Gazette Online, IA
09-04-07
Culver introduces energy czar, Power Fund board members
By Rod Boshart
The Gazette
rod.boshart@gazettecommunications.com
DES MOINES - Gov. Chet Culver is convening a meeting today to introduce
newly appointed members of the state's Power Fund Board and his choice to be
the state's first energy czar, Roya Stanley.
The 18-member Power Fund Board of Directors is chaired by Des Moines
businessman Fred Hubbell and includes seven due diligence committee
members.
Joining Hubbell are Lucy Norton of Clive, Glenn Cannon of Waverly, Carrie
LaSeur of Mount Vernon, Peter Hemken of Des Moines, Patricia Higby of Cedar
Falls and Thomas Wind of Jefferson as public members appointed by Culver.
The panel also includes Iowa Agiculture Secretary Bill Northey and three state
agency heads -- John Norris, chair of the Iowa Utilities Board; Mike Tramontina,
director of the state Department of Economic Development; and Rich Leopold,
director of the state Department of Natural Resources. The board also has four
non-voting ex-officio members from the Legislature -- Sens. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar
Rapids, and Hubert Houser, R-Carson; and Reps. Nathan Reichert, DMuscatine, and Chuck Soderberg, R-LeMars - and three college representatives
that include Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy.
Hubbell and Higby will join five other people on the due diligence committee that
will make recommendations to the full Power Board on proposed projects to be
funded. The other members include Franklin Codel of West Des Moines, Vern
Gebhart of Marion, Floyd Barwif of Ames, Ted Crosbie of Earlham and William
Hunter of Coralville.
"I am pleased that the Power Fund is taking form," Culver said.
As director of Iowa's office of energy independence, Stanley is a nationally
known ambassador for renewable energy who will bring thoughtful leadership to
the new position, the governor said. Stanley spent the last seven years with the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.
Stanley's duties will be to coordinate and administer the states' $100 million, fouryear Iowa Power Fund. She also will coordinate existing state and federal energy
policy programs, pursue new research investment funds from public and private
sources, establish renewable energy performance measures, and develop an
Iowa energy independence plan by Dec. 14 that is intended to serve as a road
map for achieving independence from foreign sources by 2025.