Web conferences
Third-Party Solar Financing Solutions
Nov. 27, 2007, 10-11:00 a.m., Pacific Time

Missed the Webinar? Listen to and watch the presentations by clicking here:

Attractive regional and federal tax incentives, coupled with rising energy costs, are leading an increasing number of businesses, governments and homeowners to invest in solar energy projects. Join a free, hour-long Web conference to learn from three of the region's solar experts about some of the financing mechanisms available for solar energy projects.

Whether you are a business owner, a contractor, a manager at a regional electric utility, or an individual wanting to learn more about third-party financing solutions, join the third and final installment of nwcurrent's Web conference series. Third-party financers for energy projects, or energy service companies, provide the financing needed to cover the original capital investment associated with installing and maintaining solar installations.

The Web conference, hosted by the region’s clean energy news service nwcurrent, features three of the Northwest’s solar financing experts. 

Panelists include:

Sandra Walden, director and a managing partner for Commercial Solar Ventures and Real Energy Solutions

Shilpa Shah, Pacific Northwest business development director for MMA Renewable Ventures

Kacia Brockman, solar program manager for the Energy Trust of Oregon

Moderated by:

Becky Brun, managing editor, nwcurrent.com

To view the panelist’s presentations download the following PDFs:

Sandra Walden, The Perfect Solar Storm (PDF)

Shilpa Shah, PPA Financing Solutions for Solar PV in Oregon (PDF)

Kacia Brockman, Third party Ownership For Solar in Oregon (PDF)


Previous Conferences

Energy Efficiency and the Fifth Power Plan:
A Utility Progress Report

Wednesday, August 29, 2007
10-11:00 a.m. Pacific Time

Created in 1980 through the Northwest Power Act, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is responsible for creating and updating a regional energy conservation goals for all Northwest utilities. The Northwest Fifth Power Plan, released shortly after the 2000-2001 energy crisis, recommends an aggressive investment in cost-effective conservation, with the goal of achieving 700 average megawatts during the next five years and 2,500 average megawatts during the 20-year planning period.

How is your utility stacking up against other Northwest utilities in meeting the goals of the Fifth Power Plan? Join two regional leaders in a free, hour-long Web conference hosted by the clean energy news service nwcurrent.com to find out. Tom Eckman, the council’s conservation manager, will explain how the region’s utilities and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) are meeting their “share” of the conservation goals set by the Fifth Power Plan. Mike Weedall, BPA’s vice president of energy efficiency, will discuss the ways in which BPA is attempting to meet its conservation goals and its plan for acquiring conservation in the future.

To view the panelist’s presentations download the following PDFs:

Tom Eckman, Fifth Power Plan: A Progress Report (PDF)

Mike Weedall, BPA Energy Efficiency Update (PDF)


Panelist Biographies

Courtesy Northwest Power and Conservation CouncilTom Eckman, the conservation manager for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, is responsible for assessing the energy conservation potential in the Pacific Northwest region, the integration of conservation resources into the resource portfolio for the region’s electric utility system, and the development of a regional plan for conservation acquisition. He also chairs the Regional Technical Forum, which was established by the council at the request of Congress to develop standardized methods for verifying conservation savings and to track progress toward regional conservation, renewable resource and low-income weatherization goals.


Courtesy Mike WeedallMike Weedall serves as BPA’s vice president of energy efficiency and is responsible for running BPA’s conservation and load management programs. He also leads BPA’s liaison with a variety of interest groups in the Northwest for energy efficiency issues. Weedall is the board chair for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. With over twenty-five years of experience in the energy industry, he has worked for the U.S. Department of Energy, Green Mountain Power Corp., Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and he founded and led Pacific Energy Associates.


 
Previous Conferences

 How to Manage Climate Programs through Your Utility
Tuesday, June 14, 2007
With heightened awareness of climate change, utilities across the Northwest are developing strategies to assist commercial customers in achieving climate program goals. How can you enhance your services to better meet your constituents? Two of the region’s renewable energy experts - Angus Duncan, founder and Chairman of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and former Northwest Power and Conservation Council appointee, and Tom MacLean, Manager of Customer Renewable Energy Programs at Puget Sound Energy - hosted a free, hour-long nwcurrent.com Web conference.

View the web conference as a Windows Media File here. (.wmv)

To view the panelist’s presentations download the following PDFs:
Angus Duncan, Green Tags – Building a Better Green Power Product (PDF)


Panelist Biographies

Angus Duncan, has served as President and CEO of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation since its formation in 1998. Mr. Duncan represented three Oregon Governors on the Northwest Power Planning Council from 1989 to 1995, including serving as Chair of the four-state Council in 1995. Prior to this, he worked in private sector energy project development and as Director of Energy Policy, US Department of Transportation. In 2004 Mr. Duncan chaired the Drafting Committee that wrote Oregon’s Climate Change Strategy for Governor Kulongoski’s Advisory Group on Global Warming, adopted unanimously by that body and by the Governor.  In 2006 he chaired his Governor’s Drafting Committee designing an Oregon load-based carbon emissions cap and trade mechanism; that design is now a proposal from Governor Kulongoski under legislative consideration.

Courtesy Rob Pratt
Tom MacLean serves as Puget Sound Energy's Manager of Customer Renewable Energy Programs, within the Energy Efficiency Services department. Previously, Tom has represented the company on resource planning issues at the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, the National Association of Regulatory Commissions, and with policy makers in Washington, D.C. Prior to coming to PSE Tom worked at the WUTC, where he oversaw the natural gas companies, and helped to open up the moving industry to competition. Tom earned his Ph.D. in Economics (Resources, Public Policy and Econometrics) from the University of Washington in 1997. Prior to becoming an economist, Tom taught high school math and economics in California and Guam and taught economics at the University of Washington.  Tom earned his M. Ed. from Stanford University.  Tom also earned a BS and MS in Ag Econ from UC Davis.




Grid Optimization in the Northwest

Intended for C-level electric utility managers, utility staff, and business, government, and other professionals working in energy efficiency and renewable energy, the Web seminar featured panelists Jesse Berst, Center for Smart Energy, and Rob Pratt, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who provides a big picture overview of grid optimization both nationally and internationally; discussed key drivers and opportunities for Northwest utilities; and highlighted demonstration projects in the works.

The panel was moderated by Ron Pernick, Clean Edge Inc.

A recording of the conference can be accessed at https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/globalenergywebinars/view (type in "DNBK9H" as the Recording ID number).

Panelist Biographies

Jesse Berst, president of the Center for Smart Energy, is an internationally recognized authority in emerging technologies. Jesse co-founded the Center for Smart Energy to contribute to the success of the energy technology sector. CSE provides research, consulting, funding strategies, and acceleration services to companies, agencies and utilities. Jesse serves on the Advisory Council of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and has also advised the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Grid Vision Committee, the Gonzaga University Transmission & Distribution Program, the King County Prosperity Partnership, the Portland Business Alliance Energy Hot Team and to the Premier’s Technology Council in British Columbia.

 
Rob Pratt leads PNNL's internal investment in the Energy Systems Transformation Initiative, focusing on simulation and analysis of the combined engineering and economic networks comprising the current and future energy grid. Rob has a detailed understanding of utility planning processes gained from an assignment with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and he has specialized expertise in the application of metered load and end-use data to the analysis of energy systems planning and performance.

Ron Pernick (moderator) is co-founder and principal of Clean Edge Inc., a research and publishing firm focused on clean-energy markets. The company’s print and online publications include the annual Clean Energy Trends report, cleanedge.com, nwcurrent.com, and a range of private and publicly available reports. Ron is an accomplished marketing and business development entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of high-tech experience. Prior to founding Clean Edge he helped build the brands of such early Internet pioneers as Internet In A Box, Preview Travel, and Yahoo! He has worked on the marketing communications and business development programs of numerous high-tech leaders in the United States and Japan. He has co-written articles and papers on clean technology; lectured on clean-technology development, investment, and marketing; and been an instructor in the Business and Management Program at University of California at Berkeley Extension and New College’s Green MBA program.