February 5, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: VERDEXCHANGE 2018 PROVES GREEN INNOVATION ECONOMY IS THE ECONOMY OF TODAY
Los Angeles, Calif.— On January 29 – 30, more than 1,000 global and California market-makers gathered under one roof for the 11th annual VerdeXchange Conference in Downtown Los Angeles. VX2018 provided an unparalleled B2B platform for leaders to share the technology and policy innovations that are propelling the growth of the world’s multi-trillion-dollar clean energy economy. Financiers and policy decision-makers from the President of Southern California Edison to the President of the California Public Utilities Commission, from KPMG to the Natural Resources Defense Council, and from SoCalGas to Japan’s NEDO Research Institute, shared market knowledge to advance renewable energy, innovative water technologies, distributed microgrids, disruptive autonomous vehicles, and resilient green infrastructure.
Highlights of VX2018 included:
- An exploration of pioneering microgrids and sustainable energy initiatives, featuring speakers such as Dennis McGinn, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy; Robert Weisenmiller, California Energy Commission Chair; Susan Kennedy, Founder & CEO, Advanced Microgrid Solutions; Rear Admiral Yancy Lindsey, U.S. Navy; Robert Griffin, Director (retired) of the U.S. Navy’s Renewable Program Office; and Dan Cohee, Vice President, PDE Total Energy Solutions
- A series of panels that surveyed resilient, livable, and sustainable urban solutions for the built environment, co-hosted with Urban Land Institute-Los Angeles’ FutureBuild
- A look at the Community Choice Energy program coming to Los Angeles County and the future of Electric Grid Alternatives to compete with traditional private utilities
- The Cleantech Open Global Awards Showcase, hosted in partnership with the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, recognized the globe's most promising young energy companies pushing the envelope on clean and green technology
- A meeting of LA regional Chief Sustainability Officers in the public, private, and academic sectors to advance and refine the emerging multidisciplinary position
- A discussion co-hosted by the World Trade Center Los Angeles on the Future of the North American Free Trade Agreement by recently returned U.S. Ambassador to Germany John Emerson, former United States Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, and Jobs to Move America Executive Director Madeline Janis
- In VerdeXchange’s 4th Water Charrette, top public water managers and leading infrastructure engineering firms collaboratively outlined investments to help solve Southern California’s water supply challenges ahead of the November 2018 LA County stormwater ballot measure
- BlueTech: Growing Sustainable Ocean Economies — an introduction to the emerging blue tech industry, of which Los Angeles is poised to become an international hub with the opening of AltaSea at the Port of LA
- A special welcome to Veloz, a California-based nonprofit convening public and private sector leaders to advance electric vehicle adoption, with co-chairs California Energy Commissioner David Hochschild, LADWP Board of Commissioners President Mel Levine, and BMW Vice President Angela Konert
- An advanced look at Los Angeles’ plans to accelerate $135 billion of infrastructure investment in preparation for its third Olympic Games in 2028, with AECOM Vice President Bill Hanway, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Phil Washington, LA84 Foundation CEO Renata Simril, and Los Angeles World Airports Chief Innovation & Technology Officer Justin Erbacci
Market-makers from Asia, Europe, and the Americas found VX2018 a valuable venue to explore new business opportunities and evolve policy initiatives. Delegations from Japan, Canada, and Germany, along with other nations, joined participants from California and across the U.S. to evaluate disruptive technologies with the potential to optimize the electric grid and the growth of distributed generation.
Felicia Marcus, Chair of the California State Water Resources Board, commented, “There are people here who know what the cutting edge is. By investing a couple of days at VerdeXchange, you can save yourself months, if not years, of wasted time.”
More than 55 panels and case studies addressed: the impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Cities, Green Innovation at the Ports, and Intentional Water Management. The FutureBuild sessions at VerdeXchange, a partnership with the Urban Land Institute-Los Angeles, afforded leading developers and planners an opportunity to hear the latest successes and challenges in Sustainability, Resiliency, and Disruption in the built environment. California State Senator Bob Wieckowski reinforced the importance of the state in leading, remarking, “California will continue to lead the world on innovation. If federal funding changes, we will get smarter. We really have to move quickly on removing the greenhouse gas emissions while increasing productivity and keeping our economy strong.”
More than 230 expert panelists contributed to VX2018, including: Pierre Moreau, Québec Minister for Energy and Natural Resources; Herb Wesson, Los Angeles City Council President; Kevin Payne, CEO, Southern California Edison; Justin Erlich, Global Head of Autonomous Vehicle Policy, Uber; Eamon Ryan, Green Party Leader, Republic of Ireland; Marissa Aho, Los Angeles Chief Resiliency Officer; Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board; Steve Westly, Founder and Managing Director, The Westly Group; Kelli Bernard, Chief Executive-Los Angeles, AECOM; Christine Harada, former White House Chief Sustainability Officer; Karen Douglas, Commissioner, California Energy Commission; Seleta Reynolds, General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Transportation; Jeff Bleich, former U.S. Ambassador to Australia; V. John White, Executive Director, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies; Kim Budil, VP for University of California National Labs; Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County Supervisor; Liane Randolph, California Public Utilities Commissioner; and many more.
“Attendees of VerdeXchange over the last 11 years have turned an idea into an action.”
- Jim Wunderman, CEO, Bay Area Council
Browse additional speakers: http://www.verdexchange.org/speakers/vx2018
Review the program: http://www.verdexchange.org/vx2018-program
VX2018 sponsors include: AECOM, Southern California Edison, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, LA Metro, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Arup, World Trade Center-Los Angeles, Southern California Gas Company, Urban Land Institute–Los Angeles, NEDO, IBEW/NECA, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, California Energy Commission, JETRO, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Province of Québec, Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles, California Energy Commission, Nissan, Young Professionals in Energy–Los Angeles, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, KPMG, BMW, Veloz, Water Replenishment District of Southern California, Sumitomo Electric, Consulate General of Canada–Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Toyota, Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Subaru, FuturePorts, Tetra Tech, Cleantech Open, The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, Mercedes Benz, BKT, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, and Chai Energy.
Join us next year for the 2019 VerdeXchange Conference & Expo, January 27-29 in Los Angeles.
For press inquiries, contact:
Ross Zelen
Tel. 213.629.9019
ross@verdexchange.org