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NineDot Energy is a creative problem-solver for the urban electricity grid

Innovation in urban clean energy

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 commitment

Mission statement

At NineDot Energy, our team of creative collaborators shares 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.

Experience and expertise

When a chaos physicist, a finance professor and a clean-tech entrepreneur got together, good things happened.

The beginning - 2014

Before 2014, David creates SolarCity’s SolarLease®, driving a multi-billion $ industry; Adam joins the DOE after receiving his PhD in physics; Nalin publishes a breakthrough paper on residential solar risk.

So with a foundation in solar strategy, business, finance and physics, NineDot Energy’s co-founders (David Arfin, Adam Cohen and Nalin Kulatilaka) meet and begin their work together.

solar city logoUS department of energy logo Boston University logo

 

 

2015 - 2019

Our Co-founders create CertainSolar (the predecessor to NineDot Energy), self-funding its work while receiving a $490k matching grant from the SunShot Initiative of the Department of Energy; concentrate on projects for community-scale energy; and lease the company’s first sites in New York City.

2019 - 2021

As Certain Solar begins work on two fuel cell projects, the Company achieves its first revenues and focuses on local distributed battery storage sites, initially in Staten Island and the Bronx, to support NYC’s grid. NineDot receives growth capital from Carlyle to expand the team and our project pipeline while also announcing our V2G (vehicle-to-grid) pilot.

2022

Now NineDot Energy (reflecting the Company’s broader energy vision), the Company announces the first Tesla Megapack site in New York, a milestone in the city’s energy transition and a harbinger of things to come.

By the end of 2026

NineDot plans to develop, build and operate more than 400 megawatts (MW) of clean energy systems that will strengthen the local power grid infrastructure and provide clean, reliable and resilient power to tens of thousands of New York households and businesses, in support of New York State’s mission to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040.

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 Alter

David Arfin

CEO, co-founder
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David Alter

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

CTO, co-founder
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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 Kalatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka

Chief strategy officer, co-founder
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Nalin Kalatilaka

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

Alex Foucault

Sr. specialist, product
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Alex Foucault

Sr. specialist, product


Alex Foucault is NineDot’s Product Development Associate, supporting the identification and development of new go-to-market strategies for NineDot’s next generation of distributed energy resource products.

Andrea Ferguson

Corporate marketing associate
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Andrea Ferguson

Corporate marketing associate

Andy Allbee

Director, engineering and planning
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Andy Allbee

Director, engineering and planning

Anthony Santamaria

Vice president, construction
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Anthony Santamaria

Vice president, construction

Becca Schofield-Cohen

Senior manager, data analytics
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Becca Schofield-Cohen

Senior manager, data analytics

Bobby Sciortino

Director, project execution and asset management
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Bobby Sciortino

Director, project execution and asset management

Carlijn Goldberg

Sr. manager, FP&A
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Carlijn Goldberg

Sr. manager, FP&A

David Mudrauskas

Data engineer
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David Mudrauskas

Data engineer

David Romero Siekman

Financial planning & analysis analyst
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David Romero Siekman

Financial planning & analysis analyst

Dieynabou Diallo

Community impact and partnerships manager
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Dieynabou Diallo

Community impact and partnerships manager

Emily Wheeler

Chief of staff
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Emily Wheeler

Chief of staff


Emily Wheeler is an engineer and clean energy and technology specialist committed to helping cities, companies, and the community. She is NineDot’s Chief of Staff.

Fred Polirer

Vice president, people & culture
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Fred Polirer

Vice president, people & culture

Gilles Guillon

Chief financial officer
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Gilles Guillon

Chief financial officer

Harold Barreto

Project engineer
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Harold Barreto

Project engineer

Hunter Prange

Project manager
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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.

Jamaal Watkins

Project manager
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Jamaal Watkins

Project manager

Jean Jarrett-Davis

Accountant
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Jean Jarrett-Davis

Accountant

Jerneeka Sams

HR business partner
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Jerneeka Sams

HR business partner


As NineDot’s Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, Jerneeka sources and recruits talent to join the team. Jerneeka lives in New York and has a Masters in HR from NYU.

Joe Silver

Joe Silver

Senior product manager
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Joe Silver

Joe Silver

Senior product manager


In his role as Product Manager, Joe focuses on the development of NineDot’s EV charging strategy, which includes scaling up their vehicle-to-grid business and deploying charging at existing and future sites.

Jon Carbajal

Senior director, product development
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Jon Carbajal

Senior director, product development

Karen Alter

Chief marketing officer
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Karen Alter

Chief marketing officer

Katerina Benitez

Executive assistant
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Katerina Benitez

Executive assistant

Linda Tatlow

Senior manager, NineDot Labs
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Linda Tatlow

Senior manager, NineDot Labs

Lindsay Cherry

Director of regulatory affairs
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Lindsay Cherry

Director of regulatory affairs

Madeline Zdeblick

Senior product analyst
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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.

Mac Anderson-Cooper

Sr. coordinator, project development and construction
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Mac Anderson-Cooper

Sr. coordinator, project development and construction

Mira Gorbatiuk

Asset revenue manager
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Mira Gorbatiuk

Asset revenue manager

Nick Lombardi

Senior VP, project development and construction
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Nick Lombardi

Senior VP, project development and construction


Nick Lombardi is the Vice President of Project Development for NineDot Energy, overseeing all project development activities for the company.

Olivia Booth-Howe

Manager, origination engineering
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Olivia Booth-Howe

Manager, origination engineering


Olivia Booth-Howe is a Project Engineer at NineDot Energy, where she oversees technical and environmental processes from project origination through permitting.

Peter Jacullo

Enterprise project developer
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Peter Jacullo

Enterprise project developer

Preston

Preston Roper

Senior advisor, e-mobility
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Preston

Preston Roper

Senior advisor, e-mobility

Ray Lei

Project finance analyst
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Ray Lei

Project finance analyst

Roger Nehls

Specialist, people ops & IT support
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Roger Nehls

Specialist, people ops & IT support

Sam Brill

Director, strategic development initiatives
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Sam Brill

Director, strategic development initiatives


Sam Brill is the Director of Strategic Development Initiatives at NineDot Energy, where he oversees key public-private partnerships, policy development, and institutional clean energy collaborations in the greater New York area.

Sam McGarvey

Director, origination
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Sam McGarvey

Director, origination


Sam is a Senior Project Developer at NineDot Energy where he works on new projects across New York City, Westchester, and Long Island.

Shin Takiguchi

Controller
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Shin Takiguchi

Controller

Testa Nickle

Project development associate
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Testa Nickle

Project development associate

Victoria Foti

Head of the project management office
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Victoria Foti

Head of the project management office

Zach Tamen

Energy market analyst
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Zach Tamen

Energy market analyst

Board of Directors

Adam Cohen, PhD

CTO, co-founder
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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 Alter

David Arfin

CEO, co-founder
Back
David Alter

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.

Christopher McKenzie

Managing Director, Infrastructure, Manulife Investment Management
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Christopher McKenzie

Managing Director, Infrastructure, Manulife Investment Management

David Glick

David Gluck

Managing Director, Renewable and Sustainable Energy, The Carlyle Group
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David Glick

David Gluck

Managing Director, Renewable and Sustainable Energy, The Carlyle Group

Nalin Kalatilaka

Nalin Kulatilaka

Chief strategy officer, co-founder
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Nalin Kalatilaka

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

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