Renew Missouri
James Owen is a seasoned legal and public service professional with extensive experience in various roles. As Executive Director of Renew Missouri since May 2017, James has spearheaded initiatives to enhance renewable energy and energy efficiency across Missouri. Concurrently, James serves as a part-time Associate Municipal Judge in Columbia, Missouri, addressing municipal ordinance matters. The legal career of James also includes ownership of the Owen Law Firm, which specializes in estate planning and administration, alongside previous roles as Acting Director of the Office of Public Counsel and Associate Circuit Judge. An attorney with a robust background in probate law, James began as a clerk for Judge James Prewitt at the Missouri Court of Appeals. Educationally, James holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Drury University.
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Renew Missouri
Renew Missouri was formed in 2006 to advance renewable energy & energy efficiency in the state of Missouri. In that time, Renew Missouri has advanced legislation, passed statewide ballot initiatives, crafted local ordinances, & represented these interests before state regulators on hundreds of cases. We can only do this extensive & far-reaching work thanks to our supporters. At the state level, Renew Missouri represents renewable & energy efficiency interests before the Public Service Commission (“PSC”), who regulate investor-owned utilities like Ameren, Empire & KCPL. We also work in front of the Missouri Legislature. In 2007, Renew Missouri advocated for true net metering & simple interconnection practices. As a result, the Missouri legislature adopted the “Easy Connection Act,” which allows all Missourians to interconnect solar panels & small wind turbines to their utility grid free of charge while receiving full retail credit for any energy put back onto the grid. In 2008, Renew Missouri helped Missouri become the 27th state to enact a Renewable Electricity Standard (“RES”) & only the 3rd state to pass an RES through the ballot initiative process. The RES requires Missouri’s largest utilities to get 15% of their energy from renewables by 2021, with 2% of that energy coming from solar. We have also advocated for Property Assessment Clean Energy (“PACE”) districts, 3rd party Purchase Power Agreements (“PPAs”), energy efficiency safeguards like the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act (“MEEIA”), community solar, & other protections for renewable energy in Missouri. Renew Missouri’s approach to advancing policy is to bring stakeholders together to educate & to facilitate productive dialogue. We educate legislators & other policy makers while also promoting renewables & energy efficiency to the public. Renew Missouri is based in Columbia, MO but recently added a St. Louis office. Sign up for our Re-News emails here: http://bit.ly/renews-signup