On October 30, the Clean Energy Business Network and Utah Clean Energy joined forces to organize meetings with district offices of Senators Hatch (R-UT) and Lee (R-UT) in addition to Representatives Stewart (R-UT-2) and Love (R-UT-4).  A delegation of seven clean energy business leaders with footprints in Utah discussed their energy, tax, and appropriations policy priorities with district staff.

The group showcased a range of innovative technologies representing the future of Utah’s energy economy, from harnessing the state’s ample renewable resources, to powering businesses and homes more efficiently, to maximizing the efficiency of fossil energy projects. Josh Craft of Utah Clean Energy led the meetings in-person, and Lynn Abramson and Andy Barnes of the CEBN joined by phone from Washington.

Events like these are critical to building decisionmakers’ awareness of diverse clean energy solutions and policy barriers to their deployment.  The CEBN welcomes the opportunity to organize future meetings like these in partnership with our members running their own state and regional groups.

Thank you to our Utah meeting participants:

Utah Clean Energy (Salt Lake City, UT) – Josh Craft, Government and Corporate Relations Manager: Since 2001, Utah Clean Energy has lead the transition to a new clean energy economy in Utah and the West with vision and expertise. Through advocacy, policy, and public outreach, the organization tackles today’s serious energy challenges with a toolbox of innovative solutions and workable strategies in energy efficiency, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and planning for the transition to a clean energy economy. Utah Clean Energy also manages a Business Coalition composed of providers and end users leading the clean energy transformation, with 26 Sustainers Circle members and 27 Affiliate Members.

Enel Green Power (Andover, MA with operations in Millard County, UT) – Terry Page, Regulatory Affairs and Innovation: Enel Green Power North America, Inc. (EGP-NA), part of the Renewable Energies division of the Enel Group, is a leading owner and operator of renewable energy plants in North America with projects operating and under development in 23 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. EGP-NA operates over 100 plants with a managed capacity exceeding 2.8 GW powered by renewable hydropower, wind, geothermal, and solar energy. The company’s Cove Fort power plant in Utah is the first project in the world to successfully integrate hydropower technology at a binary geothermal plant. This innovative technology reduces operational and maintenance expenses and increases energy efficiency and availability with the potential to be replicated at other sites around the world.

Horizon Power Systems (American Fork, UT) – Jeff Dixon, Corporate Account Manager: Horizon Power Systems is Capstone Turbine’s exclusive distributor for Oil and Gas from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northwest Territories in Canada. Highly efficient and reliable Capstone microturbines produce low-emission power scalable from 30kW to 5MW. One of Horizon’s installations helped oil and gas producer Pioneer Natural Resources/EFS Midstream increase efficiency and ensure round-the-clock operation with uninterrupted power. The turbines have commercial and industrial applications that bring significant energy cost savings, decrease emissions, and increase onsite power reliability.

Lux Energy (Farmington, UT) – Ray Wilcox, Lux Energy Group: Lux Energy Group is an energy management services consulting firm working with a range of clean and efficient energy solutions, including renewable energy, natural gas, and combined heat and power. The company particularly serves clients in the building sector, working to develop customized solutions to help customers reduce their energy use and costs. One of Lux’s projects includes renovations of the central plant at The Gateway, an outdoor shopping mall in Salt Lake City.

Ormat Technologies (Reno, NV, working in Veyo, UT) – Paul Thomsen, Executive Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs: Ormat is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (REG), with the objective of becoming a leading global provider of renewable energy.  The Company has over five decades of experience in the development of state-of-the-art, environmentally sound power solutions.  Ormat’s current generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Honduras, Indonesia, and Kenya. Ormat also intends to expand its operations and provide energy management and energy storage solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence as well as through its Viridity Energy Solutions, Inc. subsidiary, a Philadelphia-based company with nearly a decade of expertise and leadership in demand response, energy management and storage. Ormat has over a decade of experience in Utah delivering state of the art geothermal and recovered energy generation power plants to Utah customers UAMPS, Enel Green Power, Rocky Mountain Power, and Cyrq Energy.

Pure Energy Group (Park City, UT) – Brandon Julian, CEO and Colton Julian, Director of Digital Marketing & Strategy: Pure Energy Group’s (PEG) turn-key, automated systems offer customers the ability to convert organic waste byproducts into on-site renewable energy while significantly reducing post-process waste residual handling and disposal. Originally developed at Utah State University, the company’s Induced Bed Reactor (IBR) is a high-rate anaerobic digestion technology with eight combined U.S. and global patents. This novel reactor can be utilized by a variety of commercial and industrial industries that produce organic waste streams as a byproduct of their daily operations. Pure Energy Group worked with Devil’s Canyon Brewery in California to convert brewery waste into biogas energy.

QuasarWave (Q Hydrogen Solutions Corporation) (Park City, UT) –  Whitaker B. Irvin, Jr., CEO: QuasarWave is the innovator of a cutting-edge technology to generate hydrogen fuel from water in a cost-effective, highly-efficient manner. The company has secured 13 global patents, with an additional 28 pending. QuasarWave is currently expanding and exploring a broad range of applications, including utility-scale power production.

Sound Geothermal (Sandy, UT) – Cary Smith, President: Sound Geothermal provides ground source heat pump solutions that improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs in heating, ventilation and air conditioning for homes and businesses. Some projects utilize solar panels to power the ground source heat pumps, such as this project in an urban fill development near downtown Salt Lake City. The company’s largest projects are city-scapes: multiple buildings connected together that share energy and utilize the ground to store energy long-term and short-term.