
We’re energy business innovators
NineDot’s name derives from the classic mathematical puzzle for sparking out-of-the-box solutions. David, Adam and Nalin combined their skills and experiences in clean-energy analysis, science and entrepreneurship to build exciting and important urban energy projects.
Founded in 2015, based at the NYU Urban Future Lab in Brooklyn and backed by Carlyle, we’re committed to providing clean energy solutions to the New York area and beyond.
Our mission and vision
Mission statement
At NineDot Energy, our team of creative collaborators share a passion to design and execute innovative solutions that leverage technology, policy, and markets to support a sustainable future.
Vision statement
Climate change is the most critical issue of our time: as such, we aspire to have a positive impact on the environment and the society in which we live and work.
Our story – experience and expertise
When a chaos physicist, a finance professor and a clean-tech entrepreneur got together, good things happened.
Meet NineDot Energy
NineDot Energy’s DNA is all about anticipating market changes in pursuit of creating businesses that serve the greater good. We combine an entrepreneurial willingness to do new things, a businessperson’s understanding of project economics, and a project developer’s capacity to get things done, to deliver results that make a difference.
Founders

David Arfin

David Arfin
CEO, co-founder
David is CEO and co-founder of NineDot Energy, based in Brooklyn, NY. He is also the co-founder of Ener-Pacte (France) and SolarVento (Mexico), and has served on the Board of Directors of Simpa Networks (India) and WattzOn (Palo Alto), and as an Advisor to Everyday Energy (San Diego), United Wind (New York), Tigi Solar (Israel), and eMotorWerks (acquired by ENEL). Previously, David served as a Consultant to the US Department of Energy’s SunShot initiative and as Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Israel Cleantech Ventures. David has also been an emissary for the US Department of State in Angola, Israel, and Palestine.
David invented SolarCity’s SolarLease, the game-changing solar financing program that enabled over 1,000,000 American homeowners to have solar power in their homes. SolarCity was acquired by Tesla.
David loves building sustainable businesses that contribute to environmental wellness. He selects markets that are large and ripe for creative solutions and partners and with partners who are smarter than he is and have the highest integrity, and has an insatiable desire to explore new places and start new businesses.
David has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Masters in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and an MBA from Stanford University. He is on the Board of the Friends of the Arava Environmental Institute for Environmental Studies and is a Member of the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable. He lives between New York and California.

Adam Cohen, PhD

Adam Cohen, PhD
CTO, co-founder
Adam B. Cohen, Ph.D., is leading the way to urban clean energy as the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of NineDot Energy, building community energy sites to make the NYC metro grid cleaner, more resilient, more equitable and less costly.
Projects in operation or under development that Adam has spearheaded include battery energy storage systems in Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island and Westchester County.
Adam developed his exceptional understanding of how complex systems interact and evolve in his academic work (Ph.D. from the Chaos Group at University of Maryland and B.S. in physics from Bucknell University); he now applies his findings to the interconnected dynamics of energy markets, technologies, regulations and grid economics. Adam was a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy (launching a research program applying social and behavioral science to scale up solar energy adoption) where Adam met his NineDot Energy co-founders. Adam is passionate about opportunities to modernize the urban electric system in a way that benefits all stakeholders. Recognizing the impact of Adam’s work, Crain’s New York Business selected Adam as an inaugural “2023 Notable Leader in Sustainability”.

Nalin Kulatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka
Chief strategy officer, co-founder
Nalin is Wing Tat Lee Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business where he also serves as the co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. Nalin’s current research interests include impact investing and financing distributed energy resources. Nalin has published extensively in top academic journals as well as influential managerial publications. His book, Real Options (HBS Press), has received wide acclaim. His honors include Bertil Danielson Chair (Stockholm School of Economics), Takang Chair (Tamkang University, Taipei), and the Association for Investment Management and Research’s Graham and Dodd Award. He has co-founded several companies including FirstFuel Software (energy data analytics), and NineDot Energy (community distributed generation for congested urban grids). He serves on the Board of Directors of Assette. Nalin holds a PhD from MIT
Team

Andy Allbee

Anthony Santamaria

Becca Schofield-Cohen

Dareo Mckenzie

David Romero Siekman

Hunter Prange

Hunter Prange
Project manager
Hunter Prange is a Project Manager at NineDot Energy, where he manages the construction of projects after the development work has been completed. This consists of managing contractors, construction, commissioning, closeouts, and setting the project up for long-term operation.
Hunter received his BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. He lives in Manhattan.

Jon Carbajal

Madeline Zdeblick

Madeline Zdeblick
Senior product analyst
Maddie Zdeblick is a skilled researcher and analyst, excited to help build a greener electric grid. Maddie is the Senior Product Development Analyst at NineDot Energy, where she directs research and analyses into new product development and supports initiatives to optimize the deployment and operations of NineDot products.
Board of Directors

Adam Cohen, PhD

Adam Cohen, PhD
CTO, co-founder
Adam B. Cohen, Ph.D., is leading the way to urban clean energy as the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of NineDot Energy, building community energy sites to make the NYC metro grid cleaner, more resilient, more equitable and less costly.
Projects in operation or under development that Adam has spearheaded include battery energy storage systems in Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island and Westchester County.
Adam developed his exceptional understanding of how complex systems interact and evolve in his academic work (Ph.D. from the Chaos Group at University of Maryland and B.S. in physics from Bucknell University); he now applies his findings to the interconnected dynamics of energy markets, technologies, regulations and grid economics. Adam was a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy (launching a research program applying social and behavioral science to scale up solar energy adoption) where Adam met his NineDot Energy co-founders. Adam is passionate about opportunities to modernize the urban electric system in a way that benefits all stakeholders. Recognizing the impact of Adam’s work, Crain’s New York Business selected Adam as an inaugural “2023 Notable Leader in Sustainability”.

David Arfin

David Arfin
CEO, co-founder
David is CEO and co-founder of NineDot Energy, based in Brooklyn, NY. He is also the co-founder of Ener-Pacte (France) and SolarVento (Mexico), and has served on the Board of Directors of Simpa Networks (India) and WattzOn (Palo Alto), and as an Advisor to Everyday Energy (San Diego), United Wind (New York), Tigi Solar (Israel), and eMotorWerks (acquired by ENEL). Previously, David served as a Consultant to the US Department of Energy’s SunShot initiative and as Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Israel Cleantech Ventures. David has also been an emissary for the US Department of State in Angola, Israel, and Palestine.
David invented SolarCity’s SolarLease, the game-changing solar financing program that enabled over 1,000,000 American homeowners to have solar power in their homes. SolarCity was acquired by Tesla.
David loves building sustainable businesses that contribute to environmental wellness. He selects markets that are large and ripe for creative solutions and partners and with partners who are smarter than he is and have the highest integrity, and has an insatiable desire to explore new places and start new businesses.
David has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Masters in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and an MBA from Stanford University. He is on the Board of the Friends of the Arava Environmental Institute for Environmental Studies and is a Member of the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable. He lives between New York and California.

Nalin Kulatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka
Chief strategy officer, co-founder
Nalin is Wing Tat Lee Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business where he also serves as the co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. Nalin’s current research interests include impact investing and financing distributed energy resources. Nalin has published extensively in top academic journals as well as influential managerial publications. His book, Real Options (HBS Press), has received wide acclaim. His honors include Bertil Danielson Chair (Stockholm School of Economics), Takang Chair (Tamkang University, Taipei), and the Association for Investment Management and Research’s Graham and Dodd Award. He has co-founded several companies including FirstFuel Software (energy data analytics), and NineDot Energy (community distributed generation for congested urban grids). He serves on the Board of Directors of Assette. Nalin holds a PhD from MIT