Barb Jacobs is director of government relations at Lightsource bp and leads state-level legislative and regulatory advocacy for the company. She has almost two decades of government affairs, advocacy, policy, and non-profit leadership experience. Prior to joining Lightsource bp, Barb covered state legislative and regulatory affairs for the eastern interconnect at Avangrid Renewables, worked for an energy policy think-tank at the University of Minnesota, and as lead committee staff in the Minnesota Senate helped pass landmark solar legislation in 2013.

Chris Menges joined Interwest as the Senior Manager of Siting and Permitting in December 2024 to lead the development of a timely and critical siting and permitting program, and advance corresponding legislative and regulatory outcomes across the Intermountain West. With over 15 years of experience working with a broad diversity of stakeholders to advance durable climate and clean energy solutions at the local and state level, Chris is adept at building coalitions, consensus and novel solutions on emergent, intersectional issues. Prior to joining Interwest, Chris directed the climate program at The Nature Conservancy in Colorado where he led the development and implementation of a portfolio of programmatic and policy strategies to help enable the state’s ambitious clean energy goals. This included co-leading a coalition to identify policy opportunities to improve siting and permitting outcomes for clean energy projects in the state. Chris also managed climate and sustainability programs at the City of Aspen for eight years where he supported operational decarbonization, communitywide planning, state policy engagement and national network development