Learn more about North Carolina's Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) law, which was enacted in 2007.  Click here to download this valuable publication.

In a historic stroke of the pen on August 20, 2007, Governor Mike Easley signed Senate Bill 3 and North Carolina became the 25th state – and the first in the Southeast—to enact a mandatory renewable energy and energy efficiency portfolio standard (REPS) into law. The new law – known as Session Law 2007-397 – requires North Carolina electric utilities to include renewable energy and energy efficiency in their electric generation portfolios. They must do this by ensuring that a percentage of the electricity they sell is created through the use of renewable energy resources or energy efficiency measures.

In an effort to help individuals, businesses, government, non-profits and others understand our state's REPS law, The NC Sustainable Energy Association has produced "A Citizen's Guide: The North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard," which provides helpful background information and resources.
 
To read more, click here to download this publication.

The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association will once again host its annual Green Building & Solar Tour on Saturday, October 3, Saturday, October 10 and Saturday, October 17 in communities across NC. Click here for more details.

The 2009 tour will educate citizens with the most up-to-date information on a wide range of green building solutions, technologies and energy efficiency measures.  This is your chance to visit and "see up close" various sizes and styles of "green" homes, businesses, schools, privately-owned renewable energy projects, and government facilities featuring solar and/or green building products and technologies on this self-guided tour in communities across North Carolina. Site owners, green builders, contractors, installers and other experts will also be available at tour sites to answer questions and provide more details.

NCSEA received more than 20 nominations for the 2010 Board of Directors.  NCSEA’s Nominating Committee was very pleased to have received such a large number of very qualified candidates, including four who currently serve on NCSEA’s Board of Directors or a Committee.  After careful consideration of NCSEA’s bylaws, eligibility criteria, and a thorough analysis of NCSEA’s needs, the Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following slate of candidates for election to the 2010 Board of Directors. Each of these qualified individuals has pledged their time and willingness to ensure the advancement of NCSEA and its mission. Please review each candidate’s bio below before you complete your ballot.

Click here for more information on NCSEA's 2010 Board of Directors Election or to access the ballot. (Voting has closed)

 ________________________________________ 

 

John Ganzi is a start-up expert with over 30 years of experience working in the energy, finance, and environmental areas. Currently, he is the President of Environment & Finance Enterprise and serves on NCSEA’s Board of Directors as its Treasurer. In 2008, he successfully launched and became CEO of the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, a well funded quasi-governmental agency focused on establishing a multi-billion dollar biofuels industry in the state. John has led several other start-up operations this decade, including: The Finance Institute for Global Sustainability, a 501(c) 3 non-profit and Eco Inn Experiences, a for-profit.  Before establishing Environment & Finance Enterprise in the early 1990’s, John was a banker at Salomon Brothers and Citicorp. John lives in Chapel Hill.

Richard Harkrader is the CEO and Founder of Carolina Solar Energy where his primary responsibility is to ensure a complete and timely execution of system design, project financing, construction and operations.  Richard is a current member of NCSEA’s Board of Directors and has served as its Chair three times over the years.  An architect emeritus, building contractor, solar installer and real estate developer, he is  also founder and partner in two other businesses: New Morning Solar Realty built and managed 45 passive solar apartments with solar hot water and now owns and manages commercial real estate. Richard is Treasurer and Projects Manager for Sister Communities of San Ramon, Nicaragua where he and his wife, Lonna, manage community development projects and an international award-winning eco-tourism business, as well as raise organic, shade-grown coffee.  He has also served for seven years as the environmental representative on the NC Legislative Study Commission on Electric Utility Deregulation and was instrumental in starting NC GreenPower, where he was Vice Chair for two years. Richard lives in Durham.

Fred Hutchison founded the Hutchison Law Group in 1996 where he has represented more than 300 entrepreneurial companies over the years, including some of the Research Triangle’s leading technology companies, on venture capital, securities and mergers and acquisitions. Fred currently serves on NCSEA’s Board of Directors. Recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America by many organizations and media outlets and is a recipient of the Order of the Long  Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor given by the state of North Carolina, Fred is active in several organizations. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NC Technology Development Authority and is a current member of the Congress of Fellows of the Center for International Legal Studies and NC IDEA. He was the founding President of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the country. He has also served as the Chairman of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Chairman of the Business Innovation Technology Advancement Center, an incubator for early stage companies. Fred lives in Raleigh.

Rick Waechter is an active member of the North Carolina community supporting sustainable energy. Already actively involved in NCSEA’s leadership, he has served for the past year as an “outside” member of NCSEA’s Audit Committee and would like to continue his financial service to the organization as its Treasurer in 2010, if elected to the Board. He is a founding partner of Dandelion Energy, a renewable energy development company based in Chapel Hill, which focuses on commercial-scale solar, landfill gas and other renewable energy projects in North Carolina and the southeast. For over 20 years, Rick has led teams that raised $15 billion from investors around the world for companies and projects, and has advised on another $30 billion of corporate transactions. He also volunteers with the Chapel Hill and Durham Public Schools. Rick lives in Chapel Hill.  

Zoë Gamble Hanes works with the law firm of Blanco Tackabery in the Charlotte area. Her practice focuses on representing energy developers and their equity partners. She has handled all aspects of equity syndication and finance for renewable energy projects utilizing federal and state tax credits. She has drafted and negotiated power purchase agreements, renewable energy certificate agreements, equipment installation agreements and site lease agreements. Zoë represents clients before the NC Utilities Commission and the Department of Revenue. She has drafted and advised clients on both energy and tax credit legislation. Zoë lives in Charlotte.

Kurt Johnson is the Business Development Manager for the Utilities & Power Plants division of SunPower Corporation, where he leads efforts to deploy utility scale solar PV in the Southeastern United States. Kurt was formerly the Southeast Regional Sales Manager for SunPower Corporation.  He managed a dealer base for both commercial and residential systems from Maryland to Florida and the Caribbean.  The systems ranged from 1KW to 1MW and were primarily grid-tied systems that were either roof top or ground mounted. He is a former contractor, with over 20 years of experience in construction and photovoltaic’s.  Prior to joining SunPower, Kurt worked as the Director of Operations for PowerLight’s new home division, as a Project Manager for GE / AstroPower’s solar division, and as a builder and solar contractor in North Carolina. Kurt lives in Burnsville, which is northeast of Asheville.

Maria Kingery is Co-Founder of Southern Energy Management, a NC-based company with offices in Raleigh and Charlotte that combines expertise in energy efficiency and renewables to offer a balanced approach to sustainable energy solutions for residential, corporate, and public-sector clients. Having built a company from 0 employees and $0 in sales in 2001 to almost 50 full-time team members and more than $5 million in revenue in 2008, Maria understands first-hand the challenges facing the Southeast's fledgling sustainable energy industry and is eager to share her experience to help NCSEA achieve its mission of ensuring a sustainable future for citizens of NC and beyond.  Prior to 2001, Maria served as retail operations manager for Burt's Bees, where she helped create a business framework that led to increasing the availability of Burt's Bees products across the state and country, and opened the company's first retail store in Carrboro.  She also has sales and marketing experience in the commercial printing and business products industries. Maria lives in Raleigh.

Brownie Newman is FLS Energy’s Director of Financed Projects, and he has been a leader in bringing third party financing strategies to the solar industry. His work has enabled the development of some of the largest solar thermal projects in the nation, right here in North Carolina. He currently serves on Asheville’s City Council and the Airport Board of Directors. Previously, Brownie served as the political director at the NC Conservation Council and the Executive Director of the Western North Carolina Alliance.  He played a key role in the development and passage of NC’s Clean Smokestacks Act in 2002. Brownie lives in Asheville.

Larry Ostema has 17 years of experience representing domestic and international energy technology, renewable energy, high-tech, emerging growth and sustainable real estate entities. Practice areas include project and corporate finance; fund formation; mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures; securities and technology transfer.  He was the eighteenth attorney in the nation and first in NC to receive the designation of LEED Accredited Professional from the US Green Building Council (USGBC).  Currently a managing partner at Abundant Power Group, Larry is the former head of Green Initiatives Group at Horack & Talley, Charlotte, where he focused on transactions generating renewable energy certificates, White Tags and carbon offsets. Previous employment included a Partner in the Colorado office of a 680-lawyer national law firm focusing on renewable energy and clean technology transactions and an outside counsel for London Stock Exchange listed carbon offset developer under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.  Larry lives in Charlotte.


Dr. Rusty Stephens, Ed.D. is currently the President of Wilson Community College, which is on the cutting edge of implementing renewable energy equipment on its campus and continues to take the lead through education programs promoting green resources to keep up with our civilization’s ever-increasing power demands. Earlier this year, he was named co-chair of the NC Community College system’s statewide “Code Green Initiative,” which focuses on green workforce development, educating students about the environmental and economic advantages of going green, and the need to make community colleges more energy efficient. In his over 30-year community college career, Dr. Stephens has served as an instructor, director, dean, vice president, and president. His interest in sustainability came as an epiphany when he served at a community college located in a major strip mining region and saw the devastation wrought upon the land and the people. He has become convinced of both the peril and the promise inherent in a paradigm shift to sustainable thinking with its great opportunity for fundamental improvement in the human condition.  Dr. Stephens lives in Wilson.

Thyron Williams is a Program Officer for Sustainable Communities at the NC Association of Community Development Corporations (NCACDC). NCACDC is the non-profit trade association for community economic development (CED) organizations that serves a statewide network of member organizations. Over the last 20 years, NCACDC has worked with organizations that connect people to opportunities that create life-changing improvements to the working families, communities, and governing systems of North Carolina. Thyron lives in Morrisville. (Photo unavailable.) 

Jim Wood is a principal of Alternative Energy Concepts, a solar installation company in Fayetteville. Additionally, he is a home energy/light commercial auditor and owns a restaurant. Jim is a successful small business owner, has served on a number of non-profit organization boards, and is an active and engaged community leader and volunteer. He has served in several different positions with the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce, including chair of the Ambassador Committee and a member of its Government Affairs Committee.  He has also served on the boards of the Cumberland County Child Advocacy Center and Methodist University, and as a member of the United Way of Cumberland County and NC GreenPower’s Speakers Bureau. Jim lives in Fayetteville.

The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association’s Board of Directors is elected annually by its membership. Your ballot is provided on the reverse side of this paper. In adherence with our bylaws, each member of NCSEA in good standing is entitled to one vote in the Board of Directors election.  The election results will be certified and announced at NCSEA’s Annual Membership Meeting and Green Energy Economy forum on Friday, October 9, 2009 at the Charlotte Convention Center.  Directors will serve for three years beginning on January 1, 2010.  One third of the Directors are elected each year and no Director can serve more than two consecutive terms.

NOMINATING PROCESS

NCSEA received more than 20 nominations for the 2010 Board of Directors.  NCSEA’s Nominating Committee was very pleased to have received such a large number of very qualified candidates, including four who currently serve on NCSEA’s Board of Directors or a Committee.  After careful consideration of NCSEA’s bylaws, eligibility criteria, and a thorough analysis of NCSEA’s needs, the Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following slate of candidates for election to the 2010 Board of Directors. Each of these qualified individuals has pledged their time and willingness to ensure the advancement of NCSEA and its mission. 

Please click here to review each candidate’s bio before you
complete your ballot.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS BALLOT

Click here to download the Ballot (PDF), which you can fill out and mail or fax to NCSEA (see instructions below).

Click here to access the online Ballot.


INSTRUCTIONS ON VOTING & SUBMITTING YOUR BALLOT

Please follow the instructions (on the top of the ballot) to fill out your ballot to reflect your vote.  Clearly
print your name, hometown and the date on your ballot and submit it to NCSEA via only one of the following four options:

• Mail your ballot to PO Box 6465, Raleigh, NC 27628 (must be received by Monday, October 5th at 5 pm), or
   
• Fax your ballot to (919) 832-6967 (must be received by Monday, October 5th at 5 pm), or
  
  
• Complete an electronic ballot online. (Click here to access the online ballot.)  or
   
• Hand deliver your completed ballot on Friday, October 9th between 7:30 and 8:30 am to NCSEA staff at the registration table prior to the start of the Green Energy Economy forum & Annual Membership Meeting at the Charlotte Convention Center. Your ballot will be given to NCSEA Board Secretary Ed Cox prior to the start of the meeting.
  

As a member of NCSEA, please take advantage of this opportunity and responsibility to participate in advancing your association by selecting our Board of Directors for 2010. Thank you for your on-going participation and support! Please contact Julie Robinson at julie@energync.org or (919) 832-7601, ext. 108 if you have any questions.

Joe Lemanski
Chair, NCSEA Nominating Committee
2010 Chair of NCSEA Board of Directors
Greenfire Development

On Tuesday, February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the $789.5 billion "American  Recovery and  Reinvestment Act," which includes the nation's largest investment to date in  clean energy, energy efficiency and green jobs. More than $80 billion in spending will go toward renewable domestic energy, a better grid to transmit electricity, energy research, and programs to reduce fossil fuels, such as weatherizing homes and federal buildings.

North Carolina is expected to receive approximately $6.1 billion in stimulus funds, plus $1.7 billion in tax cuts for working families and additional competitive grants that may be awarded. Click here to see a detailed list of how the $6.1 billion will be distributed in North Carolina.  The Governor's office has also identified almost $1.6 billion in grants that are coming to North Carolina, for an overall total of nearly $7.7 billion so far.

 

JOB CREATION
The stimulus package is expected to create or save 3.5 million jobs across the country over the next two years, including 105,000 in North Carolina. Click here to see estimated job numbers for North Carolina's congressional districts (see pg. 8).


STIMULUS TRACKING SYSTEMS
Gov. Bev Perdue launched www.NCRecovery.gov, a guide to services of the newly created Office of Economic Recovery & Investment. This website will let visitors track federal economic recovery funds in North Carolina, as well as learn about local contract and grant opportunities. After signing the legislation into law, President Obama launched www.recovery.gov, which will provide detailed information on how the funds are being distributed by all appropriate federal agencies to states across the nation.


STIMULUS GRANTS & LOAN PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $32.6 billion to the Department of Energy. More than half of those funds will advance renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.

Would you like to apply for some of these funds? NCSEA has compiled information and helpful links to energy-related grants, loan programs and other federal funding sources to make it easier for you to find these opportunities. Click here for NCSEA's Grants webpage.


'1603' GRANT PROGRAM UPDATE
The US Department of the Treasury and Energy will provide an estimated $3 billion for the development of renewable energy projects across the nation and are currently offering guidance businesses will need to submit a successful application. Established under Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment (Recovery Act), this program gives owners of many types of renewable energy facilities the ability to offset project costs through a 30% grant (10% in the case of certain types of energy property) instead of energy tax credit under Internal Revenue Code Sections 45 & 48. The Recovery Act authorized Treasury to make direct payments to companies that create and place in service renewable energy facilities beginning January 1, 2009. Click here for more information concerning the '1603' grant program, including the terms and conditions, a 20-page guidance document, and a sample application, or to submit your application.


NC's STATE ENERGY PLAN APPROVED BY FEDS
The US Dept. of Energy has approved NC's $75.9 million Energy Plan to improve energy efficiency, promote greater use of renewable energy resources, and create more green jobs. The program will be funded through the state's share of federal American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds. Click here for more information.


STATE ENERGY OFFICE WORKSHOPS & WEBINAR - MATERIALS NOW ONLINE
The North Carolina State Energy Office recently conducted 8 free workshops across the state and an interactive online webcast workshop to help local government and public school officials gain access to more than $58.3 million in federal Recovery Act funds to create jobs and conserve energy. They also conducted an interactive webcast workshop. If you weren't able to participate, visit the SEO's website to access powerpoint presentations, sample energy plans, audit checklist, and other helpful materials.


STIMULUS WEATHERIZATION FUNDS: 5 CLASSES REQUIRED
Contractors and subcontractors hoping to qualify for work weatherizing homes as part of the federal stimulus funds will have to take five energy-efficiency-related courses throughout the next year. The US Dept. of Energy recently awarded $52.78 million to NC for its weatherization assistance program and will later receive an additional $65 million, for a total of more than $131 million. These funds will weatherize more than 23,500 homes across NC. Click here for more information.


ENERGY EFFICIENCY & CONSERVATION BLOCK GRANTS
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) Program, funded for the first time by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), represents a Presidential priority to deploy the cheapest, cleanest, and most reliable energy technologies we have - energy efficiency and conservation - across the country.
 
EECBG has launched a new website, Solution Center - Eligible Activities, which is designed as a resource for individuals looking for information on energy efficiency and renewable energy. It includes energy savings information tailored to local and state governments and Indian tribes. Information is arranged by eligible activity, and includes a definition of each as well as related best practices, samples of completed projects that can be used as a reference for your own energy efficiency projects, and links to related project resources. Click here to go to this new website.


SMART GRID FUNDS
The federal stimulus plan includes $3.375 billion in smart grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability. These funds, which will modernize the nation's electrical distribution system, will greatly impact North Carolina's researchers, consultants, manufacturers and utilities who have made our state a center for developing a "smart grid."

On Thursday, April 16, Vice President Biden and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke detailed plans by the US Department of Energy to develop a smart, strong and secure electrical grid, which will create new jobs and help deliver reliable power more effectively with less impact on the environment to customers across the nation. Click here for more information.

As part of this announcement, the DOE released a Notice of Intent (NOI) for the DOE Smart Grid Investment Grant Program, as well as a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement from the Department for a smart grid regional demonstration initiative. The grant program will provide grants ranging from $500,000 to $20 million for smart grid technology deployments. It will also provide grants of $100,000 to $5 million for the deployment of grid monitoring devices. This program provides matching grants of up to 50% for investments planned by electric utilities and other entities to deploy smart grid technologies. The first application deadline is July 29, 2009.

  
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Click here to view a summary of energy and water related funding included in the stimulus bill - scroll down the page to the blue chart (NCSL).

Click here to view a summary of all issue areas included in the stimulus bill (NCSL). And, click here for a full summary released by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Click here for Initial Implementing Guidance for Federal Agencies for Implementing the stimulus bill (White House).