Evaluation breakout sessions at the June 14 Program Meeting highlighted efforts to identify “best practices” of programs, program administration, regulation and evaluation.
The first session featured presentations by Ann Bailey (EPA) and Liz Hicks (KEMA) on the forthcoming “Best Practices in Energy-Efficiency Programs” element of the EPA/DOE Energy-Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP). Rafael Friedmann (Pacific Gas & Electric) and Mike Rufo (Itron) detailed the planned update of the National Energy-Efficiency Best Practices Study.
Best-practices studies
Bailey described EEAP’s goal as creating “a sustainable, aggressive national commitment to energy efficiency through gas and electric utilities, utility regulators, and partner organizations.”
One of EEAP’s tasks was an attempt to identify best practices in all aspects of energy-efficiency program portfolios across different policy models and customer classes for both electric- and gas-efficiency programs.
A leadership group, comprising utilities, public utility commissions, state energy offices, energy consumers, energy service providers and non-governmental organizations, was established to advance the EEAP goals. The group includes 12 CEE members.
Other issues to be addressed by EEAP are utility ratemaking, rate design and planning processes. Hicks described various elements of the draft study, which addresses different aspects of implementing energy-efficiency programs.
It includes assessing energy-efficiency potential, screening for cost effectiveness, monitoring and verification (M&V), and political and administrative factors for program success. For additional information about EEAP or the study, see www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/eeactionplan.htm.
Friedmann and Rufo described PG&E’s plans for updating the National Energy-Efficiency Best Practices study, which was developed under the auspices of the California Public Utility Commission in association with the California Energy Commission, San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and Southern California Gas Company.
Unlike EEAP, California’s Best Practices study is focused at the program planning and implementation level, and covers only regulated electric programs.
This year, industry experts will convene to develop short updates on the latest best practices and key issues in specific program areas. Enhancements to the study Web site are also part of the planned update. To access the study, see www.eebestpractices.com.
New California evaluation protocols
In the second session, Athena Besa (Sempra Utilities) provided a thorough history of energy-efficiency program evaluation in California as background to an overview by Lori Megdal (Megdal & Associates) of the new California evaluation protocols.
The protocols explain how impact evaluation will be conducted in California. Megdal’s presentation, which provided a high-level description of each section of the Protocols, is a helpful guide in determining where to focus one’s attention in this substantial document.
All of the presentations described above are available on the Meeting Presentations page of the CEE Web site.
Conclusions
Discussions followed each session and a consistent theme emerged: the need for more investment in impact evaluation in order to engage the supply side in energy efficiency. Meeting attendees agreed that econometric forecasting is not adequate for ensuring that energy efficiency has an impact on planning.
It was suggested that evaluation should focus more on risk analysis, since power planners are concerned with worst-case energy use scenarios, not averages.
In addition to the problem of risk, other issues identified as limiting efficiency’s role in portfolio planning were 1) lack of leadership, 2) lack of consistency in impact numbers reported across states and 3) lack of awareness among regulators that robust methods are available to monitor and evaluate program impacts.
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