Bingaman to Assume Stanford Energy Fellowship

Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who retired from the Senate in January after a 36-year career, is headed to Stanford University Law School to lead an effort to promote clean energy use.

In unrelated news, Bingaman is scheduled to introduce Ernest Moniz, President Obama’s energy secretary nominee, at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, April 9.

Bingaman, a former chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a Stanford Law graduate himself, will join the law school’s Steyer-TaylorCenter for Energy Policy and Finance as a distinguished fellow. He will be responsible for developing policies to assist states and local communities in promoting increased use of clean energy, according to a news release from the center.

Currently,  29 states plus the District of Columbia have policies to promote increased generation of electricity from renewable energy sources in the form of Renewable Portfolio Standards, sometimes referred to as renewable energy standard. Seven other states have adopted voluntary goals for generation of electricity from renewable sources.

“Bingaman’s efforts will focus on actions that could be taken to extend and update those policies,” the university’s news release said.

“Senator Bingaman will bring unparalleled policy and finance experience to the work of the center at a moment when energy is on the national and international agenda like never before,” said Dan Reicher, executive director of the Steyer-TaylorCenter for Energy Policy and Finance.

In an email to the Journal, Bingaman said he and his wife, Anne, will maintain their residence in Santa Fe as he goes to work on the fellowship at Stanford.

“My arrangement with the law school is that I will be here (at Stanford) this spring quarter (from) April 1 – June 15,” Bingaman said in the email. “Anne and I will be at Stanford for those 10 or 11 weeks. During the rest of the year I will travel to Stanford as the work requires–probably a week each month.”

“I look forward to helping advance the Steyer-Taylor Center’s mission to find cost-effective solutions to advance clean energy,” Bingaman said in the university’s written announcement. “I’m excited to work with Stanford faculty and students to develop approaches to policy and finance that make sense to the investment community, Congress, and state legislatures.”