Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: Frances Beinecke

In accordance with Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the "Academy shall make its best efforts to ensure that no individual appointed to serve on [a] committee has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the functions to be performed, unless such conflict is promptly and publicly disclosed and the Academy determines that the conflict is unavoidable." A conflict of interest refers to an interest, ordinarily financial, of an individual that could be directly affected by the work of the committee. As specified in the Academy's policy and procedures (http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi/index.html), an objective determination is made for each provisionally appointed committee member whether or not a conflict of interest exists given the facts of the individual's financial and other interests and the task being undertaken by the committee. A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.

We have concluded that for this committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established its membership must include among others, at least one person with a technical interest in the area of energy efficiency who also has practical experience and expertise in the executive operations of a major, national or international environmental non-governmental organization (NGO).

To meet the need for this expertise and experience, Frances Beinecke is proposed for appointment to the committee even though we have concluded that she has a conflict of interest because she holds financial investments in renewable energy firms.

Ms. Beinecke has more than 30 years’ experience in leadership positions within tax-exempt organizations dedicated to environmental issues. She has served as President of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) since 2005, and has held many leadership positions within the organization. Ms. Beinecke also has over 15 years’ experience assessing the effectiveness of various energy and energy efficiency technologies, their regulation, and related policies. We believe that Ms. Beinecke can serve effectively as a member of the committee and that the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the work.

After an extensive search, we have been unable to find another individual with the equivalent combination of practical experience and interest in energy efficiency technologies as Ms. Beinecke who does not have a similar conflict of interest. Therefore, we have concluded that this potential conflict is unavoidable.



Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: James "Jim" Rogers

In accordance with Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the "Academy shall make its best efforts to ensure that no individual appointed to serve on [a] committee has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the functions to be performed, unless such conflict is promptly and publicly disclosed and the Academy determines that the conflict is unavoidable." A conflict of interest refers to an interest, ordinarily financial, of an individual that could be directly affected by the work of the committee. As specified in the Academy's policy and procedures (http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi/index.html), an objective determination is made for each provisionally appointed committee member whether or not a conflict of interest exists given the facts of the individual's financial and other interests and the task being undertaken by the committee. A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.

We have concluded that for this committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established its membership must include among others, at least one person who possesses practical experience and expertise as an executive manager of a major electric power utility.

To meet the need for this expertise and experience, James Rogers is proposed for appointment to the committee even though we have concluded that he has a conflict of interest because of his financial investments in electric utility companies.

Mr. Rogers has more than 25 years’ experience as an executive officer in the electric power industry. Most recently he served as CEO of Duke Energy, the largest electric power company in the U.S. Mr. Rogers also served as CEO of Cinergy and PSI Energy. Mr. Rogers also brings electric power regulatory experience having served as an assistant attorney general to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and having worked as an attorney in private practice as partner of a major international law firm. We believe that Mr. Rogers can serve effectively as a member of the committee and that the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the work.

After an extensive search, we have been unable to identify another individual with the equivalent combination of practical executive level experience and regulatory expertise as Mr. Rogers who does not have a similar conflict of interest. Therefore, we have concluded that this potential conflict is unavoidable.



Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: Peter Rothstein

In accordance with Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the "Academy shall make its best efforts to ensure that no individual appointed to serve on [a] committee has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the functions to be performed, unless such conflict is promptly and publicly disclosed and the Academy determines that the conflict is unavoidable." A conflict of interest refers to an interest, ordinarily financial, of an individual that could be directly affected by the work of the committee. As specified in the Academy's policy and procedures (http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi/index.html), an objective determination is made for each provisionally appointed committee member whether or not a conflict of interest exists given the facts of the individual's financial and other interests and the task being undertaken by the committee. A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.

We have concluded that for this committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established its membership must include among others, at least one person who possesses practical experience and expertise with early-stage financing of companies that develop and sell clean energy technologies and practical experience and expertise that come from an executive role in such companies.

To meet the need for this expertise and experience, Peter Rothstein is proposed for appointment to the committee even though we have concluded that he may have a conflict of interest because of his leadership role a 501(c)(6) trade member organization that represents many clean energy companies across New England with interests in the energy policy agenda and growing the clean energy economy.

Mr. Rothstein worked for over 11 years as an advisor, consultant, and executive with early-stage ventures in strategy, operational, business development, and capitalization roles, primarily with clean energy and materials ventures. Mr. Rothstein also served on the National Renewable Energy Lab’s VC Advisory Board, advising on NREL commercialization programs, and has broad experience with clean energy policy from the perspective of small innovative energy companies. We believe that Mr. Rothstein can serve effectively as a member of the committee and that the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the work.

After an extensive search, we have been unable to identify another individual with the equivalent combination of practical experience and policy expertise in the field of energy efficiency technologies as Mr. Rothstein who does not have a similar conflict of interest. Therefore, we have concluded that this potential conflict is unavoidable.