Clean Local Energy Opportunities for California
Dave Room
Clean Local Energy Opportunities for California
Thursday, February 03, 2011 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM (PT)
San Francisco, CA
http://cleancoalition.eventbrite.com/
Governor Brown's Clean Energy Jobs Plan calls for 60 percent of new clean energy generation to come from energy systems located in our communities. Learn how a Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) contracts program for California can create three times more jobs than our current policies, create new revenue streams for property owners, provide ratepayer savings, attract billions in private investment and accelerate our transition to clean energy. CLEAN contracts dramatically reduce the paperwork and red tape involved in selling clean energy from under-used spaces in our communities, such as warehouse rooftops and capped landfills. Learn about the success of CLEAN programs around the world and why business leaders like the Los Angeles Business Council support CLEAN programs.
Panelists:
Craig
Lewis, Executive Director of the Clean Coalition (formerly the FIT
Coalition)
Jeff Brothers, President of Sol Orchard
Ethan
Elkind, UC Berkeley/UCLA Law Climate Change Research Fellow
Craig Lewis is the Executive Director of the Clean Coalition (formerly the FIT Coalition), an organization focused on implementing best practices for scaling cost-effective clean, local energy that is available now, throughout the United States. Mr. Lewis is a leading Smart Energy strategist and advocate with over 20 years of experience in the renewables, wireless, and semiconductor industries. He has been working since 2005 to achieve Smart Energy outcomes via legislation, regulation, and public funding. Among many other campaigns at the national level and throughout the country, the Clean Coalition is leading the legislative effort in California to implement a statewide Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) program that, if implemented, will increase California’s clean energy market by a factor of ten. Mr. Lewis spearheaded energy policy development for Steve Westly’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign in California and was VP of Government Relations for GreenVolts, a solar technology company before he founded the FIT Coalition in January 2009. He navigated the first successful solar project through California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) solicitation process and has been involved in more than two dozen RPS projects. Mr. Lewis has held senior government relations, corporate development, and marketing positions at wireless and semiconductor companies, including Qualcomm, Ericsson, and LinCom Wireless. He received a MBA and MSEE from the University of Southern California, and a BSEE from UC Berkeley.
Jeff Brothers is President of Sol Orchard, LLC, a solar power project development firm (www.solorchard.com) with projects in California and Arizona. The company has particular expertise in CPV technology, having originated the SolFocus 1 MW installation at the Victor Valley Community College, and in the process of installing a 1 MW SolFocus project in the central valley at a pistachio processing plant. Sol Orchard has projects in the works with multiple utilities, such as SDG&E, Imperial Irrigation District, Modesto Irrigation District, SoCal Edison, PG&E, and with various farmers, ranchers and commercial operators that are looking to offset power load or enter into the energy production business. Mr. Brothers has been a lifelong entrepreneur, successfully growing two companies into multi-million dollar leaders in their industry.
Ethan Elkind is the Bank of America Climate Change Research Fellow with a joint appointment at the UC Berkeley School of Law and the UCLA School of Law. In this capacity, he serves as the key organizer and researcher for UCLA-UC Berkeley’s grant-funded climate change workshops. He taught at the UCLA law school’s Frank Wells Environmental Law Clinic and served as an environmental law research fellow. He has a background in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), climate change law, environmental justice, and other environmental law topics. In 2005, he co-founded The Nakwatsvewat Institute, Inc., a Native American nonprofit organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services and support for tribal governance, justice and educational institutions.