Austin Perea

Austin Perea is a distributed solar policy expert with over ten years of experience in the clean energy, regulatory, and policy space with a regional focus in the Northeast.

Before joining Align Energy Advisors, Austin was a Senior Policy Manager at Arcadia Power, where he led Northeast community solar policy advocacy and engagement with a variety of state policymakers. One of his biggest accomplishments during his tenure at Arcadia was his leadership in writing, designing, and advocating for a Negative Revenue Adjustment for community solar billing and crediting in New York, which creates a first-in-the-nation downward incentive Performance Based Ratemaking framework for utilities not meeting certain climate goals around community solar.

Previously, Austin worked at SunPower as a policy and incentives support function to the financial products team, while also supporting the company’s first Virtual Power Plant product offerings in California and Connecticut. He got his start in the clean energy space as a market research analyst for Greentech Media leading the company’s distributed solar and storage as the primary author of the Solar Market Insight report, co-published with the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).

He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from the University of New Hampshire and lives in Brooklyn. A part-time musician and songwriter, in his free time he plays guitar, sings, and drums in several New York-based projects.