Fayetteville’s Peter Nierengarten elected board chair of Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation
Peter Nierengarten, Environmental Director of City of Fayetteville, was elected Chair of the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation (AAEF) board of directors during the organization’s quarterly meeting on Tuesday.
“As an Arkansas Advanced Energy Association member for over ten years, it’s very exciting to be elected as the Foundation Board Chair,” Nierengarten said. “I hope to continue growing the Foundation’s role in advancing cost-effective clean energy solutions and advanced energy job creation for Arkansas!”
Peter Nierengarten
“Peter’s leadership comes at a pivotal time as our work with cities and counties continues to grow,” said AAEA Executive Director Lauren Waldrip. “From workforce development to energy efficiency programs, we’re helping municipalities plan for the future—and Peter’s deep understanding of local government needs makes him the perfect partner to guide that mission forward.”
Since 2012, Nierengarten has worked as the City of Fayetteville Environmental Director, focusing on improving livability and reducing the energy and carbon footprint for Fayetteville. He is very active in promoting climate action, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste reduction, sustainability, and active transportation for the City of Fayetteville. Prior to his current position, he spent nine years working for the Portland, Oregon Water Bureau as an engineer, project manager, energy manager, green building consultant, and sustainability advocate. He earned a bachelor and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas.
The approved AAEF Executive Committee board slate is as follows:
Chair: Peter Nierengarten, Environmental Director, City of Fayetteville
Vice-Chair: Adam Fogleman, Attorney, Pulaski County
Secretary: Wesley Prewett, Program Manager, Southern Bancorp
Treasurer: Flint Richter, Business Development Executive, Entegrity Energy Partners
The board oversees AAEF programs such as the new Central Arkansas C-PACE, which will offer owners of commercial, industrial, agricultural, and multi-family (more than 4 units) low interest rates and long payback period to create positive cash flow from energy-efficient building upgrades. Another AAEF program, SkillStream, is an Advanced Energy Career Pipeline Program designed to develop a steady flow of diverse, job-ready talent for Arkansas employers. The progressive nature of this model is such that it develops an industry workforce river for candidates to flow contiguously from one phase to the next producing a steady stream of diverse, skilled candidates for local employers. For more information about AAEF and its workforce development efforts, please visitwww.arkansasadvancedenergyfoundation.org/foundation.