I have a 17 year old energy business in Virginia and also am an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University (GWU) with one of my energy classes at their Arlington, VA building. Under Virginia's Climate Action Plan, we’ll see carbon emissions from power plants fall 30 percent by 2030, a huge step forward in the climate fight that will yield cleaner air and stimulate a clean energy economy. I strongly urge Virginia to meet an agressive approach to reduce coal and diesel emissions and use, further incentivize businesses and residences to adopt high-value energy efficiency, on-site renewable energy, and energy storage. VA also needs to formally adopt a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) above the agreement just passed by the legislature. This action drives our electric utuilities to meet certain goals. The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census, which defines solar workers as those who spend at least 50 percent of their time on solar-related work, found there were 3,236 solar jobs in Virginia last year, ranking 33rd per capita among U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For comparison, there were about 2,867 coal mining workers in Virginia last year."  In the May 2017: VAEEC's report, “Why Energy Efficiency is a Smart Investment for Virginia”. Data in the report show that energy efficiency is a $1.5B industry in Virginia that supports 75,000 jobs. Other studies show 2,187  jobs in Virginia in wind, biomass, hydropower and marine energy.

Adopting the Virginia Climate Action plan will double these job numbers in 3 years, significantly reduce regulated emissions under the Clean Air Act (mercury, NOX, SO2, ozone, & particulates) and greenhouse gas emissions.

Virginia needs to continue build Virginia's economy, create jobs, incubate many new types of businesses -- this is the direction that needs to be taken. We have been overtaken by North Carolina and Maryland in clean energy jobs even though we have more resources and more cutting edge businesses and research.  There is no reason to give up this advantage and reap the benefits.

Scott Sklar, President

The Stella Group, Ltd., 706 North Ivy Street, Arlington, VA 22201

VA Phone:  703-522-1195   E-mail: solarsklar@aol.com      Website: www.TheStellaGroupLtd.com

The Stella Group, Ltd.. is a strategic technology optimization and policy firm for clean energy users and companies, with a focus on system standardization, modularity, and web-enabled diagnostics. Scott Sklar is an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University teaching two unique interdisciplinary sustainable energy courses, and an Affiliated Professor with CATIE, an international graduate university in Costa Rica offering graduate degrees on sustainability. Sklar is the Energy Director at GWU’s Environment and Energy Management Institute (EEMI). Sklar chairs the Steering Committee of the Sustainable Energy Coalition. On June 19, 2014, Scott Sklar was awarded the prestigious The Charles Greely Abbot Award by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and on April 26, 2014 was awarded the Green Patriot Award by George Mason University in Virginia. Sklar was re-appointed to the US  Department of Commerce Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee (RE&EEAC), where he served as its Chair, (ending in June 2016)  and  re-appointed onto DOC RE&EEAC and serves as Vice Chair through June 2018.

His peer-reviewed paper on zero-energy buildings was published on zero energy buildings in 2013, “Perspective on multi-scale assets for clean energy technologies in buildings” and is available as 'Online First' on Springer Link http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s10669-013-9475-0

"The Future of Personal Energy Use “ presented by Scott Sklar ... - TEDxTalkstedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-Future-of-Personal-Energy-U‎?Apr 7, 2015 ... The convergence of personal power with personal security, personal transportation, personal communication, and personal networking. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H6AOBWNmrY) 6,479 views

Coauthor of The George Washington University (GWU) Community Solar Handbook, October 2017

https://sustainabilitycollaborative.gwu.edu/sites/sustainabilitycollaborative.gwu.edu/files/image/Community%20Solar%20Handbook%20for%20Municipalities%20-%20Oct%202017.pdf