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Day
two of the recent ACEEE-CEE MT Symposium opened with the traditional
Regional Roundup. Moderated by Marc Hoffman, CEE executive director,
this year’s
version was structured with a new twist that allowed the panel to
go into depth on topics with a regional flavor.
So much is happening so quickly that panelists Gene Rodrigues (Southern California Edison), Deb Sundin (Excel Energy), Deb Fulenwider (Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance), and Bruce Johnson (National Grid), only highlighted particularly salient points for their regions. Understanding what regions face in common and where they might be different is a common topic among CEE members.
Using data CEE has collected, Hoffman reviewed the tremendous growth in regional budgets over the past few years, with more to come.
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| The representatives from each region compared their savings objectives, 2009 budgets, and state policy trends. Federal funding and policy brought more uncertainty to the discussion, but all felt that existing programs had the most to offer. |
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Each of the panelists described a particular new program, one from among many in their region. Deb Sundin has well-established programs in Minnesota, and is working with Colorado and New Mexico to get fairly new programs up and running. Meanwhile, North and South Dakota are contemplating what to start up.
Given the need to address behavior change in energy use, Excel Energy
is preparing by piloting two small behavior change programs in Minnesota.
By putting energy use feedback devices in people’s homes, the program
is structured to test whether energy monitoring equipment can create persistent
behavior change and to answer three questions: How do people use energy?
How should behavior change be regulated, i.e., what should be measured? What
is persistence, how long does that behavior exist? These pilots are a first
step in a complex program development effort.
Bruce Johnson described an effort by National Grid to overcome the
first-cost barrier by allowing on bill financing for C&I customers. This
program opens doors for the utility and creates more opportunity, while making
payback easier for these customers. The trick is to avoid bad loans, a point
agreed to by others on the panel and in the audience.
Southern California Edison uses a newEnergy Leader Partnership program to encourage municipal investment even in recessionary times. By leveraging the publicity that elected officials need, Southern California Edison is able to bring a clear, disciplined approach into cities. Partners, as cities in the program are termed, enter the program at one level and, as they perform work each year, progress to higher levels of commitment from the utility, almost like a frequent flyer program for efficiency. |
The northwest is targeting upstream incentives for a consumer electronics program that sets a flat screen TV tier at 30 percent above ENERGY STAR. The CEE Tier 2 for flat screen TVs is 15 percent above ENERGY STAR.
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Consumer electronics represent an important development for programs, and an area where it is important to work together.
Lively discussion ensued as audience members commented on the programs presented by each panelist. The final thought from one audience member urged program administrators to be responsible with the new funds coming in and to widely publicize success stories. While states, provinces, and individual members each have various constraints and differences, this type of sharing provides the opportunity to learn from all experiences. |
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