Third Annual (2015)
Sustainable Energy Visionary Leader (VISER) Award
The board of directors and officers of the Mississippi Biomass & Renewable Energy Council (MBREC) selected Rusty Ponder, Energy Management Coordinator for the Rankin County School District, to receive the Third Annual (2015) Sustainable Energy Visionary Leader (VISER) Award in recognition of his outstanding efforts to save energy in Rankin County Schools and promote STEM education in Mississippi through the use of renewable energy.
The Rankin County School District is the third largest in the state, consisting of eight attendance zones with 28 Schools and more than 19,500 students. For the year 2015, the School District reported a cost avoidance savings of $439,722 due to the energy management policy and procedures it adopted. In 2010, Ponder initially secured the United States Department of Energy’ Energy Star certification for three schools in the district and by 2014 had grown that to a total of 19 certified schools on this prestigious list. Ponder presented these results at MBREC’s 14th Annual Meeting held in Jackson October 20, 2015, where he was also presented with the VISER Award.
Rankin County School District also became the first school district in Mississippi to install a grid-connected solar panel array, which took place over five years ago and is now also used as a teaching tool, a way to raise awareness of renewable energy options, and for financial savings on electric bills. “We could not have done the solar project without the generous help from Mississippi Solar, Central Electric Power Association and many other installers and electricians,” said Ponder.
Ponder earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Mississippi State University, holds a real estate license for the state of Mississippi, and has completed the Certified Energy Manager (CEM) certification and Certified Lighting Efficiency Professional (CLEP) certification programs.
MBREC was created in 1998 and incorporated in 2000 and is the state’s oldest nonprofit organization with the mission to increase energy efficiency and economic opportunities for Mississippi’s biomass and renewable energy resources. MBREC is managed by Innovate Mississippi, a nonprofit organization with the mission to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi. Contact Sumesh Arora, Ph.D., executive advisor for MBREC, at sarora@innovate.ms or 601-960-3610 for more information.