March 17, 2006
Progress Energy has invested $150,000 to create the Center for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economic Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.The center, housed in the Carolina Environmental Program (CEP), will use the funds to carry out the Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economic Development (SEEED) initiative. SEEED will focus on the ways society responds to growing needs for energy associated with economic development, while also improving the environment.

The collaborative effort brings together experts from several university areas: the Center for Competitive Economies, based in Kenan-Flagler Business School; the CEP; and the department of public policy, based in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Progress Energy has a strong interest in the environment, sustainable energy and economic development and prosperity,” said William D. Johnson, Progress Energy president and chief operating officer and a member of the CEP board of visitors. “These topics are inextricably linked, and all are important to finding balanced solutions to address our energy needs in the future. We are pleased to be able to support the CEP in its work on these issues.”

UNC is using the grant to establish three student fellowships, three faculty fellowships, an undergraduate capstone project and a seminar series.

Photograph of Dr. Douglas Crawford-Brown

Photograph of Dr. Douglas Crawford-Brown

“Progress Energy has been very far-sighted in this gift, helping the Carolina Environmental Program position itself as a resource to the state in moving forward on economic development in a sustainable way,” said Dr. Doug Crawford-Brown, SEEED’s co-director and CEP director. He also is a professor of environmental sciences and engineering and public policy, and a Progress Energy faculty fellow.

“We appreciate Progress Energy’s vision and generosity through this wonderful gift,” he added.

The other two Progress Energy faculty fellows are Dr. Pete Andrews, Thomas Willis Lambeth distinguished professor of public policy; and Dr. Michael Luger, director of UNC’s Center for Competitive Economies. The three will research how new markets in environmentally superior energy technologies could be created in North Carolina, as well as how North Carolina energy and climate change policy can mesh with efforts in other states and the nation.

They also will assess what mixture of energy supplies, as diverse as biomass and nuclear, might be appropriate for North Carolina’s response to the challenge of climate change, meet with energy providers and investors, issue reports and provide expert testimony to state policy-makers.

“Perhaps the most pressing issue of sustainability in North Carolina is how we will bring sorely needed economic growth while coping with the energy demands this creates and the environmental impacts of energy use,” Crawford-Brown said.

Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, is a Fortune 250 diversified energy company with more than 24,500 megawatts of generation capacity and $10 billion in annual revenues. The company’s holdings include two electric utilities serving approximately 3 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

Progress Energy’s gift counts toward the Carolina First Campaign, a comprehensive, multi-year, private fund-raising campaign with a goal of $2 billion to support Carolina’s vision of becoming the nation’s leading public university.

The Carolina Environmental Program is a multidisciplinary program in education, research and outreach. The School of Public Health and six other University schools and colleges participate in this multidisciplinary approach.

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For further information please contact Ramona DuBose either by phone at 919-966-7467 or by e-mail at ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

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