Last week I put together my first official grant application (for the DCEO BITE program). Years from now, I might look back on that application and cringe, but for now, it served its purpose. It made me try to formulate this nebulous "idea" into a written form. Although I am not sure I adequately expressed the idea to the grant reviewers, I now think I have a better sense of it, and hopefully over the next week, I can make it a little easier for myself to understand.
Yesterday, I had the luck to sit down for about 1/2 an hour with Val Jensen at ComEd who used to oversee their energy efficiency and environmental work. He now sits in my mom's old job as the VP of Customer Operations. It was a treat to meet with someone who gets what I am trying to accomplish, but was not in a position to either fund it or be threatened by it. He gave me some great information that I think will make a great deal of difference.
1. The city is trying to work out how to make some things work, and might be looking at a test ward. This plays well into my thought about what we can do in the 19th.
2. Tim Melloch is still in charge of energy efficiency, so I should meet with him to see if anything I can do will help them.
3. Peoples is still the larger player in the residential arena. I knew I was going to have to meet with them, but this put a bigger bow on it.
4. Acquisition costs are going to be tight for ComEd and Peoples as their commitments grow, but their funding shrinks relative to the state law. There might be an opportunity if I can come up with a workable way to create a ready acquisition infrastructure.
Next step: meet with the Alderman. Hopefully on Friday of this week.
ETJ
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