2010/03/03 ENE’s Michael Stoddard Named Director of Efficiency Maine Trust Press
ENE’s Michael Stoddard Named Director of Efficiency Maine Trust
For Immediate Release
March 3, 2010
Contacts: Dan Sosland, Executive Director (207) 236-6470
Emily Avery-Miller, External Relations Manager (207) 236-6470
Rockport, ME--The Efficiency Maine Trust, the newly created entity to coordinate and implement Maine’s next generation of energy efficiency programs, today announced the appointment of ENE Senior Counsel Michael Stoddard to be its new executive director. Stoddard has headed ENE’s sustainable energy policy work in Maine, working on the design and establishment of critical state energy policies including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, new building energy codes and the Maine Energy Future Act that is consolidating administration of Maine’s energy efficiency and alternative energy programs. The independent Efficiency Maine Trust was established in 2009 for the purpose of administering programs for energy efficiency and alternative energy resources to help individuals and businesses in Maine "meet their energy needs at the lowest cost."
Dan Sosland, ENE Executive Director, said, “Maine is poised to make major advances in adopting cost-saving energy efficiency and clean energy policies that will help consumers and position the state for a cleaner, lower cost energy future. Maine, like much of the northeast, is heavily dependent on heating oil and fossils fuels and efficiency is a critical tool to help lower oil costs and use. Michael’s background in these issues will be of enormous value as the Efficiency Maine Trust enters a new and exciting future. ENE is pleased to have played a key, strategic role over the years in helping frame this vision of Maine’s energy future, and Michael is the right person in the right place to make this vision a reality.”
“We feel fortunate to have found in Michael someone with deep knowledge of energy issues, strong relations with the business community, and a track record of forging pragmatic solutions to Maine’s energy challenges,” said Adam Lee, chair of the Trust’s Board of Directors and President of Lee Auto Malls.
In addition to the creation of the Trust, other novel features of the Maine Energy Future legislation are the establishment of an efficiency and weatherization program for homes heated with oil for all income levels and a target to reduce heating oil consumption in the state 20% by 2020. According to a report recently released by ENE, Energy Efficiency: Engine of Economic Growth, every $1 million invested in energy efficiency programs would add $6.6 million to Maine’s gross state product and add 75 job-years (one job-year is equivalent to one full time job for one year).
As ENE continues its leadership role on energy and climate issues in Maine, the organization looks forward to working closely with the Trust and other leaders in Maine to develop policies and programs that will increase investments in efficiency and help reduce the state’s dependence on expensive and polluting fossil fuels.
