AEE SoCal Chapter Leadership
AEE SoCal Officers / Board of Directors / Committees

The AEE SoCal Chapter is led by volunteers that serve as elected Officers and members of the AEE SoCal Chapter Board of Directors.

Board of Directors members also serve as Committee Chairs, with various Standing Committees overseeing key Chapter activities such as Memberships, Scholarships and the Chapter's Annual Conference. Ad Hoc Committees are formed on an as-needed basis to address emerging issues and opportunities not covered by the various Standing Committees.

AEE SoCal is a dynamic organization focused on the hot topics of energy efficiency and energy security in Southern California. Volunteering to assist the Chapter is fun and rewarding on personal and professional levels. It can also greatly enhance your efforts to network with other Chapter members.

Chapter members are encouraged to be active participants in helping lead, manage, staff and promote the wide variety of ongoing Chapter activities and events.

The easiest way to volunteer to determine which Committee help is to contact the Committee Chair, who is a Board of Directors member that has been appointed by the Chapter President to lead a particular Standing Committee.

Current Committees include:

Officer and Board member profiles below include current Committee Chair assignments.

AEE SoCal Chapter Officer Profiles
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AEE SoCal Chapter President
Ricson Chude, P.E., CEM, CEA, CMVP
Southern California Edison
Ricson Chude is a professional engineer who currently works for Southern California EDISON, where he supports the development of “next generation” Energy Efficiency, Demand Response programs and the integration of Distributed Energy Resources to help local grid reliability. His previous experiences in the energy field comprises engineering work under both electric and gas utility demand side management programs, as well as independent consulting with energy service companies and environmental firms to solve customer energy, environmental and compliance challenges. In previous roles at SCE, he supervised engineers who performed the technical analysis of customer submitted energy efficiency projects, managed HVAC equipment emerging technology field studies, and authored white papers detailing energy savings best practices.
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AEE SoCal Chapter Treasurer
Don Musser
Searles Valley Minerals
musser@svminerals.com
Mr. Musser is the Energy Manager for Searles Valley Minerals. He has over 40 years industrial experience in Operations, Instrumentation & Electrical Maintenance, Project Management, Engineering, Maintenance Management & Energy Project Development.
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AEE SoCal Chapter Secretary
Alice Beltran
SoCalGas
Trade Pro Account Executive
Alice Beltran has a BS in Geology from UCLA and an MS in Building Science from USC. She has 15 years of energy efficiency experience at SoCalGas that spans the multifamily, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors. She has developed and managed energy efficiency programs with a variety of delivery channels and measure types. She is currently the SoCalGas Trade Pro Account Executive.

AEE SoCal Chapter Board of Directors Profiles
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AEE SoCal Chapter Sr. Director at Large
Serge Adamian, MS, MBA, PE, CEM
President of Ecotrade, Inc.
Serge Adamian currently manages Ecotrade, Inc, a consulting company with focus on commercial-scale renewable energy projects. Previously he managed SunChiller, Inc a company that marketed solar thermal systems and collectors for industrial, commercial, and residential applications. In that capacity he initiated multiple large-scale solar thermal and energy efficiency installations in the United States.

Prior to SunChiller he started and managed companies in diverse fields of solar thermal collector manufacturing, hydrogen fuel cell R&D, software development, and wind-farm development.
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AEE SoCal Chapter Director at Large
Michael Coughlin, Account Manager
Southern California Edison
Account Manager
Account Manager Southern California Edison Jan 2008 – Present: Represents the company with business customers by resolving electric energy services issues and marketing energy efficiency, demand reduction and other strategies. Attain goals and continuous improvement of customer satisfaction. Consulting with customers to assess their business needs and requirements; identifying value added company products, services, and/or innovative solutions to address business needs. Maintain relationships and promoting energy efficiency and demand response programs and services to large revenue producing customers. Identifying and promoting new business opportunities utilizing products and services in support of corporate business objectives. Identifying and managing resolution of issues that are routine and/or non-critical in nature and typically have established precedents. Frequent contact with customers, management, and engineering & technical staff to consult, recommend, negotiate, and sell solutions. Performing utility rate analyses, return on investment calculations with regards to energy efficiency, and providing customers with best demand response options through evolution of cost benefits. Routine internal contact with many levels of management to provide information; providing recommendations and influencing corporate and department decisions. Represent the company with business customers by resolving electric energy services issues and marketing energy efficiency, demand reduction and other strategies. Attain goals and continuous improvement of customer satisfaction.
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AEE SoCal Chapter Director at Large
Natalie Joves
SoCalGas
Senior Account Executive
Natalie Joves is a Senior Account Executive at Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), where she supports large commercial and industrial customers to enhance customer experience and promote efficient use of natural gas. She was previously an Account Executive with the company’s Trade Professional Program, engaging with and promoting energy efficiency to equipment manufacturers, installers, and sellers. Prior to this, she supported new and existing construction projects with their energy efficiency needs. Joves received her B.S. from California State University, Long Beach in Civil Engineering.
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AEE SoCal Chapter Director at Large
Joe Raasch
Thule Energy Storage
Director of Projects and Applications
Joe Raasch is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) employed as the Director of Projects and Applications at Thule Energy Storage (TES). Joe leads the TES program in Southern California, where TES has built and now owns and operates 6.4 MW of "behind-the-meter" utility-grade thermal energy storage systems. Prior to TES, Joe led the Energy Management Program at Cushman Wakefield - Midwest as an Energy Manager developing and overseeing energy portfolios for 43 million square feet of commercial, industrial, and retail space. Joe received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in Facility Engineering.
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AEE SoCal Chapter Director at Large
Nolan Sambrano
ADEPT Group, Inc.
Nolan Sambrano is a Director and Senior Project Engineer at the ADEPT Group, Inc. where he manages operations and business support functions. He consults on business development and strategy; and leads energy and engineering projects for public and private sector clients involving R&D, technology transfer and commercialization, and project management. His experience in the energy industry includes work in alternative fuels, geothermal power, high altitude wind, PV, and energy efficiency. Nolan is a Certified Energy Manager and has a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from UCLA.

Advisory Council

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AEE Center Regional Vice President - Region V
Cynthia Martin, BEP, CSDP, MBA
AEE SoCal Past Chapter President
Served the Southern California Aee local Chapter (Aee SoCal) over a 4 year span as Director at Large, Annual Conference Co-chair, Vice President, and President in 2018 and 2019. Ms. Martin has 39 years of marketing and business development experience beginning her career in the rapidly moving computer industry from 1980 to 1992. She held the position of Regional Manager at Enable Software, Albany New York, as well as Senior Account Manager at Ashton Tate in Torrance, CA. While working on a Master’s in Business, Ms. Martin joined the Southern California Edison Company in 1994. She graduated in 2001, achieving her MBA degree from the University of Phoenix and obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles in 1979. During her 25 years of experience with Southern California Edison, Ms. Martin managed key customer portfolios valued over $156,000,000 and has driven attainment of individual, team and company goals, deliverance of excellent customer satisfaction, and successful resolution to complex regulatory customer impacts and projects.

Chapter Support

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AEE SoCal Chapter Administrator
Monika Cornelius
Cornelius Associates
877.483.6642
monika@aeesocal.org
Monika Cornelius is President of Cornelius & Associates in Huntington Beach, CA. Cornelius & Associates provides association management services, meeting and exhibition management, and consulting services to associations. Ms. Cornelius has a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation from the Convention Liaison Council and has been a member of the Professional Convention Management Association where she served on the international relations committee and membership committee. She has spoken at various industry events on customer service and international meeting management and is co-author of Program Planning Guide: A Manual for Successful Educational Meetings.
Chapter Leadership Election & Appointment Process

  • A Chapter-wide election is held every year to determine the Chapter Officers and the Board of Directors.
  • Any member of the Chapter is welcome to run for a position on the Board of Directors.