Industry Organisations, News

DNV GL Supports Hawaii Counties in Department of Energy’s Better Communities Alliance

After reviewing the competitive applications,

DNV GL offers expertise to assist the State of Hawaii with the energy transition at the local Government Climate Action and Adaptation Summit

OAKLAND, California, US – 5 December 2017 – DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Communities Alliance (BCA) to provide participating cities and local governments with support and resources that will help them achieve their energy and climate goals.

The alliance is a landmark initiative to match public sector organizations with private sector resources to deliver energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, and renewable energy solutions. To facilitate this, the BCA developed the Commitments for Better Communities program, where six of the BCA affiliate partners are offering technical and strategic guidance to organizations in the BCA.

To participate in this program, partner cities and organizations submitted applications to the BCA earlier this year for a variety of programs offered by the affiliate partners, including DNV GL.

After reviewing the competitive applications, DNV GL selected a joint application from the counties of Kauai, Hawaii, Maui, and Honolulu to host a summit on the Energy Transition in support of developing Climate Action and Adaptation Plans. The event featured a keynote speech from Dr. Holmes Hummel, the founder of Clean Energy Works, addressing the changes required to achieve an equitable new energy economy.

“DNV GL is committed to working with DoE to build the BCA and support its city and government partners,” said Richard Barnes, executive vice president of Sustainable Use Services at DNV GL. “This is an exciting opportunity to help local county governments across Hawaii to explore their most challenging energy issues. As a recognized expert in helping municipalities transition from fossil fuel-based energy to cleaner and more electrified systems, DNV GL is well positioned to assist the counties of Hawaii to develop a strategic approach to energy supply, energy use and new technology adoption.”

Over the following two days, DNV GL conducted an invitation-only Climate Action and Adaptation Summit with stakeholders from county governments, the community and the energy industry to facilitate discussions that will help the counties identify strategies to help them achieve their goal of achieving carbon neutrality. The workshop enabled collaboration amongst the county leaders and shared best practices across the state. The summit focused on issues identified by the counties as most pertinent to their needs as they move forward with their climate action and adaptation planning, including ground transportation, building energy use, adaptation, resilience and greenhouse gas emissions.