State Clean Energy Programs Honored for Efforts to Transform U.S. Markets

The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), a national, nonprofit coalition of public agencies working together to advance clean energy, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016 State Leadership in Clean Energy Awards. The 2016 awards recognize six outstanding state programs and projects that have accelerated the adoption of clean energy technologies and strengthened clean energy markets. Winners were chosen by an independent panel of five distinguished judges and are featured in a new report.

This year’s award winners represent many of the cutting-edge ideas that are driving the adoption of clean energy. They involve combining commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) with power purchase agreements; combining water conservation with clean energy generation; implementing comprehensive programs to advance the solar industry in the East and the West; and tapping into the power of distributed generation and geo-targeting to ease grid constraints.

The 2016 awards were given to the following organizations:

• The California Energy Commission for the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP)
• The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission Sustainable Energy Division for the Useful Thermal Energy Certificate (T-REC) Program
• The Connecticut Green Bank for the CT Solar Lease Commercial Program
• Energy Trust of Oregon for the Irrigation Modernization Program
• The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for NY-Sun
• The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources for the System Reliability Procurement Solar Distributed Generation Pilot Project

“These award winners illustrate the tremendous creativity and commitment being shown by state agencies across the country in implementing clean energy,” said CESA Executive Director Warren Leon. “These six programs are not only substantially increasing clean energy deployment and reducing carbon-based emissions, they are also creating jobs and benefiting the local economy. Moreover, they are doing so in smart, efficient, and effective ways. These innovative programs are providing models for the next generation of state clean energy initiatives in the United States.”

CESA-member organizations from across the U.S. submitted nominations for the leadership awards. Entries were judged based on public benefits and results, cost effectiveness, leadership and innovation, and replicability. Winners were chosen by an independent panel of distinguished judges: Todd Foley (Chief Strategy Officer, American Council on Renewable Energy); Jenny Heeter (Senior Energy Analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory); Brian Keane ((President, SmartPower); Heather Rhoads-Weaver (Principal Consultant/Founder, eFormative Options); and Governor Bill Ritter (Director, Center for the New Energy Economy).

A report on this year’s State Leadership in Clean Energy award winners, including case studies for each program, is available on CESA’s website. This webpage also contains information and registration links for a webinar series on these exemplary programs. These webcasts are free to attend and open to the public.

The State Leadership in Clean Energy Webinar Series will feature the winning programs on the following dates and times:

• New Hampshire and Rhode Island, July 13, from 1-2:30 pm EDT (10-11:30 pm PDT)
• Connecticut and Oregon, July 19, from 2-3:30 pm EDT (11am -12:30 pm PDT)
• California and New York, July 26, from 2-3:30 pm EDT (11am -12:30 pm PDT)

This blog post was also published in Renewable Energy World.