Interconnected: Annual Meeting Blog

On Tuesday, September 14, Ben Bixby, General Manager of Energy and Enterprise Products for Nest Labs, provided the lunchtime keynote at NASEO’s 2015 Annual Meeting. During the session, Mr. Bixby unveiled never-before-seen data from a joint project between Nest and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, a NASEO Member.  The project, dubbed “Seasonal Savings”, was available to all Nest owners in the State of Massachusetts and sought to improve the efficacy of the thermostats through an algorithm developed by analyzing environmental conditions and user trends. Participants realized a 3.6 percent savings in heating resulting in average savings of $44 per customer. For more information, visit here.        

NASEO Executive Director David Terry was honored with an award on Tuesday, September 15 as part of the NASEO 2015 Annual Meeting. The Energy Programs Consortium and Renew Financial recognized Mr. Terry for his support of the Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans, or WHEEL. WHEEL financing is designed to warehouse state and local home energy loans and sell them to investors in the secondary market. This year, WHEEL achieved the country’s first asset-backed securitization of unsecured residential energy efficiency loans, setting an important precedent in the potential to scale-up home energy programs and create additional revenue streams to support them. Since the launch of the WHEEL initiative in 2010, NASEO has committed resources and support to increase State Energy Office awareness of this important financing mechanism.

AnnaMaria Garcia, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs, shared the results of the FY2015 State Energy Program (SEP) competitive funding opportunity today at NASEO's 2015 Annual Meeting. Eleven state awardees will receive a combined $5 million for energy planning and innovative energy practices, including a proposal from Tennessee, NASEO, the Climate Registry, and several other states to design a multi-state roadmap for a national energy efficiency registry. For more information, click here.

Tesla’s Mateo Jaramillo gave a keynote address at this year’s NASEO Annual Meeting, providing information on how the maverick company will accomplish its mission: to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Tesla’s fast, long-range Model S is a massively popular electric vehicle. Over 7,000 cars have been sold, representing five gigawatts of deployed energy storage and 1 billion miles driven. With Tesla’s new Gigafactory, the company plans to produce 500,000 vehicles per year by 2020, representing 50 gigawatt-hours in annual battery production. Tesla's vehicles are able to drive all over the U.S. using the company's proprietary “Supercharger” network – which will remain free for Tesla drivers. Mr. Jaramillo also described the company’s new Powerwall and Powerpack – home and commercial batteries that will help with peak shaving, load shifting, and demand response. Tesla’s breakthrough technologies are disrupting the auto and energy services industries, and are leading to greater efficiencies in the U.S. 

Janet McCabe, EPA Acting Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation addressed the NASEO Annual Meeting on Monday, September 14.  Focusing her remarks on the Clean Power Plan, McCabe discussed the process EPA went through in preparing the final rule—including reading and reviewing millions of public comments.  The final rule reflects many of the ideas and comments EPA received and McCabe stated that it is designed to fit into the way the system already works, leveraging work that the states and utilities are already undertaking.  Ms. McCabe emphasized that the final rule includes certain features that will allow states to work with their utilities in creative ways without compromising reliability and increasing costs.  EPA believes the rule builds on progress that’s already underway.

On Monday, September 14, Thomas Siebel, Chief Executive Officere for C3 Energy, provided the opening keynote during NASEO's 2015 Annual Meetingin San Diego, California. During his remarks, Mr. Siebel examined the evolution of the energy market, explained the impact of next-generation technology on the industry, and urged attendees to support policies that will enable utilities and consumers to benefit fully from the technological revolution now underway. For more information click here.

On Sunday, September 13, NASEO members re-elected Janet Streff, Manager of Minnesota's State Energy Office, as the association's board Chair in San Diego, California during the 2015 Annual Meeting. Also re-elected were:

• Marion Gold, Commissioner of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources as Treasurer
• John Davies, Deputy Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence as Secretary
• Dub Taylor, Director of the Texas State Energy Conservation Office as Parliamentarian
• Vaughn Clark, Director of the Oklahoma State Energy Office as Past Chair
• Robert Jackson, Director of the Michigan Energy Office as board Vice Chair was elected to replace Gene Therriault from the Alaska Energy Authority

In addition, Anna Pavlova from Schneider Electric was elected as the new Affiliates' Co-Chair to replace Siemens' Bob Dixon whose term on NASEO's board has reached its end.

by Len Hering, RADM, USN (Ret.), Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Energy

On behalf of the staff and board members of the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE), I would like to welcome you to San Diego. For nearly 20 years, America’s Finest City has been home to CSE’s headquarters. Our region is a leader in the implementation of sustainable energy technologies, which supports CSE’s goal of “accelerating the transition to a sustainable world powered by clean energy.” As an organization and a city, we are proud to host the many thought leaders in this rapidly growing industry who will attend this year’s meeting.

During your visit, please enjoy all San Diego has to offer. Within walking distance of the Wyndham San Diego Bayside you can enjoy the new Waterfront Park with views of the harbor; tour the Maritime Museum; take a short cruise to Coronado Island; board the historic Midway aircraft carrier and Navy museum; enjoy the dining and nightlife of the Gaslamp Quarter; or rent a Car2Go or Decco Bike to visit the world famous Balboa Park and San Diego Zoo. Or, take a short trip see the Celedon apartments (929 9th Ave), which feature both PV and solar thermal technologies as part of the building structural facade.

For those of you who would like to venture a bit further out, take a tour of UCSD to see their microgrid, or visit Stone Brewing. Stone Brewing is actively involved in sustainability including the food they source for their restaurants, the solar panels at their facilities and an onsite waste water treatment plant (located in Escondido and Liberty Station).

Over the past 18 years, CSE has grown into a national nonprofit organization that offers an extensive portfolio of independent and objective solutions to public agencies, businesses and property owners of all sizes looking for assistance with sustainable energy technologies, policy advice, and technical and engineering services. As professionals in the sustainable energy industry we are all engaged in an exciting moment in history. That is why our convening at events like the NASEO Annual Meeting helps us influence market transformation. 

The U.S. energy economy is at a major turning point. The advent of the “Internet of Things” and cloud-based analytics have catapulted the way we deliver, use, and understand energy into the high-tech era. Innovative utilities are evolving to keep apace with markets, technologies, and long-term state and federal policy changes that support consumer choice, distributed generation, and ultra-high efficiency enabled by big data, analytics, and customized automation.

The National Association of State Energy Officials is thrilled to welcome you to San Diego for the 2015 NASEO Annual Meeting. We have planned dynamic sessions and keynotes designed to highlight how State Energy Offices are using Cloud computing to inform and advance their states’ clean energy priorities and open new economic opportunities through smart policy. The states’ and their private sector partners’ approaches are forever changing how we construct and use buildings, power systems, factories, and vehicles. Some major highlights from our conference agenda include: 

• Visionary keynotes from Tom Siebel of C3 Energy; Mateo Jaramillo of Tesla; and Ben Bixby of Nest Labs; 
• Dynamic discussions on EPA’s Clean Power Plan final rule and its implications for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and state policies and priorities; 
• Insights on fuel constraints in light of changing demand and severe weather;
• Inside looks into the evolution of states’ electric vehicles programs, cybersecurity efforts, and innovative financing; and
• Insights on the interplay between high-performance buildings, the grid, Cloud computing, and energy efficiency standards, codes, and policies.

NASEO would especially like to thank the conference sponsors for their support and valuable input into the conference agenda and design. We are grateful to the Edison Electric Institute, our Platinum-level sponsor, and our Gold-level sponsors The Weidt Group and the Propane Education and Research Council, and encourage you to visit their exhibit booths and talk to their expert staff over the course of the meeting. 

We look forward to seeing you in San Diego!