MBA Sustainability Program, CERE Support Initiative for Regional Energy Plan

Duquesne’s MBA Sustainability Program, the Center for Environmental Research and Education, and the Bayer School for Natural and Environmental Sciences are among the sponsors of a regional event focused on developing an energy plan for the region.

Energy for the Power of 32: 32 Counties, 4 states, 1 Energy Future will be held Thursday, Dec. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown.

While the region has many energy resources and world-class expertise, it has not yet identified energy strategies to assure economic competitiveness and high quality of life. This plan has the potential to serve as a model nationwide.

“Given the fact that in the U.S. we waste 56 percent of all energy generated, the importance of this initiative and Duquesne’s participation cannot be stressed enough,” said Dr. Robert Sroufe, the Murrin Chair of Global Competitiveness and associate professor of supply chain management in the Donahue Graduate School of Business.

“The Power of 32 event will be a catalyst for local clusters of stakeholders to collaboratively develop a plan for reconceiving our energy future,” Sroufe added. “This approach creates what management strategists call ‘shared value.’ It focuses on organizations creating measurable business value by identifying and addressing society’s needs—in this case, energy needs—that intersect with business and the environment.”

At the event, eight speakers will address energy issues, including representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Energy Technology Laboratory as well as the following keynotes:

  • Dr. Aaron Bernstein, associate director of the center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health and an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Designing Energy Systems for Health
  • Robyn Beavers, senior vice president of innovation and foundation of Station A Group, NRG Energy, Innovating a 21st-century, Low Carbon Energy Economy.

All attendees then will be asked to join a deliberation session to develop recommendations on energy production, distribution and conservation. Energy goals are expected to be determined for economy, equity and environment.