Council Energy Committee Welcomes New Co-Chair from Apple

The Bay Area Council Energy Committee on Thursday (June 9) welcomed new Co-Chair Mike Petouhoff, Global Energy Team Leader at Apple. He joins Co-Chair Tony Earley, Chairman, CEO and President of PG&E. The Committee was given highlights from the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7), which the Council co-hosted with the U.S. Department of Energy and convened energy ministers from the world’s top 23 economies and the European Union to begin implementing the COP21 climate change accords. Among the many highlights of CEM7, some of world’s largest companies—including Council members Well Fargo, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft—pledged to shift to between 50 percent and 100 percent renewable power. Other private sector commitments included purchasing and distributing 8 billion energy-saving LED bulbs and the investment of $1.5 billion to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology. More outcomes from CEM7 here>>

The Committee also heard from Natural Resources Defense Council Director Roland Hwang on the status of PG&E’s electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure proposal that is awaiting approval from the California Public Utilities Commission. The program would deploy thousands of EV charging stations throughout the Bay Area.

Dane Bowsen and Jeff Anderson from Cyclotron Road, a new early-stage energy technology incubation program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, spoke about the critical need for investment in energy R&D. Cyclotron Road identifies the world’s top energy technology innovators and provides them with the tools, capital, and partners needed to commercialize their technologies. To engage in the Council’s Energy Committee, please contact Senior Vice President Michael Cunningham.