Overview
UCAN Power is a non-partisan, consensus-based, non-profit trade association of nuclear energy technology developers, operators, and advocates across the energy, space, environmental, and national economic and security sectors.
UCAN Power is led by a core group of subject matter experts with extensive background in executive branch policy, federal budgets/funding, legislative development/advocacy, and technology transitions from development to operational deployment and commercial use. Members will benefit from an organized voice promoting focused priorities with collaborative partners and evidence-based advocacy to policymakers and other key stakeholders to achieve our vision and mission.
Board of Directors
Core Team
Board of Advisors
Andrew Richards
Andrew Richards is a Vice President with Boundary Stone Partners. He has worked in federal energy and environmental policy since 2011.
Andrew came to Boundary Stone from the U.S. Department of Energy, where he spent over a decade working in the Office of Nuclear Energy. He served in multiple roles during his tenure in that office, including Chief of Staff and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. He was responsible for advising numerous Assistant Secretaries spanning multiple administrations and led the office through two presidential transitions. Andrew was responsible for overseeing the execution of $1.6B in annual appropriations while serving as the primary interface with the White House, Congress, and other federal agencies.
He advised Departmental leadership on domestic and international civilian nuclear issues, including the operation and preservation of the domestic nuclear fleet, the development of advanced nuclear reactors, engagement with foreign nations on commercial nuclear cooperation, the development of next-generation fuel, management of the Idaho National Laboratory, and the disposition of spent fuel and nuclear waste. He engaged with Congress, States, tribal nations, non-profits, trade organizations, and companies to further the advancement and deployment of advanced nuclear energy. He worked closely with the National Nuclear Security Administration on the intersection of civilian nuclear energy and non-proliferation. He engaged with NASA to further the development of nuclear power in space and with the Department of Defense on the development of micro-reactors.
Andrew is an expert in a wide array of clean energy and nuclear programmatic efforts, including domestic and international policy, clean energy demonstrations, funding opportunity announcements, the federal procurement process, appropriations, operational, safety, budgetary, non-proliferation, safeguards, the U.S. National Laboratory complex, and evolving political issues. He has extensive and in-depth knowledge of the Department of Energy and the federal government.
Andrew is a resident of Washington, D.C., and a graduate of the University of Maryland.
Bret Kugelmass
They first made waves in launching the Titans of Nuclear podcast, which became seen as a transformative resource for nuclear advocacy and communication across the industry. Subsequent thought leadership includes Bret keynoting over a dozen energy conferences, the videos of which have amassed nearly 4 Million views on YouTube across 150 countries.
Through the OPEN100 platform, EIC continues to demonstrate technical leadership and business innovation, in bringing together dozens of leading nuclear institutions from around the world. Bret’s personal goal and leadership of the Energy Impact Center aims for nothing short of bringing nuclear energy to never before realized heights to enable rapid decarbonization and energy access for all.
Bud Albright
Albright continues in his role as founder of Albright Strategies, a full-service consulting and advisory organization focused primarily on federal issues. He also held a position as Principal at Ogilvy Government Relations, one of Washington’s top government relations firms. Immediately prior to joining Ogilvy, Albright served as Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs for CenterPoint Energy, a Houston, Texas based energy delivery company, operating on a multi-state level throughout the U.S.
Albright is the former Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. In that role, as the third most senior official at DOE, he provided leadership for energy and environment programs, including: energy research and development; demonstration and deployment; environmental cleanup; legacy management and radioactive waste management, all with a total budget of nearly $15 billion. Albright was appointed by President Bush and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Prior to joining the Department, Albright served as Staff Director for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce. In that role, he worked to address issues facing the country’s energy, environmental, telecommunications, and health industries. Before joining the Committee, Albright was Vice President of Federal Affairs for Texas-based Reliant Energy in the Washington, DC office.
Albright has also served in the government in a variety of capacities, including Deputy Associate Attorney General and Senior Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Additionally, Albright served as Associate Counsel on the U.S. Senate Select Committee investigating the Iran-Contra incident. From 1981 through 1986, he also served as an
Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. While attending law school, Albright worked on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
A native of Rock Hill, South Carolina, Albright holds an undergraduate degree in history and political science from Presbyterian College in his home state of South Carolina, and a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law in Virginia.
Christopher Guith
Christopher Guith is the senior vice president, policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute. He leads the Institute’s efforts to build support for meaningful energy and environmental action nationally and internationally through policy development, education, and advocacy.
The Institute has attracted grassroots advocates across the nation supporting its efforts to capitalize on America’s tremendous energy promise. The Institute also regularly contributes policy analysis and research, including the groundbreaking Index of Energy Security Risk and the International Index of Energy Security Risk, the first tools to quantify America’s energy security on an annual basis, as well as the comprehensive Energy Works for US platform, which provided policy recommendations to secure our nation’s energy future.
Guith offers expertise on an array of energy and environmental issues. He educates policymakers, businesses, energy stakeholders, coalitions, and the public about the importance of a diversified energy portfolio and how it can ensure an efficient, reliable, prosperous, and secure energy future. He also leverages his broad energy expertise as a spokesperson with local, state, and national media.
Guith travels frequently to speak to stakeholder groups, raising awareness of the impact of policy decisions on America’s energy future and encouraging groups to share their perspectives with policymakers. In addition, he consults with state and local chambers of commerce and business groups, advising them how to quantify the importance of safe, reliable American energy to their businesses, as well as how to amplify that message when communicating with energy decision makers.
Prior to joining the Chamber in 2008, Guith served as deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he developed the administration’s nuclear energy policies and coordinated the department’s interactions with Congress, stakeholders, and the media. He was also deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at DOE and a chief representative of the administration during the drafting and debate of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Earlier in his career, Guith served as Rep. Bob Barr’s (R-GA) legislative director and Rep. Tim Murphy’s (R-PA) counsel and policy adviser. He was also legislative counsel for the Environment, Technology & Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Guith is a graduate of Syracuse University-College of Law and the University of California-Santa Barbara.
Jason Craig
Jason’s expertise extends to supporting critical DOE-IN initiatives such as NSPD-48/HSPD-17, where he has contributed to developing and deploying technologies that bolster national security. His previous roles at Noblis and InScope Innovation involved leading R&D efforts in IoT, Blockchain, Autonomous Systems, and AI for commercial and federal applications, including energy prediction, fault detection, and control optimization. With a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and numerous patents in energy systems and IoT technologies, Jason is a crucial figure in advancing the capabilities of the nuclear sector through innovative technology solutions.
Leslie Barbour
Ms. Barbour’s career includes working for the American Nuclear Energy Council and lobbying in the areas of telecommunications trade policy, Medicare cost savings, science publishing, franchise relationships and export promotion; served as assistant scheduler and database manager with Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.); and was an analyst for a Washington-based think tank on a project for defense and foreign affairs with expertise in conventional arms control and military operations. Mrs. Barbour graduated from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, with a bachelor’s degree in international security affairs in 1981.
She has been presented with many professional and community awards, including the Nuclear Energy Research and Development Summit Recognition Award in 2019 by her colleagues for her commitment to the field; the American Nuclear Society Presidential Citation in 2013 for her contributions to the nuclear science and engineering academic community and the nuclear industry; and was honored by Capitol Hill Group Ministry, a community organization helping the homeless in Washington DC, as Community Volunteer of the Year. Her professional contributions include membership chair of the DC Chapter of Women in Nuclear, and former chairman, and a five year member of the executive committee, of the National Energy Resources Organization. She now resides in Bend, Oregon.
Mary Louise Wagner
Prior to coming to the Energy Committee in 2017, Ms. Wagner served in the Obama Administration as a senior policy advisor to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, with responsibility for nuclear energy issues. From 2001 to 2013, Ms. Wagner was a key staffer for Senator Carl Levin from Michigan, working primarily on auto issues.
Ms. Wagner also served in the Clinton Administration as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Energy, as a senior policy advisor for Secretary Federico Pena and Secretary Bill Richardson, and as Executive Director of Secretary Richardson’s external advisory board. Ms. Wagner was previously on the professional staff of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 1987-93 and began her career in the nuclear energy area as a reporter/editor at McGraw-Hill Publications.
Mary Alice Hayward
Mary Alice Hayward is founder and Principal of Hayward Consulting, a practice specializing in advising clients on nuclear energy, nonproliferation, and U.S. national security issues. Prior, Ms. Hayward served as Deputy Director General, Head of the Department of Management at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She led the delivery of financial, human resources, management, administrative, information technology, and general services that enabled the IAEA to deliver its scientific and technical nuclear mandates.
Before the IAEA, Ms. Hayward was Vice President of Strategy, Government Affairs, and Advocacy at AREVA Inc. She also served the U.S. Government in nuclear nonproliferation and energy policy areas as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy and Negotiations at the Department of State, at the National Security Council as Director for Counter Proliferation Strategy, and in leading policymaking roles at the Department of Energy and Senate Armed Services Committee.
As Senior Evaluator, Government Accountability Office (GAO), Ms. Hayward conducted oversight and program reviews on energy and nuclear proliferation issues, receiving the GAO Energy and Science Excellence Award and Outstanding Achievement Award. Ms. Hayward has a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Texas, a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology/Foreign Languages from the University of Michigan and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Engineering and National Academy for Nuclear Training Reactor Technology Certificate.
Maureen T. Koetz
Ms. Koetz served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Installations, Environment, and Logistics for the US Air Force, she managed a 10-million acre/$250 billion asset portfolio in support of sustainable operations for the largest energy consumer in the federal government and one of the largest transport systems in the world. Ms. Koetz has also held positions as Counsel for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and US Senator Pete Domenici; senior policy director for the Nuclear Energy Institute where she developed the seminal Emissions Avoidance Calculations that redefined nuclear as the primary expandable domestic source of clean energy.
She has represented nuclear interests at multiple international Conferences of the Parties on Climate Change and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development In addition, she has been an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Finance at NYU-Poly, an attorney with the US Environmental Protection Agency, is a veteran of active duty service with the US Navy, and has written on several areas related to sustainability. She holds a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law at American University, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University, and is a member of the Bar of the State of New York.
Nicholas McMurray
Before joining ClearPath, Niko was a Materials Engineer at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). There, he developed and provided technical guidance on materials, component integrity, and licensing topics for new and advanced nuclear reactors.
Thomas Mapes
Tom Mapes is the Founder and President of the Digital Energy Council, the first advocacy group solely focused on the intersection of the energy and digital asset mining industries. Tom is the leading policy voice in the industry, highlighting how digital asset mining offers the United States an unprecedented opportunity to develop energy infrastructure, advance national security, achieve climate goals, and provide more economic opportunity in rural areas.
Before establishing the Digital Energy Council, Tom developed and led the first digital asset mining-focused government advocacy campaign at the federal level in the United States. In this role, Tom worked in coordination with key stakeholders in Congress and the Administration to educate on the energy opportunities digital asset mining offers.
Prior to these roles, Tom served at the Department of Energy as the Chief of Staff for International Affairs where he was responsible for international energy coordination. At the Department of Energy, Tom worked across the Department’s program offices, national and international organizations, and other federal agencies to coordinate and align international activities with national energy policy objectives.
