Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to Keynote at POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels in Las Vegas Next Week

TULSA, Okla., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels taking place next week in Las Vegas, NV plans to kick off with some big names in the industry. The fifth annual POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels is scheduled for February 19-21, 2008 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The keynote session is packed full of impressive speakers including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Karen Hyde, Vice President, Resource Planning and Acquisition Xcel Energy and Brandon Owens, Program Manager, Strategic Analysis & Scenario Planning, GE Energy.

This summer Senator Reid led the Senate to pass H.R. 6, Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. This bill starts America on a path toward reducing our reliance on oil by increasing the nation's use of renewable fuels and, for the first time in decades, significantly improving the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks. The passage of this bill is a victory for Nevada and the nation. Senator Reid is working to obtain federal funding to boost Nevada's renewable energy industry to expand the state's economy and create thousands of good-paying jobs. He is pushing to create tax incentives for companies that invest in developing clean energy. Reid is also working on federal financing to build new transmission lines to remote areas of Nevada and the nation where renewable energy resources are often in the greatest supply.

Under Governor Pawlenty's leadership, Minnesota's $4.5 billion deficit had been transformed into a $2.2 billion surplus. Besides bringing Minnesota from historic budget crisis to financial security, Pawlenty fought for and oversaw passage of a dramatic overhaul and improvement of the state's education standards; an $800 million increase in K-12 education spending along with a nation-leading teacher performance pay program; health care reforms that led to a zero percent premium increase in the state insurance program; significant welfare reform; tort liability reform; a range of new government efficiency initiatives; the creation of a nation-leading prescription drug website; and a doubling of the state's ethanol standard to increase use of renewable fuels and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

In April of 2007, Mayor Oscar Goodman was re-elected to a third, four-year term. Mayor Goodman now serves as the Chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and feverishly works to promote the enticing destination of Las Vegas. Mayor Goodman has also started OPAC, Oscar's Political Action Committee, to promote and protect the interests of Las Vegas.

As Vice President of Resource Planning and Acquisition Xcel Energy, Ms. Karen Hyde is responsible system reliability and planning for and acquiring sufficient generation, transmission service, and natural gas resources for a 22,000 MW combined system. Xcel Energy is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company, with operations in 10 Western and Midwestern states. Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.3 million electricity customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers through its regulated operating companies. In terms of customers, it is the fifth-largest combination natural gas and electricity company in the nation.

Brandon Owens is an authority on global renewable energy markets, technologies, and policies. A specialist in market forecasting, scenario planning, and competitive strategy analysis, he is currently the Program Manager of Strategic Analysis & Scenario Planning at GE Energy.

"We are very pleased with the powerful line-up of keynote speakers we have kicking off this year's event. There's never been a better time to be a part of this fast-growing industry. We have already set records over previous years in the number of exhibitors and the pre-registration numbers are up 50% compared to 2007, indicating the same will be true with attendees," said Richard Baker, Vice-President of the Power Group at PennWell.

After the keynote address on Tuesday, POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels will open its exhibit floor of 200 leading renewable companies. POWER-GEN Energy & Fuels provides more learning opportunities, more networking opportunities and more business opportunities than any other all-renewable event making it the premier, can't-miss, all-renewable event in North America.

The exhibit floor will be open to the public free of charge Thursday, February 21, 2008 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Power-Gen Renewable Energy & Fuels is owned and produced by PennWell Corporation. A diversified business-to-business media and information company, PennWell Corporation provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following global industries: Oil and gas, electric power, water, electronics, semiconductor, contamination control, optoelectronics, fiber optics, computer graphics, enterprise storage, information technology, fire, emergency services, and dental. Founded in 1910, PennWell publishes 75 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents. http://www.pennwell.com/.

Contact: Jan Simpson OR Stephanie Gregory Conference Manager Event Marketing Manager Phone: 918-831-9736 Phone: 918-832-9382 Email: pgreconference@pennwell.com Email: stephanieg@pennwell.com