About the Energy Policy Council - 

The Energy Policy Council advises and makes recommendations on increasing domestic energy exploration, development and production throughout the state and region to promote economic growth and job creation. The Energy Policy Council is a part of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Except as otherwise provided in state law, the powers, duties and functions of the council are as directed by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.

The Energy Policy Council is the central energy policy planning body for the state and communicates and cooperates with federal, state, regional and local bodies and agencies to develop a coordinated energy policy. The council is to identify and utilize all domestic energy resources in order to ensure a secure, stable, and predictable energy supply and to protect the economy of North Carolina, promote job creation, and expand business and industry opportunities, while ensuring the protection and preservation of the state’s natural resources, cultural heritage and quality of life. 

The council’s responsibilities include:

• Developing and recommending to the governor and General Assembly a comprehensive state energy policy that addresses requirements in the short, (10 years), mid (25 years), and the long term (50 years), to achieve maximum effective management and use of present and future sources of energy. 
• Conducting an ongoing assessment of the opportunities and constraints presented by various uses of all forms of energy to facilitate the expansion of domestic energy supplies and to encourage the efficient use of energy. 
• Reviewing and coordinating, on a regular basis, research, education and management programs relating to energy to educate and inform the public about energy matters, and to actively engage in discussions with the federal government to identify opportunities to increase domestic energy supply within North Carolina and its adjacent offshore waters. 
• Recommending to the Governor and the General Assembly needed energy legislation and rulemaking, and to recommend for implementation such modifications of energy policy, plans and programs. 

• Recommending an Energy Efficiency Program designed to assure the public health and safety of the people of North Carolina and to consider the conservation of energy through reducing wasteful, inefficient or uneconomical uses of energy resources. 

• Developing contingency and emergency plans to deal with possible shortages of energy to protect public health, safety and welfare, to be compiled into an Emergency Energy Program. 

Council Members

The council has 13 members, with the lieutenant governor is designated as the chair. In addition to Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, members of the council include: 

• Donald R. van der Vaart, Secretary of Environment & Natural Resources
  
• John Skvarla, Secretary of Commerce 

Ten public members as follows: 

• John Brodman, Carteret County: Pine Knoll Shores commissioner and retired Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Energy Policy in the US Department of Energy (by the governor)
• George Baldwin, Piedmont Natural Gas, Mecklenburg County: A person representing investor-owned natural gas public utility (by the House Speaker) 
• Paolo Carollo, Chemtex International, New Hanover County: An energy economist/financier (by the Senate President ProTem) 
• Richard Newell, Duke University Professor of Energy & Environmental Economics, Orange County: An energy policy expert (by the Senate President ProTem) 
• Scott Tew, Executive Director, Ingersoll Rand Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability: An industrial energy consumer (by the House Speaker) 
• Carl L. Wilkins, Quanta Technology, Wake County: A person knowledgeable in alt/renewable sources of energy (by the Governor)
• Michael T. VanWingerden, Metrolina Greenhouses, Mecklenburg County: A person experienced in trucking, rail or shipping (by the House Speaker)
• Marshall Cohen, Babcock & Wilcox Company, Mecklenburg County: A person experience in energy research and development (by the Senate President ProTem)
• Vernon Cox, N.C. Dept. of Agriculture, Wake County: A person experienced in Environmental Management (by the House Speaker) 
• Rob Caldwell, Duke Energy, Mecklenburg County: A person representing investor-owned electric utilities (by the Senate President ProTem)