Investment Strategy Supports California Policy Agenda, Focuses on State's

Leading Clean Energy Industry

    SAN FRANCISCO, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Clean Energy Fund
 (CalCEF), a $30 million public benefit investment fund created to spur
 investment and innovation in California's clean energy economy, today
 announced a summary of its Fund 1 Portfolio. The portfolio, which is just
 one year in to a multiyear investment strategy, invests in companies that
 will help California reach its objective of becoming the world's premier
 clean energy economy, bringing economic, environmental and social benefits
 to the state.
     "With world-renown research universities and a supportive policy-making
 climate, California has proven to be a leader in developing clean energy
 innovations," said Michael R. Peevey, chairman of CalCEF and president of
 the California Public Utilities Commission. "CalCEF's investment strategy
 to help commercialize these innovations fills an important need in
 realizing California's goal of becoming the world's premier clean energy
 economy."
     The CalCEF Fund l portfolio is co-managed by three investment managers
 who, together, bring over 5 billion in market power: Nth Power, DFJ
 Element, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. CalCEF is working with these
 three managers to create an investment portfolio that not only provides
 attractive investment returns and positive environmental benefits, but also
 supports California's Energy Action Plan, the State's blueprint for clean
 electricity, and its aggressive goals for clean transportation technology.
     The California Energy Action Plan establishes a 'loading order' to
 guide the state in meeting future energy needs. The order is as follows:
     * Energy efficiency
     * Renewable energy
     * Clean fossil fired DG
     * Clean large-scale generation
     California's clean transportation agenda includes the following
 components:
     * A revitalized Zero Emissions Vehicle program, including advanced
       electric-drive technologies
     * An aggressive new biofuels initiative, advanced by executive order from
       Governor Schwarzenegger
     * Encouraging advancements in fuel cell technologies, via the Hydrogen
       Highway initiative
     "By partnering with three established investment managers to invest in
 companies that support California's public policy goals, CalCEF is ushering
 in a new era in venture investment intelligence," said Lisa Bicker,
 President of CalCEF. "Ultimately, the success of the state's economic and
 environmental policies depends on intersecting public and private
 interests, an intersection CalCEF is uniquely positioned to facilitate."
     "CalCEF's emerging portfolio of investments tests the proposition that
 this partnership between technology, finance and policy is the most
 sustainable way forward for clean energy investing," added Dan Adler,
 CalCEF Director of Technology and Policy Development.
     CalCEF Investments
     Through its three investment managers, CalCEF has made investments in
 the following companies:
     Energy Efficiency and Demand Response
     -- SpectraSensors, Inc. - Manufactures sensors that track and control
        harmful emissions, including carbon dioxide
     -- Miartech - Designs advanced communications components for remote energy
        management and efficiency, including "smart" utility meters
     -- Synapsense - Provides software applications for wireless sensor
        networks that enable optimal efficient energy usage in homes and
        businesses
 
     Distribution and Central-Station Renewables
     -- Superprotonic - Develops innovative technologies that are poised to
        improve the real-world performance of hydrogen fuel cells
     -- Fat Spaniel - Provides assessment and control systems software to
        improve the performance of distributed generation, such as solar
        photovoltaics
     -- Solarcentury - Provides building-integrated solar photovoltaic
        solutions, enabling easier installation and improving aesthetics
 
     Clean Fossil Distributed Generation
     -- Advanced Battery Company (Official Name Not Released) - Develops high-
        power lithium ion batteries
 
     Clean Central-Station Fossil Generation
     -- CoalTek - Converts low rank, mine-run coals into high-rank, clean coal
        alternative fuels, increasing efficiency in burning and potentially
        contributing to carbon sequestration
 
     Technologies for California's Clean Transportation Agenda
     -- Imperium Renewables - Provides next-generation biodiesel refining and
        manufacturing technology
     -- Tesla Motor - Designs and sells electric cars combining world-class
        automotive design and Silicon Valley technology with an innovative
        sales and support strategy
 
     About CalCEF
     The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) is a nonprofit public benefit
 corporation formed to make equity investments in clean energy companies.
 Established via the PG&E bankruptcy settlement with $30 million from PG&E
 shareholders, the Fund expects to deliver market based financial returns to
 its investors and positive environmental and economic returns to
 California, with a focus on PG&E's service territory. CalCEF targets
 companies focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage,
 and other products and services that are designed to enhance the clean
 energy sector. Financial returns will be reinvested in the Fund, enabling
 CalCEF to become a growing 'evergreen fund'.
     The CalCEF Board of Directors blends public policy makers, investment
 professionals, entrepreneurs, and science and technology experts. Chaired
 by Michael R. Peevey, President of the California PUC, the Board also
 includes California Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld; President of the
 Board of Governors Mason Willrich; Mark Levine of Lawrence Berkeley
 Laboratory; entrepreneurs John Woolard and Tom Jacoby; Ralph Cavanagh of
 the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC); JPMorgan managing director
 Nancy Pfund; and former White House policy official Jonathan Foster.
 
 

SOURCE California Clean Energy Fund