‘Meeting New Jersey’s Energy Needs’: Rowan’s Sweeney Center to present conference Feb. 27

The Sweeney Center for Public Policy will host its fourth major energy conference, “Meeting New Jersey’s Energy Needs: Clean Energy, Supply and Demand,” at Rowan University on Thursday, Feb. 27.

The conference, which will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is free and includes lunch. Registration and breakfast begin at 8 a.m. To sign up for the conference, register online. For information on Sweeney Center events, visit the center’s web site.

New Jersey Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan and Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy will be the keynote speakers. Other speakers include :

• Michael Renna, president, South Jersey Industries
• Asim Z. Haque, senior vice president, PJM Interconnection
• Lyle Rawlings, founder and president, Mid Atlantic Solar and Energy Storage Association
• Larry Barth, director of corporate strategy, NJR Clean Energy Ventures
• Sam Salustro, senior vice president of policy, Oceantic Network
• Richard Henning, president and CEO, New Jersey Utilities Association
• Paulina Banasiak O’Connor, executive director, New Jersey Offshore Wind Association
• Robert Gordon, former commissioner, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
• Yolanda Mack, associate vice president for industry partnerships and workforce development, Rowan University

“Meeting our future energy needs reliably and affordably while reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most difficult issues facing New Jersey policymakers in the decades ahead,” said Sweeney Center Director Mark Magyar.

“The challenge is steeper than ever with a series of body blows to the offshore wind industry forcing a reset of energy generation assumptions that were a cornerstone of New Jersey’s energy master plan.

“This conference will a examine the challenges posed by the projected growth in New Jersey's energy needs, and how nuclear energy, natural gas, solar, offshore wind, hydrogen and other clean energy technologies fit into meeting those projections. We will also delve into critical transmission, battery storage, affordability and environmental issues,” he added.

“Meeting New Jersey’s Energy Needs” is co-sponsored by the Sweeney Center, Rowan University’s Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering, Rowan’s School of Earth and Environment and the Rowan Energy Collaborative (ROWEC).

The Sweeney Center will host two more conferences this spring: “Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities for Government and Business” on April 15 and “The Future of New Jersey Journalism” on May 21.