Neil Veilleux

Neil Veilleux, a renewable energy consultant at Meister Consultants Group (MCG), will assess the potential of renewable energy and conservation policies to increase rural development and job creation opportunities for farmers in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

As the 2011 Midwest Renewable Energy Fellow, Neil will meet with farmers, policy experts, and decision makers to assess current policies in the field of renewable energy and sustainability during the Midwest Renewable Energy Tour 2011. Taking into consideration the lessons learned by farmers in Germany, Neil will explore how policy measures could potentially enhance renewable energy opportunities for farmers in the aforementioned states. In Germany, for example, 200,000 farmers have become renewable energy producers, benefiting from new revenue streams and successfully contributing to rural development and job creation. Neil’s research and policy recommendations will be summarized in a report, which will be released at a briefing in the U.S. Congress at the end of July.

Neil is a renewable energy consultant at Meister Consultants Group (MCG), a Boston-based sustainability consultancy. He focuses on US and German approaches to renewable energy markets, including transatlantic assessments of biogas policy and wind energy markets. In the US, he has recently advised Massachusetts state regulators on solar thermal incentive design and was a lead author for New York City's Long-term Solar Strategy and Community Solar program. Before joining MCG, Neil worked with the Conservation Services Group (CSG) and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER). He served as a Rappaport Public Policy Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a Fulbright scholar in Germany. Neil holds an M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning from Tufts University and a B.A. from The University of the South.