RALEIGH -- Two Chapel Hill residents will join Orange County state Democratic Sen. Ellie Kinnaird on the reconstituted N.C. Energy Policy Council.
Tim Toben of Chapel Hill, a partner in Greenbridge Development, was appointed to oversee energy-efficient building design or construction and Marcus Wilhelm of Chapel Hill, owner of Solar Tech South, was appointed to explore providing renewable energy services.
Toben, a principal in green energy and green building ventures in the state, has been named chairman of the council. He serves on the N.C. Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change and is chairman of the Board of Visitors at the UNC Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment.
Kinnaird was appointed by Senate President ProTem Marc Basnight.
The Energy Policy Council was reorganized during the past legislative session as part of Gov. Bev Perdue's strategy to make North Carolina a leader in green economy jobs by strengthening state leadership in energy policy and making smart investments to create green jobs and foster innovation. Perdue announced the appointees on Friday.
"We must continue to act aggressively to make North Carolina a global leader in the green economy, and the Energy Policy Council is a critical part of my efforts to strengthen energy policymaking in state government," Perdue said in a written release.
The council will hold its first meeting at 10 a.m. today at the offices of Advanced Energy on the N.C. State University Centennial Campus.
The law requires that Perdue's appointees come from specific sectors of the state's energy economy. Other appointees are:
- Electric power industry: George Everett, of Raleigh -- Duke Energy.
- Natural gas industry: George Baldwin, of Charlotte -- Piedmont Natural Gas.
- Energy policy matters: Jo Anne Sanford, Raleigh -- Sanford Law Offices.
- Alternative fuels and biofuels: Steven Burke, Oxford -- Biofuels Center.
- Environmental protection: Michael Regan, Raleigh -- Environmental Defense Fund.
- Renewable sources of energy: Simon Rich, Edenton -- Fuqua Rich Weeks LLC.
- County or city commissioner: Rodney W. Locks, -- Brevard City Council.
- Development of energy-related businesses: Henry McKoy, Durham -- Fourth Sector Financial.
- Low-income residential weatherization: Reginald Speight of Williamston -- Martin County Community Action.
- Petroleum industry: Kevin Garrison, of Concord -- South Central Oil Company.
- Also appointed by Basnight was Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake.
- Appointed by House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Chapel Hill, are Rep. Angela Bryant, D-Nash and Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford.
