Positioning Endowments in a Changing Energy Environment

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
8:30 am - 10:30 am, Peregrines Room

This panel discussion on Positioning Endowments in a Changing Energy Environment will be moderated by Paul Kjellander and broken into four sections, with Louise Solliday, Robert Neilson, Jr., and a yet to be determined speaker discussing alternative and emerging energy options for income, including wave, biomass and solar. The moderator will provide a 20 minute overview of the topic, and each speaker will address the audience for about 25 minutes. At the end of the panel, 15 to 20 minutes will be reserved for questions and answers.


Overview: Why Alternate Energy Sources are Necessary

Paul Kjellander
Administrator, Idaho Office of Energy Resources

Paul KjellandePaul Kjellander was appointment by Governor Butch Otter on October 3, 2007, to head Idaho’s new state Office of Energy Resources. Prior to this appointment, Kjellander was serving his second term on the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, where he was president of the commission.

In 1994 Kjellander was elected to his first of three terms as a member of the Idaho House or Representatives. His legislative service included membership on the Legislature’s Information Technology Advisory Council and the House/Senate Joint Committee on Technology. He also served as co-chairman of the Legislative Task Force on the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 and vice chairman of the Council of State Governments-West “Smart States Committee.” His interim legislative committee assignments included the Optional Forms of County Government Committee, Capital Crimes Committee and the Private Property Rights Committee. During his last term in office, Kjellander was elected House Majority Caucus Chairman.

Kjellander also served as director of Boise State University’s College of Applied Technology Distance Learning, interim program head of broadcast technology, station manager of BSU Radio Network, director of the Special Projects Unit for BSU Radio, executive producer/newscaster for BSU Radio and director of News and Public Affairs.

His undergraduate degrees from Muskingum College, Ohio, were in communications, psychology and art. He holds a master’s degree in telecommunications from Ohio University.

Paul Kjellander and his wife, Radelle, are the parents of a daughter, Allison, and two sons, Sky and Justus.


Wave Energy Leases

Louise Solliday
Director, Oregon Department of State Lands

Louise SollidayPrior to being appointed to head the Oregon Department of Lands, Solliday's career included an 18-month stint in Gov. Kulongoski's natural resource office, where she worked on the Willamette River Legacy Program and Endangered Species Act recovery planning. She spent six years in former Gov. Kitzhaber's office, serving as his watershed advisor, natural resource policy advisor and senior policy advisor; and six years with the Pacific Rivers Council in Eugene. She moved to Oregon from Pennsylvania in 1989, where she taught high school and worked as a labor relations consultant.

Solliday is responsible for managing DSL's diverse natural resources and fiscal assets, which generate revenue for the Common School Fund. Examples include state-owned rangelands and timberlands, waterway leases, estates for which no will or heirs exist, and unclaimed property. Twice a year, the agency distributes fund investment earnings to support K-12 public schools. In 2006, the Department distributed $45.4 million to Oregon's 198 public school districts.

The agency administers Oregon's Removal-Fill Law, which requires people to obtain a permit to remove or fill certain amounts of material in waters of the state. The Department also manages the Wetlands Program, which promotes the protection and management of Oregon's wetlands.

As Director, she oversees a staff of 97 full-time employees, most of whom work in the Salem headquarters. The Department also maintains an Eastern Region Office in Bend, and serves as the state partner for the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Charleston near Coos Bay.


Cellulosic Ethanol for Transportation Fuel

Robert Neilson, Jr.
Renewable Energy Technologies Department Manager, Idaho National Laboratory

Robert Neilson, Jr.Mr. Neilson manages the Idaho National Laboratory’s Biofuels and Renewable Energy Technologies Department at the Idaho National Laboratory. In this role, he is responsible for the acquisition, development, and execution of renewable energy programs – that focus on biomass, geothermal, hydropower, and wind energy technologies. This work is important to help meet the significant energy supply and utilization challenges facing the country today. Bob is an Associate Director of the Intermountain West Geothermal Consortium, an adjunct faculty member with the University of Idaho, and Executive Director for the Idaho Falls Soup Kitchen.

He earned Master of Science degrees in Industrial Management and in Materials Science, and a B.E. degree in Engineering Science – all from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has 62 publications (fourteen peer-reviewed) and one patent. He won an R&D 100 Award for “Ceramic Joining Method,” and is a member of Geothermal Resources Council, ASM International, and the American Nuclear Society.


Solar Energy

Paul Venosdel
Founder, DPV Solutions, LLC

Paul Venosdel

Paul has devoted his professional career to finding new and creative ways for the agriculture industry and rural communities to compete in the legislative and regulatory arena with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Paul graduated from California State University at Fresno, with a B.S. in Agriculture Economics in 1991. He started his career in 1991 in the office of California Democratic Assemblyman Jim Costa, Chairman of the State Assembly Committee on Agriculture. He then went on to manage the political operations for two candidates for elective office.

After enhancing his legislative and campaign skills, Paul signed on with the California Farm Bureau Federation as Director of National and Political Affairs in 1995. His responsibilities included; developing outreach and communication programs with the California congressional delegation along with state and federal regulators, developing position statements on federal legislation and regulations on issues such as budget, appropriations, taxation and farm programs, daily management and donor development for both the federal and state Political Action Committee.

January 2002 saw Paul depart the private sector for government service as a President George W. Bush appointee to the California State Director for the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency. While there he directed federal funding of rural development projects throughout California relating to housing, job creation and infrastructure improvement loans and grants totaling up to $392 million annually. He managed 150 employees throughout 25 field offices with an annual operating budget of nearly $12 million.

In November 2005 Paul launched his own lobbying and consulting business headquartered in Washington, DC - Cansler, Venosdel and Associates (CVA), LLC. Paul was President of the company he founded and led a lobbying effort that emphasized the use of new technology tools (webinars, blackberry, internet fax service), media relations, personal contact and consistent communication tools to gain successful outcomes for clients. Client accomplishments included: $115 million for the completion of a federal prison for the City of Mendota, California and $125,000 grant for the California Poultry Federation for first responder needs.