PROVIDENCE – The Energy Council of Rhode Island, a coalition of big electricity users, appointed William H. Ferguson as its executive director on Wednesday.
A former Rhode Island energy official, Ferguson is currently manager of energy services for Rise Engineering in Cranston.
He will officially start at the council on Jan. 15, but will informally assume the role immediately, he told Providence Business News on Thursday.
“I’m excited about it because jobs seem to be the number one issue in the state and I think this position is going to help me participate in discussion,” he said.
Ferguson plans to leave Rise Engineering by the end of the year.
Roger L. Buck, a former executive director who nominated Ferguson for the post, said the council’s executive board selected Ferguson from a pool of 18 applicants after a national search.
Ferguson steps in for John Farley, who left last summer to accept a job as a pastor in Florida.
The council, better known as TEC-RI, has been deeply involved in the debate over a proposed offshore wind farm. The group of 35 companies has complained that the farm pitched by Deepwater Wind will add millions of dollars to their electric bills and discourage investments and economic growth. Ferguson said he expects to continue monitoring the project.
“It certainly is a big issue,” he said.
Ferguson served as deputy director of the R.I. State Energy Office and as the statewide energy conservation officer from 1976 through 1992. TEC-RI said he developed and implemented energy conservation and management projects in more than 500 state buildings, including colleges, prisons, hospital and office buildings.
He has served as chief of property management and associate director of facilities management for the state, before becoming deputy commissioner of energy programs for Rhode Island. He coordinated the procurement of energy service companies for state facilities before retiring in 2007 after 31 years of service.
