Meet The Forum Team: Henrietta Reily

Henrietta is specializing in Energy and the Environment as a first year Masters of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE). Henrietta just moved to New Haven from San Francisco after working in climate tech at Overstory and UrbanFootprint.

What drew you to YSE?
 

I've been working in climate tech for the last few years at two different companies. Through my most recent job, I learned more about regulatory affairs, how state regulation works, how that affects technology adoption, and the challenges that utilities are facing. I got increasingly interested in policy and the regulatory side of things and was really interested in learning more about different pathways for change and potentially moving into the regulatory ecosystem. 

Yale has a really good concentration of Energy students and academics, and I also appreciate that the MEM brings people together across the environmental spectrum.

What are you curious about with the Clean Energy Forum or energy in general?

I’m interested in energy and energy systems broadly, but I'm especially interested in regulatory innovation for electric utilities.
We're seeing affordability concerns, especially with load growth, and a need to update the regulatory system and how it works and serves customers. And so, I'm really interested in different mechanisms, especially at the state level, that utility commissions can use to make the system work better and decarbonize at the same time.

I've always been very passionate about climate, and I think when that started in high school. I've always just been really interested in systems, and how things fit together to serve society. As I've learned more about myself as an adult and entered the workforce,
I got really interested in being closer to implementation and working on the problem via the energy system.

What are you interested in outside of the energy space? 

I love art, so you can often find me seeing museum and gallery shows. 


Do you like sculpture, painting, or another form?
 

I draw and paint, so I find myself drawn to those media the most. I also love cooking, reading, or any activity outside.

Most recently, I’ve been enjoying The Glory and the Dream, a book that surveys the history of America from the ‘30s to the '70s.