Nearly 80 people gathered at the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) last week for the organization’s 7th Annual Energy Briefing.

The event was organized by the Smart Energy Initiative (SEI) and highlighted current trends and data in the energy industry.

SEI, which promotes the growth of the conservation, efficiency and renewable energy industries in Southeastern Pennsylvania, is an initiative of the CCEDC.

Speakers included Christopher Wiederspahn, Vice President of Business Development at Amerex Energy Services.

He shared some good news in that retail gas and electricity futures prices are low and flat at this time with less volatility than in the past generally but some not so good news in that regulatory issues and uncertainty based on generation diversity, clean energy standards and market structure issues are pushing retail prices higher.

Emily Schapira, Executive Director of Philadelphia Energy Authority detailed her organization’s efforts with the Philadelphia Energy Campaign.  This $1 billion investment over 10 years in energy efficiency and clean energy projects is expected to generate 10,000 jobs and impact 25,000 households and 2,500 small businesses.

She also discussed C-PACE, an innovative financing tool to help pay for energy efficiency, renewable energy and water efficiency projects for commercial, industrial and agricultural properties.

Ed Fortunato, Managing Director of Fundamental Analysis at Constellation Energy, an Exelon Company noted that gas supplies are abundant thanks to innovation and technology.  Echoing Weiderspahn’s point, he also reinforced the fact that the low prices that gas brings has and will have impacts to other fuels, coal, oil even renewables.

“This annual energy briefing always draws a large crowd because it provides forecasts for both the energy markets in the region as well as the impact on businesses or anyone that uses energy at home or at work,” said Paul Spiegel, President of Practical Energy Solutions and chair of SEI.   “The information is especially useful for large building owners and companies that provide goods and services in the energy field,” he continued.

To learn more about smart energy in our area, visit https://smartenergypa.org/.