Renewable Energy Powerhouses Merge In Texas

AUSTIN, TX — Two of the state's most prominent nonprofits focused on clean enregy have merged to yield more robust efforts to accelerate growth of renewable energy, officials announced Monday.

Officially aligning their goals with the merger were Texas Renewable Energy Industries Alliance, founded in 1984 to advance renewable energy in Texas, and CleanTX, an economic development and professional association for clean technology, according to an emailed advisory.

Officials described the former group as having influenced the legislation that created Texas’ successful Renewable Portfolio Standard which ultimately led to Texas becoming a world leader in installed wind power capacity and was the innovator of GridNEXT, an annual conference to advance the discussion around modernizing the transmission grid to maximize renewable energy integration.

For its part, 2006-founded CleanTX supports cleantech innovation and adoption through information exchange, thought leadership and strategic partnerships. Combining these two organizations will provide increased value to both member groups while also driving expansion throughout Texas, officials said. Among the nearly 75 key partners in the effort are:

● Austin Energy
● Avangrid Renewables
● Duke Energy
● Electrical Consultants, Inc.
● Husch Blackwell
● North American Development Bank
● Freedom Solar

“CleanTX and TREIA have both been incredibly important organizations in their own right for over a decade and over a quarter of a century respectively for the state of Texas,” Mitch Jacobson, the executive director of the Austin Technology Incubator, former board member of TREIA and former Board Chair of CleanTX, said in a prepared statement. “The announcement of the merger of these two nonprofits is such great news in that they can now pour their joint efforts into one, and is especially gratifying after spending many years on both of these respected boards. The importance of their joint mission cannot be overstated and I am very much looking forward to their future impact on sustainability and the clean tech economy.”

Concurrent to the merger announcement, CleanTX confirmed this year’s annual GridNEXT event will take place virtually, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, with the theme, “A New Decade, New Clean Technology & New Ways To Integrate Renewables into the Grid.” To RSVP to GridNEXT, click here.

Offiicals said that together, the combined organizations will expand their footprint by providing monthly Happy Hours in local chapter cities, annual GridNEXT seminars staged regionally across Texas, Power Hours and white papers to improve the cohesiveness and success of the renewable and cleantech industries. CleanTX also announces a webinar series that will take place on the third Wednesday of each month. The webinars will focus on clean technology, renewables and e-mobility and will be moderated each month by Peter Kelly-Detwiler.

“This new, combined powerhouse is exactly the kind of partnership needed to achieve TREIA’s mission of modernizing the power grid to advance renewable integration to meet our 50% renewable energy goal in Texas by 2030,” Melissa Miller, former president of TREIA and incoming Co-Chair of CleanTX, said in a prepared statement. “CleanTX brings the technology, innovation and leadership we need to continue to meet our renewable energy goals in Texas and aligns perfectly with our GridNEXT initiative.”

Added Brandon Cosinteno, executive director of CleanTX since May of 2019 and executive director of the combined organizations: "As we move forward as a combined organization, we will bring the strengths of TREIA and CleanTX together to create an even stronger nonprofit organization that represents the entire CleanTech community in Texas. With that, we will continue to grow and leverage our existing networking events, the TREIA GridNEXT series and the combined resources of both organizations to ensure that we are leading the way to accelerate the growth of cleantech and renewable energy in Texas."

CleanTX will continue to be based in Austin, officials said, and will integrate TREIA’s local chapter model, supporting chapters in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Boards of directors for TREIA and CleanTX, composed of renewable and clean energy professionals, have also combined to form a heightened thought leadership team, officials added. With nearly 75 member companies, ranging from large-scale renewable energy developers, utilities and economic development organizations to cleantech, builders, and other companies across Texas, will benefit from this consolidated organization that can deliver more content and connections with improved scale, according to the announcement.

The new CleanTX Executive Team will consist of:

● Prior-President of TREIA Melissa Miller, Regional Manager at Avangrid Renewables
● Prior-Chair of CleanTX Ryan Edwards, Project Finance Manager at Silicon Ranch Corporation
● Vice Chairman Scott MacMurdo, Business Development Director at Duke Energy
● Secretary Jeff Risely, Chief Strategy Officer at Saxum
● Treasurer Cameron Freburg, Utility Strategist at Austin Energy
● Advisory Board Chair Joseph Kopser, President of Grayline

“After years of serving as clean energy and clean technology focal points in Texas, the newlym merged CleanTX will become a statewide nonprofit leader in the clean energy industry,” Ryan Edwards, newly appointed Co-Chair of the CleanTX board of directors, said in a prepared statement. “CleanTX will be uniquely positioned to deliver better value for its existing members, while also expanding outreach to new members across Texas and beyond!”

Jose Beceiro, previous chair of the CleanTX board of directors and senior director of the Global Energy 2.0 program at the Greater Houston Partnership, echoed the sentiment: “The merger of CleanTX and TREIA will accelerate the growth of Texas’ vibrant cleantech economy. I’m excited to see both organizations coming together to create the most impactful clean energy partnership in Texas and beyond.”

Michael Breen, one of the founding members of the CleanTX advisory board, suggested the merger was long in the planning: “I have served on the Board of Directors of CleanTX for over 10 years. Over that time we looked for ways to escalate our strategy of being a source of information, networking and advocate for the Clean Technology economy across the state of Texas. This merger with TREIA is right in line with what we have always been trying to accomplish. I am looking forward to the new opportunities and experience of the combined members.”

Russel Smith, one of TREIA’s original founding members, noted that nonprofits are constantly struggling to survive and thrive, with one way to do that being the formation of alliances: “TREIA’s merging with CleanTX represents the ultimate manifestation of an alliance,” Smith said in a prepared statement. “As long as there are people committed to joining together to fight for a cleaner environment and a more livable future, they will seek new alliances that can move the marker forward ever more effectively.”

Businesses or organizations interested in becoming a member of CleanTX can visit www.CleanTX.org/join or email Join@CleanTX.org.

ABOUT CLEANTX

CleanTX supports cleantech innovation and adoption by: (1) Providing avenues for networking, education, and information exchange among industry and community stakeholders; (2) Facilitating strategic partnerships to launch forward-looking economic development initiatives; and (3) Promoting the growth of the cleantech industry in Texas through increased visibility, thought leadership, access to talent, and connections to local, state and national leaders.