Vermont Gas Systems CEO Don Rendall today announced that former VNRC executive director Ned Farquhar has joined the company as Vice President for Communications and Government. Rendall has said the Vermont Gas team will use energy efficiency, energy innovation, and conversion to natural gas to support Vermont’s transition to a lower-emitting, more affordable, and largely renewable energy portfolio.
Farquhar’s career includes working for national and Vermont-based conservation organizations, including the VNRC from 1988 to 1994. He was senior policy advisor for energy and environment to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who credited Farquhar for his significant role in Richardson’s 2007 book on national and international climate and energy policy, Leading By Example. Most recently he was a senior official in the Obama Administration, serving for five years as deputy and acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management at the Department of the Interior.
“Vermont Gas is uniquely positioned to serve new customers and achieve important economic and environmental goals for Vermont,” Rendall said. “Ned, whose career includes leadership in several Vermont conservation organizations, is an experienced, knowledgeable leader who will play a central role in our transition at Vermont Gas.”
The company’s commitment to displacing higher emitting fuels and expanding energy efficiency creates critical environmental benefits for Vermont. In just Franklin and Chittenden counties, the company’s customers who switched from oil and propane, plus those who participated in the company’s efficiency program, annually prevent carbon emissions equivalent to those produced by about 55,000 cars and light trucks.
According to a press release from the Department of the Interior, Farquhar was a senior advocate for Mountain West Energy/Climate with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Farquhar also was a program officer for western lands at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, California. From 2001 to 2003, he developed and implemented national and regional grant campaigns for transportation policy reform, land protection, habitat conservation, growth management and land use.
Farquhar has a 1982 master degree in geography from Cambridge University, England, and a bachelor of arts from Middlebury College, Vermont (1980). He has been a member of numerous boards and commissions, including former board chair of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority; board chair of the Conservation Voters New Mexico (since 2006); and chair of the Transportation Funders Group (2001-2002).
Source: Vermont Gas. 4.9.2015