February 6, 2004—In the first effort of its kind in the United States, seventeen public funds from twelve states have banded together to promote clean energy projects and companies. The funds have agreed to support a new non-profit organization—the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA—to help them work together.
CESAs members include the clean energy funds from the following twelve states: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. They all fund clean energy and expect to have about $3.5 billion collectively for these efforts over the next decade. “States see clean energy as a way to improve the environment but also as a powerful economic development tool,” according to Lewis Milford, Executive Director of CESA, this new organization. “By working together rather than going it alone, these states can build even bigger clean energy markets, spur technology innovation, create more jobs in 21st century clean energy industries, and more quickly clean up the environment. They can do all that and save money by leveraging each others funding.”
CESA will advance new, multi-state efforts to promote solar, wind, fuel cells and other clean energy projects and investments. The initiative shows how states have become the key “laboratories of experimentation” for economically and environmentally sound clean energy programs. Joint initiatives also can reduce the costs of individual state programs, while combining the power of many states for more effective strategies.
In the twelve states, seventeen different funding groups have agreed to work together through CESA, and fund the organization. They range from public agencies, to state governments, to nonprofits and other entities that manage public funding in clean energy. The organizations fund clean energy projects, promote markets for these technologies and some invest in renewable and clean energy companies.
For more information, contact CESA.
