The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC), North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) will host the 2015 Southeast Military Energy Roundtable (MER) at the Wilmington Convention Center on Oct. 28.
The roundtable event will serve as a forum to discuss programs within the Department of Defense, federal agencies and at military installations and federal facilities designed to enhance energy security, meet federally mandated targets and achieve agency goals for clean energy – including energy conservation and energy generated from renewable sources.
According to the NCMBC, this event is “one step in a process to create the best environment in the United States for bases and facilities to sustain their mission capabilities, while achieving their energy and sustainability goals, growing jobs, expanding the economy and securing the long-term presence of military bases and federal facilities throughout the southeast.”
“The Department of Defense (DoD) and the federal government have announced aggressive goals for clean energy, including securing 25 percent of energy requirements from renewable sources by 2025,” said NCMBC executive director Scott Dorney. “With our significant industry capacity for both renewable energy and energy conservation, businesses in our region have a great opportunity to leverage this federal demand to grow their businesses, expand the economy and grow jobs.”
Military bases from Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina, four Districts of the Corps of Engineers, the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service and other federal agencies will participate in the roundtable. The regional event will facilitate dialogue between representatives of the military, federal agencies, clean energy and supporting businesses, utilities, regulators and legislators regarding the clean energy, energy security and related readiness goals of facilities in the Southeast – and the business opportunities that these goals create.
A panel of distinguished Department of Defence leaders will kick off the roundtable, which will include four consecutive, facilitated MER sessions. Sessions will focus on: the goals, needs and interests of the military installations and federal facilities; the capacity of regional businesses to meet those needs; impediments to meeting military and agency requirements, and the evolving statutory, regulatory and business environment for clean energy; and strategies to promote military and agency success, while leveraging their requirements, business capacity and the evolving environment to expand economies and to grow clean energy jobs in the Southeast.
“The MER provides opportunities for the region’s clean energy industry to get started or to expand their footprint in the federal marketplace,” said NCSEA executive director Ivan Urlaub. “Clean energy jobs in North Carolina alone grew 12% from last year to 25,700, and revenue for the industry grew by 37 per cent to $6.6 billion. With our significant business capacity and the growing federal demand, clean energy businesses in our state and this region are positioned to be leaders in the federal marketplace.”
Special guests and kickoff panel speakers Include:
- Dr. Dorothy Robyn, former deputy under secretary of defense for installations and environment and former commissioner, Public Buildings Service, General Services Administration
- Major General Al Aycock, director of operations, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (OACSIM)
- Capt. (USN, Ret) John Kliem, deputy director, Department of the Navy Renewable Energy Program Office (REPO)
“The MER will demonstrate that the future is here today when it comes to clean energy and energy efficiency, particularly with DoD and federal clean energy goals,” said NCCETC executive director Steve Kalland, “This may be one of the best opportunities for clean energy companies in North Carolina and throughout the southeast that are interested in doing federal work to dialogue collectively and one-on-one with the installations from across the region to understand their requirements, goals and needs.”
For more information on the 2015 MER, see www.ncmbc.us/15MilitaryEnergyRoundtable.php.