ESC - Hot News

March 2013
ESC's Efforts in Connecticut Pay Dividends
In 2012 the State of Connecticut was one of several states that the ESC worked with to develop and implement a new ESPC program based on the ESC's Best Practices and resources.

On March 27, Connecticut’s “Lead by Example” (LBE) program announced that a municipality, a state agency, and a state facility are the first three organizations to take advantage of the state's new Performance Contracting process. The City of Bristol, the Connecticut Department of Corrections, and the Connecticut Valley Hospital have all taken the key step forward to begin energy efficiency projects designed to reduce energy costs for the state and municipalities, upgrade facilities, create jobs, and drive investment in Connecticut’s economy.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) have developed a standardized program that enables agencies and towns to more easily enter into these performance contracts. The program includes pre-approved contractors, on-call advisors, standardized contract templates, and targeted financial assistance, which will help ensure that state agencies and municipalities see positive results from this program.

“With towns and state agencies beginning to use the innovative Performance Contracting approach we are achieving an important milestone in Governor Malloy’s broad energy agenda for the state,” said Daniel C. Esty, Commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “Performance contracting offers an attractive, low-cost approach to bringing down energy costs, and we look forward to supporting many more state agencies and municipalities that choose to take advantage of this tool.”

“The Department of Corrections is pleased to be among the first participants in the state’s new energy efficiency performance contracting program,” said Leo Arnone, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections. “This program will allow us to save a tremendous amount of money through energy efficiency upgrades at our facilities, which can then be spent on much more urgent needs.”

“The City of Bristol is eager to save money through this exciting performance contracting initiative,” said Bristol Mayor Art Ward. “We’ve been looking for the right way to go forward with these upgrades, and we’ve finally found it. My special thanks to the Mayor’s Task Force on Energy Consumption for their work on this ambitious project.”

The energy savings performance contracting program is a collaborative effort across state government, involving the Offices of Attorney General George Jepsen and State Treasurer Denise Nappier, the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), the Departments of Administrative Services (DAS), Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and Construction Services (DCS), and the Office of Policy and Management (OPM). This initiative will be further supported by a public/private partnership with local non-profits such as the Tremaine Foundation, the Common Sense Fund, and the Hampshire Foundation, who will create awareness of the performance contracting opportunities among municipalities.
Established in the milestone energy legislation Public Act 11-80, DEEP and DAS jointly administer the LBE program. In addition to its performance contracting program, LBE has allocated more than $10 million to 44 different energy efficiency projects across state government, with an average payback period of less than six years. LBE is also in the process of installing energy monitoring systems at up to 100 of the state’s largest energy consuming buildings, which will reduce energy usage through targeted recommendations for low- and no-cost efficiency measures. Interested parties can find out more about the LBE, including the performance contracting program, at www.ct.gov/deep/leadbyexample.

March 2013
ESC Membership votes to approve by-law amendment
More that 30 percent of the ESC membership voted on an amendment to the ESC by-laws. The final tally was 100 votes in favor of adoption and 4 votes against the proposed change. Under the change the Board now has more flexibility to work directly with Chapters in the event of a leadership vacuum to elect new officers or to hold other votes of the Chapter membership as directed by the Board.

February 2013
ESC Announces It Will Host the 2nd Annual Market Transformation Conference in Denver
The Energy Services Coalition’s Market Transformation Conference 2013 is being held August 13 and 14 in Denver. This is a must attend event if you’re interested or invested in advancing the benefits of public facility retrofits through energy conservation efforts and sustainable initiatives. The event is planned to be educational, interactive and a chance for you to engage with your peers in the public and private sectors devoted to the success of public facility retrofits. Space is limited. Register today by visiting the conference website stainable initiatives. The event is planned to be educational, interactive and a chance for you to engage with your peers in the public and private sectors devoted to the success of public facility retrofits. Space is limited. Register today.

January 2013
ESC Announces Its Newly Elected Board of Directors and Officers
The 18-member Board of Directors took office this month to serve a two-year term. Representing the ESCO industry are Bill Davidson, Christine Keck, Grady Bailey, Matt Gates, Steve Truebner and Tom Walther. Representing the state public sector are Peter Berger (Minnesota), Hillary Dobos (Colorado), Amy Butler (Michigan), John Means (Georgia), Len Hoey (North Carolina) and Eileen McHugh (Massachusetts). Representing the finance industry is Karen Keeler Pelzer. The category of equipment suppliers and technical service providers is represented by Rhonda Courtney and George West. And, nonprofit organizations and others are represented by Doug Dahle and Jim Arwood. Jim Ploger represents the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO).

The Board elected its officers to serve the next year: Christine Keck, President; Tom Walther, Vice-President - Private Sector; Amy Butler, Vice-President - Public Sector; Jim Ploger, Secretary; Doug Dahle, Treasurer.

January 2011

ESC Announces Its Newly Elected Board of Directors and Officers

The 18-member Board of Directors was elected this month to serve a two-year term. Representing the ESCO industry are Bill Davidson, Chuck Hall, Ray Hinson, Bill Skosky, Fred Ventresca and Tom Walther. Representing the state public sector are Joel Asrael (Colorado), Amy Butler (Michigan), David Godfrey (Georgia), and Eileen McHugh (Massachusetts). Representing the finance industry is Karen Keeler Pelzer. The category of equipment suppliers and technical service providers is represented by Rhonda Courtney and Brad Jenkins. And, nonprofit organizations and others are represented by Doug Dahle and Jim Ploger. Jim Arwood represents the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO).

The Board elected its officers to serve the next year: Rhonda Courtney, President; Tom Walther, Vice-President - Private Sector; Joel Asrael, Vice-President - Public Sector; Amy Butler, Secretary; Doug Dahle, Treasurer.

Dale Hahs Became ESC's Executive Director

Dale Hahs, four-term President of ESC's Board of Directors, stepped down from his board position to take the reins as ESC's Executive Director. Hahs has been instrumental in moving the organization onto the national stage, passionately presenting in regional and national forums about how ESPC can not only improve the nation's infrastructure, but advance environmental stewardship, create real jobs now for economic development, and enhance our

ESC's Executives: left to right, Tom Walther, Private Sector Vice-President of the Board of Directors, Rhonda Courtney, President of the Board of Directors, and Dale Hahs, Executive Director.

national security by relieving our dependence on foreign fuel sources. Hahs said: "It has been and will continue to be a joy to work with ESC's Board of Directors and membership. Nowhere else in the nation is there a group of energy experts so dedicated to the uptake of a solution with so much to offer to so many. The Executive Director role allows the opportunity and heightened focus on fulfilling our goals to ensure that ESPC takes its rightful place as a business as usual model for comprehensive energy system modernization and the significant benefits it affords."

Tom Walther, Vice President - Private Sector, remarked, "the addition of an Executive Director with the caliber of Dale Hahs positions the ESC to take the next step in leading the performance contracting industry with a clear mission and focus. Dale's passion for the business, his national and federal relationships and his unending work ethic make him the logical and best choice for this role - a lot like PC is the first and best conservation choice - it just makes sense!"

Rhonda Courtney Elected President of ESC's Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors elected Rhonda Courtney as President to fill the vacancy left by Hahs and re-elected her for the upcoming term. Courtney got involved with the ESC 10 years ago when she approached the State of Tennessee to start an ESC State Chapter. As an early champion of ESC's public-private partnerships, Courtney participated in the Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Michigan chapters. She was elected to the Board of Directors two years ago, representing the category of equipment suppliers and technical providers. As a new board member, she immediately stepped-up to chair the Education Committee and set a new and invigorating tone by involving a broad spectrum of ESC members in the national committee which launched ESC's successful series of webinars.

ESC's Co-Founders: Mike Glenn (center), Bret Hunter (right) and Linda Smith (left) presenting the ESC Beginnings webinar.

ESC's three co-founders got together in Salt Lake City to go down "memory lane" along with its first executive director, in the ESC Beginnings webinar. Mike Glenn, former director of the Utah Energy Office, and Bret Hunter, formerly in the ESCO industry, described starting the public-private partnership in Utah. Linda Smith, formerly with the Colorado Governor's Energy Office, shared how Colorado's interest in Utah's partnership spurred a regional public-private partnership in other western states. "It took off like wildfire," said Smith. and before long nearly all western states had participated in gatherings. Formalized as the Western Regional Coalition, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Michael Arny got involved through DOE's early ESPC educational programs and led the Western Regional Coalition to become the national Energy Services Coalition. The recent ESC Board of Directors honored its early founders with plaques.

November 2010

Executive Director
Seeing the ever growing need to use Energy Savings Performance Contracting to help grow jobs, modernize infrastructure, shore up our fundamental economic foundation and advance environmental stewardship without upfront capital to support the effort, the board of directors is proud to announce the appointment of an Executive Director of the Energy Services Coalition to help us all achieve these goals.
Read Now >

August 2010

Fundamentals of ESPC
Don’t miss this timely and relevant review of the principles of Energy Savings Performance Contracting. A great read for policymakers, program developers, industry providers and a must for every client planning to benefit from the considerable rewards of Energy Savings Performance Contracting.
Read Now>

Now is the time to Join ESC (or renew your annual membership)
Join now. Or, renew your membership now. The ESC is a key place to get involved in what's happening in the Energy Savings Performance Contracting and energy efficiency world...and there is a lot going on. Don't miss out...Sign up today!

Support ESC
Help expand ESC's mission to work at the state and local level to increase energy efficiency and building upgrades through energy savings performance contracting. ESC offers a variety of funding levels and associated benefits to sponsors. Contact us to find out how you or your organization can participate.

Webinars

Mark Your Calendar: ESC Beginnings - an ESC webinar
Did you ever wonder how the Energy Services Coalition (ESC) got started? ESC is delighted to host a webinar with its founders to reflect on ESC's beginnings and how its mission and approach remain relevant today. Join us on Friday, September 10, 1:00 ET.

National ESPC View - an ESC webinar
In case you missed this webinar, National ESPC View, visit ESC's webinar library and watch it at your leisure. Representatives from three key organizations provided national insight on performance contracting, sharing their perspectives on the next generation of performance contracting, ARRA funding deployment to date, the difference between spending and leveraging funds and more. Speakers included Dale Hahs, President of the ESC Board of Directors; David Terry, Executive Director, National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO); and Donald Gilligan, President, National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO).

ESC Webinar Library - View past webinars
Check out ESC's other past webinars at the ESC webinar library.

Video Clips

Watch It! Watch this collection of ESC videos to hear performance contracting insights from industry professionals, government officials and end-users.

Take just a few minutes to check out these featured video clips. Two university facilities directors talk about their experiences with performance contracting:

Announcements

The Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo will be held Aug. 30 - Sept. 2, 2010 in Honolulu to demonstrate the world's future of clean energy generation and smart grid infrastructure in Hawaii. Several sessions focus on performance contracting to highlight Hawaii's successes.

May 2010

Mark Your Calendar: National ESPC View - a webinar
ESC is delighted to host a webinar bringing together representatives from three key organizations who will provide national insight on Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC). The panelists will share their perspectives on the next generation of ESPC, ARRA funding deployment to date, the difference between spending and leveraging funds and many other topics that will be discussed. Speakers include Dale Hahs, President of the Board of Directors, Energy Services Coalition (ESC); David Terry, Executive Director, National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO); and Donald Gilligan, President, National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO). Join us on Friday, June 4th, 1:00 EST.

New Videos
Watch It! Watch this collection of ESC videos to hear performance contracting insights from industry professionals, government officials and end-users.

Take just a few minutes to check out these featured video clips. Two municipal directors talk about their experiences with performance contracting:

North Carolina ESC Chapter: The North Carolina ESC Chapter just held a golf outing as a fund-raiser and had a good showing at the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Conference with a booth and a break-out session on performance contracting.

Colorado ESC Chapter: With plans to put on a workshop this fall, the Colorado ESC Chapter is hiring two student interns for the summer to help with workshop planning and to provide the student an inside public and private view of the performance contracting industry. The students also will work on a plan to introduce the industry to Colorado's universities, mainly engineering departments.

Retiring ESC Board Member: The ESC Board of Directors thanks Jim Arwood for his participation on the Board representing Arizona's energy office and for serving as Vice President - Public Sector. In his new role as Southwest Regional Coordinator for the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), Jim plans to continue working on ESC's Market Transformation Committee. We'll continue to value his participation.

January 2010

New Board President - Dale Hahs
ESC's Board of Directors elected Dale Hahs to return to the position of Board President as Ray Hinson stepped down. The Board thanks both for their leadership during these exciting times as the ESC continues to grow.

In Memory
ESC is saddened to share with you that our friend Larry Knox passed away on January 6th. We'll miss Larry in so many ways. He was an active ESC Board member representing the State of Alabama, he helped make ESC's Alabama chapter a huge success, and to many of us he was our friend.

Webinars a Hit in 2009 and More to Come
ESC hosted quarterly webinars in 2009: Bigger Bang for the Buck - Leveraging Funds, Optimizing Economic Stimulus Dollars through Energy Performance contracting, Green Performance Contracting, and Build America Bonds. If you missed one or want to share it with others, find the recorded version by following the link above.

Performance Contracting for Local Governments - Webcasts
ESC's Dale Hahs and NAESCO's Donald Gilligan co- presented a two-part webinar for DOE on performance contracting this month, part of the U.S. DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) outreach to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) audience. If you missed these, you can view the presentations (audio coming soon) for both sessions: Basics of Energy Savings Performance Contracting (presented 1/14/10) and Energy Savings Performance Contracting Program Implementation (presented 1/21/10). Find these as well as other informative past and future DOE/EERE EECBG webcasts.

November 2009

Catch the Recording - Green Performance Contracting

Webinars continue to be a hit! Over 100 participants logged on to the webinar on Green Performance Contracting - Using a Paid-from-Savings Project Approach to Earn a LEED Certification presented by Rob Van Der Like. Rob has more than thirty years of experience in the building industry - planning, design, construction, project management, operations & maintenance, and energy management and has worked with over a dozen school districts across the nation to help them achieve LEED certification for existing buildings. If you missed it, no problem - catch the recording.

Mark Your Calendars - ESC Presents Build America Bonds
ESC's next webinar will be held on Friday, December 4th, 1:00 ET. Karen Keeler, ESC Board member representing financing companies, and other professionals yet to be identified will discuss Build America Bonds provided through ARRA that offer 35% federal rebates for states and local governments.

Chapters In the News

ESC Alabama: The next chapter meeting will be held on November 23rd in Montgomery. The chapter just hosted its 4th Annual Alabama Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Conference.

ESC Mississippi: The chapter just hosted Performance Contracting 101: Energy Efficiencies via a Budget-Neutral Approach.

ESC North Carolina: The chapter was recognized by the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NC SEA) as the 2009 Business of the Year for Energy Efficiency. The November meeting's speaker was Josh Stein, Legislator of the Year, who sponsored legislation to expand the use of performance contracting in the state.

ESC Recognizes Dave Edmunds: Dave served on the ESC Board of Directors as a state representative from Tennessee and co-founded the Tennessee Chapter in 2001 which led to the very successful Tennessee Green Summit showcased above.

Congratulations to Board Member Jim Ploger! Mr. Jim Ploger was honored recently when the Governor presented him with a Life time Achievement Award at the 10th Annual Kansas Energy Efficiency Conference.

July 2009

Events

New on the ESC website

For Local Governments: Strategies, rationale, and implementation examples for local governments to use performance contracting

ESC Board Welcomes New Board Member
Joel Asrael, Commercial and Public Buildings Program Manager, Colorado Governor's Energy Office, is ESC's newest board member. See the feature article above about Joel's work in Colorado.

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