Twelve States Join Together to Promote Clean Energy

On January 29, 2004, public benefit funds from 12 states announced the new Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), a non-profit organization that will provide information and technical help to its member funds as they work together to promote renewable and clean energy markets in the United States. Together, the 17 publicly managed clean energy funds from 12 states—California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin—will provide about $3.5 billion toward the effort over the next decade. Public benefit funds, which are collected through charges on customers’ electric bills or through required utility contributions, are used to support energy efficiency programs or renewable energy projects. CESA has already begun to promote solar, wind, fuel cells, and other clean energy projects and investments by helping the states share information and strategies. “States see clean energy as a way to improve the environment, but also as a powerful economic tool,” according to Lewis Milford, Executive Director of CESA. “By working together, these states can build even bigger clean energy markets, spur technology innovation, create more jobs and more quickly clean up the environment.”

Read the CESA Website
Map of States with Public Benefit Funds