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Detail
of "Capitol and Sky"
by Steve Memering
Courtesy
K Street Gallery. |
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Sacramento's Clean Energy Corridor
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, world energy consumption will
increase 71 percent during the first three decades of this century. This
projection, combined with mounting concerns regarding global warming, has
elevated the search for cost-effective, clean, renewable energy sources
from scientific challenge to race for survival.
With the support of a unique public-private partnership, the six-county
Sacramento region is evolving into a clean energy corridor, and along the
way a business climate is developing that benefits both green technology
innovators and the environment.
The
Partnership for Prosperity was established in 2005 by the
Sacramento
Metro Chamber of Commerce, the
Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization, and
Valley Vision. The idea, according to Kristine Mazzei, senior project
manager at Valley Vision and Partnership coordinator, was to bring
regional organizations in the Sacramento area into alignment around
economic issues facing the region and to get them working collaboratively
on a collective vision.
About 30 organizations answered the call, from chambers of commerce to
unions, universities and community college districts, government agencies,
power companies – even arts organizations. "The intention," she says, "was
to look at the future and work out the best ways to align our economic
development priorities." It took nine months of planning and meetings to
work out how to move forward. "We all rolled up our sleeves," recalled
Mazzei, "CEOs, powerful community leaders, people who represented
university research centers, utilities, government agencies." One
discovery was the fact that an increasing number of clean energy companies
were locating in the region.
The Partnership developed a
Clean Technology Resolution, expressing a commitment to support
business development in this sector and, more broadly, to combat
greenhouse gas emissions. Mike McKeever is a member of the Partnership's
Clean Energy Action Team. He's also executive director of SACOG, the
Sacramento Area Council of Governments, which has adopted the
Partnership's resolution. SACOG covers six counties in the Sacramento
region; every city council and board of supervisors has a member on its
board.
SACOG provides local governments with planning and technical assistance
and money to encourage them to pursue smart growth in
their
communities. It is also charged with regional transportation planning by
the federal government. "We walk our talk in the way our board decides to
prioritize the spending of about $38 billion of transportation funds from
federal, state and local sources," says McKeever. "Now (with this
resolution) we're looking at investments that will actually cut down on
people's driving to effect real reductions in greenhouse gases."
The Clean Energy resolution has had a rebound effect at SACOG; when
McKeever presented the document to the board, acknowledging the Governor's
commitment to global warming, it made it a deep impression. SACOG is now
conducting its own internal audit, assessing what its members can do to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"There's a very nice synergy going on. We have a remarkable degree of
cohesion around a common purpose. I think it's similar to the bipartisan
approach the Governor is taking. We have plenty of Democrats and
Republicans in the region, and they've been working together, not
grudgingly, but having a good time."
The University of California at Davis is another important resource for
green tech companies in the Sacramento region. In addition to a
world-class
engineering school
with
programs that can help supply the workforce needed by technology
companies, the University is home to a center created to help companies
cross the "valley of death" between engineering breakthrough and market
success.
The UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, the first university-based
organization of its kind, acts as an umbrella organization to a group of
related centers at the University; the
Institute for Transportation Studies, the Western Cooling Center and
the
California Lighting Technology Center.
Andrew Hargadon, PhD, a professor in the University's business school,
directs the Energy Efficiency Center. "The eagerness with which investors
are lining up to support energy companies is remarkable," he said. "And
there is no shortage of technological innovation. Our center was created
to help new technologies make it all the way from the laboratory to
implementation. That's a service that just doesn't exist in many
communities."
Bob Burris, deputy director of the
Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO), is a member
of the Partnership's Clean Energy Action Team. "California is leading the
way in clean energy, and we think we have competitive advantages over
other metropolitan areas in the state," he says
CleanStart,
a joint project of the
McClellan Technology Incubator (MTI) and the
Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance
(SARTA), supports the development of clean energy technology ventures in
the Sacramento region. According to CleanStart, more than 55 clean energy
companies and start-ups are active in the region. These include
Blue Point Energy,
Pacific Ethanol,
Clean Energy Systems and fuel cell manufacturers
Altergy and
Jadoo.
It is not only California companies – or American ones for that matter –
that are being drawn by the prospect of being near the capital of a state
that combines one of the world's largest economies and America's most
progressive environmental policies. In January,
Ecostream, a major European manufacturer of sustainable energy supply
systems, chose West Sacramento for its U.S. headquarters.
"There's been tremendous activity from European companies coming here,"
said Burris. "Germans lead the way in solar energy, and
Schott Applied Technology has recently relocated here." The European
solar company
Altrex
has
also opened offices in the area. The support of Partnership members, and
the policy currently emerging at the state level can only be expected to
increase this momentum.
"Many companies are waiting for California
(government) to take the next step with legislation, incentives,
combinations of those two things," says Burris. "We're really just getting
started."
For more on the Partnership for Prosperity:
www.valleyvision.org/partnership/index.html
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