CWEB.054/June.27.2000
|
Conversations on Conservation 1) Eugene Residents, Electric Utility Embrace Conservation, EWEB Commissioner Dorothy Anderson Reports |
Energy conservation is a favored cause in the Willamette Valley community of Eugene.
This is no passing passion: since at least the 1970s Eugene citizens and the utility they own, the Eugene Water & Electric Board, have embraced the idea and the practice of energy efficiency.
EWEB board member Dorothy Anderson thinks this attitude is ingrained. "Every time we take a survey we ask what our customers are most interested in," she said. "And conservation is way there at the top. They strongly support conservation in this community. Somehow that ethic has gotten through to the people in Eugene. They think we're doing a wonderful job," she added, with utility satisfaction ratings exceeding 95 percent. "We think it's because we're responding to their desire to have conservation . . . We listen. People say they want conservation; we give them conservation. We get a lot of support. It's really easy when you have that kind of support behind you."
The utility devotes 5 percent of its gross revenues to energy conservation, far above the Regional Review's recommended standard of 3 percent for conservation, renewables and low-income weatherization. "We look at [conservation] as certainly . . . an energy resource, but also a customer service, an opportunity for us to connect with customers," said EWEB spokesman John Mitchell.
History
Anderson has lived in Eugene since 1957, and her extensive public service resume includes stints on the Eugene Planning Commission, the Land Conservation and Development Commission, the League of Women Voters and, since 1990, the EWEB board of directors.
 |
| Dorothy Anderson (Photo courtesy of EWEB) |
She recalls an early milestone in local advocacy of energy conservation, when residents voted in 1970 against nuclear power. "That ended any nuclear development on the part of EWEB," she said, and led to "new people being on the board, and a lot more interest that we've got to do something else besides nuclear power, which meant conservation. EWEB certainly, supported by Eugene residents, has been treating conservation as a resource just like coal, gas, nuclear or anything else."
EWEB was "definitely" one of the first Oregon utilities to move into conservation, she noted. The utility's first conservation program, for energy-efficient new home construction, launched in 1976, according to Mitchell. A utility-operated energy conservation center opened the following year, initially focusing on residential weatherization but also containing "the beginnings of what I would call commercial and industrial conservation." The center at one time in the early 1980s employed close to 60 people.
EWEB has enthusiastically participated in Bonneville Power Administration conservation programs over the years, Mitchell noted. And although BPA funding has waned, Anderson sees hope in such new Bonneville initiatives as the conservation and renewables discount and the conservation augmentation process. "BPA's willingness to put more into conservation is going to help," Anderson predicted.
Altogether EWEB's energy-saving programs (with and without BPA dollars) have tallied 32 average megawatts of efficiencies since 1982--equal to about 10 percent of the utility's current load. "We really already have done a great deal," said Anderson. "We started out with residential conservation, and now the staff is spending much more time working on commercial and industrial. That's harder," she noted, because "businesses want a shorter payback period. We're still working on that. The other thing we're getting involved in now more than in the past is low-income," including weatherization, bill assistance and energy education.
EWEB continues to offer a wide range of energy management programs and services for all customer classes. The utility also helps support the Energy Outlet, a local facility that informs residents and businesses about energy-efficient products and services. Anderson believes EWEB can "work that a little harder" to help "get the information out" in the community.
One promising opportunity, she belives, stems from EWEB's planned fiber-optic telecommunications network. "As part of that program we would like to have the fiber-optic system connected to every household's electric meter. People could help assess their own uses of energy . . . We're doing that with some businesses now," as a test to see how these "smart meters" can help minimize energy consumption. "The technology is changing so fast," she said. "To me it's sort of exciting. There's a lot you can do with smart meters."
Policy Front
On a policy level, EWEB has already committed to increase its renewable energy resource portfolio by an amount equal to or greater than 1 percent of its entire load every year on average. Now the utility is engaging the issue of sustainability.
"We still feel very strongly that conservation--demand-side management is the word we use--that that's extremely important," said Anderson. "We're just now adopting a policy to figure out how to address the question of sustainability, how we as a utilty can work more and more toward sustainability," which could entail meeting all load growth through conservation and renewables.
Some of EWEB's current energy supply comes from power contracts that include coal and nuclear sources--which, according to Mitchell, rank among the bottom of EWEB customer preferences. "Some of these new CTs [gas-fired combustion turbines] are much cleaner than what we're getting now," said Anderson. "We're thinking of replacing some of our contracts with sources that are environmentally better," while mindful that natural gas is not a renewable resource.
EWEB is the largest publicly owned utility in Oregon, which is moving to a restructured electric industry. The state's 1999 restructuring law contains a 3-percent public-purposes funding provision that Anderson appreciates. "That's one part of the program I really like, a requirement that at least the IOUs [investor-owned utilities] and anyone who opened up their systems, public or private, have to commit so much to conservation and renewables." EWEB hasn't yet decided whether to open up to retail competitors, although Anderson doubts Eugene residents would benefit much if it did. Even large customers such as Weyerhaeuser and Hyundai seem less inclined to go out on the open market, she noted. "If we do the best job we can, we could open up and not have anything to worry about."
Advice
Asked about conservation advice for other publicly owned utilities, Anderson demurred. "Some of the publics just hate EWEB," she said, because they believe the utility gobbled up more than its share of BPA funding over the years. "The only reason we used it is that these other publics wouldn't," she pointed out. She acknowledges EWEB has more resource flexibility than BPA-dependent utilities, because of its ownership of hydropower, cogeneration and wind projects for about 21 percent of its power supply.
Yet, "It's hard to believe people who live in Eugene are made any differently than people who live somewhere else." Conservation is a "sensible concept and it's . . . now become part of the Eugene culture."
Conservation "makes so much sense from a customer's viewpoint. If [other utilities] really care about their customers, they're going to help them, by showing them ways they can conserve energy," especially given that power prices will inevitably rise.--Mark Ohrenschall
A major new agreement on federal efficiency standards for clothes washers promises significant energy savings for the Pacific Northwest and the nation. It also represents a prospective success for on the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance's market transformation program.
Appliance manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates announced an agreement in May on recommended national efficiency requirements for new clothes washers, beginning in 2004. These proposed standards--which by 2007 would increase minimum energy efficiency levels for washers by 35 percent--still need final adoption by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is anticipated by year's end.
If enacted as proposed, the new standards would save huge amounts of energy: nearly 5 quadrillion Btus nationally over 25 years, according to DOE, and in the Northwest, an estimated 140 average megawatts of power by 2020, according to Northwest Power Planning Council conservation manager Tom Eckman. That's a considerable fraction, between 5 percent and 10 percent, of the Council's most recent forecast of 1,535 aMW as the average amount of regional cost-effective conservation available over 20 years. Considerable water savings are projected, too, although two Northwest participants in the standards process--the Oregon Office of Energy and the city of Seattle--are skeptical of the prospective water efficiencies and declined to sign the standards agreement.
The Northwest can claim a role in the proposed standards, through the Alliance's WashWise (now known as Energy Star Resource-Efficient Clothes Washer) program. This venture has helped demonstrate the marketability and consumer acceptance of resource-efficient washers, which have gained consistent double-digit market shares in the region from a pre-program baseline of less than 2 percent. "The fact the program has run so successfully for three years, we believe, has had a very significant impact in terms of getting to where we are" with the standards, said Alliance project coordinator Marci Sanders.
NWPPC's Eckman described the standards agreement as "definitely" a market transformation success story. "If it hadn't been for activities in the Northwest, New England and California, I don't think the manufacturers would ever have been convinced this thing was a marketable commodity," he said.
Standards Agreement
The standards agreement, signed by nine manufacturers and eight advocates (including the Power Council), reflects "consensus recommendations" to DOE on new federal efficiency standards for clothes washers. The 17 signatories ask the department to include the proposed standards in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and to officially adopt them by Dec. 31. "While the agreement is subject to a final rulemaking by DOE, it is expected that the joint recommendations by manufacturers and efficiency advocates will be accepted and written into the final standards," according to a DOE news release.
Under the agreement, clothes washers would need to meet a so-called modified energy factor of 1.04 as of January 2004, and 1.26 starting January 2007. That first bump would exceed the current federal standards, adopted in 1994, by 22.5 percent, according to Eckman, while the 2007 requirement would represent a 35-percent increase in minimum efficiency. "By and large," he noted, "machines that qualify for Energy Star [today] would all qualify for the new standard." The agreement also would raise Energy Star-qualifying levels in 2001 and 2004, to levels well above the proposed standards.
The agreement also includes a proposed production tax credit for manufacturers of clothes washers and refrigerator/freezers. For washers, the credit would be $50 or $100 per machine, based on modified energy factor levels. All the signatories agreed to support this tax credit, which needs congressional approval. The tax credit proposal was critical in gaining manufacturer backing for the standards, according to Sanders and Eckman. It would help finance transition costs for manufacturers who have not yet produced high-efficiency machines. "The implementation of the standard is not tied to the passage of the tax credit," Eckman said. "We're obligated to try to get it, to work for passage."
Somewhat Surprising
The package agreement came as somewhat of a surprise, according to Sanders. "A lot of people didn't expect this would happen," she said. The standards-setting process had become "very contentious . . . Anytime you're working with an established industry that has very few players but very large players that have a lot of power, it's hard to move the mountain and to convince them this is a good thing for everybody, including themselves." The formal negotiating process fell apart early this year, she noted, but continuing informal talks led to the May agreement. "I would say that it couldn't have happened without some give and take," said Sanders.
Eckman agreed. "It went about as far as we thought it could ever go, at least as far as a negotiated rulemaking."
DOE and manufacturer officials praised the agreement in news releases.
"Today's announcement is a victory for consumers, manufacturers, and for the environment," said Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "The standards announced today will save enough electricity to light 16 million U.S. homes for 25 years, while cutting greenhouse emissions by an amount equal to that produced by three million cars every year."
Whirlpool, which captures slightly more than 50 percent of the U.S. clothes washer market, also had kind words. "Whirlpool endorses this historic agreement that not only represents a significant advancement in energy efficiency, but will also benefit the environment," said company president Jeff Fettig. "Whirlpool is uniquely positioned to deliver on these consumer savings and benefits. And, as a global company we plan to use our global product development and technology capabilities to develop both clothes washers and refrigerators that exceed the new energy efficiency levels in exchange for the tax credit we hope to receive as part of this agreement."
General Electric Appliances president Larry Johnson said his company is "pleased to have been a driving force in the negotiations that resulted in the agreement. The consumer always wins when corporate America, the government and special interest groups can voluntarily reach agreement on such an important issue. It is GE's commitment to produce quality, energy compliant appliances at affordable prices."
The added retail cost for washing machines meeting the 2004 standard would likely be in the range of $20 to $30, according to Eckman, while machines qualifying for the 2007 levels would probably retail for an additional $100 to $200 over the average cost of today's washers.
Water Question
Not everyone took a positive view of the agreement. The Oregon Office of Energy's Charlie Stephens declined to support it, as did Oregon's two NWPPC members and the City of Seattle. "I guess you could call it a dissenting view of the adequacy of the negotiated agreement," Stephens told Con.WEB.
Water savings are his main worry. The agreement calls for voluntary industry reporting of water efficiencies of washing machines, but it lacks specific standards. "From the very outset, [manufacturers] refused to discuss water," said Stephens, knowing that higher water standards could force changes in production platforms.
With consumers doing more laundry in cold water, along with detergent advances to help washing performance, "All of those trends suggest that energy will be saved without necessarily saving any water," Stephens said. "If the temperature is colder and washing performance is good, then energy use will go down anyway. I'm not sure any of that was adequately taken into account" by DOE or anyone else.
He considers water a "more precious commodity to life" than electricity or natural gas, with shortages already emerging around the country, and he predicts water will be "the most serious environmental issue that directly impacts our lifestyle and our ability to carry on as we do." Stephens also was influenced by Gov. John Kitzhaber's recent sustainability order and its more comprehensive view of resource efficiency.
Stephens thinks the proposed standards would allow some less-efficient models--including some with conventional vertical-axis top-loading technology--to qualify for the marketplace. The market share of resource-efficient washers "could level off . . . as soon as cheaper machines with Energy Star labels on them purporting to be as efficient as these other machines" appear in retail stores. "They could end up sort of flattening the demand for the most efficient machines, and the projections of the water savings and wastewater savings, based on increasing penetration [by more efficient models], may not happen."
Stephens described himself as "not optimistic that the marketplace will deliver the level of savings that we really should have, and desperately need, to be sustainable." Oregon still plans to "continue our efforts to correct that marketplace imperfection," through such means as tax credits, community conservation initiatives and collaborations with builders and developers to encourage efficient appliances.
Eckman acknowledged Stephens' water concerns, but noted manufacturerers were "stridently opposed to including a new parameter of their life being regulated." And if water efficiencies do slide backwards, he added, a regulatory response could still be pursued. The proposed standards could save 70 million gallons of water a day in the Northwest, which is "clearly going to be beneficial to state and local governments dealing with water issues, not to mention salmon."
WashWise/Energy Star Program
Resource-efficient washing machines of the type promoted by the Alliance capture about 15 percent of the regional market share, according to Sanders. "We've always been able to demonstrate, through the work we're doing in our washer program, that these products are highly valued and that there is a good market for them." A more energy-efficient national standard has long been the goal of the Alliance's program, and she called the proposed standards "definitely a very positive step, and potentially a milestone."
Eckman believes the WashWise/Energy Star results on market share and consumer acceptance got the attention of manufacturers. Without such tangible evidence, "I don't think we'd have brought these guys to the table. Manufacturers realized this thing was going to happen by market forces and they wanted to get out in front of it. It's unlikely without the extraordinary showing of the Maytag and Frigidaire [resource-efficient models], Whirlpool ever would have introduced the Resource Saver and ever would have come to negotiations."
The Alliance's venture officially ends in December, Sanders said, and it's unclear what if any program will continue in 2001. The market transformation collaborative will have spent nearly $11 million on the clothes washer program, which initially focused on consumer rebates and later shifted to marketing. With the prospect of 140 aMW of savings from the standards, Eckman called the regional investment "pretty highly leveraged megawatt-hours" of savings.--Mark Ohrenschall
A new wind energy project proposed for Oregon could introduce several hundred megawatts of additional wind power capacity in the Northwest.
SeaWest WindPower in early June announced its intent to develop a 24.6-megawatt-capacity wind farm in north-central Oregon, with completion anticipated by late 2001. Bonneville Power Administration is negotiating to buy the project's energy output.
SeaWest officials describe the venture as an initial foray into the Northwest, and they believe their company may eventually develop 300 MW to 500 MW of new wind power capacity in Oregon and Washington. SeaWest has already identified and acquired a number of sites in the region, according to a company news release.
"We're really viewing this as our pilot project into the Pacific Northwest," said assistant vice president Dave Roberts of San Diego, CA-based SeaWest. "Our approach here is to start with a relatively small project, and bring all the benefits that that brings, and then look at a longer-term market development. We think the market up there is becoming more and more amenable or acceptable to wind power . . . Utilities are receiving pressure from customers to maintain a green status," he said, and wind "is really the least-cost alternative for renewable energy."
Rachel Shimshak of Renewable Northwest Project touted SeaWest's "positive track record of developing projects that are environmentally responsible. This project can help meet the growing demand for wind power in the region."
Proposed Oregon Wind Project
SeaWest's proposed 24.6-MW venture in Oregon would be located on private agricultural land northwest of the town of Condon, which is located in Gilliam County some 40 miles south of the Columbia River.
"We are intending to study and permit the 24.6-MW facility there, but the exact location of the project site will be largely determined by some concurrent studies" on meteorology and environment, SeaWest vice president Steven Steinhour told Con.WEB. "Based on the information that comes from both of those . . . we'll try to put a site on the windiest location that has few environmental problems. At that point, once we know the exact project location, we'll be in a position to file an application [for a land-use permit] with Gilliam County." The company already has lease agreements with several local landowners, he noted.
Steinhour described the area as a "high plateau that has been eroded into a number of sort of broad stretches separated by small ravines. You feel close to the sun there." The land primarily supports non-irrigated wheat farming, which he said "could be conducted right up to the bases of the [wind turbine] pads and the edges of the access road. From our point of view, that's advantageous; it further reduces the usefulness of the area to any raptors that might be otherwise attracted to rodents in the area," because wheat obscures the bird's-eye view of prey on the ground.
Preliminary assessments have led SeaWest to believe the site presents "very few environmental issues," according to Steinhour. Wheat fields don't attract much wildlife, and few raptors have been spotted in the area. Should environmental concerns arise, he said, "We would hope they could be addressed both in terms of selection of the actual site area and in terms of how we site the turbines on that area." SeaWest plans to erect tubular steel turbine towers and to install distribution lines underground to help minimize perching opportunities for birds. The project "most likely" would tap into a nearby existing BPA transmission line, he said.
SeaWest chose a 24.6-MW capacity venture based on its judgment of "currently commercial wind resources" in the vicinity, according to Steinhour. "At this point we don't contemplate that it's going to be any bigger than this initial size." The planned capacity falls just short of the 25-MW minimum threshold for jurisdiction by Oregon's Energy Facility Siting Council. "We did take that into consideration," said Roberts. He noted SeaWest wants to balance financing concerns--"If you get below that size your cost of financing and legal transactions as a percentage of project cost becomes onerously high"--while seeking to avoid too large a project and the associated permitting and environmental issues.
BPA Role
Bonneville is "gearing up to do an environmental impact statement for the project," said BPA's George Darr in mid-June. "We're still trying to figure out exactly what we will cover."
Meanwhile, he said, "We are well into negotiations on both a development agreement and a power purchase agreement . . . We are racing to get this environmental review finished in time so if we do decide to execute the power purchase agreement, SeaWest would have enough time to get the project on-line by the end of 2001," when the federal wind energy production tax credit, now at 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, is scheduled to expire.
BPA is the only current prospective power buyer for the Oregon project, according to Roberts. "We don't have a signed deal yet [but] we're not out marketing it to anybody at this point."
Although the exact price of the power is undetermined, Roberts expects it to fall below 5 cents/KWh, which includes the federal tax credit.
This would be BPA's fourth direct purchase of wind energy, but its first in the contiguous Northwest. Its current three commitments originate in the Foote Creek Rim area of southeastern Wyoming, including a recent deal with SeaWest to buy power from 16.8 MW of new wind capacity (see Con.WEB, May 30, 2000).
Future SeaWest Development
In scouting prospective locations for wind projects, Roberts said, SeaWest looks at such factors as wind resource, transmission accessibility, land availability, community reaction and environmental issues.
"We've identified a number of . . . sites up there that sort of meet those kinds of qualifications," he said. "We think 300 to 500 MW is entirely feasible" for a project portfolio within the next three to five years.
"On its most simple terms," he said, "It's having an adequate or substantial wind resource on one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is having a market that would have an appetite or a desire to purchase green power. Put the two of those together, and that's where we enter the picture and facilitate that and make it happen."--Mark Ohrenschall
The Vansycle Ridge Wind Energy project in northeastern Oregon may soon have a giant neighbor: owner FPL Energy has filed an application to build an additional and much larger wind farm, the Stateline Wind Project, about 10 miles northwest of the 24.9-megawatt-capacity Vansycle Ridge wind farm in Umatilla County, Oregon.
In an application filed last month with the Walla Walla County Regional Planning Department, FPL Energy Vansycle LLC proposes construction and operation of a 250-MW to 300-MW-capacity wind generation facility on agricultural land in both Umatilla County and neighboring Walla Walla County in southeastern Washington.
 |
| Wind turbines on Vansycle Ridge (Photo by Mark Ohrenschall) |
"The project is still in the permitting phase," said FPL spokeswoman Betty Nunez. "Lots of details are still under negotiation, including the type of turbines." In addition to working with the regional planning department, Nunez said FPL has also initiated a federal environmental impact review.
Bonneville Power Administration is the lead federal agency for the environmental review, confirmed BPA's George Darr. Two scoping meetings have already been held, which he described as well-attended and positive. Darr said BPA is conducting the review for a 300-MW project so the agency would be in a position to purchase that much output from FPL Energy. "We are looking at at least 50 megawatts to start," he said. "We will add it to our environmentally preferred power portfolio."
Portland General Electric, which purchases all of the output from FPL Energy's Vansycle Ridge project, has not specifically reached an agreement to buy power from Stateline, said spokesman Kregg Arntson. But he said the investor-owned utility has committed to purchasing energy from 8 MW of wind power capacity through BPA (see Con.WEB, May 30, 2000). PacifiCorp, meanwhile, hasn't decided if it would buy power from Stateline, but the IOU is in discussions and expects to make a decision this fall, according to spokeswoman Leslie Carlson.
In its application, FPL Energy indicates it is likely to install either 660-kilowatt turbines--the size used at Vansycle Ridge--or larger 1,300-KW turbines. If the smaller turbines are put up, 230 to 300 of them would be located in Washington and arranged in several "strings," the application indicates, with about 200 feet to 300 feet between turbines in each string. If the larger turbines are used, fewer would be needed, and there would be more space between them. The 660-KW turbines would be about 245 feet tall, including the turbine blades; the higher capacity turbines would have somewhat greater dimensions, according to the application.
The turbines would be linked via underground cables, and power from the project would be transmitted underground to a substation built just north of the turbine site. From there, the power would be transmitted by above-ground lines, on H-frame wood towers, to interconnect with a 115-kilovolt BPA transmission line and/or a 230-KV PacifiCorp transmission line, both of which are nearby.
FPL selected the Stateline site "in part because of the low level of bird use in the project area and the lack of valuable natural habitats. Thus the project will have minimal adverse impacts on natural resources," the application states. Dryland agriculture--winter wheat--and cattle grazing can continue directly adjacent to project facilities, the application also states, and "the annual wind lease payments received by landowners on whose properties project facilities are located provide a supplementary income source that helps assure the viability of farm operations."
Nunez said FPL Energy is negotiating leases for the site--the application mentions parcels held by three landowners--but "we don't have anything at this point."
BPA's Darr said the developers would be eligible for a federal wind energy production tax credit (currently 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour) if Stateline goes on-line by the end of 2001.--Jude Noland
Bonneville Power Administration is moving ahead with one of its major new energy conservation initiatives, while another continues to take shape.
BPA's energy conservation/renewable energy wholesale rate discount was included, as expected, in the agency's mid-May Record of Decision on rates for the five-year period beginning Oct. 1, 2001. Qualifying activities are still to be officially determined by BPA, with recommendations from the Regional Technical Forum.
Bonneville has agreed to provide at least $3 million annually for low-income weatherization, which will also be an eligible activity under the discount.
BPA's other big new energy-saving endeavor--pursuing conservation to help augment additional power supplies needed in fiscal years 2002-2006--is in the midst of developing details. Bonneville has crafted a straw proposal for this so-called "conservation augmentation," which aims for between 60 average megawatts and 90 aMW of energy savings over the five years. But a number of uncertainties remain, while some stakeholders have raised concerns about potential problems.
Conservation/Renewables Discount
The discount, initially broached in 1998 and the subject of extensive working group meetings and public comments, emerged from the final ROD with few recent changes.
BPA formally rejected entreaties from the Public Power Council and direct-service customers to eliminate the incremental spending requirement for discount eligibility. The 0.05 cents per kilowatt-hour discount will require certification from customers that their discount-related spending exceeds what otherwise would have occurred. The agency will exempt from incremental certification those utilities that spend at least 3 percent of retail revenues on qualifying activities.
"BPA had a strong desire that the C & R Discount amount be supplemental to the amount power customers were planning to spend on . . . incremental conservation and renewable resource investments," according to the ROD.
Although the discount's basic structure is now in place, some implementation aspects remain in progress, prominently including a list of eligible measures. The Regional Technical Forum plans to recommend such a list to BPA by Sept. 1. Bonneville expects to endorse its own version of the list by next February-or perhaps sooner--according to acting energy efficiency vice president John Pyrch. He said BPA wants to give utilities plenty of time to plan for the discount's debut in October 2001.
Low-Income Weatherization
BPA had planned to support low-income weatherization by making it eligible for the discount, and by pledging that total regional discount-related spending on this activity would reach at least $4 million, with Bonneville making up any shortfalls.
Now, during the coming rate period, BPA will directly provide at least $3 million annually during the fiscal years 2002-2006 rate period to weatherization service providers around the region. And low-income weatherization funding by utilities will still qualify for the discount. "Existing conservation program budgets will be adjusted to accommodate this decision," said a BPA notice. BPA has been paying an average of $2.75 million per year for low-income weatherization.
The new scenario will retain local utility control over discount funding decisions, maintain the "currently successful" state agency/community action agency program infrastructure for low-income weatherization, and minimize administrative costs, according to BPA.
"Thanks to BPA, thousands of people will see their electric bills brought down to earth," said Northwest Energy Coalition director Sara Patton in a news release. "By funneling its spending through local experts, BPA will get the most out of its investment." NWEC credited BPA officials Terry Esvelt and Paul Norman for securing the new low-income weatherization arrangement.
Conservation Augmentation
BPA federal power is likely to be so popular among Northwest customers for 2002-2006 that the agency expects to need an additional 1,500 aMW or so to fulfill its load requirements (the exact number depends on Subscription contracts). Bonneville has promised to pursue 166 aMW of energy savings during the period from a range of sources, including the discount, low-income weatherization, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and conservation augmentation (known as ConAug).
By reducing actual loads, ConAug is envisioned as a means to help meet BPA's need for new power during the five-year rate period.
A BPA straw proposal from late April offered a ConAug target of between 60 aMW and 90 aMW. ConAug would focus on energy savings (peak-load reduction and renewables would fall under other programs), and be open to any BPA customer that signs a Subscription contract. Energy services companies could participate "at the discretion of the serving utility." BPA also is concerned about risks--notably "free riders" and conservation measure performance--and their management. It would value energy efficiencies beyond Subscription contract terms "to the extent there is a longer-term commitment from the customer producing the savings."
ConAug proposals would be chosen on "a competitive basis," according to the BPA straw proposal, and the program would be entirely voluntary. "Consistent with the ConAug goals of valuing the seasonal and diurnal aspects of conservation resources and acquiring conservation at the lowest possible cost, BPA will focus on opportunities to realize 'economies of scale' by targeting specific geographic areas and/or specific end-use sectors," said the straw proposal. "For example, there is large commercial and industrial savings potential along the I-5 corridor."
At least one large utility whose service territory fits that general profile--Tacoma Power--is leery about conservation augmentation. "We are not leaning toward participating in ConAug," Tacoma's Todd Currier said at a May 24 ConAug working group meeting. He had heard "conflicting reports" about whether certain non-full-requirements BPA customers would be eligible for ConAug; BPA's Tim Scanlon assured Currier any BPA Subscription customer would be able to participate, although later in the meeting he acknowledged ConAug may not be equally suitable for every utility.
Currier also said the notion of one-for-one load reduction through ConAug is "pretty much a non-starter at our utility, because of the shifting of risk to us, from the regionalization of risk that we're more familiar with traditionally." He and Stan Price of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council were concerned whether ConAug participation, and associated load reduction, would jeopardize a utility's future opportunity to buy BPA power. BPA's Scanlon and Pyrch thought not.
"I'm slipping from some guarded optimism to guarded pessimism," said Price. "Unless we develop some aspects of this that create some additional assurances or incentives for people to participate . . . I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of people coming forward when the bell is rung." Seattle City Light's Jim Todd said he shared Price's and Currier's concerns.
Others urged BPA to specify what it wants in ConAug proposals, including cost guidelines. "You guys are the shoppers in this particular instance," said Richard Jackson-Gistelli of Emerald PUD. "You're looking for conservation to be purchased . . . We need to know what it is you want to buy."
Asked about the proposal to allow only BPA customers to directly participate in ConAug, at least initially, Scanlon noted BPA is required under the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act to give utilities the first crack at conservation. BPA also wants to avoid "unilaterally negotiating agreements with third parties, where the serving utility is not a party but is still expected to have a load decrement. We don't think that's workable," he said. Scanlon does anticipate energy services companies and other non-utility conservation providers will play "a significant role" in the pursuit of efficiencies, in cooperation with local utilities.
BPA anticipates it will begin seeking ConAug proposals in September, and start negotiating contracts after the Subscription contract period ends Oct. 1.--Mark Ohrenschall
More Information:
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber wants his state government to follow a path toward sustainability, including more efficient use of energy and purchases of renewable energy.
Kitzhaber issued an executive order in May titled "Development of a State Strategy Promoting Sustainability in Internal State Government Operations." It covers a definition of sustainability--along with goals, guidelines and specific directives--and calls for the state to "develop and promote policies and programs that will assist Oregon to meet a goal of sustainability within one generation--by 2025."
Increased energy efficiency and the purchase of renewable energy are both cited in Kitzhaber's order, although no specific targets are established. Oregon plans to apply green building guidelines to a state government complex in Salem, and it is already purchasing green power from Portland General Electric. Other energy impacts are still to be determined.
"This is quite a big deal," said Cameron Birnie, an administrator with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services who was involved in the design and will help implement Kitzhaber's sustainability order. At this point, though, "We're doing a lot of head-scratching."
Dave White, administrator of the DAS facilities divison, said he "can see possibilities" stemming from the sustainability order, particularly in renewable energy purchases when Oregon's open retail electric market takes effect in October 2001.
Sustainability Order
In a May 17 speech, Kitzhaber outlined his thinking on sustainability: "The way I define sustainability is managing the use and the development and the protection of our natural, human, and economic resources in a way and at a rate that enables people today to meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." This encompasses environmental, social and economic spheres, he noted.
The sustainability order represents a start, Kitzhaber said. "The way I see it, government needs to help establish the credibility of following sustainable practices by getting its own internal operations in order and once we have a set of victories, a set of demonstrable examples of sustainability, then we can expand this effort to a broader array of activities." He challenged Oregonians to "meet this challenge" in their professional and personal lives, and to do so collaboratively, because "the future lies in a new way of thinking and the future lies in a new culture of cooperation."
 |
| Oregon's capitol dome in Salem |
The sustainability order lists goals of increased economic viability, greater resource efficiency, reduced pollution and less harm to natural habitats and wildlife. Guidelines for state government to follow include tapping the citizenry's knowledge, building upon other efforts, collaboration and cooperation, adaptive management, use of "voluntary, incentive-based and performance-oriented systems to supplement traditional regulatory approaches," full cost/benefit understanding, and measurable progress.
DAS is charged with developing "sustainable facilities standards and guidelines" within six months, seeking joint bidding agreements with other governments and appointing a Sustainable Supplier Council. Kitzhaber will assemble a Sustainability Work Group, and the Oregon Progress Board will evaluate ways to measure progress toward sustainability. State government also will reach out to businesses, other governments, communities and the general public on sustainability, and "will pursue further actions . . . to meet the goals and principles outlined in this executive order."
Energy Issues
Kitzhaber's order designates the planned North Mall Complex as a "pilot project to employ and evaluate sustainability methods and programs," from design through construction and maintenance. The state will use the LEED [Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design] standards from the U.S. Green Building Council, and will specifically aim for the LEED silver benchmark, according to Charlie Stephens of the Oregon Office of Energy. Portland General has already hosted an eco-design charrette for the complex of state agency offices, he noted.
The state plans to use LEED as a general framework in developing green building standards, according to White.
Oregon already has some state policies to encourage energy efficiency beyond code, he said, "but nothing on the scale that I think sustainability lead you to. Sustainability as a policy leads you to look at the energy consumption of everything . . . the energy to get the resource, manufacture the product, transport the product, use the product and retire the product." In this context, sustainable practices aren't necessarily self-evident and require considerable analysis from a holistic perspective. Instead of, for example, simply assessing short-term paybacks for energy-saving measures, "Now maybe we are looking at something much more related to the life of the building, the life of the project, not just your budget."
Energy conservation practices are fairly well established for state facilities, noted White. He thinks the biggest energy impact of the sustainability order will actually be felt in renewable energy.
DAS owns 3 million square feet of state facilities with a total annual electric load of about 50 million kilowatt-hours, and spends $1,500 a month on green power from PGE--an admittedly modest amount given the state's total energy consumption. White thinks state agencies and/or other governments could band together to buy renewables on the open market after October 2001. "Another possibility that strikes me is it would be great if we could use our combined buying power then to really see an increase in renewable energy development out there," he said. "We're just beginning to meet to see how that might go."
This type of joint effort will make a difference, according to Birnie. "The leverage we can provide will benefit others, including local governments, especially in the purchasing area." This would help reduce costs for pursuing sustainability, he noted.
Stephens, too, sees great potential in state agencies working together on sustainability. His office is examining its own practices as a prelude to developing sustainability plans. OOE also is working on the North Mall Complex and consulting with DAS on green power purchasing.
"It's a relatively rapid evolution right now toward sustainability in Oregon," Stephens said. "It's not just energy efficiency. Some people think the term sustainability is mushy. It's not. It's much more straightforward and easy to pursue than most people think. We think it's possible to do it."
Kitzhaber's leadership is vital, Birnie believes. "If that particular leader lives that message and expects others to follow through and will be there for recognition programs and awards programs, working hand in hand with agencies to achieve success . . . That's a very key" element.--Mark Ohrenschall
More Information:
Utilities can foster industrial energy conservation projects with communications, flexibility, persistence, timing, expertise and financial assistance.
These are among the key ingredients suggested by utility representatives Richard Jackson-Gistelli of Emerald PUD, Carol Brown of Tillamook PUD and Jim Wellcome of Cowlitz County PUD. They shared their experiences working with industrial customers on efficiency initiatives, at a late April Utility Service Roundtable in Newport, OR.
 |
Their advice is timely, believes Elly Adelman of Bonneville Power Administration. "We've always found Industrial conservation is the hardest nut to crack but has the largest wealth of savings," she observed at the panel's conclusion. "Over the coming years, industrial conservation is going to become increasingly important again in the Northwest."
Getting to Know You
Industrial customers are certainly important to Emerald PUD, whose seven industrial company customers account for 25 percent of the utility's energy use and 21 percent of energy sales.
When Jackson-Gistelli was hired by Emerald to work with commercial and industrial customers, "The first thing I had to do was establish relationship with folks." But he initially encountered indifference. "Most guys I deal with . . . don't get the electric bill. They haven't given you or energy much thought. Their main job is to keep production going . . . The only time they give you much thought is when there's an outage." And when he got to know his customers, they wanted him to lower their electric rates. "I had to rethink my approach," he rued. "I wasn't doing this quite right."
Jackson-Gistelli researched the local industries, and developed profiles of each customer that he continues to update. He asked a fundamental question: What do these customers want from their utility, and how will Emerald's offerings meet their needs? He learned that reducing costs while maintaining production meant the most to the industrials.
Emerald has offered free technical audits, assistance with state programs such as Oregon's Business Energy Tax Credit, contractor hiring, project management, customized energy consumption graphs and some financial incentives.
Since 1997, he reported, Emerald PUD industrial customers have done 25 conservation projects saving 8.2 million kilowatt-hours, or nearly 1 average megawatt. Process control improvements, compressed air efficiencies and upgraded lighting--all with substantial non-energy benefits--are among the measures accomplished.
"Starting in 1999, they were calling us, and saying, 'Richard, we're thinking of doing something with air compression. Do you have a program? Can we talk?' If we get to a point where they initiate the request, it makes it much more successful," he said.
Communications, flexibility, timing and "polite" persistence have helped Emerald help its industrial customers on conservation projects, according to Jackson-Gistelli. Local industrial officials "loved looking at energy use graphs. They end up staring at them," he said. "The customer relationship is not just tied to savings."
Tillamook PUD also helped one of its industrial customers, Tillamook Lumber, save about 1 million KWh with the installation of variable-speed drives in four lumber-drying kilns and controls on six kilns. This initiative had been "on the shelf" since 1995, reported Tillamook's Carol Brown, and it finally got completed between June and September of 1999. The PUD contributed a $412,000 zero-interest loan from its BPA flex agreement money, which covered nearly two-thirds of the $667,000 total project cost.
"Energy savings are not enough to sell a project," Brown noted. Industrial customers primarily think about production volumes and profit margins; the Tillamook Lumber project, as an example of benefits well beyond energy savings, reduced cycle time for lumber drying from 72 hours to 42 hours.
"Energy is our business," Brown said. "You have to get your project in the door in a way customers see the value." Industrial customers also are busy. "You never want to waste your customers' time," she said. "Nobody had time to chit-chat. We mailed a slick brochure with a hand-written note saying, 'We think we can do this.'" It's also important to make a conservation project as simple as possible for customers. Tillamook PUD, for example, furnished the lumber company with an Oregon BETC application, which "began to make the turn with this project." And having "external and internal champions" for efficiency initiatives helps clear a path to completion.
Champions
Jim Wellcome of Cowlitz County PUD agrees with the importance of champions for energy efficiency.
Longview Fibre, a pulp and paper facility that places a huge 70 aMW load on his utility's system, had encountered what it considered excessive bureaucracy with an earlier BPA industrial conservation lighting project, he recounted. "It left a bad taste in their mouth. We needed to overcome that." Specifically, Cowlitz needed to gain the support of Longview Fiber's engineering section head, who "raised a lot of questions and obstacles" to working with the utility on conservation.
Cowlitz persuaded the company to try a couple of small lighting projects, minimizing the paperwork and offering resources for pre- and post-metering. The engineering section head was kept informed of progress, including problems. With the confidence gained from these two initiatives, Wellcome said, Longview Fiber went on to do 21 total projects that save 10.6 million KWh. And the engineering section head "is now a strong ally" who will talk up conservation to other local industrial companies.
Another champion emerged within Northern Pacific Paper, a Weyerhaeuser subsidiary. Cowlitz worked with the firm in 1999 on motor efficiency improvements, specifically variable-frequency drives that needed to be built, shipped, installed and verified within an eight-month period. "That's not very long to have all that accomplished," Wellcome said. He described Northern Pacific's Mark Higginson as "the inside champion who truly made that work." Total savings amounted to nearly 8 million KWh from the VFDs and a lighting retrofit.
Wellcome emphasized several attributes that help make industrial conservation happen: tenacity, flexibility, timing, assembling the right people, and especially communications. "It can work if everyone is pulling in the same direction," he said.--Mark Ohrenschall
Oregon's Central Electric Cooperative is using a fuel cell to generate about 3 kilowatts of electricity for its central office in Redmond. The co-op is the first of 11 publicly owned utilities scheduled to receive fuel cells this summer as part of a BPA demonstration program announced last year.
The fuel cell was installed June 2, according to Mark Jackson, BPA fuel cell development manager. While the unit could be hooked into Central's electrical system, it has been operating on separate circuits, he said, to better track its performance. "It's nice and quiet, fully automated, and it starts right up," he said. The methanol-powered fuel cell is providing electricity for Central's computers, office lighting, workout room and water fountain, along with hot water for the showers in the workout room.
Jackson said BPA has nine more fuel cells ready, which should all be shipped to the other demonstration project participating utilities by the end of July. The units--about the size of a chest freezer--were manufactured by IdaTech (formerly Northwest Power Systems), a subsidiary of IDACORP.
BPA has an agreement to purchase another 100 units this fall; the number purchased will depend on customer interest, Jackson said. While the cost of each of those units will be about $30,000, BPA will pick up about half of that, Jackson said. "We've had people who were willing to pay $50,000 right now to buy one of these," he added. --Jude Noland
More Information:
Eugene Water & Electric Board, the city of Seattle and Dave Ryan of Montana Power have been honored with Bob Olsen Memorial Conservation Eagle Awards from the Northwest Energy Coalition.
EWEB was cited by the coalition for devoting about 5 percent of its revenues to energy conservation, and for committing to increase its renewable energy portfolio by 1 percent each year. "EWEB's history of leadership and new commitment to clean, renewable resources put it at the forefront of utility efforts to green the nation's power supply," NWEC director Sara Patton said in a news release. "This relatively small utility would be on any short list of global leaders in sustainable energy development," said Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who nominated EWEB for the award.
Seattle, meanwhile, won recognition for its recent pledge to meet all its load growth with no net increase in carbon emissions. "The city's commitment creates a model for other utilities faced with an increasing demand for electricity," said the NWEC Report newsletter.
Montana Power's Ryan was honored for his "leadership in implementing the renewables portion of the state's Universal System Benefits Charge," said the Report. "Ryan is described as an internal champion plowing new ground at the utility and working to complete an impressive number of renewables projects."
These recipients were chosen at the NWEC spring board meeting in Missoula, MT.
Portland General Electric has honored six businesses, a public agency and two colleges "for their outstanding efforts to reduce energy consumption," according to a PGE news release.
These recipients of PGE energy efficiency awards are collectively estimated to save more than 21 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, or about 2.4 average megawatts. They all participated in PGE commercial/industrial energy efficiency programs in the past year.
Energy Efficiency Award winners and their estimated annual efficiencies: Intel Corp. (7.3 million KWh); Boeing Portland (7.2 million KWh); Salem Hospital (1.9 million KWh); Oregon Department of Administrative Services (1.1 million KWh); and Willamette View elder-care facilities (645,573 KWh).
Earning Innovator Awards for meeting Earth Smart standards in new buildings were Nike (estimated 2 million KWh annual savings at four headquarters campus buildings), the University of Portland (664,296 KWh at Swindells Hall) and Chemeketa Community College (161,563 KWh at its new Learning Resource Center).
PGE also announced trade ally awards for "ongoing support of energy efficiency projects," given to BOORA Architects, CBG Consulting Engineers, NORESCO, River City Resource Group and Kaplan Engineering.
OFFICES: Mail-P.O. Box 900928, Seattle, WA 98109-9228. EXPRESS: 117 West Mercer, Seattle, WA 98119.
TELEPHONE-(206) 285-4848. FAX-(206) 281-8035. E-MAIL-newsdata@newsdata.com.
Con.WEB was created by the Energy NewsData Web team, including: Publisher-Cyrus Noë; Editor-Mark Ohrenschall;
Associate Editor-Angela Becker-Dippmann; Contributing Editor-Jude Noland;
Internet Operations Manager & Graphics-Denise Lee; General Manager-Brooke Dickinson; Office Coordinator-Shannon Addis.
Please contact Mark Ohrenschall,
marko@newsdata.com,
with questions or comments on this site.
Copyright ©2000 Energy NewsData Corporation
Return to Contents