On November 28, 2007, Sacramento Municipal Utili­ties District (SMUD) Board Members, Executives and Pur­chasing Professionals welcomed a record-breaking crowd to their 2nd Annual SMUD Suppliers Networking Conference and Power Player Awards Luncheon, co-hosted by The Federal Technology Center.

A key subject throughout the day was the need for “green” clean, renewable, and efficient energy technologies. Howard Posner, Vice President of the SMUD Board of Directors emphasized environmental stewardship, including using alternative fuels and renewable resources, reducing peak hours (5 to 8 p.m.) electrical consumption, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He stated that as a part of SMUD’s “Compact with the Customer,” they seek to empower customers to facilitate these goals.

The “green” message was also a key part of the panel of experts’ discussion which included Ingrid Rosten, Executive Director of CleanStart; J.D. Stack, CEO of Sacramento Area Regional Tech­nology Alliance; Lisa Pickert, Special Projects Coordinator for Verde Development Solutions; and Patricia Nealon, Director of Corporate & Strategic Marketing for SynapSense Corporation. The panel agreed there is a necessity to not only build consumer support for the goals mentioned by Posner, but to also grow and encourage energy technology companies locally.

Managers from SMUD’s industry sectors discussed contracting opportunities with SMUD emphasizing that green energy is considered in every sector of the SMUD organization.

Jan Schori, General Manager of SMUD, shared SMUD’s pride for their high customer satisfaction ratings in a national survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. She stated that SMUD is considered a national leader in its field and that this recognition is made possible by the firms that distinguished themselves through superior contract performance and by helping SMUD achieve its renewable energy goals and improve service reliability, including the 2007 Power Player Award winners. For a complete list of our upcoming events, click here.