CalCEF Clean Energy Fund5 Third St. Suite 1125
San Francisco, CA 94103
P: 415 957 0167 F: 415 957 0177
general info: info@calcef.org
October 6, 2008
New Market and Policy Solutions Center, CalCEF Innovations, Targets Cleantech Bottlenecks
April 23, 2008
CalCEF Continues to Drive the Development and Market Adoption of Clean Energy Technologies
April 9, 2007
CalCEF Acts to Close the Clean Energy Angel Funding Gap; Retains Renowned Expert on Angel Financing, Susan Preston
July 25, 2006
California Clean Energy Fund Announces CalCEF Fund 1 Investment Portfolio
April 22, 2006
CalCEF Earth Day Op-Ed
Clean energy: Time to get practical
April 12, 2006
Gov. Schwarzenegger Joins the California Clean Energy Fund and
UC Davis to Launch Premier Energy Efficiency Center
March 14, 2005
New CalCEF $30 Million Fund Poised to Fuel California’s Clean Energy Industry
New Market and Policy Solutions Center, CalCEF Innovations, Targets Cleantech Bottlenecks
3Com Ventures Veteran, Berkeley Industry Fellow Joins as Managing Director
October 6, 2008 - San Francisco, CA -Today CalCEF Innovations, the market and policy solutions division of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), announced that Paul Frankel has joined as Managing Director. Frankel, a veteran of 3Com Ventures, former Stanford and Haas adjunct professor and former fundraising chair of California Clean Tech Open will take the lead on the organization's goal of providing action-oriented finance and policy solutions to the expanding cleantech industry.
Targeting the next set of challenges facing the global cleantech industry, CalCEF Innovations builds on CalCEF's work to identify and address critical challenges in policy, technology and finance that threaten to impede the growth of the young clean tech industry. As capital continues to flow into the clean tech sector, CalCEF Innovations is examining emerging bottleneck issues, ranging from large-scale transmission for renewable resources, to the behavioral challenges impeding energy efficiency, to technical and policy hurdles facing electricity storage, to uneven public policies that are limiting the U.S.'s competitiveness in this increasingly global industry.
"CalCEF Innovations was created to bring the drivers of the cleantech category - technologists, financiers, entrepreneurs and policymakers - to the table to discuss, discover and more importantly test, pilot and deploy solutions to the challenges that have not received enough support or attention," said Paul Frankel, Managing Director of CalCEF Innovations.
Well-versed in identifying and capitalizing on early market opportunities, Frankel was a key figure in the birth of the wireless local area networking (WLAN) industry, helping to spearhead the industry's pivotal 802.11 standard as co-founder and vice-chairman of the influential Wi-Fi Alliance. Frankel turned his attention to cleantech in mid-2002. His research study on the sector was published and announced at the First European Hydrogen Energy Conference in 2003 Identifying a key gap in the emerging cleantech finance industry, Frankel then went on to found the mezzanine debt fund Ecosa Capital, targeting expansion stage companies in clean energy, green building and sustainable agriculture. Frankel continues to be a trailblazer behind new, interdisciplinary curricula at Stanford University and UC Berkeley on the topics of cleantech innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship.
"Paul is the rare combination of entrepreneur, strategic thinker and intellectual leader that is precisely what the clean tech industry needs now," said Dan Adler, president of CalCEF. "Paul has been at the forefront of the clean energy effort in California, from both the start-up side with his work on the California CleanTech Open and financially with Ecosa Capital, and has helped to educate some of the brightest young minds in the industry. He will be an invaluable addition to the innovative CalCEF team as we continue to identify and deliver what clean technology needs to grow and thrive."
"CalCEF Innovations advances the mission of the California Clean Energy Fund to aggressively target key issues that cut across industries, pose challenges to policy and impede the flow of capital into climate solutions," said Michael Peevey, Chairman of CalCEF Innovations and President of the California Public Utilities Commission. "The cleantech industry is at an inflection point, where rapid scaling is the challenge and new strategies must be developed to put our economy on a sustainable path. Paul Frankel is a proven leader with the right skills to develop the solutions that will get us there."
About CalCEF Innovations
The mission of CalCEF Innovations is to address issues impacting the long-run transformation of the energy system towards sustainability, including the formation of enterprises, the continued flow of capital into technologies and infrastructure, and the design of markets and policy strategies for the sustainable energy transition. CalCEF Innovations leads the California Clean Energy Fund's development of novel finance, policy, and technology mechanisms to accelerate the growth of clean energy markets through a variety of programs and activities. These include our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program developing solutions to key market and policy issues, academic and industry affiliates such as the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, the California CleanTech Open Alumni Program, and our innovation partnerships with university, national and private research labs. Through our ongoing Convening Series, our Annual Conference, and Executive Education for Policy Makers, CalCEF Innovations also initiates timely conversations across policy, technology and finance that are absent in the evolving debate around cleantech and climate change.
Media contacts:
Caroline Venza, Antenna Group for CalCEF Innovations
415-977-1939, caroline@antennagroup.com
CalCEF Continues to Drive the Development and Market Adoption of Clean Energy Technologies
Organization forms public policy arm to sustain investment in market-changing clean technologies; promotes Dan Adler to President
April 23, 2008 - San Francisco, CA -today announced the launch of the Center for Innovation and Sustainability, a new public policy arm created to address critical issues affecting the long-term transformation of the energy industry. The Center will work to identify and address high-level issues of market and policy design, such as the balance between market forces and regulatory mandates, as well as issues specific to particular clean energy technologies, such as barriers to increased energy efficiency, sustainably-derived biofuels, and aggressive renewable electricity development. Furthermore, to strengthen CalCEF’s role as a driver of clean technology development in California and beyond, the organization also announced today that Dan Adler has been promoted to President.
“To date, CalCEF has been very successful in engaging the venture capital community and promoting a supportive environment for transformational technologies that reduce fossil dependency and address global climate change,” said Dan Adler, President of CalCEF. “But this is only part of the challenge to transforming the energy system, which will require a much more robust and foresighted effort from public policy.”
The CalCEF Center for Innovation and Sustainability – Driving Public Policy to enable Markets for Clean Technology
The challenge of a clean energy transformation is long-term in nature, but current activity in both finance and public policy largely reflects a short-term emphasis. Crucial tax incentives are allowed to wax and wane, destroying the ability of firms to invest in energy assets that will last for decades. Federal policy mandates for biofuels fail to emphasize sustainable production methods, with predictable consequences for both agriculture and environmental protection – including the recent global surge in food prices. Short-term ownership patterns in real estate mask the incentive to invest in long-term energy efficiency benefits. And in finance, excessive emphasis is placed on the role of venture capital in supporting technologies and firms early in their development, with insufficient attention to how technologies become products and products become scalable infrastructure. “We need to understand these as long-term problems affecting the largest, most entrenched business in the world – and design our policy and market solutions with that same understanding,” said Adler.
The Center for Innovation and Sustainability will identify high-value points of intervention around key issues, seeking to become the “connective tissue” between participants in policy, technology and finance, and develop high-impact recommendations to the policy community. To attract the best partners in these efforts, the Center will launch an “Entrepreneurs in Residence” program that will bring thought leaders to the Center on a quarterly basis to coordinate a series of stakeholder meetings and produce recommendations around specific clean energy challenges. Early projects will include: focused efforts to improve the commercialization of clean energy technologies developed in public and private labs; new business models for energy efficiency that address long-standing market barriers; accelerating the development of renewable energy resources by scaling up the electric transmission system; and designing a strategy for sustainable biofuels in the western U.S. The Center will also be the hub of CalCEF’s ongoing efforts to advance public policy in general, and will coordinate the annual CalCEF Conference series.
“Investors, particularly those new to the emerging field of clean technology, are waking up to the pivotal role government must play in fostering these new markets and bringing them to maturity,” continued Adler. “CalCEF’s public mandate and exposure to the markets for clean energy capital means that the Center will be well positioned to identify key issues and the collaborations needed to address them. Given current economic conditions, the importance of sending the rights signals in markets such as biofuels, and the urgency of immediate action to address climate change, we feel these public-private collaborations will be absolutely essential in the months and years ahead.”
The Center will be governed by a Board of Directors, initially comprised of three members of the CalCEF Board: Michael Peevey, President of the California Public Utilities Commission; Art Rosenfeld, Commissioner at the California Energy Commission; and Mason Willirch, Chairman of the California Independent System Operator. Further Board members will be invited from leading public, private and non-profit entities.
The Promotion of Dan Adler
CalCEF also announced today the promotion of Dan Adler to President. Most recently serving as Vice President, Adler will assume responsibility for managing relationships with CalCEF’s investment partners, identifying critical gaps in the financial architecture of clean energy investing that CalCEF might fill, and ensuring that the newly-formed Center works hand-in-hand with CalCEF’s existing network of world-class policy, technology and finance constituencies.
“Dan has done a terrific job executing on CalCEF’s mission of promoting clean energy investment and identifying crucial policy issues that will keep those investment dollars flowing, not just from CalCEF but from investors around the world,” said Michael Peevey, CalCEF Chairman and President of the California Public Utilities Commission. “As President we are confident he will build on this success by leveraging his public policy background to speed market adoption of the game-changing technologies being developed and deployed by our portfolio companies, as well as by other companies emerging in this sector as a result of the increased need for clean energy solutions worldwide.”
In his prior role at CalCEF, Adler was responsible for developing a clean technology investment strategy that bridged the interests of public policy and private capital stakeholders in support of California’s renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change mitigation goals. Before joining CalCEF, Adler worked as a senior analyst in strategic planning for the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC), where he was responsible for designing and implementing California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard program, resulting in the most far-reaching and ambitious renewable energy program in the United States. He was also senior staff for the state’s aggressive climate change mitigation strategies, and had broad responsibility for analyzing emerging trends in the energy industry and developing and implementing policy to address those trends. Adler has prior professional experience in corporate social responsibility, international trade policy, and economic development, areas that increasingly overlap with the broad challenge of a transition to sustainable energy.
CalCEF Acts to Close the Clean Energy Angel Funding Gap;
Retains Renowned Expert on Angel Financing, Susan Preston
April 9, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) announced today that it has retained Susan Preston to implement its strategy to close the funding gap for promising seed and startup-stage clean energy companies. CalCEF is a $30 million nonprofit investment fund created to spur investment in California’s clean energy economy. Ms. Preston, an expert and author on angel financing, has a background and expertise that complements CalCEF’s focus on investments in seed-stage clean energy companies.
Established in 2004 as a result of the PG&E bankruptcy settlement, CalCEF supports companies developing a wide range of clean energy technologies that will bring economic and environmental benefits to California and assist the state in meeting its aggressive clean energy goals.
Despite significant environmental policy leadership in California and a recent influx of private investment capital aimed at clean energy companies, seed-stage or angel funding continues to lag, creating a gap in the commercialization of new potentially transformational clean energy technologies. Angels principally invest at this earliest stage, placing smaller amounts of funds with young companies, thus partially filling the funding gap between initial founder money and later stage venture capital investments.
CalCEF Chairman and California Public Utilities Commission President Michael R. Peevey said, “We must make investments today in promising early stage clean energy technologies if we are to position California to meet its world-leading clean energy goals in years to come. CalCEF is playing a critical role in filling the private sector funding gap at this most critical early stage.”
Venture capitalists have embraced the clean energy industry. Clean technology investments rose 78% in 2006 to $2.9 billion, compared to $1.6 billion in 2005. Since 1999, venture capitalists have invested more than $11.7 billion in clean tech ventures. This aggressive investment trend is expected to continue. According to the Cleantech Venture Network, the global market for renewable projects alone is projected to be $625 billion in 2010 and $1.9 trillion by 2020. But funding must increase at the seed and start-up stages to support this anticipated growth.
Ms. Preston has extensive experience in angel financing and angel organizations, and has lectured in North America and Europe on private equity financing at multi-national conferences. In addition, Ms. Preston is author of a highly regarded text on establishment of angel organizations, published by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Her second book will be released shortly, titled “Angel Investing for Entrepreneurs”, published by Wiley Publishing.
Ms. Preston will work with CalCEF to explore many avenues for promoting angel investing. She will also explore opportunities for collaboration with CalCEF’s extensive network of clean energy stakeholders including public and private research labs, universities, utilities and the venture capital community.
“We are pleased to have Susan join the team to help CalCEF accomplish one of its primary goals of investing in promising seed and startup-stage clean energy, technologies” adds Lisa Bicker, President of CalCEF. “She brings unparalleled skills and experience in angel financing as well as financial discipline to the angel investment environment.”
For more information on CalCEF’s efforts in this area, please contact Susan Preston at susan.preston@calcef.org or 206-849-7244.
About CalCEF
CalCEF is a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to making equity investments in clean energy companies. Established via the PG&E bankruptcy settlement, CalCEF was created to deliver positive environmental and economic returns to California by providing an economic engine of growth and environmental improvements. CalCEF targets companies focusing on renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and other products and services that are designed to enhance the clean energy sector. Profits will be reinvested in further support of CalCEF’s mission.
The CalCEF Board of Directors blends public policy makers, investment professionals, entrepreneurs, and science and technology experts. Chaired by Michael R. Peevey, President of the California PUC, the Board also includes California Energy Commissioner Dr. Arthur Rosenfeld; Dr. Mark Levine of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; CalISO Chairman Mason Willrich; entrepreneur Tom Jacoby; Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC); JPMorgan managing director Nancy Pfund; and former White House policy official Jonathan Foster. More information: www.calcef.org.
California Clean Energy Fund Announces CalCEF Fund 1 Investment Portfolio
Investment Strategy Supports California Policy Agenda, Focuses on State’s Leading Clean Energy Industry
July 25, 2006 - San Francisco, CA - The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), a $30 million public benefit investment fund created to spur investment and innovation in California’s clean energy economy, today announced a summary of its Fund 1 Portfolio. The portfolio, which is just one year in to a multiyear investment strategy, invests in companies that will help California reach its objective of becoming the world’s premier clean energy economy, bringing economic, environmental and social benefits to the state.
“With world-renown research universities and a supportive policy-making climate, California has proven to be a leader in developing clean energy innovations,” said Michael R. Peevey, chairman of CalCEF and president of the California Public Utilities Commission. “CalCEF’s investment strategy to help commercialize these innovations fills an important need in realizing California’s goal of becoming the world’s premier clean energy economy.”
The CalCEF Fund l portfolio is co-managed by three investment managers who, together, bring over 5 billion in market power: Nth Power, DFJ Element, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. CalCEF is working with these three managers to create an investment portfolio that not only provides attractive investment returns and positive environmental benefits, but also supports California’s Energy Action Plan, the State’s blueprint for clean electricity, and its aggressive goals for clean transportation technology.
The California Energy Action Plan establishes a ‘loading order’ to guide the state in meeting future energy needs. The order is as follows:
- Energy efficiency
- Renewable energy
- Clean fossil fired DG
- Clean large-scale generation
California’s clean transportation agenda includes the following components:
- A revitalized Zero Emissions Vehicle program, including advanced electric-drive technologies
- An aggressive new biofuels initiative, advanced by executive order from Governor Schwarzenegger
- Encouraging advancements in fuel cell technologies, via the Hydrogen Highway initiative
“By partnering with three established investment managers to invest in companies that support California’s public policy goals, CalCEF is ushering in a new era in venture investment intelligence,” said Lisa Bicker, President of CalCEF. “Ultimately, the success of the state’s economic and environmental policies depends on intersecting public and private interests, an intersection CalCEF is uniquely positioned to facilitate.”
“CalCEF’s emerging portfolio of investments tests the proposition that this partnership between technology, finance and policy is the most sustainable way forward for clean energy investing,” added Dan Adler, CalCEF Director of Technology and Policy Development.
CalCEF Investments
Through its three investment managers, CalCEF has made investments in the following companies:
Energy Efficiency and Demand Response
- SpectraSensors, Inc. – Manufactures sensors that track and control harmful emissions, including carbon dioxide
- Miartech – Designs advanced communications components for remote energy management and efficiency, including “smart” utility meters
- Synapsense – Provides software applications for wireless sensor networks that enable optimal efficient energy usage in homes and businesses
Distribution and Central-Station Renewables
- Superprotonic – Develops innovative technologies that are poised to improve the real-world performance of hydrogen fuel cells
- Fat Spaniel – Provides assessment and control systems software to improve the performance of distributed generation, such as solar photovoltaics
- Solarcentury – Provides building-integrated solar photovoltaic solutions, enabling easier installation and improving aesthetics
Clean Fossil Distributed Generation
- Advanced Battery Company (Official Name Not Released) – Develops high-power lithium ion batteries
Clean Central-Station Fossil Generation
- CoalTek - Converts low rank, mine-run coals into high-rank, clean coal alternative fuels, increasing efficiency in burning and potentially contributing to carbon sequestration
- Technologies for California’s Clean Transportation Agenda
- Imperium Renewables - Provides next-generation biodiesel refining and manufacturing technology
- Tesla Motor - Designs and sells electric cars combining world-class automotive design and Silicon Valley technology with an innovative sales and support strategy
About CalCEF
The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) is a nonprofit public benefit corporation formed to make equity investments in clean energy companies. Established via the PG&E bankruptcy settlement with $30 million from PG&E shareholders, the Fund expects to deliver market based financial returns to its investors and positive environmental and economic returns to California, with a focus on PG&E’s service territory. CalCEF targets companies focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage, and other products and services that are designed to enhance the clean energy sector. Financial returns will be reinvested in the Fund, enabling CalCEF to become a growing ‘evergreen fund’.
The CalCEF Board of Directors blends public policy makers, investment professionals, entrepreneurs, and science and technology experts. Chaired by Michael R. Peevey, President of the California PUC, the Board also includes California Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld; President of the Board of Governors Mason Willrich; Mark Levine of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; entrepreneurs John Woolard and Tom Jacoby; Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC); JPMorgan managing director Nancy Pfund; and former White House policy official Jonathan Foster.
CalCEF Earth Day Op-Ed
Clean energy: Time to get practical
Published 4/22/06 in the Sacramento Bee
As we celebrate Earth Day today in the shadow of skyrocketing oil prices, an ongoing war in Iraq and growing concerns about global warming, we should focus on practical solutions to the pre-eminent challenge of our time - the challenge of energy. Public support for alternatives is advancing across the United States and worldwide, setting the stage for new public-private partnerships to rapidly accelerate and implement energy innovation.
Real breakthroughs have been remarkably few - consider that the internal combustion engine is largely unchanged since its invention, or that America still produces half its electricity by burning coal to boil water. This is not the stuff of modern science.
California has recognized the imperative of change, and is legislating and regulating to effect a long-range industrial transformation. We are demanding energy efficiency and renewable technologies, backed by a strong mix of regulatory certainty, robust competition and long-term financing. Our strategies for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, 1 million solar roofs and the hydrogen highway are studied and emulated worldwide. Our green building standards are spurring the use of products and practices such as natural ventilation, passive solar and low-toxicity building materials that reduce energy use, improve productivity and enhance quality of life. The state has assembled a package of clean-energy policies as aggressive as any nation's, presenting a model for the public side of an aggressive public-private partnership.
Private-sector activity is accelerating as well. Technologies exist today, in labs and in field tests, that could address all of our most pressing energy problems - from cost, to scarcity, to pollution, to national security. Many of these technologies are expensive and unproven, to be sure. But smart private money is partnering with public policy to advance the best options, creating a class of strategic financial partners that differentiates itself from the mass of prospective participants in the new energy economy who do not understand the unique dynamics of the clean-energy market.
The core challenge, one that deserves a major increase in emphasis, is commercialization - getting these technologies to scale, improving their cost and reliability and moving them into society with speed, depth and breadth. It is time to be practical, and to use public-private partnerships to maximize the strengths of the business community and of government.
One recent example: On April 12, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger helped launch the nation's first academic center dedicated to energy efficiency. Funded by a $1 million challenge grant from the California Clean Energy Fund, the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center will become an essential part of the "connective tissue" linking innovations in efficiency with professionals in the energy business, law, architecture, finance and engineering. The goal is to quickly accelerate deployment of energy-saving technologies by breaking down existing barriers between basic science and our daily lives.
Consider another public-private partnership of potentially great benefit to the clean energy transition. Two of the nation's largest institutional investors - the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement system - have committed up to $950 million to clean energy technology investments. Other pension funds and large investors have taken note and are beginning to deploy vast amounts of capital for the effort.
There is great synergy between the public policy effort to promote renewable energy and the long-term financial needs of pension investors. Power plants are huge, expensive things that produce both energy and revenue for their owners - for upward of 30 years, nicely matching these systems' pension obligations. This is an example of the type of financial innovation that will be just as crucial as science to the success of the sustainable energy effort.
Some analysts have likened the energy challenge to the Apollo moon missions of 1966-72, arguing that a similarly concerted national effort will be required to succeed. The analogy is apt, but with all due respect to that heroic effort, underestimates the task. We cannot see the place we need to reach, but it is obvious we must move on from where we are. We are not sending a few of us briefly forward, but forcing all of industrial society through a process of fundamental change. And there is no alternative - all of the major existing energy systems, including those dependent upon water, are depleting or threatened. This is our challenge, and we must face it. Our history of innovation suggests that we can.
Dan Adler is Director of Technology and Policy Development for CalCEF.
Gov. Schwarzenegger Joins the California Clean Energy Fund and
UC Davis to Launch Premier Energy Efficiency Center
April 12, 2006 - University of California, Davis, CA - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came to UC Davis today to celebrate a $1 million grant from the California Clean Energy Fund to establish the world’s leading university center of excellence in energy efficiency. The new center is dedicated to speeding the transfer of new energy-saving products and services into the homes and lives of Californians.
Schwarzenegger joined officials of CalCEF and UC Davis, with other government, industry and environmental leaders, in a new campus building featuring state-of-the-art, energy-efficient design and construction.
The new UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center will bring together leaders in academia, industry, and the investment community to advance innovation in energy efficiency—the state’s most critical energy resource. The center will also reinforce California’s standing as a national and international leader in energy efficient practices that benefit both the environment and the California economy.
CalCEF awarded the grant to UC Davis because of its exceptional commitment to developing and bringing energy efficient technology to the marketplace. UC Davis will match CalCEF's grant with $1.3 million in operating and research funds, faculty time, and office and laboratory space.
“Increasing energy efficiency is our state’s best hope to minimize the impacts of climate change, improve our energy security and reduce the cost of reliable energy services,” said Michael R. Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission and chairman of CalCEF. “Establishing this center could be a transformative step in meeting the state’s clean energy goals, by drawing together the wealth of expertise at UC Davis in a framework that emphasizes bringing innovative technologies to market quickly.”
CalCEF is a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to making equity investments in clean energy companies. Established in 2004 via the PG&E bankruptcy settlement, CalCEF supports companies developing a wide range of clean energy technologies that will bring economic and environmental benefits to California, and assist the state in meeting its aggressive clean energy goals.
The Energy Efficiency Center’s founding director will be Andrew Hargadon, an associate professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management who is an expert on innovation in business and technology transfer. Hargadon was an engineer and product designer before earning a doctorate in organizational behavior.
"We want this center to bring together the people who devise new ways to save energy, those who finance their development, the manufacturers who make the products, and the industries and consumers who buy and benefit from them," Hargadon said. “The effective management of energy costs is increasingly important as companies strive to maintain a competitive edge. The center looks forward to helping California businesses measure and mitigate these costs, and manage the competitive risks associated with energy price volatility.”
PG&E Corp. also pledged significant funding support for the new center -- $500,000 over five years for critical start-up needs such as funding for fellowships to attract and educate outstanding students, and for a major conference that will convene world-wide energy efficiency experts. Said PG&E Corp. chairman, CEO and president Peter Darbee: “California is the nation’s undisputed leader in energy efficiency. PG&E has been proud to play a significant role in building this track record. Our contribution will help ensure the early prominence and success of the new UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, and will further demonstrate to our customers that PG&E’s commitment to reducing energy usage and protecting the environment is as strong as ever.”
Ralph Cavanagh, director of the energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and member of the CalCEF Board of Directors, noted that “CalCEF is greatly impressed by UC Davis’ position as a emerging global leader in energy studies, and with the university’s innovative and entrepreneurial approach to designing the Energy Efficiency Center. The center’s multidisciplinary approach and its emphasis on key sectors of the California economy place it at the forefront in meeting the energy challenge today: moving clean technologies out of the laboratory rapidly, accelerating their acceptance, and meeting California’s aggressive clean energy goals. We look forward to supporting UC Davis in this vital leadership role for America’s cheapest, cleanest and fastest source of energy solutions.”
Added CalCEF president Lisa Bicker: "According to the California Energy Action Plan, energy efficiency is the state’s highest priority resource, and with good reason. But too little attention has been paid to energy efficiency by universities across the nation. Successful investment models are needed to accelerate the commercialization of energy efficiency products. CalCEF designed this grant opportunity to harness the power of academia and the private sector to address key issues such as technology development, building design, and advancing investment strategies to tap efficiency’s potential quickly. CalCEF is a catalyst. The establishment of this center demonstrates our creative approach to supporting innovation as we move toward a clean energy economy."
UC Davis officials have designated energy research and education as top campus priorities. The campus values interdisciplinary research and teaching, and 32 faculty members from 11 departments have signed on to the new Energy Efficiency Center. UC Davis also plans to recruit 12 new faculty members in the energy field during the next several years. The Energy Efficiency Center joins the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis), the Biomass Collaborative and the Wind Collaborative, as well as the California Lighting Technology Center as prime examples of UC Davis-led public-private partnerships geared toward solving the state’s core energy challenges.
Today's announcement was made in Gladys Valley Hall, the first building at UC Davis (and only the second in the University of California system) designed and built to achieve certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system. It is expected to use one-third less energy than a standard design, plus conserve water, provide better indoor air quality and incorporate natural materials. The building is a tangible example of the innovations that will be emphasized the Energy Efficiency Center. Less energy is consumed for lighting by employing natural light, photo sensors and motion detectors. Natural ventilation, evaporative cooling and radiant floor slabs are used to reduce cooling energy.
When construction is finished in June, Gladys Valley Hall will become the instructional heart of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine campus. The building is named for the late Gladys Valley in recognition of the long-standing generosity of the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation.
California Clean Energy Fund to Grant $1 Million for the Creation
of the World’s Leading Center on Energy Efficiency at a
Northern California University
Center to position California as the driving force in developing and commercializing
clean energy technologies
June 23, 2005 - San Francisco, CA - The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), a $30 million public benefit investment fund created as part of the Pacific Gas and Electric bankruptcy settlement, today announced that it intends to award a one million dollar grant to establish and maintain the world’s leading university center on energy efficiency. The grant will be awarded to a Northern California university which aspires to international leadership in the development of energy efficiency technologies and the removal of barriers to their rapid commercialization.
“Increasing energy efficiency is the single most important step California can take to minimize the long-term cost of reliable energy services,” said Michael R. Peevey, chairman of CalCEF and president of the California Public Utilities Commission. “Establishing a university center on energy efficiency is a natural way to meet the state’s goals by tapping into a wealth of academic expertise in developing and bringing innovative technologies to market.”
By creating a university-based center for energy efficiency, CalCEF will bring together its diverse Board of Directors, partnerships with leading venture capital firms, and academic leaders from multiple disciplines to advance innovation and accelerate the commercialization of energy efficient products, services and practices. The center will also reinforce California’s standing as a national and international leader in energy efficiency, while seeding the state’s marketplace with promising new products and services that provide its citizens with a clean environment and economic benefits.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency – getting more services out of less energy - helps protect California’s environment and deliver economic benefits to the state’s businesses and citizens. Reducing energy use decreases the amount of energy generated at power plants, which minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and improves the quality of California’s air. In addition, energy efficiency helps the economy by saving consumers and businesses millions of dollars in energy costs – both directly, by reducing the amount of energy purchased, and indirectly, by reducing the demand for (and hence the price of) scarce fossil fuels.
According to the California Energy Action Plan, energy efficiency is the state’s highest priority resource. “Given the clear relationship between energy use and climate change, it is imperative for California’s policy makers, academics and business leaders to make energy efficiency a top priority,” said Arthur Rosenfeld, PhD, a member of the California Energy Commission and a CalCEF Board member.
“Dollar for dollar, conservation is the most cost efficient energy investment we can make,” said Lisa Bicker, President of CalCEF. “The creation of this center is an important step in moving us toward a clean energy economy.”
Grant Guidelines
CalCEF will award the one million dollar grant to a Northern California university that demonstrates the vision, resources and leadership to be the world’s leader in developing and bringing to market energy efficient technologies, including a multi-year plan for prioritizing results, launching and staffing the center, and further fund-raising. The grant will be awarded in two installments: $500,000 initially upon the creation of the center and $500,000 twelve months later upon achievement of agreed-upon milestones. Requests for proposal must be received no later than December 15, 2005. For more information about the request for proposal process, please visit www.calcef.org/about.htm.
New CalCEF $30 Million Fund Poised to Fuel California’s Clean Energy Industry
Diverse Board and Matching Funds from Leading Venture Capital Firms Provide Economic and Environmental Benefits for State
March 14, 2005 - San Francisco, CA - The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), a new $30 million public benefit investment fund created as part of the Pacific Gas and Electric’s bankruptcy settlement, today announced agreements with three leading venture capital firms: Nth Power, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and VantagePoint Venture Partners. These venture funds, with combined assets under management of $6 billion, will bring added value to CalCEF including matching funds and access to key strategic partners. The purpose of the evergreen non-profit Fund is not only to make attractive investments, but also to provide an engine of economic growth while reducing California’s dependence on fossil fuels.
“With this new Fund, we have the opportunity to shape the future of clean energy investments by demonstrating wins for both investors and our environment,” said Michael R. Peevey, chairman of CalCEF and President of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
CalCEF’s cross-disciplined Board of Directors enables a focus on this promising investment sector in ways that a traditional fund cannot. “This Board, which blends public policy makers, investment professionals, entrepreneurs, and science and technology experts, is uniquely able to meet this investment challenge,” said Lisa Bicker, president of CalCEF. “The time is right for clean energy investing and CalCEF can be the change agent that leads the way.”
CalCEF Investment Strategy
CalCEF’s investment strategy will focus exclusively on clean energy, including renewables, energy efficiency, energy storage, and enabling technologies and services. Under the terms of the agreements, the venture capital firms will make equity investments in clean energy companies on behalf of CalCEF. By working with three highly qualified investment firms, each with their own investment expertise, CalCEF can take a blended approach to the market that mitigates risk and maximizes returns. The goal is to support a wide range of opportunities, including both later stage and early stage opportunities, where CalCEF funding will make a difference.
CalCEF has allocated $8.5 million to each of the three funds for a total of $25.5 million. Nth Power and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) will each directly manage an investment portfolio totaling $8.5 million, with Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s allocation to be managed through DFJ AltaTerra, a DFJ affiliate fund launched to make investments in the clean technology sector. These managers will also match each dollar invested on behalf of CalCEF with its own investments in order to maximize market impact. CalCEF will also participate as a limited partner in VantagePoint Venture Partners. The remaining $4.5 million has been reserved by the CalCEF Board for future program development.
Nth Power estimates that venture capitalists invested approximately $500 million in US-based energy-tech companies in 2004, representing well over 2% of all VC investing. California is well positioned to take the lead in this emerging market thanks to its strong technology base, entrepreneurial talent, access to capital and enlightened environmental policies.
“Clean technologies – including clean energy technologies – are emerging as one of the most exciting and promising sectors for investment,” said Raj Atluru, Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. “DFJ has consistently been a leader in identifying and capitalizing on emerging investment areas, and we are excited to work with CalCEF as we launch DFJ AltaTerra as a new venture fund dedicated to clean technologies.”
“Nth Power is excited to serve as one of CalCEF’s managers,” said Tim Woodward, Managing Director, “and will work closely with the CalCEF board to meet its investment strategy.” Woodward added, “Nth Power’s extensive deal flow and investment experience will give CalCEF’s program a critical jump start in the market.”
Stephan Dolezalek, Managing Director of VantagePoint Venture Partners commented, “We are delighted to have CalCEF as a Strategic Limited Partner. VantagePoint believes CleanTech is an increasingly important investment sector. We look forward to working with the CalCEF Board and with Nth and DFJ to commercialize technologies that will increase renewable energy utilization and bring new jobs to California and the other states that support this important growth industry.”
About CalCEF
CalCEF is a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to making equity investments in clean energy companies. Established via the PG&E bankruptcy settlement, the Fund was created to deliver market based financial returns and positive environmental and economic returns to the PG&E service territory by providing an economic engine of growth and environmental improvements. CalCEF targets companies focusing on renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and other products and services that are designed to enhance the clean energy sector. Profits will be reinvested in the Fund.
The CalCEF Board of Directors blends public policy makers, investment professionals, entrepreneurs, and science and technology experts. Chaired by Michael R. Peevey, President of the California PUC, the Board also includes California Energy Commissioner Dr. Arthur Rosenfeld; Dr. Mark Levine of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; energy executive and former venture capitalist Mason Willrich; entrepreneurs John Woolard and Tom Jacoby; Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC); JPMorgan managing director Nancy Pfund; and former white house policy official Jonathan Foster. More information: www.calcef.org.
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson is the leader in seed stage and early stage venture capital. Since 1985, Draper Fisher Jurvetson has created a global network of affiliated venture funds with over $3 billion in capital commitments and offices in the major technology centers around the world. DFJ has proven expertise in identifying and helping extraordinary entrepreneurs who want to change the world. DFJ has launched DFJ AltaTerra as an affiliate venture fund focused on the clean technology sector. For more information, visit: www.dfj.com
About Nth Power
Nth Power focuses on high-growth investment opportunities in the trillion-dollar global energy and utility marketplace. Nth Power began investing in 1997 and has over $250 million under management, with investments in energy intelligence, power reliability, distributed generation and related services. Nth Power's industry partners include leading electric and gas service providers and equipment manufacturers from around the world. More information: www.nthpower.com.
About VantagePoint Venture Partners
VantagePoint Venture Partners is among the most active and successful venture firms in the world with more than $2.8 billion of capital under management. The Firm invests exclusively in technology driven companies and is organized around deep expertise and resources in five principal areas of interest: Semiconductors, Software and Internet, Communications and Systems, Healthcare, and CleanTech. VantagePoint is a multi-stage investor, investing in high growth businesses at all stages of development. The Firm believes in applying an active, hands-on and team oriented approach to businesses not only at the traditional early stage, but throughout a company’s progression to scale. The Firm supports each of its portfolio companies with the resources of a dedicated team of VantagePoint professionals able to contribute a blend of company building, technology, operations, marketing, and corporate finance expertise. For more information, visit www.vpvp.com.