Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz plans to open a joint U.S.-Israeli energy research center in the next year to focus on clean energy and cybersecurity.
“Establishing a joint center for innovation in areas of mutual interest including clean energy, water efficiency and cybersecurity could not come at a better time, given the rapidly changing global energy landscape,” Moniz said in a letter sent last month to Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The letter was released by Cantwell’s office Friday.
Cantwell had asked Moniz for status updates on the creation of the center after a 2014 bill was signed into law establishing a strategic framework for the two countries to focus on energy issues.
The letter confirmed that the countries are working out the details of the center and plan to open it in fiscal 2017, which starts Oct. 1.
“You and your colleagues have expressed a keen interest in the establishment of a joint U.S.-Israel Energy Center, and I share that goal,” Moniz said. “I have directed the department to work with Israel with the aim to establish a structured joint research center in [fiscal 2017].”
Moniz said in his Aug. 12 letter to Cantwell that the setup of the center is still being worked out. He said it may resemble a public-private partnership, in which government and industry come together to create the center.
