Head of NREL to Retire in September

Dr. Dan E. Arvizu has announced that he intends to retire at the end of September from his role as the Director and Chief Executive of the Energy Department’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.

Arvizu also expects to retire as President of Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, at the end of September. Alliance manages NREL on behalf of the Energy Department. Arvizu has held the role of laboratory director at NREL since January 2005.

“NREL’s work is critical to DOE’s mission of supporting American leadership in a global clean energy economy. Under Dan Arvizu’s guidance, NREL has become world renowned for clean energy advancement and cutting-edge science,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. “Just one example of Dan’s focus on driving technology innovation is the recently opened Energy Systems Integration Facility, which is addressing how new sources of energy can be integrated into our electric grid. Under Dan’s guidance, we have also seen a successful push to commercialize cutting-edge technologies, many of which are already having a real market impact. Dan is leaving a deep legacy of leadership and innovation, he will be missed.”

During Arvizu’s 10-year tenure, NREL’s research portfolio has nearly doubled, despite increasingly tight federal budgets. High-performance computing, electricity grid integration, and fundamental research in materials and biological science have emerged to complement major technology research and development programs in renewable generation, renewable fuels, and buildings energy efficiency. The stature and value of the laboratory’s leading energy analysis capabilities have expanded as NREL has examined increasingly complex issues. Under Arvizu’s leadership, NREL has markedly increased commercial and public partnerships through which the knowledge and knowhow of the laboratory have direct impact in the marketplace.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.