HISTORY
The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) is a non-profit organization created in 2017 by state legislation. NCEF provides financial resources and market solutions to accelerate clean energy growth in the state, reduce energy costs, create jobs, and meaningfully address climate change. Clean energy projects can include renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation electrification, and energy storage.
NCEF was incubated over the course of four years with the support of the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) and the NCEF Board of Directors, consisting of state government officials and nominees representing labor and local community interests from across the state.
WHAT IS A GREEN BANK?
NCEF operates as a Green Bank, which is an institutional model that is being used in over a dozen other US states. The Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) defines Green Banks as “mission-driven institutions that use innovative financing to accelerate the transition to clean energy and fight climate change.” Green Banks address clean energy market gaps and financial barriers, often serving segments of the population and economy that have historically experienced underinvestment in clean energy. Green Banks achieve their goals through the direct provision of financing (such as loans and co-investments) and market development activities (such as information sharing, partnership building, and turnkey financial product design).
Unlike typical “banks,” Green Banks do not take deposits, and operations can be funded by governments or charitable contributions.
LEADERSHIP
Kirsten Stasio is Executive Director of the Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF). She has over a decade of clean energy experience across the investment, policy, education, corporate and start-up sectors. Before joining NCEF, Kirsten worked at MAP Energy, an energy investment firm, where she helped scale investments in renewable energy across the US. Her early career began at the World Resources Institute (WRI), a non-profit, where she worked with policymakers and other stakeholders to implement climate finance solutions. She holds an MBA and an MS from Stanford University and a BA from the University of California, Davis.
Kirsten moved to Nevada with her family in 2018. In her free time, she serves as an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University where she teaches a course on energy and sustainability. The origins of her passion for sustainability trace back to her childhood when she spent time on her family’s fourth-generation ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills, a place where she enjoys spending time today with her husband and daughter.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The NCEF Board of Directors consists of Nevada state government officials and nominees from state labor organizations and counties that are appointed by the Governor of Nevada. The nine Directors include:
- David Bobzien, Director of the Governor’s Office of Energy
- Michael Brown, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development
- Sharath Chandra, Real Estate Administrator of the Department of Business and Industry
- Sandy O'Laughlin, Commissioner of the Nevada Financial Institutions Division
- Guy Snow, President of SolarNV, nominee of the Nevada State Contractors’ Board
- Chris Wile, Assistant Business Manager / Business Agent, IBEW Local 357, nominee of labor organizations in Nevada
- Les Lazareck, Managing Member of Home Energy Connection, nominee of the Clark County Board of Commissioners
- Jason Geddes, Energy & Sustainability Manager for Washoe County School District, nominee of the Washoe County Board of Commissioners
- Robert Johnston, nominee of the Carson City Board of Supervisors