Energy objective
Photo/Carol Coultas
Ed Holt has built a reputation over the past 30 years as one of the country's leading energy policy advisers
Ed Holt loves looking off the deck on the back of his Harpswell home at the meandering forest creek that attracts birds and other critters.
But, by his own admission, he’s just at home in the weeds.
There, in the knotted thatch of energy policy nuances, he’s made a name for himself as one of the most respected energy policy advisers in the country. Clients from public and private sectors include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Tennessee Valley Authority, the Renewable Energy Marketers Association and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Recently, Holt was awarded the 2009 Green Power Leadership Pioneer Award from the Center for Resource Solutions, a California-based nonprofit that certifies renewable energy products. “Ed Holt has dedicated the last 30 years to moving the market forward for renewable energy,” said Arthur O’Donnell, executive director of the group. “Ed has proven to be a highly trusted source of intelligence and clear thinking about the big issues faced by the industry.”
Holt, an Augusta native, is president of Ed Holt & Associates Inc., an energy consultancy he operates from his home. He credits his early years working in a utility for understanding the multiple and sometimes conflicting priorities of stakeholders invested in energy projects. He recognized that policy slants from state commissions or city councils often wield influence in energy projects. The impact of those policies has held a fascination for him for decades.
“What I do is a mix, but I try to be an honest broker,” he says. “Some of my colleagues think I’m too even handed in a way … they want me to take a strong advocacy position, but that would change the kind of work I do.”
By way of example, Holt says he is often called upon to assess a piece of legislation. “I can say ‘This is great, good for the environment but what about its weaknesses? How can it be better?’ I take it down to a narrower stage.”
Holt got his start in energy planning at a tumultuous time in American energy history. A graduate of the University of Washington, he became an urban planner in Seattle when a severe drought affected the region’s hydro-based electricity. Then the oil embargo of 1973 hit.
“There were no environmental study degrees at that time,” he says. “But the policy planning, the environmental orientation of policy interested me ... I just jumped in.”
Nowadays Holt says he spends about half his time dealing with clients who have very specific objectives, such as requesting analysis on an energy issue, or advice setting up a green power program. The other half of his time is spent collaborating with other energy advisers on projects.
“Because I’m small, I can team with others and work for federal clients like the EPA or one of the big Beltway consulting firms that want to make a bid stronger, so they bring me in … it’s my reputation that makes that work,” he says.
Here in Maine, he’s been studying the impact of carbon cap-and-trade programs, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. While others look at distribution allowances and how much each state gets, Holt says he looks at “what it means for renewable energy and voluntary markets for renewable energy … people and organizations that choose to buy green power who are not under a mandate.” Holt says those stakeholders represent a sizable and unrecognized market that could be the equivalent of the mandated demand.
“I make people aware of these things, there is a mission or focus, and I think working on something really important makes a difference.”
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