Staff Feature: Chris Thankan, Director of Economic Analysis
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Chris, who has been with the company since 2021 and recently moved from an Economic Analyst to the Director of Economic Analysis here at SER. Take a look at his interview below!
Chris Thankan attends a tour of the Salt Palace Convention Center's rooftop solar system during the 2021 Cleanpower conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Tell us about your time at Illinois State University?”
Chris: “I graduated in 2021 with a Sustainable and Renewable Energy Major with a Minor in Economics and I had Dave for two of my classes. I took an Environmental Economics class with him in my last semester and Dave asked if I would want to join SER since I was doing well in the class. This isn’t a common major which is what drew me to ISU and after my time it really solidified my desire to work in the renewable energy industry.”
“How did your time at ISU have an impact on your work now?”
Chris: “Some of the more higher-level views of the energy industry within the United States are applicable to what I do now. I am comfortable talking about regional transmission organizations and the independent system operators throughout the country. I know what those mean now as a result of the classes I took at ISU. One of the bigger things was understanding the traditional energy sources like coal, oil, natural gas, etc. Learning why those are dominant in the U.S. was very helpful and I really appreciate that knowledge. You have to first learn where you came from before progressing into the newer technologies of solar and wind power.”
“Walk us through your time at SER”
Chris: “I started in 2021 in my last semester of school doing parttime work. We used NREL’s JEDI model at that time. Eventually we moved away from using JEDI and modeling directly in IMPLAN. This new model allows us to include more specific cost categories, and we can tailor the specific model to a utility scale solar project instead of residential or community solar projects. This took quite a bit of time. We have more dynamic modeling capabilities and this makes our results better.”
“What has been your biggest challenge at SER?”
Chris: “Creating the solar and wind model in IMPLAN. I used the JEDI model as the backbone and then fleshed out some more cost categories, the property tax side, and the land lease side trying to say, “OK how can we better these models?” It involved a lot of tests with previous projects, how it compared to other projects, etc.”
Chris Thankan attends the 2021 Cleanpower conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Moving into this role of doing testimony, what has that been like?”
Chris: “It has been a test of my public speaking skills. I really enjoy it. I have done several webinars, which gave me more confidence. I also have performed testimony for a project in Illinois and gave a presentation for a conference in Missouri. It has been good experience and I have gained a lot of confidence in myself.”
“What do you like about the Renewable Energy Industry?”
Chris: “I like the fact that we are part of making a change in the U.S. In terms of the energy transition we are part of helping these projects get built. A lot of people are skeptical of the benefits but we are able to explain how everyone in the community benefits. I find great satisfaction in being part of this transition and making sure projects get built.”
“What is your favorite aspect of working at SER?”
Chris: “I enjoy creating the models, and having more responsibility in terms of making sure our impacts that we report to these communities are conservative, responsible, and accurate. I always tell people we never want to over-promise. We provide accurate and reasonable results. Being able to take ownership of this process had been a great aspect of this job. I find that pretty rewarding.”