The Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) and the Alabama Agribusiness Council will hold a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Hawkins Hall on the campus of Troy University. The keynote speaker will be Rep. Martha Roby. The public is invited and encourage to attend.

The purpose of the town hall meeting is to educate consumers on energy policy and the importance of why energy providers must be active participants when seeking solutions for the future. The town hall meeting will also focus on the need for energy providers to maintain the ability to provide the average family the reliable, affordable energy they expect.

Lance Brown, PACE executive director, said the town hall meeting is very important to the general public because, with all of the changes in the way electricity is supplied and what is happening in Washington, it is important for consumers to plug into the process and make their voices heard.

“PACE is a grassroots organization of working people, business owners, environmentalists and trade organizations who are fighting for fair, responsible energy policies. PACE believes that the national conversation about the future of energy must include discussion about the cost of particular energy alternative, not just environmental benefits.”

Brown said that, in the end, it is America’s working families and businesses that pay for the energy future that is created today and that future “must be affordable.”

The town hall meeting will be an opportunity for local citizens to “plug into the process.”

The keynote address will be given by U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, who sits on the prestigious House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Following Roby’s remarks, a 20-minute documentary, “Unplugged” Reconnecting American Energy Policy with Reality,” will be shown.

The documentary, which was released on Wednesday, attempts to document the growing divide between the realities of American energy and the mainstream coverage of energy issues. The documentary may be viewed online at www.unpluggedmovie.com.

Brown said that by listening to a variety of voices – consumers, energy experts, environmentalists, regulatory analysts and those who make the electricity the nation consumes every day, the project tries to answer questions fundamental to America’s shared future: How should we power America? And what will cost regular people?

The town hall meeting will close with a panel discussion moderated by Brown and made up of panelists, Gary Palmer, Alabama Policy Institute; Gary Smith, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative; Dr. James Rinehart, Troy University; and Floyd Gilliland, Jr. attorney.

Brown formed PACE in 2009 as a way of fighting for national energy policies that are fair and sensible. He organized more than 20 Southeastern organizations to form a coalition to change the national dialogue about national energy policy.

Brown presents to community and civic organization, appears as a subject matter expert on energy policy with the media, publishes a regular energy column in The Daily Caller (Washington D.C.) and serves on a consumer board for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).