In the face of ever-increasing utility costs, and amid growing concerns about climate
change, energy independence, and economic security, the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) today announced it has formed partnerships with four well-established lending institutions, to provide specialized loans and innovative financial solutions for energy efficiency improvements to Cambridge residents and businesses. The lenders were selected following an in-depth evaluation of numerous responses to proposals.
“We are delighted that these lenders have partnered with us,” stated Josh Hassol, Chief Executive Officer of the Cambridge Energy Alliance. “These partnerships will allow Cambridge residents and business owners to make sound, cost-effective investments in critical energy efficiency improvements that work for their individual budgets. Residents and businesses will save money on their utility bills while they reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the City.”
The banks and lending institutions that have partnered with CEA include East Cambridge Savings Bank, Citizens Bank, Key Equipment Finance, and Bostonia Partners, and cover all potential customer segments of the Cambridge Energy Alliance across the City, from individual homeowners to large institutions and businesses.
All lending institutions are ready to begin working with customers of Cambridge Energy Alliance immediately in order to maximize participation.
Four established financial institutions have partnered with CEA to provide financing solutions for energy efficiency improvements by Cambridge residents and businesses.
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CEA Announces New Management Team
The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) today announced a powerful new management team that positions the organization for future growth and fulfillment of its ambitious energy efficiency and clean energy goals. The CEA is one of the nation’s leading city initiatives to dramatically increase energy efficiency implementation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, having begun implementation operations in 2008.
CEA Board Chairman Paul Allison stated that he was delighted to announce that Rob Pratt, a nationally known energy efficiency and renewable energy leader, has agreed to serve as President; Paul Gromer, a highly respected energy expert and former government leader, has become Vice President; Deborah Donovan, an influential energy advocate and expert, has assumed the interim Executive Director’s position; and Josh Hassol, the current CEO, will join the organization’s board of directors.
“The Cambridge Energy Alliance is very fortunate to have the talent, experience and leadership that Rob Pratt, Paul Gromer, Deborah Donovan, and Josh Hassol bring to our city,” Allison said. “Their dedication to make Cambridge an energy efficiency model for the nation, and to assist the city in formulating and implementing energy and climate strategies that reduce costs as well as carbon emissions, is worthy of a city that has been home to great ideas that have changed the world.”
“I am excited about helping Cambridge and the CEA craft new programs and implementation strategies that will significantly accelerate energy efficiency and reduce the City’s carbon footprint,” Pratt declared. “We must work with City officials, large and small businesses, colleges and universities, homeowners and apartment dwellers, non-profit organizations and churches, to map out a new way to save energy and lower climate emissions. Climate change is the environmental issue of the century, and I can’t imagine a better city than Cambridge to demonstrate to the nation -- through bold programs and actions -- what is possible.”
Pratt, Gromer, and Donovan have worked together for many years on Massachusetts energy issues. They were part of the team that originally founded CEA in 2007, collaborating closely with an influential team including Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy; energy efficiency pioneers David Dayton and Steve Morgan; city officials Susanne Rasmussen, John Bolduc, and Rosalie Anders; and environmental and governmental leader Doug Foy. Funding for the initiative has come from the Kendall Foundation, the Barr Foundation, the Chorus Foundation, the Boston Foundation, and the Merck Family Fund, as well as from prominent Boston area individuals who believe in the importance of formulating new models to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The CEA Board and its new management team have initiated a search for an Executive Director who can lead a national “laboratory” for energy-efficiency initiatives. As a municipally-sponsored nonprofit corporation, CEA has attracted wide interest in experimenting with solutions to some of the most vexing barriers to the vast untapped potential of efficiency improvements in all types of facilities. This public-private model, under its new leadership, has already devised new forms of leases, offers, and financing techniques that are now ready for test among all market sectors.
Background on the Cambridge Energy Alliance Management Team
Rob Pratt, President. Rob brings to CEA 30 years of renewable energy and energy efficiency experience in the private sector, government, and various non-profit organizations. Currently CEO of EnergyClimate Solutions, he was formerly Senior VP of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation that helped to initiate the Cambridge Energy Alliance. He also served as Director of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, a $250 million state fund to promote the development of renewable energy as well as clean energy economic development in MA. In the 1990s, he was CEO of Energia Global (now Enel Latin America), a company that became one of the largest renewable energy development companies in Central America. Rob is a national and regional leader in clean energy and currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the American Council on Renewable Energy; Chairman, founder (1984) and board member of the International Institute for Energy Conservation; Treasurer and board member of the Alliance to Save Energy; and Executive Committee and board member of the New England Clean Energy Council.
Paul Gromer, Vice President. Paul has many years of energy experience in the state, serving as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Energy Resources and the Chairman of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Council, with a wealth of knowledge and experience in developing and implementing the state’s energy policies as well as in power plant siting and utility planning. Currently the President of the Peregrine Energy Group, Paul has continued to help shape energy policy as a co-founder and leader of two energy trade associations, the Northeast Energy Efficiency Council and the Solar Energy Business Association of New England. He is an attorney and has represented energy companies before public utility commissions in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New York. Mr. Gromer is a member of the MA Energy Efficiency Advisory Council, the CT Solar Advisory Council, and the board of directors of the New England Clean Energy Council, and is co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Energy and Telecommunications Law Committee.
Deborah Donovan, Interim Executive Director. Deborah has been a senior member of the team developing and implementing the CEA program from the organization’s inception. She leads the organization’s efforts to craft many aspects of the program’s innovative design and create CEA’s business delivery capabilities. Deborah has been focused on expanding CEA’s opportunities in the city’s business sector, as well as the program’s participation in market-based regulatory programs. She brings to CEA over 25 years of experience in both public and private organizations, focusing on energy and environmental policy design and implementation. Throughout her career, Deborah has applied her expertise as an economist and policy analyst to the areas of climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, air quality, and electric power markets. Prior to joining CEA, Deborah worked for several Cambridge-based organizations. She managed the Northeast Energy Policy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists for six years. Deborah also worked as a Senior Project Manager in the environmental consulting practice of Abt Associates. Her previous experience includes senior positions with a major electric utility and various environmental and economic consulting organizations.
City of Cambridge Partners with State, Businesses, Community Organizations and Residents, to Create Energy Initiative
City of Cambridge officials, with the ringing endorsement of state and business leaders including Governor Deval Patrick, today launched the Cambridge Energy Alliance. This new non-profit organization will design, market, finance, manage, and
document unprecedented efficiency improvements in the use of energy, water, and transportation. Overall, the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiatives will lead to a substantial reduction in the carbon emissions of the City of Cambridge.
Specifically, the Cambridge Energy Alliance aims to: reduce electricity demand by 50MW, a 15% peak load reduction; reduce annual electricity and water consumption by 10% city-wide; achieve a participation rate of 50% in each sector (e.g. municipal, commercial, residential); and reduce annual GHG emissions from the city by 150,000 tons (10%) by 2011.
Also, Governor Patrick announced the creation of MassEfficiency, a $2 million revolving loan fund that will finance start-up costs for replicating this energy initiative in five more Massachusetts cities. The City of Boston will be the first to take the lessons learned from the Cambridge Energy Alliance and apply them on a larger scale.
“The Cambridge Energy Alliance is pioneering a new model for energy efficiency that should be replicated by communities across the Commonwealth,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “MassEfficiency will help make that happen.”
The Cambridge Energy Alliance will carry out a $100+ million massive energy efficiency implementation effort, while also installing, where feasible, new renewable and clean energy generation, and technologies that curb electricity use during peak demand periods. NSTAR is a key partner in achieving the project’s goals. If the entire state followed Cambridge's lead over the next half decade, the commonwealth would save the equivalent of two coal-fired power plants in electric
demand reduction. The tagline of the program, which will also target ransportation, water use and heating efficiencies, is Saving Money and the Planet.
Start-up support for this project has been provided by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, the Barr Foundation and The Chorus Foundation. “All the foundations involved are very excited about the project’s potential impacts and are
committed to the project’s success,” said Rob Pratt, Senior Vice-President of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. “As a foundation focused on climate change solutions, we view cities as the most promising areas for near-term success in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In city environments, buildings represent 65-80% of the emissions, so a targeted energy efficiency approach is a clear win-win – reduced emissions and lower energy bills.”
A critical project component is the collaboration of stakeholders including Cambridge Health Alliance and city officials, NSTAR, members of the corporate community, university and civic leaders, energy suppliers, and regulators. New efficiency opportunities are being identified and planned for implementation.
“The Cambridge Energy Alliance will make the community a better place economically and environmentally,” said Robert W. Healy, Cambridge City Manager. “This very innovative approach that brings together unique financing, the latest in energy and building technology, and a broad outreach program will allow us to reach a much larger number of households and businesses than past efforts. With this approach the city will be able to make big strides toward its goal to reduce global warming pollution and at the same time make our households, businesses, and institutions more resilient against rising energy prices. I'm very pleased that the Kendall Foundation has chosen the City of Cambridge to be its partner in pioneering this new approach that we can share with other communities throughout the region and beyond.”
Cities naturally aggregate both needs and services and therefore can support the design of a unique, but replicable financial mechanism – a Revolving Fund for Energy Efficiency – as proposed by the Cambridge Energy Alliance. By sponsoring and then aggregating reductions of both energy consumption and peak demand within its borders, Cambridge Energy Alliance, in conjunction with its many collaborative stakeholders can participate in all markets that value such
reductions. Once the Revolving Fund is in place, the project is expected to become fully selfsustaining.
“We are very excited to be part of a team that is creating an energy model for the future," said Thomas J. May, NSTAR Chairman, President and CEO. "The Cambridge Energy Alliance has designed an approach to energy efficiency that is focused on customer-based solutions that involve the whole community. This forward-thinking initiative will complement and enhance our existing efforts to help our customers save money and energy today, resulting in a cleaner, healthier environment for tomorrow.”
The project incorporates innovative financing techniques which could be used to develop similar energy efficiency projects in other Massachusetts communities as well as those across New England. Approximately 80% of the financing will come from private sources, without obligation to Cambridge or the state, resulting in an approach which should be highly attractive to cash strapped cities and towns. The remaining 20% will generally come from a number of electrical utility incentive programs that were established in part to promote energy efficiency.
As a result, energy savings and clean energy installations will in most cases be paid for by the project financing and be repaid from future energy savings of the companies, Cambridge city facilities, universities, hospitals, small businesses and residents. No upfront costs will be required for such installations, and there will be no cost to Cambridge or state taxpayers.