Wind Powering America Hosts 11th Annual All-States Summit

This is an excerpt from the Third Quarter 2012 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter.

Approximately 100 members of Wind Powering America's (WPA's) network attended the 11th Annual All-States Summit on June 7 at the Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference Center in Atlanta, with an additional 53 attending via webinar. The Summit, which followed the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA's) annual WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition, provides state Wind Working Groups, state energy officials, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and national laboratory representatives, and professional and institutional partners an opportunity to review successes, opportunities, and challenges for wind energy and plan future collaboration.

One of the highlights of the annual WPA All-States Summit is an awards presentation recognizing the accomplishments of peers. For the second year, network stakeholders participated in an online survey to nominate individuals for awards. Team members at NREL and DOE reviewed the nominations and presented the following awards during this year's summit:

• Outstanding Wind Working Group: Georgia Wind Working Group for efforts to promote wind energy in Georgia and the Southeast, including support for the 2012 Summit
• Outstanding Leadership in Education: Gwen Andersen of St. Francis University for her efforts to spearhead the development of wind energy education
• Outstanding Wind Powering America Partner: Southern Alliance for Clean Energy for efforts to support land-based and offshore wind energy development in the Southeast
• Larry Flowers Outstanding Leadership Award: Mackinaw Power and the Gratiot Community Wind Project for leadership in developing wind projects in harmony with the local community
• Outstanding Young Advocate Award: Karin Wadsack of Northern Arizona University for her incredible energy and creativity in developing wind energy education across the state
• Small Wind Leadership Award: Brett Pingree for his tireless efforts in support of the small and community wind industry
• Western Regional Leadership Award: Western Interstate Energy Board for forward-thinking efforts to develop the Western Renewable Energy Zones and multi-state collaboration in transmission planning
• Midwestern Regional Leadership Award: Windustry for supporting community wind development and the Community Wind across America conference series
• Eastern Regional Leadership Award: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for long-term leadership in offshore and community-scale wind development
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Dwight Bailey, U.S. Department of Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory, for his tireless efforts in support of wind energy and regional networks.

To ensure that those who couldn't attend the event could benefit from the panel discussions and presentations, the morning's proceedings were available via live webcast. Attendees were able to view not only the presentations but also participate via Internet.