Contact: Crystal Bentley, [email protected], 865-329-0553
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) hosted its 2024 Annual Meeting at the Schneider Electric Nashville Hub on March 26, gathering TAEBC members and industry stakeholders to celebrate Tennessee’s growing advanced energy economy.
Kicking off the Annual Meeting, Angela Chan, Microgrid Sales Engagement Leader at Schneider Electric and TAEBC Board Member, welcomed more than 100 attendees to Schneider Electric’s Nashville Hub. Cortney Piper, Executive Director of TAEBC, presented highlights from member companies, recapped TAEBC’s 2023 accomplishments, and announced new goals and priorities for 2024.
“Our accomplishments in 2023 were marked by partnerships with TVA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Launch Tennessee plus an impressive year of growth as TAEBC welcomed 21 new members and hosted more than 600 participants at our annual events,” said Piper. “TAEBC has not only championed Tennessee’s advanced energy economy but positioned the industry as a beacon of innovation in the Southeast. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made championing advanced energy initiatives in the state this year.”
In 2023, TAEBC’s Energy Network helped launch the first Spark Cleantech Accelerator and Innovation Crossroads mega-cohort program featuring 13 startup companies. In FY2023, the Energy Network worked with 54 mentors and 17 startups, which raised a total of $54 million and created or retained over 140 jobs.
The meeting featured several panels and presentations from advanced energy leaders across the state.
Brian Child, Vice President, Enterprise Planning at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), gave an update on TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which serves as a compass for how to best meet the Valley’s forecasted energy demand in the coming decades. The current IRP was completed in 2019, and work on the next IRP is underway. TAEBC was selected in 2023 as a member of the 24-person IRP Working Group. TAEBC members and other stakeholders have remained engaged in the process to help shape our energy future, foster energy innovations that will bring new economic opportunities, and ensure electricity demands are met as new opportunities and challenges emerge in the Valley.
Marc Gibson, President of TEAM TN, outlined a strategy to position Tennessee as a leading state in transportation electrification and digitization. Gibson highlighted the importance of R&D investment to secure Tennessee’s future in mobility, aiming to make the state a global mobility research leader, attract private investment, create jobs, and diversify the economy. The ultimate vision of TEAM TN, which launched in 2023, is to make Tennessee a hub for talent and companies in the mobility ecosystem. TAEBC is a TEAM TN Core Partner.
Following Gibson’s presentation, several appointed members of Governor Lee’s Tennessee Nuclear Advisory Council discussed how the council is driving new nuclear energy innovation and investment across the state. Dr. Hash Hashemian, Ph.D., President and CEO of AMS; Don Moul, Executive Vice President and COO of TVA; and Lang Wiseman, Shareholder at Baker Donelson, participated in the discussion. The panel was moderated by Tracy Boatner, President of the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC).
Anca Timofte, co-founder and CEO of Holocene, was featured as this year’s new member highlight. At Holocene, Timofte and her team use organic chemistry to create an effective CO2 removal system. As a developer of direct air capture technology and a provider of carbon removal services, Holocene is working on a scalable, low-temperature system that efficiently removes carbon from the atmosphere. Their goal is to significantly impact the fight against global warming by slowing and eventually reversing its effects. Holocene is part of TAEBC’s Energy Network, run in partnership with Launch Tennessee.
Additionally, Chris Bowles, Partner, Bradley Law; Gina Brown, Director of Economic and Community Development, Silicon Ranch; Brad Gibson, COO, Middle Tennessee Electric, and Mandy White, Chief Economic Development Officer, Greater Jackson Chamber, led a panel on “Siting Solar in Tennessee,” which was moderated by Molly Cripps, Director, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Office of Energy Programs. The panel qualified the value of utility scale solar energy as an economic and community development strategy and outlined best practices for Tennessee communities to take such an approach.
Steve Seifried, Tennessee Account Executive, Ameresco, and TAEBC Board President, closed out the event, thanking Schneider Electric for hosting and TDEC for sponsoring.
About Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council
TAEBC champions advanced energy as an economic development and job creation strategy. Advanced energy is technology neutral and includes electricity and transportation. Anything that makes energy cleaner, safer, more secure or more efficient is in the tent. No other entity in the state concentrates specifically on this robust sector. We educate public officials and business leaders about Tennessee’s advanced energy economy, establish strategic partnerships to connect assets with opportunities, and inform policy that expands and strengthens the industry. TAEBC hosts the Energizing Tennessee podcast, which explores the latest news and insights about the advanced energy sector. For more information, visit: https://tnadvancedenergy.com/.