RETECH 2011 Keynote Presentations

Keynote Presentations: Tuesday, September 20th 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

The RETECH 2011 Keynote Address is poised to deliver unsurpassed insights into the future of the Renewable Energy Industry. The Honorable James L. Connaughton will join U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and other top-level renewables leaders in an opening Keynote session that will set the tone for the entire conference. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the leaders that you won’t see at other events.

Senator Murkowski, the ranking Republican of the important Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is a key leader on U.S. energy and renewable energy policy.

She has been a champion for U.S. energy independence and the development of the nation’s abundant domestic and diverse energy resources, including renewable and alternative energy. She will share important insights on the future of U.S. energy policy.

Senator Murkowski is the senior senator from Alaska. She is only the sixth senator from Alaska, and the first senator born in the state. A third generation Alaskan, Murkowski was born May 22, 1957, in Ketchikan and raised was in towns across the state: Wrangell, Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage.

Murkowski graduated from high school in Fairbanks. She holds a BA in economics from Georgetown University and a law degree from Willamette University College of Law. Murkowski was elected to three terms in the Alaska House of Representatives before joining the U.S. Senate in 2002.

Murkowski is only the 33rd female to serve in the U.S. Senate since its founding in 1789. In addition to being the ranking Republican of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, she is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

The Honorable James L. Connaughton, as Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Public and Environmental Policy, directs Constellation Energy’s environmental and energy policy matters, as well as public and government affairs. He leads a comprehensive public and environmental policy agenda as Constellation Energy leverages the strength of its low-emitting merchant fleet, its expanding renewable portfolio and energy efficiency services, and its position as a leader in advancing the critical renaissance of emission-free nuclear energy.

Prior to joining Constellation Energy in February 2009, Mr. Connaughton served as Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality from 2001-2009, and on President Bush’s senior staff as senior environment, energy and natural resources advisor. He was also Director of the White House Office of Environmental Policy.

During his service with the federal government, Mr. Connaughton worked closely with the president, his Cabinet and the Congress to develop and implement climate change, air pollution and energy security policies that led to a series of new mandatory programs, incentives, technology initiatives and public-private partnerships that included bipartisan energy legislation in 2005 and 2007.

Mr. Connaughton also played a leading role in other major initiatives that included new air quality standards, major reductions in air pollution from power plants and diesel vehicles, international environmental cooperation agreements, environmental management and performance of federal government operations, and the creation of some of the world’s largest and most ecologically diverse marine conservation areas.

Prior to his public service, Mr. Connaughton was a partner in the environmental practice group at the law firm Sidley Austin, where he played a leading role in the development and implementation of the ISO 14000 series of international environmental management and performance standards.

Mr. Connaughton will provide perspectives on current trends in renewable energy categories, and the enhanced role that competitive electricity markets play in accelerating the adoption of clean and renewable energy sources. He will also discuss emerging drivers for renewable energy sources from new market forces and innovations in finance, private and public procurement, and energy management information technology.

Gina F. Adams is Corporate Vice President for Government Affairs at FedEx Corporation. Ms. Adams is responsible for shaping and promoting the interests of all FedEx Corporation operating companies, including FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Services in the political and policy arenas. As a lawyer and the company’s top lobbyist, she works with Administration officials, members of Congress, the diplomatic community and industry associations on domestic and international commerce and transportation issues. Ms. Adams also oversees one of the five largest corporate PACs in the United States for her company, which serves more than 220 countries and territories with operations that include 684 aircraft and over 80,000 vehicles and relies on 285,000 team members worldwide to make more than 8 million shipments each business day.

Ms. Adams is extremely active in the Washington, D.C. area. She sits on a number of boards including American University, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Town Hall Education Arts & Recreational Campus (THEARC), National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society and the DC Public Education Fund. She is also Chair of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.

She has supported or underwritten countless projects and events that target education, health, our youth and the arts. For these efforts, Ms. Adams has been honored by many organizations and has been featured in local and national publications for her ongoing commitment to the community.

She joined FedEx in 1992 as Managing Attorney of the International Regulatory Affairs Office. She has held a number of positions since that time, including Staff Director and Staff Vice President for International Regulatory Affairs. She was promoted to her current position in 2001. Ms. Adams is a two time recipient of the FedEx Five Star Award which is the highest employee achievement award at FedEx. She began her career as a lawyer in the Attorney Honors Program at the U.S. Department of Transportation and spent nine years in the Office of the General Counsel.

She received a Master in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center, her law degree from Howard University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from American University.

Ms. Adams and her husband, Eugene, have a son and live in Washington, DC.

Johannes Remmel has served as Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Affairs of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia since July, 2010. Minister Remmel joined the Green Party as early as in 1983, and over the following years he served in numerous political and parliamentary functions at the local and state levels.

In 1995, Johannes Remmel was elected to the North Rhine-Westphalia Legislative Assembly, or Landtag, and has been a Member ever since. For 15 years he was the Green Party's floor leader in the Landtag. During that time he temporarily also officiated as the Party's treasury and environment spokesman.

From 1997 until 2000, he was chairman of the NRW Landtag's fact-finding commission on transport demand management, "The Future of Mobility".

RETECH 2011 Executive Roundtable Renewable Energy from the Utility Perspective

Executive Roundtable: Tuesday, September 20th 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Electric Power Generation has always been a mix of sources including both fossil and renewable fuels. This mix has changed based on both regulatory and pricing opportunities with dramatic changes and swings the past few years in both directions. Current events such as the change in congressional balance of power, the nuclear challenges in Japan, and the turmoil in the Middle East and its effect on global energy markets make the business of operating a power generation company challenging.

Today electric utilities face a complex landscape of both federal and state regulations, meeting the energy demands of their customers while worrying about fuel price volatility. They are constantly striving to meet energy demand while working with aging power plants and a shifting landscape for fuel costs, regulatory hurdles and public opinion. With competing priorities of facing state or federal mandates to meet emission regulations and answering to shareholders and customers creates a challenging vision of what is the best path forward.

Moderator:

Bryan Hannegan, Vice President, Environment and Renewables,
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)