2015 Conference

Discussion Symposium

San Diego County now spends about $10 billion per year for energy consumption across all sectors of the regional economy.  The question to be asked is whether this set of expenditures provides area businesses and its 3.2 million residents with an optimal set of benefits – whether measured in terms of jobs and incomes, or in terms of health and environmental impacts.  The County’s Department of Planning and Development has contracted with a California collaborative, Empower Efficiency, for the development of a Comprehensive Renewable Energy Plan to lay the foundation for a more robust and sustainable economic activity (especially within the unincorporated areas of the county). The initial set of “innovation scenarios” provided by the draft plan suggests that the region can meet 100 percent of its total electricity needs through a combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies by the year 2050.  This panel session will review the business, market, and political implications of the final comprehensive plan (due in June 2015) as well as the necessary level of investments, best practices and workforce training that will ensure its success. Brief opening remarks will be followed by discussion of ways this approach might be replicated within other regions of the U.S. economy.