2009 BCEA Speaker Videos and Powerpoints 

Keynote Speaker – L. Hunter Lovins, President, Natural Capitalism Solutions
Unleashing Alaska’s New Energy Economy
Ms. Lovins describes the economic case for moving aggressively to solve such challenges as global warming, peak oil, the vulnerability of our energy infrastructure and others. She will discuss how energy efficiency, renewable energy and other sustainable approaches will give us a stronger economy and a higher quality of life.
L. Hunter Lovins – Unleashing Alaska’s New Energy Economy PPT
(very large file – please be patient)

Panel 1 – The Obama Plan: National Trends In Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Infrastructure Development

An overview of the federal plans to develop EE/RE infrastructure including transmission, job creation, research and development, coordination of federal agencies, and business and consumer incentives. Panelists will describe the progress of the administration to date, the goals moving forward, and what it means for Alaska.

Dr. Dan Arvizu
Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
A New Energy Economy – The Path Forward
We must be committed to achieving transformational change in order to create a new energy future that is secure and sustainable, requiring not just advanced energy technology development and rapid commercialization, but stable policies, responsive markets and visionary – yet pragmatic – leadership worldwide. Dr. Arvizu covers not only the current energy landscape, but what must be done to achieve a new energy future.
Dr. Dan Arvizu – A New Energy Economy: The Path Forward PPT

Ron Lehr
Consultant, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)
Opportunities for Industry
Renewable energy industries, encouraged by new policies, budgets, and supportive actions by Congress and the Obama administration, are entering a time of increased business opportunities. Stable tax policy; a national renewable energy standard; and increased budgets for research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities are likely to put these industries on a path toward sustained, orderly development. Large scale manufacturing leading to lower costs, as well as reductions in local implementation costs can provide consumer benefits, increased energy security, and profit opportunities.
Ron Lehr – Opportunities for Industry PPT

Steven Nadel
Executive Director, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Federal and State Energy Efficiency Policy: Emerging Federal Legislation, Leading Efforts in the Lower 48, and Implications for Alaska
Mr. Nadel discusses emerging federal energy efficiency and climate change legislation, including likely provisions and how the political process might unfold; energy efficiency policies at the state level, with a focus on leading states; and implications for Alaska.
Steven Nadel – Federal and State Energy Efficiency Policy: Emerging Federal Legislation, Leading Efforts in the Lower 48, and Implications for Alaska PPT

Panel 2 – Attracting Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Business: Effective Policy and the Impact on the State’s Economy

A discussion of the means by which Alaska can attract EE/RE businesses to the state through policy design.

Lori Bird
Senior Energy Analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Designing Renewable Energy Policies for Economic Development
Ms. Bird explores renewable energy policies such as renewable energy standards or feed-in tariffs that provide stable, long-term incentives for renewable energy development that encourage manufacturing and local economic development. She also examines the implementation of these policies in the U.S. and in Europe and their effectiveness in spurring manufacturing and creating economic development benefits.
Lori Bird – Designing Renewable Energy Policies for Economic Development PPT

Noah Long
Sustainable Energy Fellow, National Resource Defense Council (NRDC)
Advancing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Market Structure, Regulation and Policy in California
Mr. Long presents on the various laws, regulations and policies that have effectively delivered energy efficiency and renewable energy in California. He places these programs and regulations within the national context by comparing to other state programs and discusses current federal legislation and funding. He also addresses current challenges and opportunities to state leadership on energy efficiency and renewable energy in California and elsewhere.
Noah Long – Advancing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Market Structure, Regulation and Policy in California PPT

Thomas Tuffey
Director, PennFuture Center for Energy, Enterprise and Environment
The Clean Energy Pennsylvania Business Model
A decade of energy legislation, rule making, and public/private collaborative’s have established the framework for one of the best east coast clean energy markets. Mr. Tuffey presents the story of that growth with private enterprise development at the forefront.

Panel 3 – Industry Perspectives: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Capital Investments

A look at the capital market for the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. Panelists discuss how policy incentives impact their business decisions.

Ed Feo
Partner, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, LLP
Renewable Energy Financing: How to Access Capital and Leverage the New Government Incentives
Mr. Feo talks about how the stimulus bill changed the renewable energy (RE) financing landscape and how it will affect the RE industry moving forward. He also covers how the stimulus bill affected equity investors, who’s eligible for loan guarantees, tax credits and tax-subsidized grants, and how financing structures have changed in light of the new incentives.
Ed Feo – Renewable Energy Financing: How to Access Capital and Leverage the New Government Incentives PPT

Alan Kirn
Director, Renewable Energy Solutions Johnson Controls, Inc.
An Energy Service Company’s Perspective of the Evolving Clean Energy Marketplace
Mr. Kirn presents how the energy services business is in transition and how the investment criteria in energy efficiency has changed over the past year. What was once a pure economic decision has now evolved to an economic/social/environmental decision.
Alan Kirn – An Energy Service Company’s Perspective of the Evolving Clean Energy Marketplace PPT

Dorthe Nielsen
Manager of Government Relations, Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc.
Investing in the U.S.: How Policy Incentives Impact Vestas’ Business Decisions
Vestas opened its first production facility in the U.S. – a blade factory in Colorado — in March 2008 and its North American headquarters is located in Oregon. By 2010, Vestas will have four factories and a research center in the U.S. and employ over 4000 people. Ms. Nielsen will focus on how federal and state policy incentives impacted Vestas’ decision to establish new headquarters and production in the U.S.

Dorthe Nielsen – Investing in the US: How Policy Incentives Impact Vestas’ Business Decisions PPT

Panel 4 – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Jobs: National Trends and Alaskan Opportunity

Aimee Allison
Interim Communications/Media Director, Green For All
Building a Green Economy in Alaska
Ms. Allison discusses the important role that Alaska can play in shaping our country’s green future and how the state can leverage federal investment, appropriated for green industry, to create quality green-collar jobs for Alaskans.

Aimee Allison – Building a Green Economy in Alaska PPT

Thomas White
Assistant Professor of Renewable Energy Engineering, Oregon Institute of Technology
Educating the Next Generation of Energy Engineers: An Unconventional, Interdisciplinary Approach to Meet an Unmet Demand
Like many states, Oregon is taking a proactive, strategic approach to reducing its carbon footprint. With plans to ramp up renewable resources for generating the state’s electricity to 25% by 2025, there is a huge unmet demand for engineers to support this ambitious objective. Oregon has seen it appropriate to foster energy engineering education at OIT, and Mr. White talks about the nation’s first bachelor’s degree program in renewable energy engineering.

Thomas White – Educating the Next Generation of Energy Engineers: An Unconventional, Interdisciplinary Approach to Meet an Unmet Demand PPT

Scott Waterman
Energy Programs Director, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC)
Green Jobs in Alaska
New job and business opportunities are rising in Alaska, with the advent of a substantial weatherization and home energy rebate effort sponsored by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. Additional renewable energy projects are adding more jobs; Mr. Waterman explains how to get involved.

Green Jobs in Alaska PPT

Panel 5 – Emerging Technologies and Their Impact on Alaska

A discussion on how Alaska can attract demonstration projects for emerging technologies to its rural communities and how the state could become a leading marketer of that expertise to the two billion people on the planet who do not yet have any electricity at all.

Dr. Robert Paasch
Director, Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMRC)
The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center
Dr. Paasch describes the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, established in September 2008 by the US Department of Energy to evaluate the performance and environmental impacts of marine renewable energy. The Center is a partnership between Oregon State University, focusing on wave energy, and the University of Washington, focusing on tidal and ocean current energy.

Dr. Robert Paasch – The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center PPT

Ann Miles
Director of the Division of Hydropower Licensing in the Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
FERC’s Program for Hydrokinetic Projects
Ms. Miles discusses FERC’s program for hydrokinetic energy projects, which includes projects that generate electricity from waves or from ocean, tidal, or river currents without the use of a dam. The presentation focuses on the “strict scrutiny” approach to preliminary permits, criteria for test projects that do not need a Commission license, the pilot project license, and the standard licensing program. She also discusses key challenges to licensing hydrokinetic projects and elements to a coordinated regulatory program.
Ann Miles – FERC’s Program for Hydrokinetic Projects PPT

Gwen Holdmann
Organization Director Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP)
Energy Research at the University of Alaska
Ms. Holdmann discusses the role of the University of Alaska and ACEP in supporting development of emerging energy technologies in Alaska. Specific examples will include ACEP’s programs in wind-diesel, hydrokinetics, geothermal, and diesel engine efficiency.
Gwen Holdmann – Energy Research at the University of Alaska PPT

Panel 6 – The Alaska Permanent Fund: Has the Rainy Day Arrived?

An illustration of how other countries are using their sovereign wealth funds to develop EE/RE infrastructure, and explore how Alaska could benefit from a similar investment thesis with the Alaska Permanent fund.

Pat Galvin
Commissioner State of Alaska Department of Revenue
Structure of the Alaska Permanent Fund
Mr. Galvin presents an overview of the Permanent fund’s current investment mix and the legal requirements concerning investment of the fund.

Pat Galvin – Structure of the Alaska Permanent Fund PPT

Hege Eliassen
Counselor of Financial Affairs Royal Norwegian Embassy
Norway’s Management of Petroleum Wealth And The Government Pension Fund – Global
The purpose of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund is to facilitate government savings necessary to meet the rapid rise in public pension expenditures in the coming years, and to support a long-term management of petroleum revenues. Ms. Eliassen focuses on the strategies behind the fund, and how environmental and social concerns are incorporated in the management of the fund.

Hege Eliassen – Norway’s Management of Petroleum Wealth and The Government Pension Fund – Global PPT

Lisa Hagerman
Director, More for Mission Campaign Resource Center, Boston College Institute for Responsible Investment
The Investment Discipline of Mission Investing
institutional investors are increasingly adopting responsible investing strategies, large public pension funds in California and New York allocate two percent of their assets to investments seeking financial, social, and environmental returns, and foundations are finding ways to align their endowment with the mission of their organization to address specific programmatic interests such as the environment. Ms. Hagerman speaks about the practice as an investment discipline taking a portfolio-wide approach across asset classes.
Lisa Hagerman – The Investment Discipline of Mission Investing PPT

Panel 7 – The Alaska State Budget: Diversifying Away from Oil Toward Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

An exploration of the state’s dependency on oil revenues and how EE/RE investments can help the Alaska diversify both its urban and rural economies.

Scott Goldsmith
Professor of Economics, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Alaska Anchorage
Looking Ahead at the Alaska Economy: Business as Usual
Mr. Goldsmith presents a description of the future of the Alaska economy based on a continuation of the trends observed since Alaska became a state 50 years ago. The projection is grounded in the realities of the economic structure of Alaska and highlights major uncertainties as well as opportunities and challenges.
Scott Goldsmith – Looking Ahead at the Alaska Economy: Business as Usual PPT

Nancy Jackson
Executive Director Climate and Energy Project (CEP)
The Choices Ahead: Seize Prosperity in a Low-Carbon Future
Like Alaska, Kansas is rich in renewable resources, as well as traditional energy resources. Ms. Jackson has success stories and cautionary tales to share and places both Kansas and Alaska in the context of best-practice state policies nationwide.
Nancy Jackson – The Choices Ahead: Seize Prosperity in a Low-Carbon Future PPT

Greg Wortham
Mayor, Sweetwater TX // Executive Director, Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse
Energy + Energy – Economic Diversification in An Energy Region
Mr. Wortham describes the actual results from less than a decade that brought this oil, cattle, minerals & railroad town to a leadership role in the global wind energy industry. Texas has 10,000 MW of operational wind – about 40% of USA total, and ranks as the world’s 4th largest “nation” for wind. The Sweetwater area (3,000+ MW) ranks as the 7th largest “nation”, and 20% of the local work force is in wind energy.
Greg Wortham – Energy+Energy: Economic Diversification in An Energy Region PPT

Panel 8 – Creating an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vision and Road Map for Alaska’s Future

An exploration of the challenges and best practices of other states and nations and focus on Alaska’s opportunity for building an energy strategy for the next 50 years.

F. Noel Perry
Founder, Next 10
California’s Green Economy
Next 10 is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and has produced expert research on California’s green innovation, legacy of energy efficiency, and more. Mr. Perry presents findings of this important research and discusses what it might mean for Alaska.
F. Noel Perry – California’s Green Economy PPT

Charles Kubert
Project Director, Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA)
A Winning Formula: How State Clean Energy Funds and Complementary Policies Help Build Renewable Energy Markets
Fifteen states created clean energy funds as an outcome of utility restructuring in the late 1990s. At the same time, complementary regulatory policies have also played a major role in these programs’ success. The result has been robust clean energy markets and the growth of a dealer/installer network to support them. The high cost of electricity in Alaska makes this an even more workable model here.

Charles Kubert – A Winning Formula: How State Clean Energy Funds and Complementary Policies Help Build Renewable Energy Markets PPT

J. Rachel Shimshak
Director, Renewable Northwest Project (RNP)
Strategic Steps to a Clean Energy Future
Securing state and federal renewable energy policies, as well as practical, project and operational protocols, will be necessary to deliver on the promise of clean energy. Ms. Shimshak talks about how succeeding will stimulate our economy, the environment, and preserve our quality of life.
J. Rachel Shimshak – Strategic Steps to a Clean Energy Future PPT