Commonwealth Program Team

The Commonwealth team is comprised of five industry experts: Commerce Energy, RER/Itron, CH2M Hill, BEW Engineering, and the Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI). Commerce Energy, formerly Commonwealth Energy is a licensed power marketer and a leader in providing energy solutions for energy consumers in deregulated markets. Commerce Energy will be assisting program partners in developing business models to facilitate the economic viability of biogas and BIPV project development.

RER, now Itron, provides consulting services to the energy industry in the areas of renewable energy market assessments, energy efficiency and energy forecasting. RER/Itron is responsible for developing the market potential for the minigrid area, assisting in the development of a prioritized list of candidate sites for demonstration projects, and developing evaluation plans for individual projects as well as the overall program (Project 1.1). In addition, RER/Itron will be acting as the overall program director (Project 0).

CH2M Hill provides a diverse range of environmental and engineering services worldwide and brings its expertise in the area of biogas-to-energy systems to the program. CH2M Hill will be developing demonstration projects within the minigrid area (Projects 2.1, 2.2, and 3.1) for enhanced landfill gas production, enhanced energy recovery through optimized anaerobic digestion, and dairy waste to energy.

BEW Engineering, formerly Endecon Engineering, is a leader in distributed generation and storage technologies with world-renowned credentials in the field of photovoltaics. BEW specializes in providing design, installation, monitoring, and evaluation services for renewable resources. BEW is responsible for performing building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system testing and comparisons for small and large systems (Project 3.2).

REDI is a nonprofit scientific and educational corporation promoting the widespread use of environmentally sound energy and transportation technologies, while facilitating research and development. REDI will be developing tools to assist public sector entities in assessing the feasibitity of developing BIPV systems. In addition, REDI will assist a public sector partner in developing and monitoring a BIPV system within the minigrid (Project 3.3).

In addition, the Commonwealth Program is receiving considerable cooperation and support from the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA). IEUA is water supplier and a regional wastewater treatment agency with a commitment to developing energy recovery/production facilities to help ease the energy crisis within California. As a program partner, IEUA has agreed to working with the program team to explore and develop renewable energy options within the program minigrid area.

Program Sponsors

California Energy Commission

Zhiqin Zhang
PIER Renewables Program Manager
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-43
Sacramento, CA 95814-5512
Phone: (916) 654-4063
Email: zzhang@energy.state.ca.us

Joe McCabe
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-43
Sacramento, CA 95814-5512
Phone: 916-654-4412
Email: jmccabe@energy.state.ca.us

Elaine Sison-Lebrilla
(Formerly with
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-43
Sacramento, CA 95814-5512)

Commerce Energy Group

Max Carpenter
Commerce Energy Group
15901 Red Hill Ave., Suite 100
Tustin, California 92780
Phone: (714) 259-2517
Fax: (714) 259-2592
Email: MCarpenter@commerceenergy.com

Program Administration

Patrick Lilly
Program Director
Director, Consulting and Analysis Division
RER/Itron
601 Officers Row
Vancouver, Washington 98661
Phone: (360) 906-0616
Fax: (360) 906-0622
Email: patrick.lilly@itron.com

Traci Meyer-Jones
Senior Contracts Administrator
RER/Itron
601 Officers Row
Vancouver, Washington 98661
Phone: (360) 906-0616
Fax: (360) 906-0622
Email: traci.meyer-jones@itron.com

Project Managers

David Hanna
Director, Consulting and Analysis Division
RER/Itron
11236 El Camino Real
San Diego, CA 92130-2650
Phone: (858) 724-2620
Fax: (858) 724-2690
Email: david.hanna@itron.com

Bill Kitto
CH2M HILL
825 N.E. Multnomah, Suite 1300
Portland, OR 97232
Email: bkitto@ch2m.com

Keith Rutledge
President
Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI)
383 S. Main Street, Suite 234
Willits, CA 95490
Phone: (707) 459-1256
Fax: (707) 459-0366
Email: krutledge@redinet.org

Chuck Whitaker
BEW Engineering
347 Norris Court
San Ramon, CA 94583
Phone: (925) 552-1330
Fax: (925) 552-1333
Email: Chuck.Whitaker@bewengineering.com

Hank Zaininger
President
Zaininger Engineering Company, Inc. (ZECO)
9959 Granite Crest Court
Granite Bay, CA 95746
Email: hzaininger@aol.com