarbonization: A Future Beyond Grants
| To succeed in decarbonization activities outlined in their Climate Action Plans, cities and counties should emphasize private sector financing rather than rely too much on taxpayer funds. Financing clean energy and climate actions at the local level relied heavily on federal grants such as provided for in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Those potential sources disappeared with the new administration in 2025. As an alternative, cities and counties should seek private sector financing from banks, equity investors, carbon investors, and energy services companies. An important and needed role for local government is providing consumer information for the general public. |
Speaker Bio
Dan Potash is a project manager for climate financing, renewable energy, power sector reform, grants issuance. He mobilized $995 million of climate financing for solar, wind, energy efficiency, and electrified mobility on advisory contract value of $30 million. For Private Financing Network - Asia, he oversaw project grooming based on his Financing Readiness Handbook published by California Energy Commission. Mr. Potash is a certified PMP (through 2029) and CEM (through 2028). He is a Member of Project Management Institute, Association of Energy Engineers, and CivicWell, California. He holds BS in Industrial Engineering and MBA in Finance, both from Columbia University.