CWEB.081/September.26.2002
Retail green power programs continue to grow exponentially around the Pacific Northwest, although participation numbers and energy sales remain very small in regional percentages.
A new Renewable Northwest Project report shows that Northwest utility retail green power sales more than tripled in the past year, while the number of regional customers buying green power more than doubled. A similar RNP report released in September 2001 found a doubling in both sales and customer participants since 2000.
"Considering the lousy economy we are thrilled" with the green power sales increases, RNP director Rachel Shimshak told Con.WEB.
Washington and Oregon legislation "has had a dramatic and positive impact" on regional green power growth over the past year, according to RNP's "Powerful Choices III" report. Washington utilities with more than 25,000 meters were required to offer retail green power starting in January 2002, and the Evergreen State recorded the region's biggest upsurge in programs, with seven utilities launching ventures in 2002. Oregon's electric industry restructuring law led to new green power options for small customers of Portland General Electric and Pacific Power--the two utilities with the great majority of regional green power sales and customers.
In the wake of the energy crisis and associated rate increases a number of utilities reported declining green power program participation, but none drastic, RNP reported.
Yet, despite impressive gains in the past two years, retail green power is still very much a niche product. Average customer participation rates for the 27 surveyed utilities (including four outside the Northwest) is 1.6 percent. And the annual Northwest sales figure of 18.5 average megawatts represents 0.0007 percent of the Northwest Power Pool's 12-month average load for the year ending May 2002.
"When you sign people up one at a time it takes a long time to achieve significant penetration, especially because for 100 years people didn't have any choices" with their electricity, Shimshak said.
She hopes the steep upward trend for Northwest retail green power sends "a positive signal to the utilities about how their customers feel about renewable resources. We hope that translates into an increasing amount of renewables on behalf of customers."
Numbers
The RNP report prepared by Ned Harris surveyed 27 Western utilities, including Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California, and Xcel Energy and Holy Cross Energy in Colorado. The 23 Northwest utilities are a mix of investor-owned and publicly owned, of varying sizes.
The report identifies green power resources as solar, wind, geothermal, landfill gas and low-impact hydro, and defines green power programs as those allowing customers to select an "environmentally preferred power source or otherwise contribute to the development of new renewable resources," by paying a premium.
Northwest programs collectively sell about 163 million kilowatt-hours annually. That's up from about 47 million KWh in 2001 and 23.5 million KWh in 2000, according to the report.
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| (Courtesy of Renewable Northwest Project) |
Meanwhile, the total number of participating Northwest customers rose from 18,675 in 2001 to 42,022 in this year's report. Among the 23 regional utilities participation numbers range from 6 customers at Umatilla Electric Cooperative to 14,117 customers at PacifiCorp (systemwide, including Utah and Wyoming territory).
Average participation rates at all 27 utilities is 1.6 percent, and 1.8 percent for residential customers. Twelve of the 23 Northwest utilities show residential participation rates below 1 percent. The highest such percentage regionally is Orcas Power and Light Cooperative in Washington's San Juan Islands, at 4.7 percent.
Northwest green power figures are dominated by IOU's PacifiCorp and PGE. Together they account for nearly 80 percent of retail green power sales in the region, according to the RNP report. They also represent roughly two-thirds of total participating customers. Seattle City Light (2,713 customers) and Eugene Water & Electric Board (2,400 customers) lead Northwest public-power utilities in green power program participation.
RNP's report, however, cautions that numbers tell only part of the story. "Clearly, participation rates should not be used as the only measure of success. Successful programs are those that generate enough customer demand to spur new renewable development, regardless of participation rate."
Six of the utilities buy environmentally preferred power from Bonneville Power Administration, which sends some of the premiums to Bonneville Environmental Foundation to support new renewables, the report noted. PGE and PacifiCorp also earmark a portion of green power revenues for new renewable resources.
Green Power Products, Pricing, Marketing
"Powerful Choices III" also examines green power products, pricing and marketing, along with individual utility program profiles.
Green power for these programs originates from sources including wind, solar, landfill gas and low-impact hydropower. Some resources are existing while others are newly built. "RNP believes that investment in new renewables is becoming an increasingly important characteristic as green power programs mature," the report said. Orcas and Chelan County PUD invest in locally generated resources, which RNP lauds as popular with customers and valuable for green power marketing and education.
The most widespread pricing option is the block, typically 100 KWh for a fixed monthly premium, ranging from $1 to $4 for the surveyed utilities, according to the report. This method is understandable and predictable for customers. Some utilities, notably EWEB, offer customers an opportunity to buy a percentage of their total electricity from green power, while a few others ask for sliding-scale contributions.
PacifiCorp's Blue Sky program showed accelerated growth after the 100-KWh block price droppped from $4.75 to $2.95. This "suggests that product pricing is a key element for green power programs and it is important to allow your customers to choose from various purchase levels," the report said.
Marketing techniques have included such avenues as bill stuffers, advertising and media mentions, with widely varying budgets. Direct mail sent to targeted groups and marketing at community events tend to be more successful, the report said, as are utility partnerships with local and environmental organizations. The 11 surveyed utilities with such collaborations have an average customer participation rate of 2.6 percent, compared to 0.9 percent for those without such associations.
"Surprisingly," the report noted, "only a small number of utilities have taken steps to target their commercial customers."
Lessons Learned
"Powerful Choices III" also shares lessons learned. One is the importance of understanding customer interests and attitudes, often through formal surveys. This enables programs to change as needed.
Persistence is vital to marketing efforts, the report said. "When utilities ease up on green power promotion, they often see a drop in participation. From this we can only conclude that the initial customer contact alone is not the recipe for a successful green power program."
The energy crisis generated mixed effects on green power programs, RNP found. Some utilities cut marketing in the aftermath of rate increases that have ranged as high as 60 percent, while others combined green power promotions with energy-saving campaigns.
"The final, and perhaps most important lesson is that attitude matters," the report said. "No matter what a utility is up against--political climate, rate increases, customer demographics, or size of the marketing budget--a successful program is one that is positive, persistent, consistent, and creative ... When consumers understand the benefits of choosing renewable power--cleaner air, diversified energy mix, infinite fuel supply, predictable long-term costs--many more will exercise the powerful choice to support clean power generation."--Mark Ohrenschall
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A major wind-turbine manufacturing facility planned for the Northwest is spinning with uncertainties.
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is still considering building such a plant in the region, a company official told Con.WEB Sept. 24. It would employ more than 800 people at full production.
But timing and an exact location are now in question--less than six months after the Denmark-based company announced its intentions to develop a manufacturing plant in Portland to begin operating in summer 2003.
Federal energy legislation--specifically a proposed extension of the 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour wind energy production tax credit, and also a proposed renewable portfolio standard--is reportedly the biggest variable.
"We're anxiously awaiting in Congress action on the production tax credit," said human resources vice president Jo Anne Firestone of Vestas-American Wind Technology, a Vestas subsidiary. "Once that comes through we'll look at the feasibility of where we need to locate."
She confirmed Vestas is examining potential turbine manufacturing sites in Portland as well as Vancouver and Longview in Washington. In April, a Vestas news release described the Portland plans as entering "final negotiations," and the firm's managing director called those "more like a formality," according to The Oregonian newspaper.
The U.S. wind turbine market, however, is in the midst of a downturn. Vestas' first half 2002 financial statement acknowledged as much, and revealed a companywide after-tax loss of 400,000 Euros for the period. The Aug. 22 statement also reported "on-going" preparations for a "Portland area" production facility.
Meanwhile, Vestas-American has moved its corporate offices from Palm Springs, CA to Portland, Firestone said. More than 100 employees now work in the Rose City.
Changing Circumstances
Vestas' April announcement was hailed by Portland and Oregon officials as well as renewable energy advocates (see Con.WEB, April 30, 2002). Oregon at the time had the nation's highest unemployment rate, 7.9 percent in March.
This newsletter characterized the plans for a Northwest wind-turbine facility as "an economic development coup for the strategically located Rose City, and a potential harbinger of other clean-energy businesses to follow. It expresses confidence in Northwest and U.S. wind-power markets by the world's leading turbine manufacturer."
The Vestas news came less than a month after President George W. Bush signed legislation that included a two-year extension of the PTC, through 2003. Vestas' decision to build a Portland plant was based "on the extension of the Production Tax Credit ... as well as general positive expectations to the future," according to a Vestas news release.
Six months later, circumstances have changed.
"Contrary to first half-year 2001, when the American market was characterised by a high level of activity, the deliveries in first half-year 2002 for the American market have been limited," reads Vestas Jan. 1-June 30 2002 financial statement. Vestas turbine deliveries to the U.S. and Canada fell from 452 megawatts in the first half of 2001 to 41 MW the first six months of this year. Overall, the company reported after-tax profits of almost $40 million for first-half 2001 and a loss of close to $400,000 for first-half 2002.
"The financial scandals and the drop in share prices have caused uncertainty in the market for project financing in the USA," the statement commented. "Combined with the declining dollar rate, the feasibility in a number of projects has been affected negatively."
Installed U.S. wind capacity grew by 1,696 MW in 2001, a record year, according to the American Wind Energy Association. AWEA now projects 400 MW to 450 MW of new capacity this year, jumping to more than 2,000 MW in 2003. AWEA executive director Randy Swisher described 2002 as a "breather" year largely attributable to uncertainties over the PTC's future.
"We're trying to get a long-term extension so we don't have to deal with stops and starts," AWEA spokeswoman Christine Real de Azua told Con.WEB.
House and Senate versions of a proposed comprehensive federal energy bill would extend the PTC through 2006, a scheduled also supported by the Bush administration. A renewables portfolio standard also is under discussion, although Real de Azua said that has generated more controversy than the PTC extension. "Some people just don't like the idea of imposing something on the market."
European wind manufacturers are reluctant to make multimillion dollar investments in the U.S. market without more certainty of sustained policy support, Swisher said.
Wind industry sources suggested Vestas' Northwest plans may also be influenced by FPL Energy's June decision to sign an option to purchase up to 600 MW of turbines from NEG Micon--two months after signing a similar option with Vestas. "The fact that FPL entered into an agreement with another manufacturer casts doubt on the relationship with the first," said one industry insider.
Vestas' Firestone did not mention that when asked about other factors. Earlier in an interview, she said, "We're looking for a commitment from the marketplace," which "is certainly very much associated with the commitment we would get from Congress ... Certainly our commitment has been made to the Columbia River region."
Three Prospective Sites
An expanded list of potential Northwest sites represents another twist in the Vestas saga.
The April announcement said the 227,000-square foot plant--designed to assemble nacelles, produce blades and make towers--was headed to Portland, at an estimated investment of $35 million in production equipment. Vestas managing director Johannes Poulsen praised the local transportation infrastructure and skilled labor pool, as well as local and state political support for the PTC extension.
Since then, however, neighboring Vancouver and Longview to the north have joined the list of contending locations along the lower Columbia. "We're looking currently at three sites in the hopper," Firestone told Con.WEB. "We haven't made a final site selection yet." Cost, transportation infrastructure and employment base are among Vestas' considerations for a specific location, she said.
"Any company would do likely the same type of due diligence we're trying to do, and come up with the best type of decision," she said. "It's a long-term commitment."
Vestas has no definitive timetable, she said--a contrast to Vestas' April news release, which anticipated a summer 2003 opening of the plant and full capacity (with about 1,000 employees) by early 2004.
"It's just a waiting game at this point," said Martha Richmond of the Portland Development Commission, reporting her agency's last contact with Vestas officials in midsummer. "We're still hopeful to bring those jobs here," she added, although wherever the company chose would produce employment for the region.
"We've had ongoing conversations with Vestas," Chastell Ely of the Port of Vancouver told Con.WEB, declining to elaborate.
And at the Port of Longview, planning and development director George Cress said, "We'd love to have them here. We feel they'd be a good fit for the state as well as the community."
Asked if he was surprised Vestas looked at Longview after initially tapping Portland, he indicated the company took a broader look at its transportation needs for wind-energy markets in the Northwest and Midwest. "The best way to move things is by barge or ship, as well as rail, too," he said; Longview offers all those options, as well as cheaper land, a large industrial work force, and proximity to metropolitan Portland.--Mark Ohrenschall and Ben Tansey
A proposed bio-energy plant in northeastern Oregon would produce both electricity and ethanol from wood residues gathered in overstocked forests.
This novel venture would annually generate 15 megawatts to 20 MW of power and 15 million to 20 million gallons of ethanol, according to Marc Rappaport, president of Sustainable Energy Development, who is spearheading the project near La Grande, OR. Rappaport said he hopes to break ground for the plant next spring.
It would also help open up forests grown increasingly thick over the years by fire suppression, selective logging, drought and insect infestations--which have combined to increase the risk of big wildfires. A U.S. Forest Service official in eastern Oregon praised the proposed bio-energy plant as a means to increase thinned acreage and provide a local market for smaller wood.
"The big paradigm is we produce electricity and ethanol and reduce greenhouse gases, all at the same time," said Rappaport.
Even with these prospective benefits, he acknowledged this as a "complicated and difficult" project. Among the issues are financing for the $80 million-plus venture, potential environmental sensitivities and markets for the ethanol and electricity. An Oregon state energy official thinks cost is the main hurdle.
Electricity and Ethanol Production
Burning wood to generate power is "fairly old technology," said energy facility analyst John White of the Oregon Office of Energy. It heats a boiler that creates steam that drives a turbine that connects to a generator. But making ethanol from wood is original; White said a number of such facilities have been proposed around the country, but none are operating. The basic concept involves a biochemical process in which cellulose (from wood or agricultural byproducts) is converted into sugar, which ferments into ethanol.
Rappaport declined comment on the technological details of his proposed electricity/ethanol facility, although he generally described the technologies as proven, patented, relatively innovative and low-carbon dioxide emitting.
Rappaport said he helped put together a 22.5-MW wood-fired plant in southern Oregon, built some 20 years ago, and more recently participated in a working group mulling the problem of fuel-loading in Northwest forests. He also mentioned the U.S. Department of Energy's exploration of cellulose-to-ethanol production as other background to this venture.
Wood wastes--an estimated 300,000 tons annually--would provide the fuel source. "The material we would be using has no commercial value ... We're not looking at standing timber," said Rappaport. Both private and public lands, such as the nearby Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, could supply the wood
White called OOE "very supportive" of the project. "Potentially this may be a new industry in Oregon, based on our availability of a lot of waste wood. It's of course a very sensitive issue environmentally. There are some who would not want any kind of extraction of biomass from the forest. My personal view is that there are forests out there that would benefit from a program of thinning," to reduce the chance of monstrous fires of the type that charred Colorado and Arizona this summer. "We see a real connection here between possibly, eventually, doing something right for the forest and at the same time produce a resource which could be used to produce useful energy, instead of just burning it up in a wildfire."
In an April 2001 study for OOE, the Virginia-based Sampson Group wrote, " ... we are convinced that the potential for breaking through the forest health-biomass energy gridlock is as promising in Eastern Oregon as anywhere in the West," although more detailed studies are needed. "Improved forest inventories on private lands, major changes in federal forest policies and better economic analyses of energy facility locations are all indicated."
Local Support
The ethanol/electricity plans have found favor in the local community, according to Rappaport and assistant planner J.B. Brock of the Union County Planning Department. "There's pretty much broad-spectrum support for it," said Brock, for reasons including economic development and reduced fire hazard. The county is reviewing plans for the 60-acre industrial park site earmarked for the bio-energy plant.
"I think there's been real good support for it," agreed Kurt Weidenmann, district ranger for the La Grande Ranger District in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. "We'd like to see it get in and start operating."
Forest Service officials and Rappaport have had "fairly active discussions" the past couple of years about a bio-energy plant, Weidenmann said. "It's sorely needed here in northeast Oregon." Such a plant would furnish a local market for "low-value, small diameter" wood that now must be transported to the Columbia River. The OOE study also listed a viable local market as a major obstacle for biomass energy linked to forest thinning, along with reliable fuel supplies.
The bio-energy plant also would allow the Forest Service to expand local thinning operations, which currently cover about 7,000 acres a year. "For all practical purposes there's an unlimited supply of biomass that we could supply this plant," Weidenmann said.
Financial Issues
Rappaport estimated a two-year construction period, and a total cost that could exceed $80 million. He declined comment on financing, although he indicated private sources were being lined up for the project. He has inquired about OOE's Business Energy Tax Credit and Energy Loan programs, according to White; federal money could be another option.
"The principle barrier is financing," White said. "Because it's new it's a) more expensive--we haven't really optimized the process--and b) a lender is uncomfortable when there is not something already operating out there."
As for markets, Rappaport said ethanol could be used as an alternative vehicle fuel anywhere on the West Coast, although he acknowledged logistical issues.
Meanwhile, "We've had some conversations with a couple of utilities" about potential power sales. "I think people need to know we're going to be more real" before making commitments. Oregon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative is prepared to deliver the electricity to Bonneville Power Administration lines, he said, opening a wide range of potential power buyers. Rappaport said he anticipates charging a green premium for the electricity, comparable to wind-generated power. Northwest Power Planning Council figures show the energy cost of wood-fired combustion, using conventional technology without cogeneration, ranges from 5.2 cents per kilowatt-hour to 6.7 cents/KWh, according to White.
"This is definitely just an initial phase," said Rappaport. "If we prove what we think we can do, I think there'll be considerable opportunity for replication of what we're doing ... Anyplace a community has a problem and wants power and ethanol, we'll be able to provide solutions, and facilitate forest restoration on a sustainable basis."--Mark Ohrenschall
A future Northwest electricity system with substantially more renewable energy and energy efficiency could be accomplished with minimal economic consequences, a new study says.
"Generating Electric Power in the Pacific Northwest: Implications of Alternative Technologies"--a report by RAND Science & Technology for the Pew Charitable Trusts--reaches this conclusion after examining three future scenarios for the region's power system.
Those involve shifting 20 percent of future gas-fired generation to efficiency and/or renewables; replacing power from four breached lower Snake River dams with a combination of natural gas plants, efficiency and wind power; and substituting power furnished to direct-service industries with energy efficiency.
"What we found," said principal author Mark Bernstein, "is that you can shift a moderate amount away from future business-as-usual expectations and have no impacts on the economy." Regional gross product would vary 0.6 percent or less under all the studied scenarios.
The report lists other reasons to pursue a more diverse Northwest energy blend: " ... hedging price uncertainty is an important policy and business factor, and a combination of efficiency measures, wind power, and solar power provides a potential reduction in fuel-price uncertainty. Shifting away a portion of the potential natural-gas generation may also have environmental benefits," the report said.
Environmental advocates hailed the report's vision of a future of clean air, saved salmon and new jobs, while others offered more skeptical views, raising questions about the study's methodology and assumptions, such as future natural gas prices. A top BPA official called the report a "combination of amateurism and advocacy," and suggested RAND try again.
The $75,000 study did not look into whether or how incorporating more renewables and efficiency into the regional energy system could be accomplished.
Critical Energy Issues
"The Pacific Northwest faces some critical energy issues over the next 20 years," the report said. "There is significant uncertainty about energy supplies, energy prices, and the implications of competitive energy markets. Therefore, as energy demands continue to rise, it is important for the states in the region to understand the risks and opportunities of different energy supply and demand options."
Hydropower is the Northwest's primary power resource, furnishing 82 percent of installed capacity in 1999, the study said. But hydro has limited expansion potential, and is subject to "significant capacity uncertainties" because of varying precipitation.
Combined-cycle gas-fired power is anticipated to grow to 22 percent of regional energy capacity by 2010, but natural gas faces uncertainties in future price and supply, the report said.
"The electricity portfolio does not need to have an equal percentage of different alternatives, but reducing the 86 percent share of hydroelectric power and natural-gas-fired combined-cycle generation on the margin could help reduce risk and uncertainty," the study said. Renewables prices are relatively predictable if generally more expensive than gas-fired resources, and efficiency can help lessen future power demand, the study noted.
Three Options
The RAND report explores three separate options to increase diversity in the Northwest's electricity mix, and concludes that any of the three would change the gross regional product by 0.6 percent or less, positive or negative. These renewables/efficiency alternatives also could hedge against volatility in natural gas price and supply, and hydro production, while offering environmental advantages, the study said.
At the same time, green energy sources pose their own risks and limitations, such as intermittency (for wind and solar) and higher capital costs (especially for solar).
Following is a summary of the three options:
Through 2020 this would change the gross regional product 0.2 percent or less, positive or negative. The combination of wind/solar/efficiency would be at the lower end, followed by wind alone and a wind/efficiency combination. Net employment would vary by 20,000 jobs, one way or another (less than one-third of 1 percent of all regional jobs). And with renewables replacing natural gas, emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide would be reduced by more than the amount of total emissions of those gases from Northwest fossil-fuel-powered plants in 1998.
Among the factors influencing the economic impacts are natural gas and electricity consumption and prices, fuel imports, equipment investments, business and consumer spending, and technology costs.
The market rate option "appears to have no impact on economic growth or employment," according to the study. But the efficiency alternative looks to be a net positive, generating as many as 55,000 new jobs by 2020 and boosting the economy by 0.6 percent.
The gas alternative would not make any difference to the regional economy, the study found, and the efficiency option likewise would create minimal impacts through 2020. The wind/efficiency combination would be slightly more consequential, reducing gross regional product as much as 0.3 percent by about 2011, but improving slightly in subsequent years.
Breaching four Lower Snake dams would generate economic benefits in fishing, recreation and tourism, according to the study, but would hurt irrigation and require infrastructural changes, according to the study.
In assessing regional economic effects RAND used the REMI Policy Insight Model, and made various assumptions on future technology costs and development, natural gas prices (up to $6 per million cubic feet over the study period) and efficiency costs (from 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to 3 cents/KWh, with average measure life of 10 years).
Reactions
Reaction to the RAND study ranged from strong support to varying levels of skepticism.
Don Sampson, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, said the report verifies CRITFC's own tribal energy vision that the future lies in diversity, conservation and renewables. Sampson said there are huge economic benefits to restoring tribal fisheries that weren't mentioned in the report. "Our belief is that the river's prosperity, from our perspective, has been siphoned off and shipped away for too long."
Nancy Hirsh, policy director for the Northwest Energy Coalition, said the RAND study "helps provide a marker for the Northwest Power Planning Council as it develops the fifth electricity demand forecast and sets a new vision for the region for the next 20 years, and for Bonneville [Power Administration] as it looks at allocating federal power in the next period of 2006."
Hirsh called the study "very conservative" in its cost estimates and assessments of potential for efficiencies and renewable energy. She thinks positive economic benefits, including job growth, could be even greater if the region displaced future gas generation by more than the 20 percent modeled in the study.
"We're going to need strong proactive policies to promote renewable energy as a resource" at both state and federal levels, said Hirsh, who was cited in the report acknowledgments for providing informal review and discussion.
The study's methodology, however, has raised some questions. "I had higher expectations for the level of review," said PNGC Power's Scott Corwin. The RAND study "has little or no input from experts on Northwest power issues."
Corwin also had questions about the theoretical macroeconomic impacts. "If dams are breached, a specific set of industries will take the brunt of the hit," he said. "The links between those industries and the rest of the economy must be investigated. Just look at what has happened to the rural economy with the 50 percent [BPA wholesale] rate hike."
"BPA agrees with RAND's primary conclusion that the Northwest should diversify its resource portfolio with energy conservation and renewables," said Lynn Baker of the power agency. "We're doing that now."
But Baker said environmental claims that the report provides a "clear road map" for salmon recovery are "greatly overblown." And, she said, BPA believes the RAND assumption that replacement power from renewable sources could be on-line two years after the four Snake dams are removed is "unrealistic," especially with the increasing difficulty in siting large-scale wind projects in the region.
Baker also noted difficulties in making assumptions about future resource supply. "Many natural gas plants proposed for the region when wholesale prices soared ... have since been cancelled or postponed," she said.
Later, BPA Power Business Line senior vice president Paul Norman called the report a "combination of amateurism and advocacy," and advised RAND to try again (the report was still on RAND's Web site as of Sept. 25). "We told them it was so poorly done that we urged them to pull it back until they could do a professional job," he said.
Northwest Power Planning Council spokesman John Harrison said the report doesn't deal with a fundamental issue--whether power prices will support a substantial switch to renewables. "If you can't make money, you aren't going to get a loan to build a plant," he said.
Future natural gas prices are an important factor, Harrison said, and they are likely to be much lower than modeled in the RAND study, which uses an economic model that estimates natural gas prices will more than double in 20 years, to $6 per million cubic feet.--Mark Ohrenschall and Bill Rudolph
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[Editor's note: This is the third in a Con.WEB series on green building in the Pacific Northwest. The previous two articles covered the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center in Portland and green buildings in Eugene.]
POR QUE ESTAMOS AQUI, SI NO PARA TODOS? WHY ARE WE HERE, IF NOT FOR EACH OTHER?--Painted on a concession stand in Hund Memorial Park in Mattawa, WA, above a mural of two hands reaching for each other.
Why, indeed?
This noble communal sentiment is evident a short distance from the park, in a state-funded demonstration project that combines farm worker housing with environmentally friendly, readily available and enduring building measures.
Nueva Vida (New Life) features seven different resource-efficient residential structures and the country's first straw bale library. It is located in Mattawa, on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River in central Washington.
This $1.4 million development, housing up to 35 people, will hardly dent the housing problem for the people who toil in the fields of agricultural Washington. Some 37,000 migrant farm workers lack proper housing during the growing season, while another 120,000 seasonal workers and their dependents find shelter in substandard conditions, according to the state Office of Community Development.
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| Officials cut a ceremonial ribbon May 2 at the new straw bale library in Mattawa. (Photo by Mark Ohrenschall) |
Still, Nueva Vida offers a glimpse of hope as a potential model for resource efficiency in farm worker housing.
"This moves us from an idea--to make a difference in farm worker housing--to having made a difference in farm worker housing," said OCD director Busse Nutley at a May 2 dedication ceremony for Nueva Vida. Public funding provided innovative dwellings to house farm workers, she noted, and also to demonstrate opportunities for energy savings, low maintenance and different construction techniques and building sizes, she noted.
"The significance of this whole project is it really demonstrated what works and what doesn't work, as far as initial construction," said Ken Sterner, executive director of North Columbia Community Action Council, a sponsor of Nueva Vida. "What it doesn't demonstrate yet, but will, is the overall efficiency of the project and whether or not these houses are a really long-term good answer to development of low-income or farm worker housing."
Chronic Problem
Nueva Vida is rooted in the chronic insufficiencies of farm worker housing in central Washington.
Four years ago, recalled Sterner at the May 2 dedication gathering, "There was a crisis here in Mattawa," with failing water and sewer systems and thousands of farm workers without housing. "We came down with hygiene kits," he said, adding that he saw many people camping--not recreationally. "We came across two farm workers sitting in the rain ... All they had were boxes, and they were making shelter from cardboard boxes. That rang a bell ... That's intolerable."
That same year Gov. Gary Locke made farm worker housing a state priority, and told state agencies to jointly tackle the problem, according to OCD. A state strategy with programs and services was crafted, and the Washington State Legislature appropriates money for farm worker housing. OCD selects projects for funding, with advice from state agencies and local organizations.
Thus emerged Nueva Vida.
Sterner said Mike Colletta of OCD approached him about developing innovative farm worker housing, and offered help. Sterner wondered about the financial burden and large risks for his non-profit organization, but ultimately was persuaded by his then-12-year-old daughter, who asked him, "'Isn't it going to help people?' There was the wisdom. I recommended it to my board and here we are today."
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| Mattawa's new straw bale library. (Photo by Mark Ohrenschall) |
His agency, OCD and the town of Mattawa are listed as Nueva Vida partners. The state provided $1.4 million for the development. NCCAC was a sponsor and will own and manage the housing, according to Sterner. Mattawa donated land for the venture and gets a new library, which opened in mid-September. Northwest Building Systems is listed as the builder, and George Harrison as general contractor.
The housing units were starting to become occupied as of mid-September, Sterner said. They can collectively house up to 35 people (depending on family sizes) and will be available for year-long leases to those with incomes up to 50 percent of Grant County median income. A waiting list has already developed. "We're not concerned about filling it," he said.
Unique and Challenging
Nueva Vida represented a "unique" and challenging mix of design/build, demonstration, and research and development for low-income housing, OCD assistant director Housing Services Division Ray Price told the dedication gathering. He also noted the construction crews included unemployed farm workers, who gained new skills. "This project is something to be proud of," he said.
Nueva Vida's construction features were intended to be innovative, resource-efficient, durable, attractive and affordable (at least for the tenants), according to officials.
"They are all going to be significantly higher [in cost] than what you would probably see for a stick-built project," said Sterner. "The question is, over the long term, with the savings in energy usage and that sort of stuff, whether it is going to work out to be less expensive." The answer will only be known after many years of monitoring, he added.
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| Nueva Vida housing. (Photo by Mark Ohrenschall) |
Nueva Vida's energy-efficient residences generally cost about 15 to 20 percent more than conventional homes, affirmed OCD's Colletta, although simpler and quicker construction reduced some labor expenses. Trusses and walls for one panelized house were finished in two days, while the library trusses and straw bales were put in place over a weekend.
"Most importantly, of all of this, we always talk about affordable housing," Colletta told Con.WEB in April. "The very things that are cost-prohibitive for people without money is vacuum cleaners and carpet cleaning and light bills and heating and cooling bills. Those are the areas I addressed, what I constructed and advocated."
The residences don't have carpets, so a tenant can "put his or her own aesthetic in there" with area rugs of their own choice. The units also are easy to clean. "For rental properties, what a dream: 1,500 PSI [pounds per square inch] pressure washer and soap and sanitizer and you're ready for the next client," Colletta said. Reduced maintenance helps lower the life-cycle cost of housing, he noted.
A number of Nueva Vida building features (see below for a summary) are resource-efficient. Straw bale walls in the library, for example, sport an R-value of R-50. (On a warm and windy central Washington spring day, the building was quite comfortable and quiet inside). This effective natural insulation provides substantial enregy savings. Colletta also noted that straw bale construction offers an environmentally benign alternative for straw that otherwise might be burned as waste.
Other energy-saving elements in the development include structural insulated panels in three structures, low-e windows and some ceiling fans for air circulation. However, this reporter also spotted several incandescent light bulbs and relatively inefficient electric water heaters (according to EnergyGuide labels).
Buildings Summary
Laboratory Experiment
"So far all the feedback we've got on the buildings themselves have been pretty positive," said Sterner. "Everybody has got their own opinion as to which one is better or not, whether they like concrete, straw bale, foam or some other type of material or construction ... I'm trying to keep an open mind myself."
He described the Nueva Vida development process as "different in just about every possible imaginable way. That made it hard. I haven't heard from anybody who wants to replicate it--it wasn't intended to be replicated."
Nueva Vida also was unusual because the state asked a local organization to sponsor a project, "almost like a laboratory experiment, to be reviewed year after year," Sterner said. "This is an ongoing experiment. The building was not the experiment. The real experiment was ... the long-term effect."--Mark Ohrenschall
More Information:
Last year, 8.3 million compact fluorescent lamps were sold or distributed free by utilities in the Northwest.
In five to seven years, many of those 8.3 million bulbs will stop working. What will happen to them then? Today, consumers throw burned-out light bulbs in the garbage, which is OK for incandescent light bulbs. But CFLs contain small amounts of mercury.
Today, Northwest residents can take spent fluorescent bulbs to household hazardous waste drop-off stations run by local governments. But when the big slug of 2001 bulbs starts burning out, utility and waste management officials hope that convenient, well publicized collection points will be available to divert CFLs from Northwest trash heaps.
"We want to be ready when the bulbs start burning out," said Stacey Hobart, spokeswoman for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. In the Portland/Vancouver area, a task force with representatives from utilities, environmental agencies and the Alliance is exploring a pilot public education and collection program for CFL recycling. The pilot may be running next year, said Ryan Marquardt of the Zero Waste Alliance, a non-profit organization coordinating the task force. Cost and public education are two of the major issues.
Why Recycle?
Any fluorescent lamp, whether a CFL or the tubes commonly seen in commercial buildings, contains a minute quantity of mercury, a known human health hazard and a toxin that accumulates in the food chain.
The metallic element is essential in making fluorescent lights work. When mercury atoms inside a fluorescent lamp are excited by electricity, they release photons, which the phosphor coatings on the inside of the glass render into visible light.
Mercury is sealed inside the lamps and is not released during normal operation. And the quantity of mercury in one lamp is tiny. Philips Lighting estimates that an "integrated" CFL containing bulb and ballast contains 5 milligrams of mercury. In a 1999 survey, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association found that a garden variety 4-foot fluorescent tube contained 11.6 milligrams. A typical fever thermometer, for comparison, contains 500 milligrams.
Nationwide, about 600 million fluorescent lamps are disposed of each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Broken fluorescent and high-intensity discharge lamps account for 1 percent of the 158 tons of mercury emitted into the environment each year from human activities, according to EPA's 1997 mercury report to Congress. In contrast, burning coal to generate power accounts for 33 percent of human-caused mercury emissions.
Which means that using incandescent lamps can result in higher mercury emissions than using CFLs, even though incandescents don't contain mercury. Incandescent bulbs require four times more electricity than CFLs to deliver an equivalent amount of light. If the electricity is generated by coal, the greater power consumption results in higher mercury emissions.
In 1994, the Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society estimated that 63 milligrams of mercury enter the environment as a result of operating one 4-foot T-8 fluorescent tube lamp, including emissions from power generation and assuming the spent tube's mercury is released during incineration. In contrast, 400 milligrams enter the environment from generating the power necessary to operate an incandescent bulb producing the same amount of light.
Reduced Mercury Content
Since the mid-1990s, the three leading light manufacturers--Philips, GE and Osram--have reduced mercury content in fluorescent lamps. All three market fluorescent lighting products that pass the Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test, a standard for identifying wastes subject to hazardous waste regulation under state and federal law.
Philips, which markets the Alto brand of fluorescent tubes distinguished by their green caps, reduced mercury content through a manufacturing technique that prevents mercury atoms from lodging in the phosphor. As a result, the mercury is available for continued service moving around photons. "It wasn't simple," said Steve Goldmacher, communications director of Philips Lighting North America.
In 1995, the average T-8 tube contained 22 milligrams. Today's Alto T-8s contain 3.5 milligrams. Philips recommends recycling low-mercury lamps even if they pass TCLP and legally can be thrown in the garbage.
Recycling Push
Local and state agencies that regulate hazardous waste are pushing fluorescent lamp recycling hard, to keep mercury out of landfills. Since businesses are regulated by hazardous waste statutes, agencies are focusing their attention on spent fluorescent tubes coming from the commercial and industrial sectors.
State environmental quality agencies in Washington, Oregon and Montana have in recent years adopted a "universal waste" rule designed to encourage businesses to recycle fluorescent lamps. Under this rule, fluorescent lamps that fail the TCLP test must be recycled or disposed of through a licensed hazardous waste disposal company. Businesses that recycle, however, aren't subject to many of the paperwork requirements that normally accompany handling of regulated hazardous waste.
Since the rule was adopted, recycling has increased somewhat in King County, WA, which runs an extensive hazardous waste program with the city of Seattle and suburban cities. However, most old fluorescent lights still end up in the garbage.
"We estimate that 3.6 million fluorescent lamps burn out each year in King County. Twenty percent of those are recycled. That's up from 5-10 percent a couple of years ago," said Susan McDonald with the Seattle-King County Local Hazardous Waste Management Program. The program has technical assistance staff that educates businesses about fluorescent lamp recycling. The county also offers businesses grants of up to $500 to recycle or properly dispose of hazardous wastes, including fluorescent lamps. The county hopes to boost the recycling rate to 40 percent by the end of 2004.
Once tubes are in a dumpster, there is little likelihood they'll be turned away by landfill operators, said Craig Lorch, manager of EcoLights Northwest, the region's only fluorescent lamp recycler. "Most of the time, tubes get buried in the loads," Lorch said. "Landfills deal with lots of dumpsters. By then, it's way too late."
EcoLights, located in south Seattle, runs a "crush and sieve" recycling operation that breaks up spent lamps and separates the mercury, phosphors, metals and glass. The recovered mercury and phosphors are sent to a retorter, where the mercury is separated. Recovered metal is recycled while the glass is sent to aggregate and insulation manufacturers.
Lorch said there are significant barriers to widespread recycling of commercial fluorescent lighting, such as lack of awareness of the universal waste rule, cost, and logistical issues. "Property managers may not have a program. Janitors may not be aware of it. It may be hard for building owners to get (spent lamps) to us," he said. Lorch believes stronger enforcement of the universal waste rule probably will be necessary to prevent businesses from throwing spent fluorescent lamps into dumpsters.
Residential CFL Recycling
Cost and public education are two issues facing the Portland-area task force as it prepares to launch a pilot project to boost recycling of residential CFLs. Task force members are Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, Bonneville Power Administration, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Clark Public Utilities, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Metro (a Portland-area regional government) and the Alliance.
Marquardt of Zero Waste Alliance said the task force's first job has been research estimating how many CFLs are in homes, exploring options for easy-to-use collection programs and discussing cost recovery issues.
"The number one issue is, what's the driver for (residential) recycling? Minnesota has a landfill ban on fluorescent lamps (from households), unlike the Northwest," Marquardt said. "There is also the cost. It has to be borne by someone. Will it be the government? Utilities? Consumers?"
Education will be essential. "A lot of people don't realize there's mercury in CFLs and that it should be recycled. We found that getting the word out is a large share of budgets for programs in other states."
Marquardt wrote a paper last year for PGE surveying CFL collection programs in other parts of the country. In Indiana's Allen County, residents can drop off spent fluorescent lights for free at a local Sears store. The state and the county's solid waste management district share the cost of advertising, collection and shipment of lamps to a recycler.
One example of a CFL collection program run with utility participation is in Minnesota, where Xcel Energy has arranged for drop off of spent bulbs at hardware stores. Xcel-issued coupons help defray store collection fees, which range from 50 cents to $1 per bulb. The stores then pack the lamps and send them to a recycler.
While Northwesterners today can drop off burned-out CFLs at household hazardous waste stations run by local governments, Marquardt said retail store collection offers greater convenience. Retail sites "eliminate the need for a special trip to a hazardous waste collection facility so that fluorescent bulb recycling can be combined with other errands," Marquardt wrote in his paper.
Marquardt's paper said the Indiana and Minnesota examples illustrate the three factors critical for making CFL recycling work: convenient collection, low or zero price, and extensive advertising.--Jim DiPeso
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This month's News Bytes section covers a regional energy technology collaborative, Conservation Augmentation project in north-central Washington, energy-efficient lighting campaign, renewables portfolio standard in California and other Northwest energy conservation/renewable energy developments, in renewables/green power, government, green building and more.
TECHNOLOGY
"We seek a regional, integrated and cooperative approach to creating an environment where companies and entrepreneurs in the region can take advantage of market opportunities for more innovative, cleaner and energy efficient technologies," according to the collaborative's Web site. The Northwest can be a leader in this field by building on two of its strengths: " ... our long history and current base of companies providing products and innovations relating to generation, transmission, distribution, control and use of electric energy; and our first-rate culture of entrepreneurial successes."
Founding members are Avista Corp., Bonneville Power Administration, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, and Washington Technology Center. The collaborative will provide financial and in-kind resources for projects that could include market research, identifying intellectual property for commercialization, coordinating research and development, and demonstration ventures, according to a PNNL news release.
RENEWABLES/GREEN POWER
GOVERNMENT
Meanwhile, the Energy Division of Idaho's Department of Water Resources recently launched a certification program for Energy Star homes, replacing GemStar standards.
UTILITIES
GREEN BUILDING
DISTRIBUTED GENERATION
LIGHTING
CALIFORNIA
California Energy Commission figures show energy use in the California Independent System Operator territory was 11.2 percent lower in June 2002 than in June 2000 (compared to 14.1 percent lower in June 2001). Energy use was 2.8 percent less in July 2002 than in July 2000 (compared to 10.7 percent lower in July 2001) and was 4.1 percent less in August 2001 than during the same period two years ago (compared to 8.9 percent lower in August 2001).
In July, nearly 40 percent of San Diego Gas & Electric residential customers earned rebates in the 20/20 program, as did 32 percent of Southern California Edison and nearly one-third of Pacific Gas & Electric residential customers.
MISCELLANEOUS
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