Philip Mihlmester

Phil coordinates energy-related programs, analyses, and expertise across four continents. His work involves award-winning next-generation energy efficiency programs featuring advanced technology and customer engagement. Phil advises senior industry and government clients on grid modernization, including deployment and valuation of distributed energy resources and advanced grid analytics. He works on decarbonization strategy, including market analysis of renewables, such as grid-scale wind, solar, and storage. He also focuses on the electrification of key end-uses, including transportation, industry, buildings, and the continued role of natural gas. The U.S., UK, India, and China currently benefit from elements of these programs and strategies.

Phil analyzes the energy sector’s resiliency to climate-induced and human-made threats. Co-author of the Energy Sector-Specific Plan under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 and two North American Electric Reliability Corporation reports on grid resiliency, Phil develops frameworks for valuing utility investments in grid resiliency.

Phil’s work in the energy sector spans nearly five decades. In the 1970s, he worked on renewable energy systems and the environmental impacts of advanced energy systems, co-authoring a chapter in the Handbook of Solar Energy published in 1978.

He then worked on synthetic fuels issues and global energy markets, leading energy modeling and data analytics work for the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Phil also developed a world oil model to assess research and development investment in advanced synthetic fuel technologies.

Supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in administering its ENERGY STAR program in the 90s, Phil helped develop the Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool for building energy consumption. His expertise drove electric load research for the utility industry, about which he wrote several monographs and papers.

With a background in energy markets, restructuring the electric sector, and carbon policy, Phil developed our energy efficiency program implementation business. The initiative delivers award-winning programs for over 50 utilities across the U.S. and Canada, and government programs in the UK, India, and China. Phil regularly speaks and writes about various energy-related issues.

Phil is also a senior fellow with the ICF Climate Center. In this role, he provides compelling research and objective perspectives on a wide range of climate-related topics to help advance climate conversations and accelerate climate action.