Northwest Celebrates the Leadership in Energy Efficiency Awards

Industry honors peers at Chelan PUD, Energy Trust of Oregon, Puget Sound Energy, and Tacoma Power for outstanding achievement

Portland, Ore. –Today the Board of Directors of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) honored winners of the 2016 Leadership in Energy Efficiency Awards.

These awards recognize outstanding achievement in collaboration, innovative solutions and achievement that have significantly contributed to greater energy efficiency in the Northwest. The regional energy efficiency community participated in nominations, and a select panel of Northwest energy and utility leaders selected the winners:

Sara Bowles and Jordan Whiteley, who work in conservation at Tacoma Power, garnered the Leadership in Energy Efficiency Award for Innovation for their work in developing a Video Chat Inspection pilot, which replaces inspectors’ on-site visits with virtual inspections.

Andrew Grassell of Chelan County PUD and Jeff Tripp of Puget Sound Energy won the Leadership in Energy Efficiency Award for Collaboration for co-chairing a collaborative group of over forty participants to develop a long-term, regional strategy for accelerating energy efficiency in the consumer products market.

Margie Harris, founding executive director of the Energy Trust of Oregon, won the Tom Eckman Leadership in Energy Efficiency Award for Lifetime Achievement for her visionary leadership in energy efficiency over her 30 year career. Eckman, who presented the award to Harris, received last year’s inaugural achievement award.

“In the past 15 years, Margie’s vision shaped Energy Trust into the innovative and effective organization we are today. With her leadership, we are firmly on the path to delivering clean, affordable energy, improving lives and building a brighter future for all,” said Debbie Kitchin, president of Energy Trust’s board of directors.

Bob Stolarski, director Customer Energy Management for Puget Sound Energy and chair of NEEA’s board of directors emceed this year’s event, held in downtown Portland in conjunction with NEEA’s Annual Board Meeting.

“We are fortunate to have such experienced leadership that brings innovation and collaboration to our alliance. Their dedication makes a huge contribution to energy efficiency in the Northwest,” stated Susan E. Stratton, NEEA’s executive director. “As we celebrate twenty years of working an as alliance, these are exactly the types of leaders who will move our region forward.”