Energy Resiliency and Efficiency Series

A native South Dakotan, Bret obtained both his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Dakota. From 1988 to 2008, he successfully served as a city manager/administrator for four different communities. Following his career in city management, he worked in the municipal bond business, assisting Wyoming public entities in securing capital financing, until he joined the administration of Governor Matt Mead as budget administrator for the state of Wyoming. In 2014, he began his career with Black Hills Energy, working for the company’s southern Colorado business unit. Recently, Bret led the joint South Dakota and Wyoming business development teams in their efforts to secure customer commitments for the company’s Renewable Ready program and, since late 2018, has served as the team lead in Black Hills Energy’s engagement with Microsoft. He currently leads the company’s data center outreach and engagement initiative.

Pete has over 30 years of experience in the construction industry working on a variety of project types. Pete specializes in services for HVAC, fire protection and plumbing systems. His practical experience combined with his formal education make him a valuable asset to our team and our clients. Pete has a wealth of knowledge in both the preconstruction and operations aspects of building. He has a proven understanding of customer needs. Pete has been responsible for multi-million-dollar conceptual and hard-bid estimates/budgets. He has also served in project management roles for large- scale projects in various sectors including aviation, corporate, education, hospitality, retail, gaming, LEED/Green building, themed entertainment and utilities. Pete’s experience includes estimating, project management, negotiating, purchasing, contract/subcontract writing and review, scheduling, forecasting, progress monitoring, change order reviews, and design/engineering.

Emily is a Senior Energy Project Manager in the Energy and Sustainability Team at Microsoft. Emily is responsible for procuring electricity for Microsoft’s data centers, building relationships with utilities, and identifying cost saving opportunities. Before joining Microsoft, Emily worked for Tesla Motors and DNV GL. Emily has a BS in Applied Science from James Madison University and an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

Adam Knobloch has been involved in the commercial real estate event and media space since 2010, having held roles in sales, account management, production and coordination. He joined Bisnow Media as the Global Director of Data Centers after having led event sales and strategy efforts in the CRE space for nearly a decade. Since 2012, he has found a significant passion for the data center and technology sectors, while building an international network of active followers across numerous asset classes in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. In his current role, Adam oversees Bisnow Media's event and sponsored media strategy for the data center sector, having expanded its Datacenter Investment Conference & Expo (DICE) Series event offerings to more than 15 markets, with an international presence in the UK and Canada. He previously held a board member role on the Telecom Exchange (TEX) Advisory Board, collaborating on content, speaker recommendations and event strategy. Additionally, he has made a point of promoting local and national organizations with a focus on STEM education and advancing the next generation into the technology sector through support, collaboration and ambassadorship. Notable organizations include the Nomad Futurist Academy, Infrastructure Masons, H5 Data Centers' STEM Fest and local chapters of both 7X24 Exchange and AFCOM. In his personal life, Adam is a musician, having toured the east coast as the drummer of The Gantry. He was a frequent member of the NYC folk/indie rock music scene and is currently the drummer for A.M. County. Adam holds a Bachelor's Degree of Business Administration from American University's Kogod School of Business, with a focus on Marketing and Public Relations.