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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.
Peabody Terrace residents green their lighting with help from CEA and HEET
Swap ‘N Go
Many residents of Peabody Terrace did something unusual as they prepared to leave their apartment on the morning of March 6, 2010 – they unscrewed their incandescent light bulbs.
Sound like an odd thing to do? Not for participants in Peabody Terrace’s first Bulb Swap. An incandescent bulb was their ticket to a better planet and free prizes. Residents received one free compact fluorescent light (CFL) for every incandescent bulb they turned in. During the swap, residents also learned about other ways to reduce their home carbon emissions and could sign up for a two-month long competition to see who can reduce the most. Winners are eligible for several enticing prizes including Smart Strips, credit at Zip Car, gift certificates from the Clear Conscience Café, and gift cards donated by Shaw’s and Harvest Co-op Market.
Maximizing Partnerships
The concept of this event arose through discussions between HRES’ sustainability team and two local grassroots organizations: the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA). A planning team consisting of personnel from HRES and the two community groups coordinated the event in a little under a month’s time. HEET recruited volunteers for the swap, and both HEET and CEA obtained prizes from local businesses. HRES managed event promotion and purchased bulbs to supplement those donated by CEA.
Site-Specific Strategy
Peabody Terrace, an HRES property comprising 495 units, is unique because residents provide their own room lighting fixtures, and electricity data is available for individual units. This offered a rare opportunity to implement an occupant engagement project with quantifiable results. The planning team adapted the HEET model for neighborhood energy efficiency events to fit the unique parameters of an apartment complex. Posters, emails, and door tags were distributed to promote the event. On the big day, participants could go to any of four stations around the complex to exchange bulbs and learn energy tips. Volunteers at each station offered to demonstrate how to change computer power settings, how to use a Kill-a-Watt meter, and how to use a power strip as a central shut off for multiple devices. Competition results will be monitored for two months, with a mid-way progress report to residents by email.
Preliminary Results
By the end of the swap, 84 apartments had registered for the competition and over 200 efficient CFLs found new homes. “We were surprised at how many 100 Watt bulbs were turned in,” said Audrey Schulman, HEET President. “Going from a 100 Watt incandescent to a 13 Watt CFL makes the carbon reduction even better than we’d hoped.” The new light bulbs could avoid up to 5.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE) each year. Justin Stratman, Assistant Director of Property Operations at HRES, is also hopeful. “If the results are good, we could see doing this kind of event at some of our other properties,” he said. HRES already provides one CFL in a welcome bag for new residents each year, but a concerted effort to engage occupants through a swap paired with a competition might unlock even more greenhouse gas reductions.