Celebrating KEEA & EEA-NJ's 2025
ENERGY EFFICIENCY CHAMPIONS
KEEA & EEA-NJ are pleased to announce our 2025 Energy Efficiency Champions:
KEEA Member Champion: Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation
EEA-NJ Member Champion: Vanguard Building Solutions
KEEA Public Servant Champion: Louie Krak
EEA-NJ Public Servant Champion: Stacy Ho Richardson
Outstanding Energy Efficiency Individual: Ben Adams
KEEA & EEA-NJ Executive Director Jeaneen Zappa on our 2024 Champions:
“With rising energy prices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, reducing energy usage has never been more important. But it’s also never faced such a complex operating environment: federal support is retracting while technologies are rapidly advancing, and demand on the grid has never been higher.
“In this dynamic time, we are pleased to recognize our five Energy Efficiency Champions for 2025. These individuals and firms exemplify how energy efficiency policy and the energy efficiency industry can march ahead, grow, and thrive, whether it’s by growing our workforce, advancing job-creating grant programs, or slashing bills for small businesses. All five exemplify KEEA and EEA-NJ’s mission: to champion efficiency as the foundation of a clean, just, and resilient energy economy. Thanks to their leadership—and other firms and policymakers like them—I know that our industry’s future is in good hands and energy efficiency remains a bright opportunity for all.”
EEA-NJ's 2025 Member Champion:
Vanguard Building Solutions
“At Vanguard Building Solutions, we take great pride in being recognized as best-in-class when it comes to delivering complex, multi-measure energy efficiency projects,” said Greg Santore, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our approach goes beyond simply implementing upgrades. We focus on creating comprehensive solutions that maximize value and comfort for our clients. Just as importantly, we understand that every client’s financial situation is different, which is why we work to identify and secure flexible funding, incentives and financing options that make projects both achievable and sustainable. This holistic model ensures that our partners not only meet their energy goals but also strengthen their long-term operational and financial resilience. We are grateful to EEA-NJ, the Board of Public Utilities, and our fellow member organizations for championing energy efficiency in New Jersey and beyond.”
– Greg Santore, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Vanguard Building Solutions
Why Vanguard Building Solutions is our 2025 Champion:
From being named #1 in Overall Energy Savings in PSE&G’s 2023 Direct Install Program to their extensive work with the NJ Clean Energy School and Small Business Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program, Vanguard has exemplified on-the-ground efforts to carry out EEA-NJ’s mission. Despite their comparatively newer EEA-NJ membership status, Vanguard has become actively involved on the Membership Committee and has become a consistent and trusted source of input for staff on policy and organizational issues during member calls, listening sessions, and committee meetings. Furthermore, from speaking at EEA-NJ’s Triennium 2 press conference to participating in EEA’s EE Stories program, Vanguard has never hesitated to serve as a public, trustworthy face for initiatives supporting New Jersey’s EE industry.
EEA-NJ's 2025 Public Servant Champion
Stacy Ho Richardson
Deputy Director of the Clean Energy Division, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU)
“It is a wonderful honor to receive the 2025 ‘New Jersey Outstanding Public Servant’ award from KEEA and EEA-NJ. I am grateful to have collaborated with so many colleagues and partners to support the transformation of an affordable, inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable energy efficiency economy in New Jersey. If we all continue to listen to and understand each other, I believe that we will succeed in delivering a wide array of benefits for society through energy efficiency and significantly contribute to efforts to sustain life on this planet for future generations.”
– Stacy Ho Richardson, Deputy Director of the Clean Energy Division, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU)
Why Stacy Ho Richardson is our 2025 Champion:
Ms. Ho Richardson has persistently advanced policies that grow New Jersey’s energy efficiency industry since she joined the Clean Energy Division in 2020, through the NJBPU’s utility Triennium proceedings, its commercial building benchmarking program, its Whole House Pilot Program, and more. She has become a familiar and trusted figure to many in our industry thanks to her robust support of the stakeholder process, welcoming input from EE businesses and the communities they serve while developing energy policy.
KEEA & EEA-NJ's Outstanding Individual:
Ben Adams
Vice President, Strategic Development, MaGrann Associates
“It is a true honor to receive this recognition from such a respected organization, one that plays a vital role in advancing energy performance and policy in our region. I’m deeply humbled to know that the work I’ve devoted myself to for almost 40 years has contributed in some way to meaningful progress. While we’ve come a long way, the urgency of today’s challenges—and the opportunities—for advancing energy efficiency, ensuring affordability, and addressing climate impact has never been greater. I’m sincerely grateful to my colleagues at MaGrann and KEEA/EEA-NJ, and especially to the next generation who are already leading this mission forward.”
– Ben Adams, Vice President of Strategic Development, MaGrann Associates
Why Ben Adams is our 2025 Champion:
Mr. Adams played a pivotal early role in the development of New Jersey’s Comfort Partners Program, an initiative that’s since gone on to help tens of thousands of income-eligible households save on energy, as well as the New Jersey Residential New Construction Program over the last 25 years. He has engaged with energy efficiency policy affecting New Jersey and the region across his career, most recently spearheading an initiative to help the state’s businesses and policy-makers successfully navigate current uncertainty around the future of Energy Star. Mr. Adams has also been a key supporter and original advocate in the history of the KEEA & EEA-NJ trade associations, serving as both a highly active Board member and a multi-year leader of the Conference Committee.