Hartke Joins the Alliance After Three Years with the Energy Department and a Long Career Championing Energy Efficiency

WASHINGTON – The Alliance to Save Energy announced Monday that Jason Hartke, a veteran energy efficiency leader who has overseen key programs at the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Green Building Council, will be the organization’s next president.

Hartke, who takes the reins from longtime former Alliance president Kateri Callahan, will start May 1.

“Jason is exactly the kind of leader the Alliance needs at this time,” said Alliance Board Chairman Gil Quiniones, president and CEO of the New York Power Authority. “He brings deep knowledge of energy efficiency and experience in the field. He’s a collaborative leader who knows how to champion sound policy and navigate Washington politics in a bipartisan way.  And he’ll bring an entrepreneurial spirit and fresh vision to our mission that I have no doubt will create tremendous new opportunities and progress for the organization.”

For the past three years, Hartke led DOE’s efforts to advance and accelerate energy efficiency in commercial buildings, a sector that accounts for nearly 20% of the nation’s energy consumption. In overseeing DOE’s commercial buildings integration, a $32 million program, he led work to develop and deploy innovative solutions, strategies and technologies aimed at unlocking significant energy savings. For nearly a decade before that, he worked as senior vice president of global policy development at the U.S. Green Building Council. He also served in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the West Wing of the White House.

“As someone who has followed the Alliance’s work since I came to Washington almost 20 years ago, it’s truly an honor to have the opportunity to lead such a storied organization,” said Hartke, who holds a Ph.D. in public policy. “For forty years, the Alliance has been the premier leader in driving solutions and policies to deliver the many benefits of saving energy. I’ve always admired not just the Alliance’s impact on efficiency policy, which is in a class of its own, but also the way they go about it – always constructive, always bipartisan and always pushing for real solutions that move us forward.”

“We conducted a national search and had a tremendous field of candidates, and I have no doubt that we got the right person for the job,” said Alliance Board member and Southern Company Vice President for Energy Policy Bruce Edelston, who led the search committee for the new president. “Jason is a proven leader in this field who has great ideas about how we can continue to advance the Alliance’s mission. The entire organization is excited about his leadership and about this next phase in the organization’s 40-year history.”

Callahan, who left the Alliance after 14 years to become president and CEO of CMC Energy Services, said the organization is in good hands with Hartke’s hiring. “The Alliance holds a special place in my heart and so I was very vested in making sure we had a smooth transition and strong, new leadership,” she said. “I have known Jason for years and couldn’t think of a better person to take over and continue building on the Alliance’s success. He will bring fresh ideas and a clear vision, and I predict that the Alliance will soar on his watch.”

About the Alliance to Save Energy

Founded in 1977, the Alliance to Save Energy is a nonprofit, bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders working to expand the economy while using less energy. Our mission is to promote energy productivity worldwide – including through energy efficiency – to achieve a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security, affordability and reliability.

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