The Fall Meeting of the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council packed the room on October 16, with a large audience representing a wide variety of perspectives, including business of all sizes, nonprofits, national associations, colleges and school districts, and local governments and state agencies.  The biannual gathering was held at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, arranged to coincide with Governor McAuliffe’s signing ceremony for Executive Order 31, which is aimed at reducing energy consumption in state government.

It was a full, timely agenda, and we have uploaded several of the speakers’ presentations to our website (you can find them on our Resources page).  A few highlights:

• The featured topic was the newly-released Virginia Energy Plan; VAEEC Chair Cynthia Adams detailed the many positive sections related to energy efficiency (Her presentation is available online., and Al Christopher, Director of the Division of Energy at the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, provided valuable insight into the process.

• Jeff Soplop of EnergySavvy presented his company’s view of the important topic of Evaluation, Measurement and Verification (EM&V), focusing on the real-time quantification of energy efficiency. (His presentation is available online.)

• Ralph Joyce of Dominion Virginia Power (and VAEEC Governance Board Member) led our regular round-robin update of utilities’ energy efficiency programs.

• A number of reports were provided addressing VAEEC priorities and programs, including: VAEEC Governance Board Member Bill Greenleaf reported on efforts to introduce legislation on Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing (His presentation is available online.); Angela Navarro of the Southern Environmental Law Center described a new initiative reviewing cost-effectiveness testing for energy efficiency in Virginia; and attendees were given the opportunity to provide input as part of the Clean Energy Roadmap project that the VAEEC is working on for the U.S. Department of Energy.

There was one piece of council business as the membership elected a slate of three new Governance Board members to fill open seats.  The VAEEC is pleased to welcome the leadership of: Harry Godfrey of Opower; John Morrill, energy manager for Arlington County; and Saifur Rahman, director of the Advanced Research Institute at Virginia Tech. You can read more about these new Board members here. 

We also send along our thanks to the three departing Board members who have been instrumental in establishing the VAEEC: Jim Kapsis of Opower; Kevin Martin of North Carolina State University; and Steve Walz of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

We greatly appreciate the many individuals who attended the Fall Meeting, including those who traveled to Richmond from across the state.  A special thank you to Trane for sponsoring the Fall Meeting, which once again served as an exceptional venue for sharing information and insights, and making new connections.

— Ken Rosenfeld, Executive Director