State & Stakeholder Newsletter, April 7, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Volume #9, Issue #7
Editor: Jane Pulaski
The IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter is a foremost resource for current information on green workforce training, credentialing programs, state activities and best practices on renewable energy and energy efficiency. This free newsletter is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC’s website. If you have comments or if you would like to submit a news item, email Jane Pulaski. To subscribe to this newsletter, click here and follow the instructions.
If you want the best news about what’s going on in the states and cities, read the State & Stakeholder Newsletter (April 7, 2010)
From the editor:
I’ve read dozens—no, hundreds of reports in my professional life, many written in that too familiar, stilted, bureaucratic style, permeated with long, unwieldy paragraphs that require a couple of readings (at least). But Sara White and her colleagues at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, University of Wisconsin/Madison, have released Greener Skills: How Credentials Create Value in the Clean Energy Economy, a beautifully written treatise that outlines key early steps toward a national credentialing system, describing an array of certifications and skill standards for workers in clean energy sectors and providing a set of policy recommendations to help move this work in a more consistent direction. IREC’s ISPQ and NABCEP’s credentialing programs are mentioned in this report. Do yourself a favor and read this.
As long as we’re talking about credentialing programs, IREC’s Pat Fox continues to process ISPQ applications for program accreditation and instructor certification. Just last week, ISPQ processed 17 applications, 13 of which were awarded to The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA), including the first ISPQ certified small wind instructor.
It’s been another big week of incentive and rebate activity at DSIRE, and not just from the usual suspects. There’s news from Indiana Power & Light’s voluntary feed-in-tariff, more rebates in Massachusetts, and some interesting activity in New Mexico–three bills signed into law last month have made a troika of additional technologies eligible to meet the state’s renewables portfolio goal, including methane gas from abandoned coal mines and methane gas from a coal degassing operation associated with a state-approved mine permit; HB 228 added municipal solid waste; and SB 104 added compressed air energy storage technologies (provided that the electricity used to compress air was produced using renewables, or if an equivalent number of RECs is purchased.
As if DSIRE isn’t busy enough, they’ve added a new summary map to its list, this one for Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
Our good friend and NREL Solar Decathlon champion, Cecile Warner, is retiring at the end of this month. I’m still recovering from that announcement.
Finally, mark your calendars for IREC’s 2010 Annual Meeting, scheduled for Monday, October 11th, in Los Angeles, just ahead of SPI 2010. If you’re a regular at our Annual Meetings, you know it’s a great gathering of people and ideas. But if you’re not a regular, or if it’s been a few years since you’ve attended, you might want to consider joining us this year. This year’s annual meeting will pay special attention to key topics and issues for IREC members, state stakeholders and the industry. We’ll give out IREC’s Innovation Awards to those organizations who have implemented innovative projects during the past year that promote and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy technologies. In addition to the Innovation Awards, IREC also takes a moment to say thank you to people and organizations that have made an extraordinary contribution to renewable energy and to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. This year, we’re going to mix it up a little–we’ll be doing some different things. We’re in the planning stages now, so stay tuned and watch for details.
I hope Spring has begun to make an appearance, wherever you are. Thanks for reading. I always welcome your comments and suggestions.
Read the State & Stakeholder Newsletter, April 7, 2010
