This just in from the mayor's press office:
Monday, November 29, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SECRETARY CHU APPOINTS MAYOR MICHAEL A. NUTTER TO DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Mayor Nutter to serve on the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee
Philadelphia, November 29, 2010 – Mayor Michael A. Nutter has been appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (ERAC) by U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu. The Committee's role is to advise the Secretary of Energy on issues related to energy efficiency and renewable energy, and to provide recommendations on long-term planning, priorities, strategy and funding.
"We have a plan to make Philadelphia America's number one green city and I am proud that we are becoming a leader in the creation of a new green economy," said Mayor Nutter. "By encouraging clean tech businesses to locate in Philadelphia and supporting the creation of new green technologies we are creating jobs and helping small businesses today, saving homeowners money today, but also investing in the future and keeping America competitive for the next 100 years."
The City of Philadelphia is fast becoming one of America's leading clean tech cities. Earlier this year the federal government, including the Department of Energy, awarded a $129 million grant to the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy Efficient Buildings (GPIC) for the establishment of a national Energy Innovation Hub at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for the creation and commercialization of energy efficiency technologies. In October 2010, Mayor Nutter announced that The Mark Group, a home energy efficiency firm based in the United Kingdom, will establish its U.S. Headquarters at the Philadelphia Navy Yard creating around 250 new jobs in Philadelphia. And earlier this month Mayor Nutter and the Metropolitan Caucus launched EnergyWorks, a program funded with a $25 million grant from the Department of Energy to provide a range of services and financing mechanisms to homeowners and businesses to help them finance improvements and save money on their energy bills.
Mayor Nutter is the only elected official to serve on the Committee and was asked by Secretary Chu to serve as a "representative of local governments engaged in accelerating the incorporation of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies into the existing energy portfolio." The Committee is expected to meet twice per year with the first meeting taking place on Tuesday November 30, 2010, in Washington, D.C.