S. David Freeman
S. David Freeman | |
---|---|
Born | Simon David Freeman January 14, 1926 Chattanooga, Tennessee, US |
Died | May 12, 2020 | (aged 94)
Alma mater | Georgia Tech (BS) University of Tennessee (JD) |
Simon David Freeman
Early life and education
Freeman was born on January 14, 1926, in
Career
Freeman was appointed to energy committees by President
LCRA
Freeman served as the general manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority from 1986-1990. He was hired after a major scandal involving conflicts of interest, nepotism, sexual improprieties, and mismanagement were uncovered. Freeman moved quickly to restore confidence in the utility, firing some officials. He recruited people to restore the utility's reputation. He hired Mark Rose, who had promoted energy efficiency as an Austin City Council member. Subsequently Rose became general manager of LCRA himself. According to Rose, Freeman canceled a massive mining project involving a 12-mile conveyor belt despite political pressure. Rose said, "Before anyone else, he was talking about conservation as a replacement for the central station power plant,” adding that he was three decades ahead of his time. While in Austin, Freeman began wearing his trademark hat and became known as the "Green Cowboy". [11]
SMUD
Freeman has been termed an "eco-pioneer" for his environmentally-oriented leadership of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).[12] Freeman became general manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in 1990. He has said that SMUD was an embarrassment at that time, and the district was "reeling from two decades of rate hikes, construction cost overruns, operating failures, equipment outages, worker injuries, poor morale and management scandals". Freeman left SMUD in 1994.[13]
According to Freeman, since opening in 1971,
To fill the energy resource hole left by the closure of Rancho Seco, Freeman embarked immediately in 1990 on one of the most aggressive energy efficiency programs of any utility at the time and in 1991 hired Donald Osborn, then Director of the University of Arizona Solar & Energy Research Facility, to develop and implement a likewise aggressive solar energy program. Under Freeman's leadership the SMUD PV Pioneer Program began the broad and sustained commercialization of grid-connected, distributed (so-called "rooftop") solar that by 2002 had half of all the grid connected photovoltaic (PV) power of the entire country. The PV Pioneer Program led directly to the California Million Solar Roofs Program and the California Solar Initiative that was responsible for today's thriving and rapidly-growing American solar market.[15]
Death
Freeman died on May 12, 2020, at a hospital in Reston, Virginia, after having a heart attack.[1][5][6] He was 94.[6]
Books
Freeman has authored several books, including Energy: The New Era (1974), Winning Our Energy Independence (2007), An All-Electric America: A Climate Solution and the Hopeful Future (2016) and an autobiography, The Green Cowboy: An Energetic Life (2016). Other books that contain his works include Oral history of the Tennessee Valley Authority: Interview with S. David Freeman, March 30, 1984 and Speeches by S. David Freeman (1997).
In Winning Our Energy Independence, he wrote that there is the
I say this based on my experience as the former head of the
ISBN 1423611640
References
- ^ a b c d e f Smith, Harrison (May 13, 2020). "S. David Freeman, green-energy champion who advised presidents, dies at 94". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ^ "Tennessee Valley Authority Nomination of S. David Freeman to be a Member of the Board of Directors. | the American Presidency Project".
- ^ "Remembering Morris Freeman, the Umbrella Man". October 12, 2005.
- ISBN 9780837908199.
- ^ a b Kasler, Dale (May 12, 2020). "S. David Freeman, green energy pioneer and former SMUD chief, dies at 94". The Sacramento Bee.
- ^ a b c d e Ormseth, Matthew (May 13, 2020). "S. David Freeman, public power chief and energy advisor, dies at 94". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
- ^ "S. David Freeman: Renewables 100 Policy Institute". Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- ^ "S. David Freeman -". July 26, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- ^ Ormseth, Matthew (May 13, 2020). "TVA at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ISBN 0-521-52471-7.
- ^ Price, Asher (May 16, 2020). "LCRA reformer in 1980s, led water authority after scandal, dies". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ISBN 0-262-62124-X.
- ^ a b S. David Freeman (June 2, 2012). "Viewpoints: Time has come for California to embrace a nuclear-free future". Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on June 15, 2012.
- ^ "Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Comprehensive DSM | EcoMotion".
- ISBN 978-1-61614-222-3