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IRRG organizes the annual Illinois Renewable Energy Conference that changes location annually throughout the state. We will publicize the event through the internet, media and general promotion. IRRG strives to create a conference event that has a high level of professionalism. By building a strong network relationship between our partners and the public we will reach the goal of bridging the resource gap. Denise Bechen (Chair), CCP, CEM is a member of Commonwealth Edison's ESO Technical Services Technology Specialists department. Commonwealth Edison is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation, one of the nation's largest electric utilities with nearly $15 billion in revenues and a customer base of five million. ComEd provides service to more than 3.4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. Denise is currently Program Manager for ComEd's Wind and Photovoltaic Generation Pricing Experiment and a Senior Energy Engineer in the field of Distributed Generation. Prior to her work in the Renewable Energy field, Denise was involved in performing Industrial facility evaluations for ComEd's large retail customers in the chemical/petrochemical and water/wastewater areas. Denise graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of Chemical Engineering. Denise has been employed with Commonwealth Edison since 1992 and is a Certified Energy Manager and Certified Cogeneration Professional through the Association of Energy Engineers. Ken Whitfield (Associate Chair), is a Senior Staff Engineer for Underwriters Laboratories at the corporate headquarters located in Northbrook, Illinois. For the past twelve years he has been actively involved in all aspects of distributed energy generation from testing and certification through manufacture and design. Mr. Whitfield's primary responsibility at UL is to lead the distributed generation business development for the categories of fuel cells, reciprocating generator sets, microturbines, photovoltaics and static power inverters for use in independent power systems. Prior to his work at Underwriters, he was the general manager at Spire Solar Chicago where he oversaw the manufacture of photovoltaic modules and the design and installation of photovoltaic power systems. He is a member of the design review team of the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation and participates in the IEEE SCC21 standards activities for Fuel Cells, Photovoltaics, Dispersed Generation and Energy Storage. Mr. Whitfield has a Masters degree in mechanical engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois. Paul Sterner (Board Member), AIA, is a board member of the Illinois Renewable Resources Group, along with being the president and founder of Oculus Architecture P.C. In the Oculus Architecture firm there is strong emphasis on the mixture of creativity with high-performance structural design particularly in the area of daylighting, passive and active energy techniques and an honest approach to building materials and their use. Mr. Sterner has been the recipient of several design awards including the 1996 International Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Design Competition, Citation Award in Category I, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL, Architecture Magazine, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Museum, and the American Institute of Architects. Paul graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and received his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Julie Magee, (IRRG Liaison) serves as the Global Climate Change Coordinator for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Region 5 Office, Chicago, Illinois. She coordinates outreach and education programs on global climate change and oversees the implementation of Climate Change Action programs. Ms. Magee has more than twelve years of professional experience in indoor air quality, global climate change and energy efficiency programs. During her six years as Climate Change Coordinator, Ms. Magee has provided marketing, outreach, and technical support for a variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs, including Energy Star, Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools, Radon, and Green Power Partnership. Ms. Magee focuses on identifying and mitigating barriers faced by public sector partners in performing energy upgrades. Her support includes providing training and facilitation services to assist the public and private sectors on improving their energy performance from a technical, institutional and financial perspective. Ms. Magee has also served as the Agency's Indoor Air Quality Coordinator, providing technical assistance and outreach, as well as managing a $2 million grant program to States and communities for radon control and indoor air quality management. Ms. Magee has a B.B.A. in Management and Marketing from Saginaw Valley State University.