ACORE Announces Formation of Utility Committee for Renewable Energy

The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) today announced the formation of its Utility Committee. The committee is open to all U.S. utilities, including investor-owned utilities, municipally-owned utilities and customer-owned cooperatives, as well as federally-managed utilities.

Washington, DC - The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) today announced the formation of its Utility Committee. The committee is open to all U.S. utilities, including investor-owned utilities, municipally-owned utilities and customer-owned cooperatives, as well as federally-managed utilities.


"The creation of a Utility Committee for renewable energy is timely," said Hank Courtright, Vice President of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). "Renewable energy, as an emerging set of generating technologies, presents a number of technical and economic issues that are common among most if not all load-serving entities," he added.

The Utility Committee's Co-chairs are Tom Key of EPRI and Jeff Anthony of We Energies. A Steering Committee has been established with members from Arizona Public Service, Austin Energy, Chelan County Public Utility District, EPRI, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Southern Company and We Energies.

"ACORE's Utility Committee is being chartered around three activities: information exchange, networking opportunities and education - these are the topics we believe are of great interest to member utilities, and which ACORE is uniquely positioned to deliver value to member utilities," said Committee co-chair Jeff Anthony. "The committee is there to help support individuals who are designed as the renewable energy managers in their respective organizations."

Participation in the Committee only requires membership in ACORE and registration of one or more individuals as committee
participants.

"Southern Company has a vested interest in the benefits that renewable energy offers to our customers and the environment," said Ervan Hancock, Renewable Generation Strategy Manager for Southern Company. "We're excited about the opportunity to be a part of ACORE's Utility Committee, as it will help us strengthen our knowledge and understanding of the role that renewable energy can play as we seek ways to diversify our fuel mix for future power generation."

The Utility Committee is being formed to address issues that are of interest to member utilities, including regulatory-based Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS); green pricing programs; best practices and success stories from utilities that have adopted renewable energy sources; analysis of case studies of renewable energy programs and projects at member organizations; and exchange of operational and technical data between utilities.

The first annual meeting for Utility Committee members and prospective members will take place on Monday, April 10, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The meeting is being co-located with the POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels Conference and Exhibition that runs from April 10-12, 2006. For more information and to register for the meeting visit: www.acore.org.

Prospective members may learn more by participating in a series of conference calls in coming weeks to explore some of the key issues. To register, visit the web site at: www.acore.org.

Information on the Utility Committee is available on ACORE's web site at www.acore.org. Interested utility managers also may contact committee Co-chairmen Jeff Anthony at: jeff.anthony@we-energies.com or Tom Key at: TKey@epri.com, or the staff at ACORE: Tom Weirich at: weirich@acore.org or Mike Eckhart at: meckhart@acore.org.

About American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE)

American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), a 501(c)(3) membership nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to bringing renewable energy into the mainstream of the US economy and lifestyle through convening, information and communications programs. ACORE provides a common platform for the wide range of interests in the renewable energy community including industries, associations, utilities, end users, professional service firms, financial institutions and government agencies. ACORE serves as a forum through which the parties work together on common interests. Membership information is available at: www.acore.org.

For more information about POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels 2006 (PGRE), please visit: www.power-gengreen.com or www.acore.org. Partnering associations of POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels 2006 included the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Biomass Coordinating Council (BCC), Clean Fuels Development Council (CFDC), Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), National Hydropower Association, National Hydrogen Association, and the Geothermal Energy Association. Supporting organizations included the United States Department of Commerce, Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), and the U.S. Energy Association (USEA).



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