Energy Efficiency, Energy Procurement, Sourcing Renewables  -  February 23, 2018

Innovation Summit to be powered through RECs

Power for the 2018 Smart Energy Decisions Innovation Summit will be offset by renewable energy certificates supplied by ENGIE North America. The three-day event, to be held Feb. 25-27 at Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas, brings together commercial and industrial executives in a unique and intimate setting to address a variety of energy management and sustainability challenges.  

The Green-e® certified RECs represent the environmental attributes or benefits associated with a specific quantity of energy generated from a renewable source, such as solar or wind.  Organizations that use RECs to offset their indirect greenhouse gas emissions help fund the operation and development of domestic sources of renewable energy.  

In a statement, Ken Cowan, Vice President of Solutions Sales and Marketing at ENGIE NA, said the company takes great pride in supporting the summit and working alongside Smart Energy Decisions to promote sustainable strategies. "Smart Energy Decisions is highly regarded as a go-to resource on a broad range of research and knowledge on energy management and renewable energy," he explained.  "Their coverage of these subjects – along with the insights they deliver at the annual summit – naturally complement the broad-based capabilities and expertise of ENGIE.  We're pleased to green the energy consumption of an organization that shares in our commitment to clean energy."

ENGIE manages a range of energy businesses including electricity generation and cogeneration, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) distribution and sales, retail energy sales, and services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize energy use and expense.

John Failla, Founder and Editorial Director of Smart Energy Decisions, said he couldn't be more pleased to have the backing of an industry leader like ENGIE. "The supply of renewable energy certificates is a direct reflection of where we believe energy management is headed – toward a more sustainable future for everyone," said Failla.  "It's an honor to have the support of ENGIE as we work to keep clean energy generation and consumption at the forefront of commercial and industrial energy strategies." 

The Summit will kick off with a keynote presentation from Mary Curtiss, global head of energy and sustainability at HP, about the reinventing of the company's energy management strategy amid an era of rapid change and technology advancements.

Additional keynote speakers at the Innovation Summit will include:

• Mike Storch, President and CEO, EnerNOC, an Enel Group Company
• Robin Haugen, general manager, plant & environmental engineering, Toyota Motor North America
• Bruce Fransden, senior manager, global utilities and sustainability for Equinix Inc.
• Cindy Quan, vice president, environment, social and governance for Goldman Sachs Group
• Brent Trenga, North American building technology director for Kingspan 
• JT Hufnagel, global energy operations manager for Corning Inc.

The Summit also includes four separate panel sessions that will draw on the experience of energy and sustainability managers on the topics of successfully incorporating advanced energy efficiency technologies; the evolution of the customer-utility relationship; navigating the renewable energy matrix, and strategies leveraging data analytics insights. Other topics on deck include the impact of blockchain on energy and sustainability management, and strategies for navigating policy and market uncertainties, the latter in a session with Yvonne McIntyre, vice president, federal legislative affairs at Calpine.