Wrap Up from NC’s “Making Energy Work: Building a Sustainable Energy Economy in the Southeast
Many of the nation’s top energy and economic experts joined over 500 leaders from across the Southeast at the first, day-long, major energy forum, “Making Energy Work: Building a Sustainable Energy Economy in the Southeast,” on Tuesday, February 3 at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, NC. IREC was a partner organization for the conference….
Many of the nation’s top energy and economic experts joined over 500 leaders from across the Southeast at the first, day-long, major energy forum, “Making Energy Work: Building a Sustainable Energy Economy in the Southeast,” on Tuesday, February 3 at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, NC. IREC was a partner organization for the conference.
Presented by The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), this forum explored the Southeast’s emerging new energy economy and how sustainable energy resources in our region can work to expand our economies, create business opportunities, develop new “green” workforces, and enhance our energy security. This timely event brought together key decision makers from across the Southeast, including Speaker of the NC House of Representatives, and The Honorable Janet Cowell, State Treasurer of North Carolina to discuss how these important issues impact their individual states and communities, as well as the region as a whole. The Honorable Joe Hackney, President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, was also on the agenda.
Forum participants included local, state and federal government officials, educators, business and industry, electric cooperatives and investor owned utilities, facility managers and owners, design and engineering companies, academic institutions, economic developers, and community organizations from across the Southeast.
The “Making Energy Work” forum featured three Plenary sessions and 10 Breakout sessions, all of which were recorded. NCSEA plans to post all audio recordings, PowerPoint presentations by speakers and other background information on its website (www.energync.org) soon in an effort to share this valuable information with attendees and other key decision makers across the Southeast.
“One of our breakout sessions in the morning featured success stories from across the Southeast – Local Perspectives: Reflections on Sustainable Energy Implementation,” said Julie Robinson, NCSEA’s Marketing & Communications Director. “This session featured the Mayor of Savannah, GA and other speakers/experts from Atlanta, Western North Carolina and Charlotte, NC. These cities or region were recommended by numerous people/organizations as being some of the top leaders on sustainability efforts, in addition to NCSEA’s firsthand knowledge of their work, which is why they were selected for this panel.”
Robinson said that market development and public policy efforts will continue to be a large e focus of NCSEA’s through expanded economic opportunities for our renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, which will directly benefit companies, workers and consumers/taxpayers. “And, we’re looking forward to the second annual “Making Energy Work” forum in 2010, which will hopefully bring even more key decision makers from across the Southeast together.
For more information, contact Paul Quinlan at [email protected] or (919) 832-7601, ext. 105.
