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How time flies!
Five years ago this week SmartPower first came into existence. Indeed, it was five years ago that the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund teamed up with five private foundations - The Pew Charitable Trusts, the John Merck Fund, the Surdna Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation - to create an organization dedicated to building a sustainable, robust and vibrant clean energy marketplace.
Connecticut was made our "home" and we set about the task of creating a clean energy market.
Now, this was five years ago, and at the time there were two companies in the state trying to sell their wares - Green Mountain Energy and the not-for-profit, Connecticut Clean Energy Co-op. Within weeks after my first day on the job, Green Mountain left the state and the co-op disbanded. Not a particularly impressive start, to say the least.
In those early days, we feared that this "SmartPower experiment", as we called it, had already failed. But that was simply not the case. Rather, the leaders of the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and our foundation partners continued to believe in us and see the merits in an organization that could ultimately create a vibrant marketplace.
And so, over the next five years, walking together as full partners, we created a strong marketplace in this state for clean, renewable energy. Together, with a host of organizations including Clean Water Fund, the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network, Environment Northeast, PACE, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Public Utility Control, Community Energy, Sterling Planet, Connecticut Light & Power, United Illuminating, and many, many others we worked together to make clean energy a reality in Connecticut.
And to be sure, it is.
Today, 51 communities have committed to purchasing 20% clean energy by the year 2010. These communities include the very largest of our cities - including the Capital city of Hartford, to the very smallest of our towns - Cornwall and Norfolk. Further, the state government itself committed to purchasing 20% by 2010 and they are already on their way to making good on that commitment with clean energy purchases by the Department of Environmental Protection, the Office of Consumer Counsel, and the Department of Public Utility Control.
Further, 24 of these communities have already qualified to become Clean Energy Communities under the Clean Energy Funds' Clean Energy Communities Program. That means, 24 communities that have committed to 20% by 2010 have also signed up 100 of their residents for the CTCleanEnergyOptions pfrogram. And as if that weren't enough, almost 14,000 Connecticut residents have signed up for clean energy through the CTCleanEnergyOptionssm program.
It's an amazing feat. The clean energy marketplace here in Connecticut is real. It's here. And boy, is it working!
SmartPower has also continued to grow and flourish. From our humble beginnings in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, we now boast offices in Hartford, Philadelphia, PA, Washington, DC and Phoenix, AZ. We have a committed, creative and passionate staff that are working to take the lessons we have learned in Connecticut to other states across the country, from New Hampshire to Alaska and indeed, in countries around the world.
I cannot stress enough that none of this would have been possible without the support, guidance, commitment and vision of the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and our foundation partners. Each one of these organizations have not only helped SmartPower become what it is today, but they have done what seemed impossible five years ago; they created a robust and working voluntary marketplace for clean, renewable energy.
And that's why, as always, we proclaim that clean energy is real. It's here. And it's working. Let's make more!
Brian F. Keane
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to learn how to sign up in your state. |
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SmartPower President Brian F. Keane (l) awards the Grand Prize to Dan Sheppard (r), a 19 year-old college student. |
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On June 18th, SmartPower proudly announced the winner of the "SmartPower & YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge." At an award ceremony held at the prestigious "One Club" in New York City, Dan Sheppard, a 19 year-old college student from the University of Nebraska, was named the winner for his advertisement "Telephones". The contest, which began in the fall of 2006, challenged the YouTube community to create a clean energy advertisement that was as good as, if not better than, those created by Madison Avenue. SmartPower offered a $10,000 Grand Prize as a substantial incentive in order to spur the creative efforts.
Over the course of the next few months, interest in the contest and the Grand Prize began to increase. When the contest deadline was finally announced, nearly 150 ads were submitted. Additionally, over 800 people had become members of the SmartPower community on YouTube and thousands more viewed the submissions. With the arrival of Earth Day in April, the contest closed and the judging began.
An expert panel of judges went to work critiquing the entries. The submissions ran the gamut from those created by high school students to those created by professional studios. Comedy, slick animation, dire warnings, great music and thought-provoking messages permeated the field of entries. Although the competition was fierce, SmartPower was able to select ten finalists, all of whom brought something unique to the table. Beginning on June 10th, the Countdown to Number One started. Each day a finalists' ad was selected, analyzed, and then removed, until there were only two entries left. On June 18th, SmartPower announced the winning entry at an award presentation at The One Club in New York City.
"Telephones" was submitted by Dan Sheppard, using elements of humor and surprise to craft an effective clean energy message. The story of Dan Sheppard became more interesting as we learned that he was an advertising major at the University of Nebraska. His natural talent and ability were evident through his creativity and understanding of the SmartPower message.
News of the overwhelming success of the SmartPower & YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge virally spread across the Internet and was reported in countless blogs such as AdPulp and Getting Attention. The results unquestionably proved that our idea was a winner on its own and that other organizations have taken notice of what we did to harness the creativity that truly exists everywhere.
Due to the success of the SmartPower & YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge, SmartPower will again soon tap into the marketing creativity of the Internet with future projects on clean energy and energy efficiency.
All of the Top Ten Finalists' videos as well as our analysis of the merits of each ad may be seen on our blog.
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Fifty and Counting
Though we aren't lacking for proof that clean energy is real, here, and working in Connecticut, new information is always welcome. The point was driven home again recently when Connecticut reached an important milestone this month when the town of Redding became the 50th town in the state to commit to purchase 20% clean energy by the year 2010. In fact, as The Clean Energy Current hits your mailbox, we are now at 51 with the announcement that the City of Danbury had made a commitment as well. Through the work of SmartPower and its partners at the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, nearly one-third of the eligible towns in Connecticut have now joined the 20% by 2010 campaign. More communities are expected to follow in the coming weeks.
Town leaders in Redding are justifiably proud of their commitment to a cleaner energy future. "It is important for the town to demonstrate leadership with initiatives that help to achieve energy independence and reduce global warming," said First Selectwoman Natalie Ketcham. "We hope that many of our residents will follow suit. Together we can make a difference."
Sharing Ideas and Energy
Even with the successes realized in Redding and Danbury, our collaborative marketing campaign with the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund remains in high gear. In the days just prior to the Redding and Danbury announcements, close to 100 clean energy heroes from 20% by 2010 towns across Connecticut gathered in West Hartford to explore ways to amplify the momentum of their individual communities' clean energy campaigns. As lightning storms brightened the sky outside, local task force members, students, and elected officials met fellow clean energy civic leaders to swap ideas, encouragement, and even advice on how cities and towns can start making their clean energy purchases or where to buy the cheapest compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) as enrollment incentives for the CTCleanEnergyOptionssm program.
"In nearly every town meeting room I visit, there is a desire to hear what has worked and what has not worked in neighboring communities," said Keri Enright, Connecticut State Director for SmartPower. "The goal of the workshop was to allow community leaders to share those experiences in person and encourage each other to keep pushing towards our common goal."
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| City of Hartford's Mark Turcotte addressing the workshop attendees. |
Town leaders also spoke about how their communities are planning to actually put their clean energy commitments into action. To great applause from the workshop crowd, the City of Hartford's procurement manager Mark Turcotte announced that Hartford had decided to purchase 20% clean energy immediately, three years ahead of schedule. They also plan to supplement their purchases with the development of on-site generation projects in coming years, truly making the city a national clean energy leader.
In addition to hearing from other local champions, attendees had question-and-answer sessions with representatives from the clean energy providers Sterling Planet and Community Energy. Keri Enright also presented SmartPower's Clean Energy Community Marketing Toolkit and encouraged community leaders to sign-up for the newly created Google Groups listserv.
As a fitting conclusion to the evening, Shubhada Kambli, an Environmental Scientist from the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Ecosystem Protection discussed the agency's Community Energy Challenge, a program that helps municipalities in New England become more energy efficient.
As the workshop ended, many community members lingered, chatting with new friends and sharing ideas now spinning through their heads. "We had been hitting a dead-end at our most recent meetings, but now we have ideas that we can present to the full taskforce at our next meeting" said Ron Klattenberg, a Councilman for the City of Middletown. "This workshop was an excellent opportunity for Middletown taskforce members to begin to think 'outside the box' on how to continue to creatively promote clean energy in our city,"
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Pennsylvanian's attitudes towards their energy sources are changing rapidly, as both voters and local governments demand clean energy solutions to global warming and our nation's dependence on foreign oil.
This shift in attitude was recently documented in a June poll of 750 Pennsylvania voters that showed overwhelming support for Governor Ed Rendell's (D-PA) Energy Independence Strategy (EIS), which is intended to aggressively increase Pennsylvania's clean energy use, believing it is "good public policy" to invest tax money in the development of renewable energy sources.
The support for the EIS reflected many of the public's growing concerns. This poll reported that 94% of voters are concerned about the rising costs of fuel oil, natural gas, gasoline and other traditional sources of energy. An additional 82% say they are concerned about global warming and its impact on the environment. Lastly, 96% think it is important for consumers and businesses to increase their use of clean energy sources like wind, solar, and low impact hydropower as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
"This overwhelming tidal wave of support makes it clear that Pennsylvanians want bold action on energy - and they want it right now," said John Hanger, president and CEO of PennFuture, a statewide public interest membership organization that advances policies to protect and improve the state's environment and economy. "Voters are fervently in favor of doing everything we can to bring more clean energy into the state. And - even though some are worried about taxes - they support, by a 2:1 margin, paying to make our state clean, green and energy independent." More information on the PennFuture EIS poll can be found at the PennFuture website.
This sentiment among voters also reflects the overwhelming enthusiasm among the municipalities committed to the Pennsylvania Clean Energy Communities Campaign. Currently, 22 local governments in southeastern Pennsylvania have committed to purchasing 20% clean energy by 2010 and are spearheading local campaigns to promote clean energy in their communities. Of these communities, the first 20 who made this commitment over the past year will receive a 1kW solar energy system as a symbol of their leadership.
What makes this story even more inspiring is that the two additional municipalities, including Abington, the largest community outside of Philadelphia, decided to commit to our campaign goals even without the solar incentive. This action of demonstrated leadership shows that local governments are compelled to take immediate and substantive action to promote clean energy because it is simply the right thing to do. In addition, nine communities have already begun purchasing 20% clean energy this year, going beyond the campaign's requirements and pressuring their neighboring communities to follow suit.
As the state responsible for 1% of the world's greenhouse gases, Pennsylvanian's must take a strong leadership role in trading in our heavy dependence on fossil fuels for a cleaner energy future. It is clear that both the citizens and government in Southeastern Pennsylvania are quickly aligning to do just that.
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SmartPower was recently honored to partner with Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) as the chief sponsor of CPTV's "The Warming of Connecticut". This one-hour documentary aired twice at the end of June, and was coupled with the live broadcast of a town meeting from CPTV in Hartford that immediately followed the June 26th show. SmartPower's sponsorship of this documentary is yet another example of the successes realized through our partnership with and the support from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.
The show emphasizes how global warming is predicted to impact us right here at home.
"Global warming is not just an issue that affects the melting polar ice caps," said SmartPower President Brian F. Keane. "Rather, it has very real and tangible effects here in our own state. This program explains how global climate change is affecting everyone in Connecticut."
Highlights of the show indicate that greenhouse gases emitted over the past 30 years are changing our climate even as we speak. According to the documentary, "the decisions we make today and over the next decade will determine the severity of warming. Studies show that Hartford typically experiences about 15 days over 90 degrees. Under the lower emission scenario we could expect the number to rise to about 42 days by the end of the century. Under the higher emissions scenario, Connecticut could have 78 days over 90 degrees."
The town meeting at CPTV featured a discussion of the documentary and the impact of global warming on the state. Panelists at the town meeting included: Mark A. Mitchell M.D., MPH - President, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice; Bryan Garcia, Program Director - Center for Business and the Environment, Yale University, SmartPower Board Member and former program director at the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund; Judi Friedman, Chair - People's Action for Clean Energy (PACE); and the Honorable Steve Fontana, State Representative (D - North Haven, Hamden) Co-chairman - Energy & Technology Committee.
"Perhaps most importantly," Keane concluded. "This documentary serves as a call to action. Already over 30% of the communities in Connecticut are purchasing 20% clean energy by 2010 in an effort to help mitigate the effects of climate change. This worldwide problem is OUR problem too. And each and every one of us can be a part of the solution. Let's each do our part to leave a cleaner and healthier Connecticut to our children."
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This is the Declaration of Energy Independence document that SmartPower is asking all of the Presidential hopefuls to sign. |
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During the New Hampshire Presidential Primary season, we will be asking every presidential candidate campaigning in New Hampshire to sign this document to proclaim his or her support for America's Energy Independence. The purpose of this Declaration is to see which candidates for President have the courage to publicly declare their support for clean energy and energy independence. This Declaration has three salient points:
- The signer agrees that their campaign offices in New Hampshire will be powered by clean energy;
- The signer agrees that the White House will be powered by 100% clean energy;
- The signer agrees that the Federal government will purchase 20% of electricity demand for public buildings from clean sources by the end of their first term.
In future issues of this newsletter you will be able to read about the responses Smartpower obtains from the individuals who want to lead our nation when they are asked to sign our Declaration of Energy Independence.
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"What the Presidential Candidates are Saying about Clean Energy in NH."
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Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY):
"Let's get serious about energy independence. We need to put resources into ethanol production. We need to license more nuclear plants. Nuclear power is dangerous but so is every other form of power. We need to look into cleaning coal. Wind and solar energy today are just too inconsistent."
- Bedford, NH - June 12, 2007
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Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA):
"I support drilling offshore and in ANWR to reduce our dependence on hostile foreign sources. We need to increase our dependence on American oil. I would also support construction of more American oil refineries."
- Manchester, NH - June 5, 2007
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Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA):
"America is too dependent on foreign oil. We can use alternative sources of power. I support increasing our use of biodeisel, nuclear power and ethanol. We should also drill for more domestic oil in the Continental Shelf and in Alaska. Combine that with improving our energy efficiency and we will no longer be dependent on countries that are potentially hostile to us."
- Manchester, NH - May 28, 2007
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