Road map to a cleantech future
CCIA action plan will set the pace for clean energy commerce in Colorado
By Nora Caley
Colorado's New Energy Economy needs a plan, and the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association is stepping in to help. The CCIA, together with Navigant Consulting and a 25-person steering committee, is developing the Cleantech Roadmap for the state of Colorado.
Christine Shapard, executive director of CCIA, says the road map will be an action plan, not just a report. "A report sits on a shelf," she says. "This will be a living document. It will have specific actions for the state legislature, partnerships that need to be formed, grants that need to be pursued, and timelines and responsible parties."
The responsible parties will likely include the 300 or more clean-energy related companies in Colorado, research entities such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and other parties such as students, investors, attorneys, legislators and others.
"In Colorado we are ranked two or three in the country for having a strong cleantech industry," Shapard says. "If you look at the amount of money raised from venture capital, we are two or three. If you look at the number of employees, we are one or two."
The CCIA was formed in 2008 to promote Colorado's renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. To develop this road map, this year the organization received a total of $200,000 in funding from the Colorado Economic Development Commission, the Colorado Governor's Energy Office, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, and most recently, $80,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration.
After confirming the final funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the CCIA sent out a request for proposal to consulting firms, and chose Navigant Consulting Inc. Navigant's corporate headquarters are in Chicago, and the firm has offices worldwide.
Lisa Frantzis, managing director for Navigant's energy practice, says the firm has prepared cleantech action plans for other states. "We have a wealth of in-house information because of the work we've done with other states, and we have an excellent database and foundation of knowledge of cleantech," she says.
Navigant recently finished a project for the state of Connecticut for the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, looking at jobs creation and revenue creation. For the Iowa Office of Energy Independence, Navigant examined policy options so the state could position itself competitively. The firm recently started working on a project for the state of Massachusetts, looking at job creation. All these projects focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Frantzis, who is based in Navigant's Burlington, Mass., office, says the Colorado action plan has wider, loftier goals. "I think they have cast the net the broadest in terms of cleantech," she says. "I see that as a positive thing. There is much in Colorado that can be leveraged. There is significant opportunity."
According to the CCIA website, the action plan or road map may include changes to the state's legislative/regulatory framework, work-force development programs, and strategies to attract investment and leverage research strengths.
"Part of the goal of the state plan is to create strategies to build investment capital in the state," Shapard says. "That goal will be cross cutting and not specific to each sector."
Readers Respond
Leave a comment
Commenting is not available in this section entry.