(8) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy. I National Clean Energy Technology Transfer Programs 101. Regional clean energy innovation program (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Regional clean energy innovation partnership The term regional clean energy innovation partnership means a group of one or more persons, including a covered consortium, who perform a collection of activities that are coordinated by such covered consortium to carry out the purposes of the program under subsection (c) in a region of the United States. (2) Covered consortium The term covered consortium means an individual or group of individuals in partnership with a government entity, including a State, local, or tribal government or unit of such government, and at least 2 or more of the following additional entities— (A) an institution of higher education or higher education consortium