ESS Joins USOWC as Founding Financial PartnerFebruary 9, 2011 – Wellesley, Massachusetts – ESS Group, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has joined the US Offshore Wind Collaborative (USOWC) as a Founding Financial Partner. The USOWC is an independent non-profit organization that will provide a forum for business, government, clean energy, and environmental advocates to jointly address the range of issues necessary to catalyze the sustainable development of wind energy resources on the waters of the United States. ESS President & CEO Charles Natale is on the USOWC Advisory Committee and ESS Principal Regulatory Strategist Carol Wasserman will participate on the Board of Directors. USOWC Executive Director Fara Courtney stated, “USOWC Founding Financial Partners, like ESS, are providing critical resources and technical advice to our efforts to create the right context for a sustainable regional and national-scale offshore wind industry – one that maximizes economic, environmental and energy benefits in the public interest.” After operating for six years as an informal initiative, the USOWC recently received a start-up grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. As in past years, the USOWC will act broadly to promote the public benefit potential of offshore wind resources, calling for a focused, integrated, and multi-sector approach to growing the US offshore wind industry. Previous activities include convening the first cross-cutting national conversation about offshore wind in 2004, which led to the establishment of the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Coalition and release of the first US Strategic Work Plan for Offshore Wind, and publishing a comprehensive snapshot of the US offshore wind industry with a call to action for leadership and coordination. Future objectives and efforts will be broad-based, including the establishment a web-based clearinghouse for information pertinent to developing the US offshore wind industry; creation of an educational forum to support state initiatives; and providing connectivity across key sectors of expertise important to problem solving on behalf of the US offshore wind industry. For more information about this organization, visit the OSOWC website. Visit the ESS website for more about ESS renewable energy services. | 
