{"id":219264,"date":"2024-09-24T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=219264"},"modified":"2024-09-25T11:22:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T15:22:14","slug":"uconn-and-eversource-host-third-annual-sustainable-clean-energy-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/09\/uconn-and-eversource-host-third-annual-sustainable-clean-energy-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn and Eversource Host Third Annual Sustainable Clean Energy Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electric grid decarbonization and emerging technologies in clean energy were the focus at this year’s Sustainable Clean Energy Summit<\/a> at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. The annual summit, hosted by UConn and Eversource, was a featured event of Connecticut\u2019s first ever Sustainability & Resiliency Week<\/a>. A keynote address by Gene Rodrigues, Assistant Secretary for Electricity, U.S. Department of Energy kicked off the event. Academic and state leaders as well as energy industry experts led panel discussions on various clean energy topics following opening remarks by UConn President Radenka Maric and Eversource Executive Vice President, Customer Experience and Energy Strategy Penni Conner.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, Tilak Subrahmanian, vice president of energy efficiency and electric mobility for Eversource Energy, Interim Associate Vice President of Facilities Operations Stan Nolan, UConn President Radenka Maric, and Penni McLean-Conner, executive vice president of customer experience and energy strategy for Eversource Energy, sign a memorandum of understanding between UConn and Eversource during the Sustainable Clean Energy Summit in the Student Union Theater on Sept. 23, 2024. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the panel discussions, Eversource and UConn celebrated recent federal funding from the Department of Energy for the \u201cPower Up New England\u201d multi-state proposal, allowing Eversource to commit $4 million to establish the Connecticut Institute for Sustainable Energy at UConn Avery Point. The Institute will help to expand the sustainable energy workforce in the state and region through scholarships, real-world engagement on offshore wind projects, and certificate programs relating to offshore wind, with a particular focus on engagement with individuals from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n

During the summit, Eversource and UConn signed a three-year memorandum of understanding designed to advance the university\u2019s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, moving the UConn campus from a focus on LED lighting energy-saving projects to measures that involve studies, building controls, HVAC equipment and other decarbonization or carbon mitigation measures across all UConn campuses and UConn Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to give great recognition to our students,\u201d said Maric. \u201cWithout our students saying, \u2018Here are our priorities, here are our needs,\u2019 we would probably not have the scholarships from Eversource and all the critical initiatives that we started. Besides being an educational institution, we are an innovation institution. Innovation happens here. Our goal is to create a dedicated sustainability academic unit in the coming years. Creating this unit will be a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Eversource and UConn have a proven track record of working together towards our shared decarbonization goals while advancing a more sustainable future for the state, and we look forward to building on those efforts to maximize the benefits of a clean energy future for all residents and businesses,” said Conner. “Our partnership is building the workforce of the future and preparing students to tackle the critical clean energy and sustainability challenges facing Connecticut and the Northeast \u2013 setting a strong example for the progress that can be made through collaboration.”<\/p>\n

\"The
The winners of the Clean Energy and Sustainability Innovation Program (CESIP) Student Challenge Award stand onstage with Bill Quinlan, left, president of transmission & offshore wind projects for Eversource Energy, during the Sustainable Clean Energy Summit in the Student Union Theater on Sept. 23, 2024. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four student-led finalist teams from the Eversource-sponsored Clean Energy and Sustainability Innovation Program (CESIP)<\/a> presented their innovative research ideas to reduce carbon footprints and prepare for climate extremes at the local, state and regional levels with one finalist team receiving funding and mentorship to bring their idea to life over the next year.<\/p>\n

This year, that finalist team included Zhiqing \u201cLucy\u201d Li, Steven Matile, and Meshach Ojo. Their project was titled \u201cPotential Micro-Hydropower Retrofits at Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants.\u201d The student team was supported by UConn mentor Diego Cerrai, assistant professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Associate Director and Program Manager, Eversource Energy Center; and Eversource mentor Nick Pellon, Senior Engineer, Transmission Interconnections.<\/p>\n

Eversource will continue their sponsorship of the CESIP to provide more UConn students with the opportunity to develop new ideas to advance a clean energy future.<\/p>\n

The day’s first panel explored innovations for grid decarbonization, climate adaptation, and modernization to manage extreme weather and intermittent renewable energy challenges through a policy lens. The second panel showcased the opportunities and challenges faced by diverse energy sources such as offshore wind, geothermal, nuclear and hydrogen and their integration to the modern electric grid.<\/p>\n

Closing remarks by President Maric and Emmanouil Anagnostou, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Director, Eversource Energy Center, were followed by the Clean Energy Engagement Fair, a career fair-style event for students to meet with Eversource and other employers and learn about UConn curriculum opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gene Rodrigues, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Electricity, served as keynote speaker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":219255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1805,2224,1715,2471,2387,2235,2198,2225,2227,2458,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-219264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-change","category-cahnr","category-community-impact","category-economic-development","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-tolland-county","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-undergraduates","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-19 19:39:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219264"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219334,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219264\/revisions\/219334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/219255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219264"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=219264"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=219264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}