CaribPR Wire

LANCASTER, Pa., Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation (OTE Corporation) today announced the appointment of former Acting Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Roy Bernardi to its advisory board. "Our Company is indeed fortunate to have someone of Secretary Bernardi’s stature and talent as a member of our team," said Jeremy P. Feakins, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at OTE Corporation. "Roy Bernardi’s life-long commitment to public service and community progress is a perfect match for OTE Corporation’s goals of bringing clean energy, fresh drinking water, and economic development to millions of people around the world."

Secretary Bernardi was nominated by President George W. Bush as Deputy Secretary of HUD and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 2004. During his tenure, he was charged with managing HUD’s day-to-day operations, a $38 billion annual budget, and the agency’s 8,500 employees. In 2008, Secretary Bernardi was appointed as Acting HUD Secretary under President Bush. As Deputy Secretary, he led the Department’s efforts to improve the standing of HUD with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Under Secretary Bernardi’s management, two HUD programs were removed from the GAO high-risk watch list, marking the first time since 1994 that no HUD programs had been on the list. His leadership also enabled HUD to eliminate more than $2 billion in fraudulent payments in the Department’s rental assistance housing program.

Secretary Bernardi also served in President Bush’s Administration from 2001-2004 after his appointment by the President and confirmation by the U.S. Senate as Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development (CPD). His vision and decisive leadership at CPD was instrumental in developing thriving communities by promoting integrated solutions to the challenges facing the nation’s cities, urban counties and rural regions. Secretary Bernardi’s understanding of the need for such integrated community solutions fuels his enthusiasm for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) and its ancillary products as enormous tools for bringing clean energy, fresh water, sustainable food production, and economic development to many tropical communities across the globe. "I am tremendously excited to be advising and supporting Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation and its core mission to bring OTEC’s benefits to the world," said the Secretary. "This is truly a game-changing technology whose time has now come."