On March 7th and 8th 2011, grantees from across the Northwest and North-Central Regions gathered in Portland, OR to participate in one of seven DOE sponsored EECBG and SEP networking and peer-exchange events happening across the country. Over 90 people came to take advantage of this unique networking opportunity, some from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and the North Mariana Islands!  In total,  70 grantee city, county and state governments from AK, CNMI, HI, ID, MT, NE, OR, WA and WY, attended. EECBG & SEP Project Partners, DOE Project Officer and HQ representatives also attended, along with moderators from the Technical Assistance Program (TAP).
 
The meeting kicked off with a networking and informal poster-board presentation session. Grantee representatives from Omaha, NE, Missoula, MT, and North Arctic Borough, AK showcased their EECBG projects, and were later joined by Grand Island, NE. During this session, attendees seized the opportunity to greet old colleagues and introduce themselves to fellow energy practitioners, DOE staff and technical experts. In addition to networking and exhibit viewing sessions, the event featured four different panel discussions that brought together grantee and technical experts to delve deep into some of the key issues facing grant recipients.   The four panels were as follows:                                   

  • NW Initiatives for Financing Energy Projects:  ARRA & Post-ARRA
  • Strategic Alliances: Community Energy Planning and Partnering with Utilities
  • “Lead by Example” in Public Building Best Practices: ESPCs, Benchmarking with Portfolio Manager and Energy Managers
  • Off Budget Programs:  Rate-payer funded activities, fee for service, public benefits charge, public private partnerships and carbon-offsets

If you’d like to see presentations from the panels, check the list of resources below.

Here’s what some of the attendees had to say about the event:

  • I was impressed with the quality of the sessions and the participation. 
  • Great job.  An excellent group of people.  Thought provoking, inspiring, and a good use of time.
  • Great program.  I am newly appointed to my current position and the conference was a great learning tool.
    Great workshop--well run with good speakers.
  • Well done program.  The format was conducive to acquiring and exchanging information.

And, here is a list of some of the “key-lessons” attendees indicated they took away from the meeting, along with some issues they plan on following up on:

  • Increasing behavior change management related to energy efficiency. 
  • Collaborating with other partners.
  • Implementing the resource conservation manager (RCM) program.
  • Incorporating energy cost avoidance savings into future project funding.
  • Considering a loan loss reserve program, financing mechanisms, and Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC).
  • Using EPA Portfolio Manager to benchmark and showing building energy scores in buildings.
  • Focusing on existing buildings before renewable energy, save first on energy usage.
  • Employing additional marketing and outreach strategies.
  • Developing a more pointed energy and sustainability plan.

And, finally, here is a list of meeting resources you can find on the DOE Solution Center:

The Northwest Peer Exchange event helped to re-energize local and state staff, create connections among government energy practitioners, and highlighted resources that will be useful throughout the rest of the Recovery Act timeframe and beyond.  Our gratitude goes out to the folks with Northwest Natural Gas, who generously hosted our grantees in a great space in their headquarters. 

Do you have any suggestions for future peer-exchange meetings?  Please post your suggestions below, along with any comments you may have about the MW Regional Meeting.

Content for this blog post courtesy of Zach Abrams & Katy Newhouse, Regional Coordinators, ICF International.