This is a guest post from the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, AEE’s state partner.

On June 4, the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council (Michigan EIBC) and Institute for Energy Innovation (IEI) held the first in a series of gubernatorial candidate roundtables in Michigan. The business leaders from Michigan EIBC and AEE sat down with former senator Gretchen Whitmer to discuss energy policy. Whitmer, of Lansing, is the former Ingham County prosecuting attorney and minority leader of the Michigan Senate. Michigan EIBC has reached out to all of the major party candidates to request similar off-the-record briefings, and we look forward to additional meetings in the coming weeks. 

On May 23, Advanced Energy Economy Institute convened a full house of advanced energy technologies (with representatives of 10 AEE member companies) to meet with Joey Freeman, policy director for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign. Joey was joined by Jared Blumenfeld, who is advising the campaign on energy and environment issues. Joey and Jared reinforced the candidate’s support for advanced energy growth, and emphasized a commitment to working with our industry to push the envelope on the state’s economic growth and aggressive decarbonization goals.  

Even as Ohioans get ready to elect a new governor, the Ohio legislature is once again struggling to determine whether it will move forward, or backward, on energy policy. More than a year has passed since the Ohio House voted to approve House Bill 114, a bill that would effectively eliminate the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. Since then, Senate Leaders have worked to develop a compromise that preserves the state’s requirements but reduces them enough to satisfy the House without running afoul of Gov. Kasich, who vetoed lawmakers’ last attempt to gut the state’s RPS and EERS outright. The bill also needs to address the state’s burdensome wind setback requirement, which the Senate tried to fix in the 2017 budget bill. With time running out before the legislature breaks for summer recess, many are wondering – do Ohio lawmakers have the will to reach a constructive deal that finally puts Ohio’s energy policy on a stable course this year? Or will Ohio’s energy future be left to the legislature’s next session – and next governor?

AEE and CEP member companies meet with gubernatorial hopeful Chris Giunchigliani.

This is a guest post from Clean Energy Project, AEE's state partner in Nevada. For more information about AEE's State Coalition, click here. 

Last week, the Clean Energy Project, in conjunction with Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), hosted a series of roundtable discussions with Nevada gubernatorial candidates Chris Giunchigliani, Steve Sisolak, and a representative from Adam Laxalt’s campaign. These meetings provided an opportunity for each campaign to engage with representatives from clean energy companies and learn about the possibilities for Nevada’s energy future. All three guests were keen to hear the importance of clean energy to the state and were very receptive to the economic messages delivered by roundtable participants.

As part of our effort to engage candidates for governor in nine states this year on the economic opportunity provided by advanced energy, Advanced Energy Economy released a policy roadmap for Illinois on April 19 and delivered that roadmap to the major party nominees, Republican incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrat J.B. Pritzker. Outlining a range of executive, legislative, and regulatory actions that the next governor can take to ensure continued growth of the state’s advanced energy sector, this roadmap shows the way to capitalize on the policy and business foundation already in place in Illinois and build on it, for the benefit of customers and the Illinois economy. Plus, an advertising campaign and website will provide a way for Illinoisans to learn about advanced energy – and sign up as Advanced Energy Voters!