On March 18, NCSEA and members of the Low Carbon Energy Supply Committee presented their 2010 legislative policy recommendations to the full Energy Policy Council. NCSEA's Executive Director Ivan Urlaub co-presented with Council members Markus Wilhelm, CEO of Solar Tech South, and Michael Regan, Director of Southeast Climate & Air Policy for Environmental Defense Fund. Click here to view our presentation.

Many legislators have stated that the NC General Assembly intends to have a "short" legislative session beginning this May, which means "get in, get the work done and get out" as quickly as possible.

The Energy Policy Council is working hard to identify legislative energy policy recommendations for 2010 that advance North Carolina’s energy economy, create jobs, and have broad-based support. The Council will meet again in April to decide on its legislative recommendations, followed by a report to Governor Perdue. Over the remainder of this year, NCSEA will work with all members of the Energy Policy Council to develop more comprehensive policy recommendations for the 2011 legislative session, which will make our state a sustainable leader in the new global energy economy.

Click here to go to the State Energy Office's website, which has further information on the Energy Policy Council, including all presentations made by various organizations, energy experts and the utilities at previous meetings.

More than 400 leaders from communities across North Carolina attended events at the Charlotte Convention Center on Oct. 8-9 focused on our state's Green Energy Economy. NCSEA hosted the events entitled, GROWING NORTH CAROLINA'S GREEN ENERGY ECONOMY: Learning, Connecting & Creating Opportunities Together.

Click here to view a slide show of photographs from the events. (Photographs taken by Andrew Whelan.)

Thursday evening's Networking Reception featured remarks by Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a highly-acclaimed author and one of our nation's leading voices on renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency solutions.

All day on Friday, October 9, NCSEA hosted a major Green Energy Economy forum, which included the organization's Annual Membership Meeting. The highlights of the day included the release of the long-awaited 2009 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industries Census, the election of NCSEA's 2010 Board of Directors and remarks by the luncheon keynote speaker John Morrison, North Carolina's new Assistant Secretary of Energy at the Department of Commerce. The forum also featured informational panel discussions, presentations, Q&A sessions, remarks by Charlotte's Mayor Pat McCrory, and the announcement of the 2009 sustainable energy awards.

Last year through the work of NCSEA, North Carolina became the third state in the nation to quantify and track our state's renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses and jobs. And now, it's that time again! Through the end of June, NCSEA will conduct an online survey of our state's more than 1,000 businesses for the "2009 North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Industry Census." 

Businesses will receive an email from our staff, which will include a link to the online survey. Some businesses may also receive a duplicate paper survey if our staff was unable to confirm an email contact. It is very important for all businesses to complete either the online survey or the paper survey by June 30th to ensure their responses are included in the final report, which will be announced in October. North Carolina's elected officials, economic developers, business leaders, the media and others rely on this valuable information and are anxiously awaiting the updated results.

The inaugural 2008 survey was a huge success - garnering both local and national coverage and we are excited to repeat this success in 2009. Click here to view the "2008 Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Industry Census."

The goal of the project is to better understand the employment and industry dynamics of North Carolina's renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses. The year's Industry Census will examine company sizes, core competencies and employment dynamics. The survey is 25 questions and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Survey responses and contact information are kept confidential. The survey results and any additional analysis are made available only in aggregate.

Renewable energy or energy efficiency business in North Carolina that would like to get started on the 2009 Industry Census online survey right away may click here. 

To learn more about the survey, recommend a company for inclusion, or ensure that your company is on the survey list, please contact Rich Crowley at richard@energync.org or (919) 832-7601, ext. 104.

Dr. Keith G. Debbage, Professor of Urban Geography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and GlaxoSmithKline Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Emerging Issues, published a report in August 2008 that looks at the spatial distribution and economic magnitude of North Carolina's renewable energy supply chain in wind, solar, biomass and geothermal and identifies companies with the technical potential to enter the renewable energy market in North Carolina.

The report finds that North Carolina's potential new energy economy supply chain is a diverse and mature sector of the state economy comprising just over 1,300 firms and employing over 61,000 workers.

Click here to view the full report and state maps detailing North Carolina's current manufacturers that are part of the solar energy, wind energy, biomass and geothermal energy supply chain which could transition into the new energy economy.

 

In response to the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package and possible legislative action by the NC General Assembly, NCSEA surveyed renewable energy and energy efficiency companies across our state regarding their “shovel-ready” projects, which could create additional "green jobs" by the end of 2010. 

Based on survey responses, NCSEA found that if state and federal legislative action occurs before July 2009, including passage of the federal economic stimulus package and removing current economic and market barriers, sustainable energy businesses across North Carolina could create over 7,500 new jobs in the next two years. (This number is expected to be much higher when you take into account all of the estimated 500 sustainable energy companies across North Carolina.)

The federal economic stimulus and recovery package will directly impact the sustainable energy industries in North Carolina and is expected to create or protect millions of jobs nationally that cannot be outsourced, double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, modernize federal buildings, make homes and schools more energy efficient, save consumers and taxpayers billions on their energy bills, and much more. 

NCSEA received 71 survey responses from companies across North Carolina, providing a representative sample of the approximately 500 companies currently employing people across North Carolina in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. This small snap-shot of the entire industry produced some big answers. to view the full press release, survey findings and recent media coverage.

Click here