Speakers
Mr. Thomas R. Casten
Chair and CEO , Primary Energy
Thomas R. Casten has spent 30 years developing and operating combined heat and power plants as a way to save money and reduce pollution. He founded and is Chair and CEO of Primary Energy Ventures LLC, an Oak Brook, IL based firm with a Toronto Stock Exchange traded subsidiary, Primary Energy Recycling Corp, which develops, owns, and operates fourteen projects in five states that recycle waste energy. Tom formed Cummins Cogeneration Company, a division of Cummins Engine Co., in 1977 to develop on-site combined heat and power plants. In 1986, he founded Trigen Energy Corporation and took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1994. Under his leadership, Trigen produced energy at 57 plants in 19 states, Canada and Mexico and were market leaders in developing profitable district energy and on-site combined heat and power.
Mr. Casten is a nationally recognized expert on energy and environment issues. In 1998 he published "Turning off the Heat", a book explaining how the world can save money and pollution by removing regulatory barriers to efficiency. Tom has served as President of the International District Energy Association, received the Norman R. Taylor Award for distinguished achievement and contributions to the industry, and has recently been named a “CHP Champion” by the US Combined Heat and Power Association. He is the co-founder and former Chairman of the World Alliance for Distributed Energy (WADE), an umbrella organization of national CHP and distributed energy associations, equipment vendors, government agencies and foundations that promote distributed generation to optimize the world's power system and also serves on the Board of Directors/Advisory Boards of the Carnegie Mellon Electric Industry Center, the Oregon Climate Trust and the Center for Inquiry. He has served as adviser to senior government officials, participated with President Clinton and Vice President Gore in the White House conference on global climate change, testified before Congress, State Public Service Commissions and State legislative committees and has advised Indian, Chinese, and Brazilian government officials on power industry governance.
