As a selected committee member, 5 Lakes Energy partner Stanley “Skip” Pruss participated in the inaugural Efficiency and Renewables Advisory Committee (ERAC) at U.S. Department of Energy Headquarters. This introductory meeting covered a broad summary of EERE priorities, strategies, and long-range plans. The focus of the meeting will be on two existing EERE initiatives: (1) the…
Five Lakes Energy partner Liesl Eichler Clark — a wind energy consultant who had been a key official in the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth — said that if legislation needs to be reintroduced in January, it will take a lot of “education” of the new legislators and administration staff. But she said…
In the aftermath of elections sweeping in Republican majorities in the House and state legislatures, hope for movement on clean energy or climate legislation has to be placed on the shelf, probably for a good while. Not surprisingly, clean energy advocates have pivoted quickly and are identifying alternative pathways to progress. Anticipating the new political…
The 5 Lakes Energy blog is our forum that explores the opportunities and challenges Michigan and the Great Lakes Region face in our inevitable transition to the clean energy economy. We will discuss: Accelerating the adoption of clean energy generation technologies. Understanding the economic diversification, investment and job creation potential latent in the clean energy…
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the establishment of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (ERAC). ERAC is a federal advisory committee whose members will report directly to the Secretary of Energy with advice on the portfolio of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The 19 members selected have…
Written by Kerry Duggan, DoE I had a very interesting Friday morning: I crawled to the top of a wind turbine with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. The turbine-crawl happened just after Bob Yackel, the CEO of Merrill Technologies, unveiled the first large-scale wind turbine manufactured in Michigan. At the unveiling ceremony, I heard the incredible…
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