WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 14, 2018 – Today Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) announced that executives of nine market-leading companies have joined its board of directors to support the national business group’s efforts to accelerate the growth of secure, clean, affordable energy in the United States. The U.S. advanced energy market totals more than $200 billion in revenue, about equal to pharmaceutical manufacturing and approaching wholesale consumer electronics, and supports more than 3 million U.S. workers.

Concurrently, Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEE Institute), the educational and research affiliate of AEE, added two new board members. Joining the board and serving as chairman is Matt Rogers, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Nest Labs, a leader in connected home devices used to manage energy and security systems, and Partner at Incite Ventures, an investor in mission-based enterprises. Also joining the AEE Institute board is Tim Healy, former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at EnerNOC, a leader in demand response and energy management, strategic energy procurement, and utility bill management software and services.

"We are proud to welcome these outstanding business leaders to our boards, and appreciate the wealth of corporate leadership, technology expertise, and industry insight that is of great value in guiding our organization,” said Heather O'Neill, interim CEO of AEE. “They join highly committed and energized boards that are helping us work toward our vision of a prosperous world running on secure, clean, affordable energy.”

The new AEE directors are:

• Jim Connaughton, President and CEO, Nautilus Data Technologies, a global leader in ultra-efficient, water-cooled data center technology. Jim also served as chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality in the George W. Bush Administration.
  
• Mark Goodwin, President and CEO, Apex Clean Energy, one of the fastest-growing renewable energy companies in the country that has brought nearly 2 GW online in the past three years.
  
• Martin Hermann, CEO and Founder, 8minutenergy Renewables, the nation’s largest independent developer of solar PV and energy storage, with a project portfolio of over 7.5 GW of solar and 1 GW of storage.
  
• Mark Laabs, Managing Director, Modern Energy, an energy asset management firm that invests in businesses that bring distributed energy innovations to market.  
  
• Scott Neuman, Group Vice President, Global Operations, Oracle Utilities (NYSE: ORCL), a leading provider of cloud applications to utilities worldwide.
  
• Michelle Patron, Director of Sustainability Policy, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), which enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
  
• Jim Steffes, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Direct Energy, one of North America’s largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related services serving over 4 million customers.
  
• Scott Tew, Executive Director, Center for Energy, Efficiency & Sustainability, 
  Ingersoll Rand, a world leader in creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments.
  
• Christian Weeks, VP and GM, Global Demand Response, EnerNOC, a leading provider of demand response and energy management services for utility, commercial, institutional and industrial customers.

The new directors noted their excitement and reasons for committing to AEE board engagement:

“It’s a privilege to be appointed to the AEE Board, and to join my peers who are focused on driving the adoption of clean energy. 8minutenergy was formed with a vision to make clean energy abundant and affordable – and this is a common goal shared by AEE and their members who strive to transform our industry through public policy and technology innovation,” said Martin Hermann, CEO and Founder, 8minutenergy Renewables.

“Accelerating the shift to advanced energy through technology innovation and market-based solutions is fundamental to both Apex Clean Energy and AEE,” said Mark Goodwin, President and CEO, Apex Clean Energy. “I’m thrilled to join the board of AEE and look forward to working closely with my distinguished business colleagues to transition the U.S. to a cleaner, safer, more affordable energy economy.” 

“I am honored to be appointed to the Advanced Energy Economy’s Board of Directors,” said Jim Steffes, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Direct Energy. “We aim to help policymakers understand how the energy industry has been changed for the better, moving the industry away from a one-size fits all world, to a world increasingly filled with choice, control and innovation centered on meeting the consumers’ ever evolving needs.” 

“It is an honor to join other business leaders from across the clean energy economy on the AEE Board. I look forward to working with the AEE Board and Staff to continue transforming public policy to enable the rapid growth of advanced energy companies and a more secure, clean and affordable energy future for everyone,” said Christian Weeks, Vice President and General Manager, EnerNOC. 

“We are happy to move onto the board of the Advanced Energy Economy at a leadership level. At Ingersoll Rand, we have integrated sustainability and business strategy to help identify and address global issues, and engagement with the Advanced Energy Economy helps us with this focus,” said Scott Tew, Executive Director, Center for Energy, Efficiency & Sustainability, Ingersoll Rand.

“Microsoft is helping transform the electricity system as a large energy consumer, a renewable energy purchaser, and an innovator in advanced technology for a clean, resilient and reliable grid," said Michelle Patron, Director of Sustainability Policy at Microsoft. "I'm excited to join the board of AEE and look forward to working with other energy leaders to advance the adoption of clean energy, strengthen the reliability of the grid and speed the transition to a low-carbon future.”

“I’m very excited to be part of the leading organization that represents the economic opportunity from advanced energy. Opower was a dedicated member of AEE for many years, and when Oracle acquired Opower in May 2016, we remained committed to our membership, to helping expand the market and collaborating across the energy industry,” said Scott Neuman, Group Vice President, Global Operations, Oracle Utilities.

"Advanced Energy Economy stands at the forefront of many of the most important energy issues shaping society today. From employment to competitive markets to technological change, AEE is bringing together a diverse community of stakeholders, including Modern Energy and American Efficient, in pursuit of a common vision of secure, clean, affordable energy. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to support AEE as it drives critical conversations in legislatures and commissions across the country,” said Mark Laabs, Managing Director, Modern Energy. 

“I’m pleased to join AEE’s distinguished Board of Directors in the pursuit of advanced energy outcomes and policies,” said James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies. “Nautilus is committed to market-driven outcomes and market-based policy solutions that help deliver more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective technologies to the energy sector and energy consumers. I look forward to bringing a startup perspective to AEE’s evolving work program.” 

New members of the AEE Institute board had these comments:

“It’s an honor and a privilege to join such a distinguished group of thoughtful leaders and innovators on the AEE Board. Transitioning our energy system to be cleaner and more sustainable is not only a prudent business decision but a moral imperative, and one to which I’ve devoted my professional life through ventures like Nest and Incite,” said Matt Rogers, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Nest Labs, and Partner at Incite Ventures. “I look forward to the work this organization will accomplish.” Rogers serves as Chairman of the AEE Institute Board.

"It's rewarding to be engaged with AEE Institute and supporting efforts to drive initiatives with impact creating a more efficient, resilient and clean energy system that works for all, while effectively saving consumers billions of dollars in reduced costs," said Tim Healy, former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at EnerNOC. "I look forward to drawing on my industry experience to drive this progress."

About Advanced Energy Economy and Advanced Energy Economy Institute
Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) is a national association of businesses that are making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. AEE’s mission is to transform public policy to enable the rapid growth of advanced energy companies. AEE and its State and Regional Partner organizations are active in 27 states across the country, representing more than 1,000 companies and organizations in the advanced energy industry. The affiliated Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEE Institute) is a nonprofit educational and charitable organization whose mission is to raise awareness of the public benefits and opportunities of advanced energy.