Conservation efforts will play key role in meeting Northwest’s energy needs February 10, 2010

The Northwest should meet most of its electricity needs over the next two decades through extensive energy conservation efforts, and it’s going to take more than just changing light bulbs.

That’s the conclusion of a regional power blueprint the Northwest Power and Conservation Council that was unanimously approved Wednesday morning at council headquarters in dowmtown Portland. It focuses on the benefits of efficiency over building new power plants.

“For customers, it’s a good thing in that it’s very clearly saying the direction the region should go in terms of power supply is first and foremost energy efficiency,” said Bob Jerks, director of the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon.

The plan estimates about 85 percent of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana’s new power demand over the next 20 years – about 5,900 megawatts – could be met through conservation, with the rest coming from new renewable power sources like wind, as well as natural gas power plants.

The council says finding additional power through efficiency will be far cheaper than developing new power generation, whether from renewable sources like wind or traditional fossil fuel power plants.

“That’s good for the climate, and it’s good for pocket books,” Jenks said.

Significantly, the council says the region does not need to build any new coal-fired plants to power our iPods, ovens and electric cars.

But while efficiency is cost effective, it’s not free. The council estimates spending would need to step up from a quarter of a billion to $1 billion a year by 2018 to accomplish its efficiency goal. Those expenditures would show up as part of customers’ electricity bills.

That and the ambitious scope of the plan led to some pushback from the region’s electric utilities.

“That money is going to come from ratepayers, and that puts upward pressure on rates,” said Michael Early, executive director of Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities. “And that’s not something utilities want to do in this economic environment,” when demand for power is not growing.

Council members praised the plan Wednesday for taking into account a future that includes strict regulation on carbon dioxide emissions from coal and other traditional power sources.

“Because carbon penalties loom in one form or another and uncertainty about those penalties abounds, the region can see the day when carbon emissions must be reduced,” Melinda Eden, one of the two council members from Oregon, said following the vote.

The plan’s estimated 5,900 megawatts of conservation – the rough equivalent of the power-producing capacity of 10 coal plants like Portland General Electric’s Boardman facility – would come through things like homeowners increasing insulation at their homes and business refitting their buildings with power-saving lights, as well as more complex improvements to the grid that distributes power around the region.

Utilities will take the plan into account when setting their own strategies for meeting the future demand of their customers. More directly, council policy guides the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that sells electricity from the region’s dams.

The council and Bonneville are charged with balancing power needs with protecting imperiled salmon, and critics of the power agency say the council’s analysis shows the region can do away with 4 of its 31 dams to help fish without jeopardizing its energy future.

The unanimous passage of the plan comes after years of debate between council members and input from utilities and citizens’ groups.

Following Wednesday’s vote, Terry Morgan, the council’s director of power planning, compared those deliberations to the television reality program Survivor.

There were victories and defeats, he said, “and some of us were almost voted off the island.”

John Killen, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/conservation_efforts_will_play.html

NW power plan: No coal, only wind, gas, efficiency February 10, 2010

The latest energy plan for the Pacific Northwest has been adopted with the goal of limiting greenhouse gas pollution by increased conservation and wind power development.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council unanimously adopted the regional energy plan Wednesday at a meeting in Portland.

The plan covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana for the next 20 years. But the council revises it every five years to keep up with changes.

The new plan says most of the increased demand for electricity in the Northwest can be met with improved efficiency, conservation and wind power.

Associated Press – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1154/story/895843.html

PSE expanding renewable energy grant program February 9, 2010

Puget Sound Energy’s work in bringing renewable energy demonstration systems to Washington state schools is expanding its reach this year. Monday, Feb. 8, the utility opened the application period for schools and, new to the program this year, select institutions that educate the public about renewable energy and the environment, to apply for a small scale solar array or wind turbine grant.

Between $5,000 and $20,000 in funding will be available for renewable energy demonstration systems ranging from 900 watts to 2 kilowatts to be installed in 2010.

PSE’s Renewable Energy Education (formerly the Solar Schools Program) and voluntary Green Power programs have already funded 20 educational solar power projects in the Puget Sound region in the last six years. The programs promote understanding and acceptance of renewable energy technologies and expand the range of options available to local educators, students, families and communities in PSE’s nine county electric service area.

Three new features to the 2010 Renewable Energy Education Program have been added:

All institutions with a renewable energy education focus are now eligible to apply, previously the program had only been open to school districts with Resource Conservation Managers.

Applicants will be required to have utilized a PSE energy efficiency program in the past 36 months.

An electronic application is available for online submittal, applications can be found on PSE’s Web site at: www.pse.com/community/educationalprograms/Pages/SolarSchools.aspx

Successful applicants will receive grants to fund renewable energy education demonstration projects at their educational facility. The grant will provide supplemental funds or in approximately four cases cover the entire cost of a renewable energy demonstration system.

In addition to the rooftop-mounted solar panels or wind turbines, the grants support Web based monitoring software that allows students and interested community members to track how much energy is being generated as the weather changes. Also provided are educational materials and support including science teacher training, classroom activity guides and renewable energy science kits.

Small-scale renewable energy demonstration systems require no fuel and minimal maintenance while generating enough power, on average to operate 10 to 20 notebook computers, each consuming 33 watts for eight hours a day. The wind and solar equipment has a typical system lifespan of 20 or more years.

Schools and education institutions qualifying for the grant will submit plans detailing their educational goals and objectives for a solar or wind demonstration project. All proposals must be received by PSE no later than 5 p.m. on March 22, 2010.

In 2009, Puget Sound-area schools received more than $110,000 in grants for the installation of solar systems:

• Green River Community College, Auburn

• Liberty High School, Renton

• Hazen High School, Renton

• Coupeville Middle and High School, Whidbey Island

Since 2004, PSE has funded the installation of other systems at Redmond High School, Port Townsend High School, the Bellingham Environmental Learning Center, Depot Market Square in Bellingham, the Puget Sound Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee’s Training Center in Renton, the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, Western Washington University in Bellingham, the Institute for Environmental Research and Education, JG Commons Building and Vashon Household building all on Vashon Island, Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, Marshall and Washington Middle Schools in Olympia, Interlake High School in Bellevue, South Whidbey High School and Sakai Intermediate School on Bainbridge Island.

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For more information, visit www.PSE.com.

Auburn Reporter – http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/aub/business/83910027.html

Idaho Power plans more generation from wind February 8, 2010

Idaho Power’s new plan for meeting anticipated customer energy needs for the next two decades shows the utility’s energy portfolio will grow increasingly diverse with a heightened emphasis on renewable sources.

Idaho Power filed its integrated resource plan for 2009 with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission in December.

// Wind energy is slated to become an increasingly substantial energy source for Idaho Power. Spokeswoman Stephanie McCurdy said the utility put out a request for proposals in May seeking 150 megawatts of wind power generation.

Now, Idaho Power has 192 megawatts of wind capacity in its system, and by 2012, McCurdy said the company expects to have more than 600 megawatts of wind power.

To ensure a stable power source at times when wind power wanes, Idaho Power plans to build a natural gas combined cycle combustion turbine capable of producing 300 megawatts of power, called the Langley Gulch plant, in Payette County. Construction on the project is scheduled to start this August, and the plant should be on line by July 2012.

Idaho Power’s plan also calls for 40 megawatts of geothermal power — about 20 megawatts of that total are part of a contract that’s awaiting approval by the IPUC.

The plan is updated every two years with input from Idaho Power’s Integrated Resource Plan Advisory Council, made of members from the general public, the government sector and environmental stakeholders.

The plan also outlines the company’s steps to promote energy efficiency. McCurdy noted Idaho Power has 17 energy efficiency programs and two educational initiatives pertaining to energy efficiency.

One is a credit of $7 per month for customers who allow Idaho Power to install devices on their air conditioners that cycle off air conditioning at peak hours.

Customers are free to share their opinions about the utility’s future plans or ask questions about the plan by emailing  irp@idahopower.com, but the public comment will not affect the 2009 integrated resource plan.

John O’Connell, Idaho State Journal – http://www.idahopress.com/news/?id=29870

Rose Garden Arena goes green with energy efficiency, food composting, bike parking January 26, 2010

The Rose Garden Arena has accomplished the greenest retrofit of a sports stadium in the United States, an effort affirmed this week when energy efficiency measures and operational improvements were certified by a rigorous green building program.

The green efforts touch nearly every aspect of the building’s operations. With recycling and food composting, the arena will keep more than 60 percent of its waste from going to landfills. About 30 percent of attendees at Rose Garden events use mass transit or bicycles to get there. The building will buy 100 percent of its electricity and natural gas from renewable sources.

The arena this week was certified LEED Gold, the second highest ranking in the program known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The LEED program has gained popularity since 2000 for use in new office buildings and condominiums, where it has become a new starting point for the most competitive projects.

A handful of sports stadiums have been certified at the lowest levels of the LEED program, but among major league sports facilities, no new buildings or retrofits have reach the gold ranking.

“LEED definitely challenges you to think about things differently and examine your day-to-day operations and maintenance to get to the level that we got,” said Chris Oxley, general manager of the Rose Quarter and Rose Garden. “It really required us to get pretty in-depth on how we’re running the building.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council has encouraged sports leagues to evaluate their environmental impact, in part to make fans more environmentally conscious.

With the real estate bust halting new construction, the LEED program’s certification for building retrofits has gained popularity. Known as LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, the program scrutinizes everything from the cleaning products used by janitors to the site’s accessibility to mass transit.

Oxley wouldn’t say how much the arena spent to become LEED certified or what timeframe the up front costs would produce a return on investment. The arena has spent several years improving its recycling and sourcing of compostable materials, and other green measures, he said.

Achieving the LEED certification required more than a year of study with consultants such as Green Building Services of Portland and the non-profit Energy Trust of Oregon.

The Rose Garden was third-party certified for 62 out of a possible 100 points in the LEED system. A ranking of Platinum requires 80 of 100 points.

Elaine Aye, principal with Portland-based Green Building Services, said greening an arena is very different from similar efforts on office buildings.

“What’s more challenging is you have a really large big-box building and this intense occupancy at very specific times,” she said. “So identifying the energy use in the building is very challenging.”

Energy auditors used an infrared scan of the building to find hard to detect air leaks that could be plugged for additional energy savings, Aye said.

A carbon assessment found the arena generates 20,084 tons of carbon dioxide related emissions a year. That compares with 24-tons a year generated by the average American.

The assessment also found that most of the arena’s carbon footprint comes from motorists driving to and from events — even more than flying an NBA team around the country week to week.

With the Rose Garden, as with many green building projects, most of the energy efficiency measures are things that most visitors probably wouldn’t notice.

A variable-speed motor will use less energy to produce ice for hockey games than an old motor that just turned on or off. Replacing 246 light fixtures in the “event level” of the building — the basement that houses Trail Blazer lockeroom, a kitchen and offices — means that lights will idle at 28 watts instead of 175 or 250 watts.

The arena has plans to improve is bike parking facilities, both in parking garages and in outdoor covered areas.

In uber-green Portland, there’s a community expectation that the Rose Garden should strive for energy efficiency, Oxley said.

“We want to be the most sustainable organization in the sports and entertainment community,” he said. “That’s kind of our mantra around here. This for us was a great step to get there.”

Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/01/rose_garden_arena_goes_green_w.html

Forecast: NW Energy prices likely to rise modestly January 24, 2010

Energy prices in 2009 reflected both good and bad news for consumers; the good news was that prices for natural gas and oil were much lower than the previous year; the bad news was that a severe recession was part of the reason for the lower prices.

Looking ahead to 2010, I expect a modest recovery of energy prices, the extent of which depends to a large degree on the economy. A robust recovery from the recession would put more upward pressure on energy prices. A sluggish recovery would moderate energy price increases.

Oil prices should increase moderately during 2010. They remain high by historical standards even during the recession. The outlook for oil prices, however, must always be conditioned on developments in the Middle East. Changes in world oil prices quickly find their way to the gasoline station and consumers’ pockets.

Natural gas prices fell by about 50 percent between 2008 and 2009. Many consumers have seen the effects of this reduction in their natural gas bills as distributors pass along cost reductions in rates. I expect moderate natural gas price increases this year.

However, a new development is at work in the U.S. natural gas market that could affect future prices. A couple of years ago, natural gas supplies were expected to decline for the U.S. and Canada. Yet, improved drilling and recovery technologies have unlocked natural gas supplies from shale and other non-conventional formations. The result was a substantial increase in natural gas supplies that, combined with the recession, contributed to the collapse of prices in 2009. While there are questions remaining about the future of these non-conventional supplies, they are likely to help contain price increases for years to come. Nevertheless, the higher cost of developing these supplies will prevent large decreases in natural gas prices in the long term.

Electricity prices for consumers are less volatile than oil and natural gas prices. They are regulated to a greater extent and more insulated from market fluctuations. This is especially true in the Pacific Northwest, where hydroelectricity supplies a large share of our electricity. Hydroelectricity cost does not change directly based on fuel prices.

Future costs of electricity are increasingly likely to be affected by policies addressing climate change concerns. It is important to understand that, nationwide, electricity generation accounts for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

Because of the large presence of hydroelectricity in the Pacific Northwest, the electric generation share of carbon dioxide emissions is only 23 percent. For example, electricity generation in Washington state produces only 20 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions per kilowatt-hour of the total U.S. electricity generation.

Nevertheless, efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are likely to significantly affect the cost of electricity. Electric utilities in Washington are subject to renewable portfolio standards that require growing shares of electricity supplies to be renewable. Renewable electricity generation is more expensive than existing generation and new natural gas-fired electricity generation. Proposed cap-and-trade systems for greenhouse gases would raise the cost of existing carbon dioxide-emitting generation, especially existing coal plants that account for 85 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from the Northwest power system. Even improved efficiency of electricity use can raise electricity rates, while at the same time reducing electric bills for homes and businesses that participate because less electricity is consumed.

Conservation vs. new power

Carbon emissions and electricity costs were issues that the Northwest Power and Conservation Council addressed in its new draft Sixth Power Plan for the Pacific Northwest. The resource strategy advocated in the plan is an aggressive pursuit of improved efficiency (conservation) in homes, businesses, and factories.

The council found that much of the region’s expected growth in electricity needs could be met with conservation at far lower cost and risk than building additional generation. In addition, renewable electricity generation acquired to meet renewable portfolio standards in the region will help reduce carbon emissions. The region should improve the operational procedures of the power system to better integrate variable generation sources such as wind, but also should look for other small-scale renewable opportunities in local communities. After renewable power requirements are met, natural gas-fired generation is the next best source, if necessary. In the long-term, other forms of generation, efficiency, energy storage, or operational changes should be considered, researched, and demonstrated, including smart-grid technologies.

Such an energy strategy requires that the region’s citizens and businesses, working with their local utilities, participate in securing their own energy futures. Low-cost supplies of energy can no longer be taken for granted. But energy that is available can be used far more efficiently, reducing the impact of rising costs and resulting in a more sustainable economy.

Terry Morlan, Columbian forecaster; The Columbian – http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jan/24/energy-prices-likely-to-rise-modestly/

Daimler receives $40M for heavy-duty truck efficiency development January 13, 2010

Portland-based Daimler Trucks North America received nearly $40 million from the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday to develop energy efficiency technologies for heavy-duty trucks. The company will match the grant with an additional $40 million.

Daimler received the largest single slice of the $187 million in federal grants announced Monday, all of which was given to auto industry manufacturers to develop fuel-efficient engines and other technologies for trucks and passenger vehicles by 2015.

A news release from the Department of Energy said Daimler’s share will be used to work on engine downsizing, electrification of auxiliary systems like oil and water pumps, waste heat recovery, improved aerodynamics and hybridization.

A spokesperson for Daimler said the majority of the $80 million will be spent in the Portland area on its SuperTruck project. The company’s research and development division, which employs 750, is based on Swan Island.

It could be another significant development for the Swan Island plant, which company officials planned to close this year until announcing in September that it was changing course.

Among the reasons for keeping the plant open was a $377 million contract from the U.S. Army to make 1,780 military trucks.

The grants awarded Monday includes $100 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and covers up to half of the cost of each project, bringing the total public-private investment for the projects to $375 million.

The nine companies to receive grant awards claim their projects will create more than 500 jobs for researchers, engineers and other managers developing the technologies. The projects are expected to generate as many as 6,000 jobs by 2015, including many in manufacturing and assembly.

A majority of the federal grants, $115 million, went to three manufacturers in the long-haul truck industry. Alongside Daimler were Columbus, Ind.-based engine-maker Cummins Inc. and Fort Wayne, Ind.-based truck- and trailer-maker Navistar Inc.

The remaining $71 million went to manufacturers in the passenger vehicle market with a goal of improving the fuel economy of engines by 25 to 40 percent in the next five years. Recipients include Cummins, the Chrysler Group LLC, Delphi Automotive Systems LLC, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and The Bosch Group.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/01/11/daily1.html

Merkley promotes locally inspired energy-efficiency plan January 13, 2010

An energy efficiency plan inspired by a Portland lawmaker and the city of Portland’s new Clean Energy Works program could go national in a second-round economic stimulus bill being fashioned in the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon’s Democratic junior senator, in a Monday afternoon appearance before the Portland Tribune editorial board, said “it’s very likely” that the Oregon model for financing home energy-efficiency improvements will make it into the bill.

Merkley proposed the idea based on a law enacted by the 2009 Legislature and pushed by state Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland. The city of Portland became the first local government to experiment with the idea with its Clean Energy Works program.

The idea is to enable people to get low-cost loans to make home energy-saving projects, and pay back the money on their monthly utility bills. If payments are structured as envisioned, the savings on energy bills could equal the monthly loan repayments, so there is no additional monthly cost, or minimal cost, to the homeowner.

The program is designed to help people use less energy, finance improvements with no out-of-pocket costs and create “green jobs” in home energy retrofits.

The Obama administration prefers to use federal grants to pay for the improvements, Merkley said, but he’s pushing for low-cost revolving loans, so that federal funds could be used as a long-term source to pay for the home improvements.

Merkley, who just finished his first year in the Senate, said he spoke with one of his mentors, former Republican Sen. Mark Hatfield, this week about the declining civility and increased partisanship of the Senate.

Some of it is due to a change in senators’ schedules, Merkley said. They typically are in session from Monday afternoon through Friday morning, working in Senate sessions late into the night, then spending long weekends in their districts. That leaves little time to socialize with each other and build personal ties that once were common, Merkley said.

In Hatfield’s day, Merkley said, “They had relationships that made it hard to demonize each other. That has been lost.”

The rookie senator said the increasing use of the filibuster threat has meant that every major bill requires 60 votes to pass the Senate. A process originally designed to assure every senator got heard has devolved into a required “supermajority” vote on important matters, Merkley said.

That slows the process, he said, because it means important bills require at least two weeks’ of time on the Senate floor because of procedural votes. It also encourages senators to jam unrelated subjects into bills, making bills more cumbersome and difficult to read.

Merkley is researching parliamentary procedure with experts in the field, with an eye to proposing changes in the system. Two ideas being floated around the Senate are limiting the use of the 60-vote requirement at some future date, so it’s not clear that it would benefit one party or the other, he said.

Merkley predicted that the massive health insurance overhaul bill under debate in Congress would win final approval by Valentine’s Day. However, his past four predictions for when the bill would get done proved too optimistic.

Something needs to be done to reform the health care system, he said. “We have a broken system that’s doubling in price every eight years.”

And there’s a growing bulge of baby boomers hitting the age when they’ll need more health care.

“It’s not as though we’re entering a low-cost period,” he said.

Merkley also said he endorsed the two tax measures on Oregon’s Jan. 26 ballot this month, Measures 66 and 67. The measures will raise some high-end income taxes and business taxes to balance the 2009-11 budget.

Steve Law, Portland Tribune – http://www.theoutlookonline.com/news/story_2nd.php?story_id=126327102216693600

Idaho Power wants to make efficiency program permanent December 9, 2009

Idaho Power Co. wants regulators to make permanent a program that helps the utility recover its fixed costs, saying it will provide incentives to promote energy efficiency and conservation.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is considering the proposal, which would result in the Fixed Cost Adjustment program becoming permanent after a 3-year pilot program.

The company says the program has helped the company nearly double its investment in energy efficiency and conservation since 2006.

Just does it mean to customers’ bills?

During the first year, Idaho Power’s residential and small-business clients got a credit that averaged about 48 cents per month.

During the second year, customers saw their monthly bills rise by an average 56 cents.

The regulators are still setting up a schedule to process the request but there’s a Dec. 16 deadline for parties to sign up to participate in hearings.

On the Net:

For documents related to this case: http://www.puc.idaho.gov and click on the electric icon, then on “Open Electric Cases” and scroll down to Case No. IPC-E-09-28.

Associated Press – http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=11646665

Ellensburg to join in ‘smart grid’ effort November 29, 2009

The city of Ellensburg will more than triple the size of its renewable energy park under a unique grant that taps a team from around the Northwest to build a “smart-grid” demonstration project.

The city will receive about $600,000 from the project, which
was announced this week by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The larger project is called the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project and includes utilities and energy companies from Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming.

Estimated to be a $178 million project, it will be managed by Battelle, which operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.

Smart grid is the general concept of applying technological innovations to improve power delivery and enable such communications as real-time monitoring of electric use.

“Smart grid really has a lot of definitions,” said Bob Titus, Ellensburg’s energy services director. “Our focus is on distributed energy, which is expected to be much more prevalent in the future.”

Through the city utility company, customers can invest in renewable energy and receive a credit on their power bill. The city started the renewable energy park in 2006 on the west edge of Rotary Park, adjacent to Interstate 90. It is composed of about 60 kilowatts of solar panels.

With the grant, the city will add another 72 kilowatts of solar energy from different types of panel technology and 80 kilowatts worth of small wind systems.

Titus said that by expanding the park, more residents will be able to reap the benefits of solar and wind power.

“We’re making it so individuals can recognize same benefits as if the installation was on their own property,” he said.

Titus hopes to have all the paperwork associated with the project completed this spring so the installations can start in the summer, with a targeted completion date of 2011. Central Washington University will be involved in analyzing data from the project.

Leah Beth Ward, Yakima Herald-Republic – http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/26/ellensburg-to-join-in-smart-grid-effort

Renewable Energy beginning to energize Alaska November 29, 2009

Two spinning turbines dot the sky above Palmer, putting the quaint colony-era town on the forefront of a grass-roots make-your-own energy movement sweeping Alaska.

One of the wind-power turbines — like a streamlined pinwheel or a futuristic windmill — stands above a local chiropractor’s office. The other is a green addition to an elementary school playground.

The turbines are part of a move toward renewable energy in Alaska. Wind turbines dot rural Alaska. Solar arrays power a building in Nome. Tourists soak at Chena Hot Springs Resort, a getaway powered by geothermal energy. And increasingly, homeowners are using energy derived from the sun and wind to heat their homes, keep the refrigerator running and charge their iPhones.

Some involved in this movement are driven by a desire to reduce their impact on the environment. For others, the decision is financial. Using alternative energy means less reliance on diesel fuel to power generators.

State and local officials have been busy writing new rules for how all this can work, especially the backyard wind turbines.

Chiropractor Joseph Hawkins of Palmer is a pioneer. His roughly 50-foot-tall turbine makes more electricity than needed at his business, BIONIC Chiropractic, so he has a contract to sell the extra power to Matanuska Electric Association. He’s one of the first people in the Valley to ever do that.

His turbine towers over BIONIC Chiropractic at 642 S. Alaska St. It went up on Oct. 2. Hawkins said he’s been interested in renewable energy since helping his family install solar power in Utah 25 years ago.

“I’ve been involved or interested in doing anything we can do to be resourceful or protect the environment,” Hawkins said. “It portrays the healthy lifestyle I want to represent as a chiropractor.”

The turbine at his business is a residential-size model made by Skystream. It cost about $22,000 installed.

The turbine whirls frequently in Palmer, where breezes are common. Hawkins said he believes it will pay for itself in five to seven years.

Power generated is used first in the chiropractic office building he built last year. Matanuska Electric buys what’s left. In the six weeks the turbine has been energized, that’s been less than a hundred kilowatts, Hawkins said. The average home uses about 30 kilowatts each day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Hawkins and Lukas Strickland, a friend working with him on alternative energy plans, said they hope to install other types of renewables soon.

“Right now in Alaska people don’t really know what to think yet. This kind of project is really important to get people thinking about what renewable energy is,” Strickland said.

 

LEARNING POWER

The second Palmer turbine, installed Nov. 6, is a dramatic addition to the Sherrod Elementary School playground. The school’s Alaska-themed playground includes boulders marking Mount McKinley and a partial pipeline. Now, a 51-foot tall Skystream turbine stands about where Fire Island would be on the playground map.

It’s the first wind turbine installed at an Alaska school as part of the national Wind for Schools program. Principal Mark Hoffman said Sherrod is taking part in the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored program and tapping into wind energy-related curriculum for students. Schools in 26 states, including Alaska, participate.

In most of those states, small wind turbines have been installed, and teachers use data from the turbine as part of their lesson plan for teaching about energy and weather. At Sherrod, the turbine is powering hallway lights. District officials said it’s too early to know how much of the school’s energy bill the turbine might offset.

Sean Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Sherrod, said he’s eager to have a new way to help his students understand a difficult concept like energy.

“It’s really foreign because (energy) is not obvious,” Williams said.

He teaches students that rubbing their palms together is one kind of energy and rolling a ball on the carpet is another. But other concepts are more difficult to teach. Now, with tools like exploded diagrams showing what’s going on inside the turbine and software that can track energy being produced, Williams said he believes his students will learn more.

Charlotte Ray said her third-grade class at Sherrod will focus more on the weather — what makes the turbine spin, and will it spin more tomorrow than it did today?

Ray’s students learn about weather patterns and make predictions, then record data to show what the weather was like over time.

“The goal in education is to interest and challenge them, and to help them get excited about learning,” she said. “Also, it’s cool for the kids to see how we can use where we live — in windy Palmer — as a benefit. It’s so often a detriment.”

 

SELLING EXTRA POWER

Nobody has a wind turbine whirling in their backyard in Anchorage, but the municipality and its power company are working to change that.

Anchorage zoning rules currently don’t permit wind turbines. One of its electric companies, Municipal Light & Power, doesn’t allow small consumers to hook a backyard turbine to the electrical grid and sell power back to the utility.

Jim Posey, general manager of Municipal Light & Power, said the city-owned electrical utility will soon offer “net-metering” contracts to Anchorage residents. The utility is waiting for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska — which oversees public utilities — to finalize its new net-metering rules.

Net metering is a policy that allows people or companies that own small renewable-energy facilities to sell excess power they generate to their local electric company.

Alaska is one of six states lacking net-metering laws. But the Regulatory Commission on Oct. 14 approved net-metering regulations. A commission spokeswoman said the regulations should go to the state attorney general’s office for review this month. Eventually, they’ll go to Gov. Sean Parnell to be enacted.

 

ANCHORAGE PLANS ON HOLD

Hawkins and Sherrod Elementary already have an agreement like that with Matanuska Electric Association. MEA consumers typically buy power for 16 cents per kilowatt. The co-generation rate — what MEA pays small producers — is about 6.2 cents. MEA spokeswoman Lorali Carter said the difference represents the utility’s cost to maintain its transmission lines and other infrastructure.

Posey described a similar set-up in the works at ML&P.

But the new net-metering laws might be in place for months before Anchorage residents can legally hoist a turbine into the air on their property. Residents who ask municipal officials about putting wind generators up now are told to wait, Anchorage physical planning supervisor Tyler Robinson said.

Robinson’s office worked last year to develop land-use rules about installing wind turbines.

The Planning and Zoning Commission passed the rules last fall. But the measure stalled when it reached the Assembly. The Assembly is rewriting city zoning laws and wants to finish them first before tackling new issues, Robinson said. The wind-generation rules may be on hold until mid-2010, he said.

Robinson said he gets frequent calls from city residents interested in installing wind generation on their property. There’s definitely interest.

But Anchorage isn’t an easy place to adopt one rule for all residents. The city wants to make sure wind-turbine rules are made after a vibrant public discussion.

“Some of these smaller applications, whether on residential lots or in business districts, will really challenge the values that people have,” he said.

“I don’t think if we were to just put it out there tomorrow it would be entirely embraced with open arms and everyone would think it’s a great idea. But I think the mayor is generally supportive.”

 

TURBINES SPROUT IN THE BUSH

Wind and other alternative power systems are cropping up all over the state, largely spurred on by abundant sources of funds — federal and state grants for renewable energy and federal tax credits for installed systems — and communities eager to cut their dependence on expensive diesel fuel.

Alternative energy supplier Kirk Garoutte, owner of Susitna Energy, said he talked Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan into granting him permission to install two turbines at his 2507 Fairbanks St. property to help him demonstrate the equipment he sells.

Without net-metering in place, the turbines will only churn wind, not make electricity, but Garoutte said they’ll allow his customers to watch turbines in action.

A residential set-up, installed, costs about $15,000, he said. A Department of Energy program that delivers a 30-percent tax credit for residential renewable energy systems installed by 2016 can help lower upfront costs.

Perryville, an Alaska Peninsula community of 133 people, installed 10 of his turbines, Garoutte said. He believes the turbines will pay for themselves in about 18 months. Others whirl in Nome, Shaktoolik, Chignik, Kipnuk, Fairbanks, Healy and Willow.

Meera Kohler, president of Alaska Village Electrical Cooperative, said her power company for 53 villages has energized 21 turbines since 2003. Four more will be spinning in Chevak before the end of the year, she said.

These are commercial-grade turbines, with an installed cost of nearly $1 million each, plus $1.5 million for a system that lets the turbines be monitored from afar, Kohler said.

AVEC spends about $5 million a year on diesel. The board hopes to shave $1.2 million off that with wind-generated energy, Kohler said.

Kodiak Electric Association in August installed three 1.5 megawatt turbines, each producing enough electricity to power 330 homes.

Darron Scott, Kodiak Electric chief executive, said in an August presentation to the Alaska Power Association that he expects the turbines will save 800,000 gallons of diesel each year.

A 36-turbine wind farm planned for Fire Island is expected to generate about 10 times the electricity from Kodiak’s three-turbine wind farm. Work on Fire Island could begin next year.

“We’re starting to see a lot of momentum pick up with wind around the state,” said Chris Rose, founder of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project.

 

SOLAR, GEOTHERMAL

Jerald Brown, president of the Bering Straits Native Corp. of Nome, said the corporation has invested more than $3 million in alternative energy products recently.

Two years ago, Bering Straits installed 93 solar panels on its Nome office building. The corporation also installed solar hot water heaters in two apartment buildings it owns, and partnered with Sitnasuak Native Corp. on Banner Wind LLC, a wind farm with 18 turbines that sells power to Nome Joint Utility.

Brown said the corporation is opening an energy-efficiency store in the corporate office building to sell LED light bulbs, energy-efficient garbage composters and timers to plug vehicles into.

Outside Fairbanks, a century-old resort where tourists flock to watch amazing northern lights displays while soaking in natural hot springs is on the forefront of alternative energy of a different kind.

In 2006, Chena Hot Springs owner Bernie Karl started generating power from geothermal hot water under the resort. This year he unveiled another mobile plant that uses heated waste water, from oil and gas development and other sources.

Out in Southwest Alaska, Naknek Electric Association is using millions in federal money to drill into potential geothermal sources. Its November newsletter describes results so far as “hopeful.”

There’s a lot happening Alaska backyards, too. This summer, 30 homeowners around the state participated in a “solar tour” aimed at taking the mystery out of green building techniques and home renewable energy systems.

In the Valley, some homes on the tour relied on renewable energy by necessity: A house made of straw bales that is beyond the reach of electricity and off-grid cabins near the Talkeetna Mountains that rely mostly on solar power, for example. Others incorporated efficient designs and renewable features for other reasons.

A modern two-story colonial home with a garage and full basement on the tour is heated by sun-warmed water. Homeowners Dave and Karen Jones said they wanted a low-maintenance home with low energy costs that they can enjoy in their retirement.

“We’re not making any concessions,” said Dave Jones. “We’re not tree huggers. We’re normal people. We’re just looking for a more efficient way to do it.”

Phillip St. John, president of the nonprofit Alaska Center for Appropriate Technology, said events like the solar tour show people renewable energy is something anyone can do.

“There’s really people out there doing it. Their neighbors are doing it,” he said. “If you think renewable energy is something for the future, then you’re living in the past.”

Rindi White, Associated Press – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/973093.html

Merkley wants Senate jobs bill to help finance building efficiency retrofits November 21, 2009

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with the chairs of six committees that might have some hand in developing the clean energy bill. The question at issue was whether the bill should be pushed back in favor of a short-term focus on finance reform, jobs, and the deficit. Though John Kerry argued vigorously that the clean energy is a jobs bill that won’t grow the deficit, it looks like he lost out and there will be some kind of standalone jobs bill in the interim.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is now advocating that any jobs bill include support for building retrofits to create jobs and reduce energy bills. What he’s got in mind is a variation on his S. 1574: Clean Energy for Homes and Buildings Act of 2009. It’s designed to overcome the main barrier to retrofits involving energy efficiency and small-scale renewables: financing. Most such investments are predictable and profitable over time, but they involve high upfront costs.

The “cash for caulkers” program the White House is floating would effectively dump a bunch of stimulus money on the retrofit market—which is good! it needs money—but Merkley has something more ambitious in mind. The idea would be to have the federal government offer loan guarantees or other credit assistance in order to leverage private investment far beyond what the feds can provide directly.

Here’s the background, from Merkley’s office:

In recent years, a number of innovative financing models have emerged to allow consumers access to loans that they can pay off using all or part of the energy bill savings they see as soon as the retrofit is completed. Some cities and states are encouraging property-tax-based financing, where the building owner gets a loan from the local government and repays it through a property tax surcharge. Some utilities (in some cases in partnership with cities or states) are offering on-bill-financing, where the loan is repaid through a surcharge on the utility bill. Some private companies can offer building owners performance savings contracts or, in the case of solar electric systems, leasing arrangements to that the cost is paid off in monthly payments, out of the savings on the utility bill.

The challenge with all these options is finding stable backing and/or collateral for the loans. That’s what Merkley wants the jobs bill to do:

By offering direct lending, loan guarantees, or other credit support, the federal government can leverage private capital and state and local investment. If, for example, $2 billion were restored to the loan guarantee program, between $20 and $40 billion in financing could be provided, which would leverage even more in state, local, and private funds.

This is a way of using the power of the feds as lever rather than a hammer.

There are devils in the details. Thanks to the money already going to efficiency from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), potentially more if cash for caulkers is implemented, the existing retrofit supply pipeline is fairly jammed up. It’s a relatively immature market, populated with mom-and-pop outfits and eager startups. There’s only so much money it can effectively use.

And the money needs to get used immediately. For obvious reasons, Congressional Dems are very keen to creates jobs in the short-term, oh, say, before the 2010 midterms. Because of this time pressure much of the retrofit work—the financing, the loans, the contracting, the billing—will have to be done through utilities, which are already set up for this kind of thing and which reach virtually every American consumer. (Allowance value under the cap-and-trade system ought to be going to utility efficiency programs too, but that’s a separate issue for now.)

Over time, as the market matures and scales up, it would be better to shift the resources from utilities to private market actors, which tend to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. There are many market failures in efficiency and retrofits waiting to be solved, and stable federal backing will accelerate the process of overcoming them.

We need to start thinking of efficiency, in all its forms, as a clean, cheap, renewable, domestic source of energy. If we want to rapidly scale it up—and to hit ambitious emission targets, we’ll have to— it needs what other energy sources get: predictable, long-term government support. It’s an oil well that will never run dry. In fact, efficiency-oil gets cheaper the more we drill. So drill, baby, drill!

—-

One last thought: Merkley’s idea would do real, positive work in the here-and-now. When voters see clean energy and efficiency working, they become more open to the grander initiatives: comprehensive climate bills and international treaties and such. Rather than forever raging against the dimming of those grand hopes, green groups should focus on making tangible, visible progress. Take the hill by inches. It wouldn’t take much for one of these big green groups or coalitions—Clean Energy Works? Apollo Alliance? 350?—to make a celebrity out of Merkley’s bill; make it a symbol of all the ways we can create jobs and save money by going green. In the end, caulk trumps rhetoric.

David Roberts, Grist - http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-20-merkley-wants-senate-jobs-bill-to-finance-efficiency-retrofits/

OSU Researcher receives grant for Renewable Energy/Grid research November 16, 2009

Five researchers in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University have been recognized this year with National Science Foundation CAREER Awards. The 2009 award recipients are Thinh Nguyen, Ted Brekken, and Bechir Hamdaoui, Desiree Tullos, Michael Scott.

Each award provides funding of at least $400,000 for a new research project with an educational/outreach component.

Brekken is studying improved ways to deliver electricity from renewable but highly variable resources, such as wind, wave or solar energy, to the power grid. This could help reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based power

Gazette Times – http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_3b85ca20-d2d8-11de-9351-001cc4c002e0.html

Plum Creek Lumber rewarded for saving energy in Mont. November 13, 2009

 

Flathead Electric Cooperative presented a check for more than $337,000 to Plum Creek Thursday for the lumber company’s efforts at reducing energy use and its carbon footprint.

A partnership between Plum Creek, Flathead Electric Cooperative and Bonneville Power Administration has  resulted in an annual reduction of 3.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity used at Plum Creek’s line two.

Plum Creek has installed the conservation system on line one, which is separate from the BPA rebate program, for a total annual electricity reduction of 8.1 million kilowatt hours.

“Anyone working in wood products manufacturing knows these are tough times for our industry,” Tom Ray, Vice President of Montana Operations, said. “We are continuously looking for innovative ways to improve our operating efficiencies. The cost savings we will gain from this new energy conservation system will help us remain competitive.”

PCS UtiliData, based in Spokane, Wash., worked with Plum Creek to install the energy usage reduction system, called AdaptiVolt, which monitors and regulates voltages on line two.

The system has been so efficient that, based upon kilowatt hours saved, BPA’s rebate to Plum Creek will cover 70 percent of the cost of the line’s system installation. Plum Creek has worked with BPA since 2006 to conduct a comprehensive technical services provider audit. The audit results indicated that the second line could become more energy-efficient if the voltages throughout the line were more closely regulated.

The rebate stems from a BPA program called “Conservation Acquisition Agreement,” which encourages industrial customers to install energy-saving technology by providing significant rebates toward the cost of the energy efficiency projects.

FEC makes the BPA rebate program available to its industrial customers and works with them to implement innovative programs that meet their needs and save energy.

Ken Sugden, Flathead Electric general manager, said the Plum Creek project is one of the largest stand-alone programs FEC has undertaken with an industrial customer.

“Our goal is to encourage other customers to invest in technologies that will help them achieve energy efficiencies,” he said. “We consider this project to be a great example of what can be accomplished.”

K.J. Hascall, Daily Inter Lake – http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_ca309d44-d013-11de-9937-001cc4c002e0.html

Portland gets $5.6 million from feds for energy efficiency upgrades November 9, 2009

 

Portland is getting $5.6 million in federal stimulus dollars for energy efficiency projects, the city announced today, including upgrading traffic and pedestrian signals and paying for residential energy efficiency loans.

The grant will go to:

• Clean Energy Works Portland: $1.1 million. The money will help establish a revolving loan fund to pay for residential energy efficiency retrofits.
• Upgrading energy efficiency in city buildings: $2.8 million. Improvements will include lighting upgrades at the Hillside, Montavilla, and Fulton community centers, window replacements at the Peninsula Park community center, a new micro-hydroelectric generator at the Portland Water Bureau’s Vernon Water Tower, and city-wide replacement of standard traffic and pedestrian crosswalk signals with high efficiency LEDs.
• Sustainability programs: $1.4 million. Programs that will share the money include the Bureau of Transportation’s SmartTrips and Safe Routes to School programs, and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s BEST Business Center.

The remaining $300,000 will be used to analyze potential district energy systems, which provide energy for multiple buildings.

Scott Learn, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/11/portland_gets_56_million_from.html

Melvin Mark Co. takes top honors in Portland energy efficiency contest November 9, 2009

The Building Owners and Managers Association has announced the winners of an annual energy efficiency contest among Portland-area commercial real estate buildings.

Melvin Mark Companies won the Grand Prize and “The Power Broker” trophy, intended to honor a property, team or company “achieving outstanding accomplishment in all-around energy performance.”

“Melvin Mark Companies raised the bar across their entire portfolio of properties, with virtually every building making substantial gains,” said Jack Davis, Office Real Estate Market Manager for BetterBricks, a green building group that helped with the awards.

The company raised or maintained Energy Star ratings for every property in its portfolio, reducing annual electricity use by more than 1.5 million kilowatt hours.

Seven buildings received awards in the highest performance and greatest improvement categories. Russell Development Co.’s 200 Market Building took first place for the highest performance. Ashforth Pacific’s ODS Tower was first place for greatest improvement.

Awards in the Office Energy Showdown contest were announced on Wednesday. The contest, restricted to BOMA members only, required 24 months of energy consumption data. Properties that qualified for the Energy Star program received free certification from Energy Trust of Oregon.

Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/11/melvin_mark_takes_top_honors_i.html

NW energy efficiency better in 2008, council says October 31, 2009

Improved energy efficiency reduced power demand by an amount equal to about 148,000 homes across the Northwest last year.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council said regional energy savings in 2008 were the best for any year since recordkeeping began 30 years ago.

The Portland-based council said that 2008 efficiency improvements conserved a total of 234 average megawatts of electricity – or the output of an average-size natural gas-fired power plant.

Nearly two-thirds of the energy savings was in homes, mostly from switching to compact fluorescent lights. Commercial buildings had the second-largest efficiency gains.

The council is an agency of the states of Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington created by Congress with the Northwest Power Act of 1980.

Associated Press – http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11421001

Efficiency Program in Portland sets the standard October 31, 2009

Clean Energy Works Portland is a groundbreaking new program that enables Portland residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and pay for the improvements over time through their utility bills.

A contractor performing a blower door test to identify air infiltration and leakage throughout a home. But the most exciting and unique aspect of the program is the Community Workforce Agreement that was developed by representatives of labor unions, community groups, businesses, community colleges, and other stakeholders. It is a comprehensive plan to make sure that new jobs created by Clean Energy Works Portland are high quality, career-track jobs that offer family-supporting wages and benefits, and that they go to local residents from diverse backgrounds.

“We wanted to have this project reflect some higher set of goals beyond just retrofitting homes and reducing carbon emissions,” said Derek Smith of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, the city’s go-to person on the Clean Energy Works Portland program.

The program uses $2.5 million in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funds the city received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as seed money to start a revolving loan fund that will enable Portland homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes at no up-front cost. The energy improvements that will be available to homeowners during the pilot phase of the program, which will cover 500 homes, include insulation, air sealing, duct sealing, and improvements to space heating and water heating systems.

The Energy Trust of Oregon will schedule home energy assessments for interested homeowners and help them choose the energy saving options that best meet their needs. To pay for the improvements, homeowners will receive low-interest, long-term loans and will pay them off via their monthly utility bills.

Once the pilot phase is completed next summer, some 100,000 homes in Multnomah County, which encompasses the city of Portland, could qualify for the program.

A state law, Oregon’s Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Technology Act of 2009 (HB 2626), made the Portland financing mechanism possible. “Portland is the first pilot project for this new statewide, low-interest loan program for weatherization work that you can pay back on your utility bill. That’s how we’re going to spread this idea around the state,” said Barbara Byrd, who wears many hats in Oregon, including secretary-treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO and coordinator of the Oregon Apollo Alliance, which strongly supported passage of HB 2626.

Fifty-five direct jobs will be created by the pilot program, but many more are expected to be created after the pilot phase. In order to make sure those jobs will have good wages and benefits and be accessible to community members with previous barriers to employment, the city pulled together approximately 60 stakeholders to develop a Community Workforce Agreement that would complement Clean Energy Works.

Smith of the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability said he got the idea to bring labor and training standards and community benefits into the program from being part of the Green For All “community of practice.” The community of practice connects people throughout the United States who are working on green jobs programs and helps them share their learning experiences with others in the field. Green For All is a partner in Clean Energy Works Portland, along with the Energy Trust of Oregon, Portland General Electric and others.

Maurice Rahming, president of the National Association of Minority Contractors of Oregon, participated in the Clean Energy Works Portland stakeholder meetings that culminated in the Community Workforce Agreement. “I think it’s a tribute to the mayor that he got minority contractors involved early on, rather than having them involved at the very tail end. It shows he’s looking to diversify the contracting pool,” Rahming said.

“Construction isn’t always the most diverse workforce that’s out there, and we wanted to set up an understanding that let’s have the workforce and the contractors reflect the city of Portland,” he added.

In addition to minority contractors, the stakeholder meetings included many groups that offer pre-apprenticeship training to prepare people in basic work skills so that they can then enter training programs that teach skills specific to an occupation. These groups included the Native American Youth and Family Center, which offers employment training courses to Native Americans; and Oregon Tradeswomen, which offers women training courses to prepare them to enter the building and construction trades. Pre-apprenticeship training programs like these will funnel participants into weatherization technician training courses linked to Clean Energy Works Portland.

Many labor unions also participated in the development of the Community Workforce Agreement, including the Laborers union, which is about to begin offering training courses in weatherization that will be available to graduates of the pre-apprenticeship programs described above. “A part of what we wanted to see [in the Community Workforce Agreement] was that people were going to get quality training, because then they’re going to come into the market with better skills, and that’s a chance for them to get their wages up,” said Al Davita, the training director of the Laborers Training Program in Oregon and southern Idaho.

Davita said the Laborers will be providing three levels of training in weatherization-an 80-hour entry-level class for weatherization installers/technicians that will require 80 hours in general residential construction to get into the class; a 40-hour weatherization supervisor training; and a 40-hour energy auditor training. This means that trainees who become weatherization technicians through Clean Energy Works Portland will be able to move into other careers with additional training.

“Our plan is to recruit people who are out of work, give them quality training so they can go out and do this work, but also give them a career pathway so that they can potentially stay in weatherization for the next 20 years or may be able to move into commercial building construction or demolition, where the wages are higher. So we’re looking to give people the chance to change their lives,” Davita said.

After five weeks of meetings, the stakeholders came to consensus on a Community Workforce Agreement for the Clean Energy Works Portland pilot program that lays out requirements for worker training, wages and benefits, local hiring, contractor standards and more. Key goals and targets of the agreement, which was passed by the Portland City Council on September 30, include:

Local hire: at least 80 percent of employees used in the pilot program will be hired from the local workforce.

Family-supporting jobs: workers will earn no less than 180 percent of the state minimum wage.

Diverse workforce: historically disadvantaged or underrepresented people, including people of color, women, and low-income city residents, will perform at least 30 percent of total trades and technical project hours.

Diverse business participation: twenty percent of the dollars that flow through the project will go to businesses owned by historically disadvantaged or underrepresented people.

Prevailing wage: contractors will pay wages that are at least 180 percent of Oregon state minimum wage or the prevailing wage for weatherization work, whichever is higher.

Worker training: contractors will hire 100 percent of new weatherization employees from designated training programs until 50 percent of the contractor’s non-supervisory work hours are performed by these training program graduates.

Labor peace: contractors will sign a labor peace agreement that includes a majority sign-up provision (meaning that contractors will respect the will of the workers if a majority of them signs up to form a labor union).

The Community Workforce Agreement also sets up a system of “best value contracting,” which means that contractors wishing to join the pool of qualified contractors for the Clean Energy Works Portland program will be scored on a range of attributes. They will earn points for having a successful track record of hiring and retaining historically disadvantaged people; having a plan for establishing sub-contracting relationships with businesses owned by people of color and women; and hiring graduates of pre-apprenticeship training programs, among other criteria.

Clean Energy Works Portland’s criteria for qualified training programs requires the programs to have at least three defined partnerships with state recognized pre-apprenticeship programs or signatory community organizations that service underrepresented populations, and to make sure a majority of trainees are women, people of color, low-income people or people from disadvantaged communities.

“In Oregon, a state with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, Clean Energy Works Portland stands to provide a scalable national model by leveraging federal recovery dollars to put people back to work and achieve significant carbon reductions,” said Portland Mayor Sam Adams. “With our community workforce agreement, we have the ability to promote social equity in a measurable way, providing an opportunity for under-employed youth and adults to gain career training in the sustainable building industry, and ensure that Portland stays at the forefront of the green economy.”

For other cities that are considering designing programs similar to Portland’s, several of the people who participated in the process that created the Community Workforce Agreement emphasized the importance of involving stakeholders early in the process. “My bottom line advice is that if you want to do this, you have to involve the stakeholders from the very beginning of the process,” said Barbara Byrd. “It’s not something the city can put together and ask people to sign on to. It was the involvement of the stakeholders that not only created the workforce agreement, but will also make sure it works.”

Rahming said that the early involvement of minority contractors will help them be able to participate in the program. “In contracting, time is everything,” Rahming said. “A lot of times, larger companies can put proposals together more quickly, because they have more staff. This time, because the project was presented to my contractors at the front end, it will allow them to be able to meet the wage and benefits and training requirements.”

Now that the Community Workforce Agreement is in place and the pilot program has already begun converting loans for homeowners, some of the same people who were involved in the stakeholder process will oversee how the program is run.

“The side benefit of this whole effort is energizing a community,” Smith told Oregon Live in a recent interview. “People are really interested in this. It’s good for the economy. It’s good for their home energy bills and (the environment). It seems like one of the promises of the new clean economy could be realized here.”

For more information about Clean Energy Works Portland, go to www.cleanenergyworksportland.org.

Read the Community Workforce Agreement.

by Andrea Buffa, Grist - http://www.grist.org/article/2009-10-28-portland-weatherization-program-gives-top-billing-to-labor-stand/

Power from Nothing: Northwest’s 20-year energy plan stresses conservation October 26, 2009

The Bonneville Power Administration paid Woody Guthrie $266.66 to write 26 songs in 30 days in 1941 to promote what the BPA was selling, hydroelectricity. The songs celebrated the Columbia River, Grand Coulee Dam and “electricity runnin’ all around, cheaper than rainwater.” One of Guthrie’s best, Roll on, Columbia, Roll on, became Washington’s official folk song.

If Guthrie hired on today, he might warble about efficient washing machines, compact fluorescent bulbs and ductless heat pumps. Roll on, conservation measures, roll on.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council, created by Congress in 1980 when the region was suffering from ill-fated investments in unneeded nuclear plants, will soon adopt a plan intended to guide energy development in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana for the next 20 years.

In Guthrie’s day, electricity was not only as cheap as rainwater, but as plentiful as well. Today, power generation is suppose to be easy on the environment, too. With the dam-building era over and the climate-change epoch beginning, the power council says conservation will be the No. 1 way the region will keep up with the demand for electricity.

According to a draft of the 20-year plan, conservation measures will not only cost a fraction of new power plants, it will reduce the release of greenhouse gases.

Besides conservation, the council says the region can meet its energy needs with more wind turbines and natural gas-fired power plants, though the council doesn’t rule out emerging forms of green energy and even the re-emergence of nuclear plants.

Environmental groups praise the council’s emphasis on conservation and wind power.

“This is the best plan they’ve ever put out,” Northwest Energy Coalition spokesman Marc Krasnowsky, whose organization nevertheless complains the council didn’t take a strong enough stand against coal plants, the electricity sector’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.

The council estimates that between 2010 and 2030, the four-state region will need enough new electricity to power five cities the size of Seattle. Four of those cities, according to the council, could be energized by simply using less electricity to run everything from traffic lights to irrigation systems.

By conservation, the council does not mean turning down the thermostat and putting on a sweater. Energy savings will come as businesses and homes gradually switch to energy-stingy lights, appliances, electronics, motors, pumps, fans, etc. “There is nothing pie-in-the-sky here,” council spokesman John Harrison said. “We’re not assuming any unusual consumer behavior.”

Regionwide, according to the council, the greatest savings will come in homes. In Guthrie’s day, aluminum smelters drove up the demand for electricity. Now, lifestyles push up consumption. Televisions per household (2.73) outnumber people (2.6). Nursing homes and assisted-living centers will become massive users of electricity as baby boomers age. An increasing number of air conditioners will make the region’s summertime use of power nearly as high as in the winter.

In industry-heavy Cowlitz County, though, energy savings primarily will come from 27 industrial customers, which consume three-quarters of the electricity supplied by Cowlitz PUD.

Over the next decade, the PUD hopes to do its part and conserve enough electricity for 13,000 households. Some 80 percent of the savings are expected to come in the industrial sector, PUD energy conservation manager Jim Wellcome said.

“We’re going to have to look more to industries. We can’t get the kind of numbers we’re looking at just from the residential and commercial sectors. Not even close,” he said. “That’s the difference between our utility and other utilities.”

The PUD already spends $2 million a year to reward ratepayers who take energy-saving measures such as insulating attics, installing weather-tight windows and buying efficient appliances. The utility plans to approximately double the amount it spends on incentives to help industries pay for energy-saving projects and to give rebates to industries that cut energy consumption.

“They need these incentives because they’re businesses concerned about the bottom line,” Wellcome said.

The PUD says ratepayers will benefit by subsidies to businesses because lower industrial consumption will hold down residential rates. “It’s cheaper to conserve than to build a plant to generate power,” PUD spokesman Dave Andrew said.

Conservation will become all the more important to PUD and it’s customers in 2011. That’s when BPA will limit the amount of low-cost federal hydropower it will sell utilities such as Cowlitz PUD. The more customers conserve, the less the PUD will have to shop around for expensive non-BPA power, Andrew said.

Even if utilities meet conservation goals, however, the Northwest still will need new sources of electricity.

In assessing where that electricity will come from, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council concluded that it’s unlikely more coal plants will be built in the region unless greenhouse gases can be permanently stored underground rather than released into the air. So far, the technology is unproven on a large scale.

Critics complain the council should be bolder in charting how the region can retire its existing coal plants.

“It’s become clear we have to reduce carbon emissions and holding them steady is not enough,” Krasnowsky said. “There’s no way to do it without dealing with coal.”

Coal plants emit 85 percent of the carbon dioxide from the region’s energy generators while supplying 18 percent of the electricity.

In comments to the council, Kennecott Energy, which operates coal mines in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado, argued the coal industry is becoming less damaging to the environment and that there is no cheaper or more reliable source of energy than coal. Coal should play a greater role in the Northwest, according to Kennecott.

The council’s power plan, however, observes that even the cleanest new coal plants can’t meet carbon-emission limits set by Washington, Oregon and Montana.

Washington’s law scuttled plans to build a coal plant in Kalama. Before that happened, the plant’s proponent, Energy Northwest, distanced itself from coal by saying the plant would probably use primarily petroleum coke, a byproduct from refining oil that actually emits more carbon, sulfur and metals than coal.

Harrison, the council spokesman, said the council has no authority to regulate coal plants, but it foresees the possibility that a carbon tax or federal cap on emissions will curtail output from those plants and help states meet their goals to roll back carbon emissions.

“I think we can assume there will be some control of carbon emissions,” he said.

Main sources of Northwest energy in the next 20 years

Conservation

Conservation measures, such as installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, will meet 85 percent of the Northwest’s demand for more electricity over the next 20 years.

Wind

Laws mandating investments in renewable energy guarantee wind farms will continue to sprout in the Northwest.

Natural gas

The region may need to build more natural gas-fired plants to reduce the use of coal and pick up the slack when calm weather cuts the output of wind turbines.

Green energy

Small-scale renewable energy plants, such as ones that burn wood debris, could supplement and back up wind turbines.

Coal

It’s unlikely more coal-fired power plants will be built unless technology can be perfected that will allow carbon emissions to be stored permanently underground instead of released into the air.

Nuclear

The Trojan cooling tower (above) was imploded in 2006, and only one Northwest nuclear plant remains. A new-generation of nuclear plants could be a source of energy that doesn’t contribute to climate change.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity supplies nearly half of the energy used in the Northwest. Additional large hydro projects appear unlikely, but there could be new small-scale development.

Rates

BPA hearing on new transmission line is Thursday

Higher natural gas prices, carbon taxes on coal plants and mandates to invest in renewable energy likely will gradually push electric rates up.

The Bonneville Power Administration is holding a public meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Mark Morris High School to discuss a proposed new transmission line extending from Castle Rock to Troutdale, Ore.

The federal agency says it’s seeking to build the line between two new power substations to meet growing power demand along the Interstate 5 corridor.

The transmission system in Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon is approaching capacity, according to the BPA.

For more information on the proposal, visit www.bpa.gov/go/i5

The Daily News – http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/10/25/top_story/doc4ae3a64bb9449039452097.txt

State-Of-The-Art HVAC system is college lab for OIT October 23, 2009

The city of Beaverton and Oregon Institute of Technology have joined forces to develop an educational program that promotes a better understanding of energy management systems.

Students in OIT’s fall heating, ventilation and air conditioning class will utilize the Beaverton Central Plant at The Round as a working laboratory to study energy management equipment, systems and operations.

“The new partnership with OIT is a tremendous opportunity for the city of Beaverton to promote an understanding of innovative energy use and help educate tomorrow’s workforce,” said Beaverton Mayor Dennis Doyle. “Our team looks forward to working with OIT.”

The institute is also looking forward to the partnership.

“This is a unique opportunity for the university to access a state-of-the-art, energy management system that the city has invested in and use this as an ideal educational platform,” said Thomas J. White, assistant professor of renewable energy engineering at OIT. “It’s essential we continue to grow our understanding of how we manage our use of energy and I expect learning in real-world environments will be an area that we will continue to expand within the university.”

The first class for OIT energy management, which is required for a bachelor’s degree in renewable energy engineering, began this month and runs through December.

This Beaverton lab will provide an opportunity for on-site data collection to evaluate the performance of key pieces of heating and cooling equipment, including the boilers, chillers, cooling towers, pumps, heat exchangers, and the hydronic fan coil systems.

The Beaverton Central Plant is a district energy system providing space conditioning to The Round, a mixed-use development in downtown Beaverton.

The plant delivers energy efficient heating and cooling to the multiple buildings at The Round. In addition to heating and cooling services, the plant also provides domestic hot water to both residential and retail spaces and equipment cooling for dedicated computer and server rooms or similar, critical cooling needs.

The Beaverton Valley Times – http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=125632840158774300

Model of efficiency: Home with no furnace or gas lines averages $25 monthly heating bills October 23, 2009

Glen Moyer talks like a salesman, and that’s because he is.

On Thursday morning, he delivered his pitch:

“It’s super quiet, because sound travels through the air and this house is airtight. And it’s cleaner. Plus, there are no cold spots in this house – anywhere.”

Moyer, owner of the housing development company Kingdom Ventures, might sound like he was trying to close a deal, except this house is not for sale – at least not yet. Instead the developer who also moonlights as a pastor was unveiling the “I-Pad,” a model home off Mullan Road, which he claims is likely the most energy-efficient house ever built in Missoula.

How efficient? Think $25 monthly heating bills, on average, over a year.

And almost all of the heat comes from a source that rates a mere 5,000 BTUs, when the average home needs 60,000. It is a small electric-coil heater designed to look like a gas fireplace, that keeps comfortable 1,288 square feet of home.

No furnace. No gas lines. No electric baseboards. No sounds.

Moyer’s pitch was not all bluster. Confirmation came when Russ Hellem whipped out his thermal imager and took aim at every corner of the kitchen and living room. If there was a draft or leak, it would appear as a blue smear on a screen filled with reds and yellows.

“This is one of the best houses in the area, from an air-tightness and efficiency standpoint,” said Hellem, owner of EnergeTechs, which helps design and build energy-efficient buildings and certifies them as Energy Star compliant.

Moyer, along with Mark Noon, owner of the separate company Kingdom Builders, want to build and sell extremely energy-efficient homes while keeping them affordable.

Since 2003, they have been studying and implementing the technologies that make it possible – and improving the process year by year. This year, they were confident in unveiling a model home.

In July, they began building at 5138 Horn Road. One item noticeably absent from the check list? A furnace.

“We’ve never had the courage to build a house without a gas furnace,” Moyer said.

“We’ve seen this science work firsthand enough that we were confident in taking that next step,” Noon added.

They call it a “hybrid” home, because, like hybrid cars, it looks and functions like any other home, but is built using strategies and technologies that dramatically ratchet up energy efficiency.

There are several. First, the house has two layers, separated by more than 3 1/4 inches – an outer “shell” followed by the interior walls.

The attention given to sealing, studding and trimming was great, said Noon, who subcontracted much of the work but personally built the energy-efficient portions.

“Gluing everything,” is how he described the sealing process. “Taping everything. Nothing super high-tech, just a lot of care with taking care of that shell.”

The home also features high-efficiency double-paned windows, silent ceiling fans in every room to circulate heat and top-rated insulation everywhere.

Perhaps most important, though, is the heat recovery ventilator, a ceiling-attached machine that traps heat – even heat from running hot water – then combines it with fresh outside air, which then flows through ceiling ducts to keep the home and its three bedrooms heated and filled with clean air.

The result is an extremely airtight, energy-efficient house, which comes at a price.

Because of the efficiency requirements, the bedrooms are small and the hallway space approaching cramped.

Plus, Noon calculates that this home cost $18,000 more to build than if he used traditional construction. But, he said, subtract around $12,000 because there is no furnace and no gas lines to install or trenches to dig.

The result is a home that may cost a sliver more than if it were built traditionally. But then again, there will be no dread in opening January’s heating bill.

Moyer and Noon are banking that going “green” isn’t just a fad, but a growing trend as energy prices soar and more people, because of concern over the environment or their wallets, begin to downsize.

“There are a lot more energy-conscious people out there these days,” said Moyer. “Just like we don’t need huge gas-guzzling cars, we don’t need big, huge houses that eat up energy and space.”

Jamie Kelly, The Missoulian – http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_fe0dd12e-bf90-11de-8044-001cc4c03286.html

Oregon is No. 4 in U.S. energy efficiency ranking, Washington No. 7 October 23, 2009

Oregon is one of the top five states to make energy efficiency a priority, according to a new 50-state scorecard on energy efficiency policies, programs and practices from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Oregon, which ranked fourth in the nation, is in the company of California, Massachusetts and Connecticut for doing things like having strict building energy codes and encouraging energy efficiency, such as combined heat and power systems.

“The governor is pleased with the ranking,” said Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s spokesman Rem Nivens. “He sees energy efficiency as the best way to reduce greenhouse gases and move toward energy independence.”

While Oregon’s overall score remained the same as last year, its state-to-state ranking dropped: from second in the nation last year.

The 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard is the nonprofit’s third edition of its annual state-by-state ranking on the adoption and implementation of energy efficiency policies, which intends to recognize leadership among the states and identify best practices.

The scorecard examines six state energy efficiency policy areas: utility-sector and public benefits programs and policies; transportation polices; building energy codes; combined heat and power; state government initiatives; and appliance efficiency standards.

Oregon’s tax credits for electric vehicles — up to $1,500 for a hybrid — is one example of the incentives that were cited as reasons for the state’s high marks.

According to the scorecard, the 10 states doing the most to implement energy efficiency are: California; Massachusetts; Connecticut; Oregon; New York; Vermont; Washington state; Minnesota; Rhode Island; and Maine.

By Beth Casper,  Statesman Journal - http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20091022/GREEN/910220342/1001/NEWS

Wise energy use creates unique partnerships October 23, 2009

At first blush, the Thurston County Economic Development Council and Thurston Climate Action Team might seem like strange bedfellows.

One group is in business to stimulate the local economy and the other was formed to fight global warming on the local level.

But the two groups have found common ground and a place to work together in the world of energy efficiency.

It makes perfect sense. Using energy wisely and efficiently is good for businesses, good for families and good for the community. Investing in energy conserving measures creates jobs, keeps more money circulating in the local economy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps utilities such as Puget Sound Energy reduce the need to invest in expensive new power plants, which are ultimately financed by ratepayers.

The climate action team partnered with the economic development council to apply for a federal stimulus grant of $1 million to stimulate investments in energy conservation for middle-income homeowners and small businesses. While all the details have yet to be hammered out, the program will offer technical assistance to help Thurston County businesses and residents navigate the sometimes confusing world of tax credits, rebates, utility programs and other avenues to get hooked up to energy improvement projects.

The climate action teams wants to make it easier for people to upgrade their home energy systems, which is a worthwhile goal. One way to accomplish this is to have neighborhood workshops on everything from how to get a home energy audit to how to connect with qualified contractors for such things as insulation, window and furnace upgrades. The program fits with the EDC mission of providing technical support for community-based projects that improve quality of life in South Sound.

Community members should look forward to more information on how to get involved in the Thurston County Energy Efficient Program, which should be up and running is the first six months of 2010.

The Olympian – http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/1009398.html

$230M goes to efficiency upgrades at Rainbow Dam in Mont. October 18, 2009

Against a backdrop of the Missouri River and a 99-year-old power house, PPL Montana broke ground Thursday on a $230 million project to expand the Rainbow hydroelectric plant near Great Falls.

“Thanks for coming — and lets break some ground here,” said Dan Walsh Jr. of general contractor Walsh Construction out of Chicago.

Several old turbines are being replaced with a single, more efficient turbine. A new power house will be constructed to house the turbine.

Pete Simonich, vice president and chief operating officer of PPL Montana, said electricity output would increase to 62 megawatts, enough to power 45,000 homes.

“We will increase by 70 percent the amount of clean, renewable power generated here at our Rainbow facility when this project is completed in 2012,” he said.

The project will create between 100 to 200 construction jobs, Simonich said.

A large crowd of local, state and federal officials turned out for the celebration. Excavation work is expected to begin this week, said PPL’s David Hoffman.

Great Falls Tribune - http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20091015/NEWS01/91015003/+230+million+Rainbow+Dam+project+breaks+ground

Energy Efficiency tours set for two Mont. cities September 12, 2009

Havre and Helena are the sites for energy-efficiency tours that will be held this month by Montana’s Alternative Energy Resources Organization.

The tours also feature solar, wind and methane energy systems, as well as a plan to use algae to process wastewater and potentially biodiesel.

The tours are open to the public and are funded, in part, by a grant from NorthWestern Energy through the Universal System Benefits program.

From 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday in Havre, participants will go on a home-power tour showcasing a variety of renewable energy applications that make sense for a home, farm or business.

The city of Havre also will showcase how solar energy applications at City Hall and the airport are helping reduce the municipality’s utility bill. Additionally, a visit to Montana State University-Northern’s campus will highlight small wind power systems, including a 2.5-kilowatt turbine scheduled to be installed before the tour.

The college’s Applied Technology staff also will show off a sun tracking unit that increases the efficiency of solar panels. And, at the MSU-Northern Biodiesel Laboratory, participants can learn about transportation and home heating applications for the locally produced fuel.

The tour includes Kathi Montgomery, public education specialist for the state Department of Environmental Quality, discussing ways to take advantage of grants, loans and tax credits for renewable energy and conservation projects.

The cost of the tour is $10 and includes light snacks. Registration with AERO is required. Call 406-443-7272 for more information.

From 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 18 in Helena, participants will tour the city’s wastewater treatment facility, where energy efficiency innovations are largely responsible for an 18 percent drop in total energy usage for all municipal operations from 2001 to 2006.

One such innovation is a methane-powered Stirling generator that produces 35-40 kilowatts of electricity on a nearly constant basis to offset the facility’s electric load. The methane is captured in the facility’s primary anaerobic digesters.

The city of Helena is leading the state with such efforts and is considering installing additional Stirling generators, according to officials.

During the tour, Joseph Menicucci, president of CTW Energy, will describe plans to use algae in the wastewater remediation process, which could boost methane production and potentially serve as a feedstock for producing biodiesel fuel.

The tour includes light snacks. The cost is free, but registration with AERO is required. For more information, call 406-443-7272.

Great Falls Tribune – http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090910/BUSINESS/909100306/Energy-efficiency+tours+set+for+two+cities

Eugene gets nearly $1.5 million in stimulus funds for sustainability September 9, 2009

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that the city of Eugene will receive $1,485,800 from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The money will be used to decrease communitywide carbon emissions, create jobs, reduce long-term energy use, and leverage funds for on-going energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.

“These funds will advance the city of Eugene’s long-standing commitment to sustainability in our community and in city operations,” noted Mayor Kitty Piercy in a statement. “It will help us meet our greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and provides timely support for the community-wide Eugene Climate and Energy Action Plan that is just getting under way.”

“These federal stimulus funds will put people to work in our community and help us develop our green jobs sector, which is extremely important as we position our area to move successfully into the next economy,” added City Manager Jon Ruiz.

The city submitted an application for the grant funds in May.

By Edward Russo, The Register Guard – http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/19895902-55/story.csp

Smart grid to get testest in Spokane/Pullman Area & Salem, OR in NW September 9, 2009

Researchers across the Northwest have demonstrated that new technology can help manage electricity use. Now they’re betting they’ll get the same results with new experiments and show the whole country how it’s done.

Twelve utilities in five states – including Avista Utilities and Inland Power and Light Co. in Spokane – have signed on to a proposal to test the so-called smart power grid under the direction of Battelle, the company that operates the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in Richland. Battelle has applied for federal stimulus money.

The term “smart grid” has come to include any improvements in the way energy is transmitted, stored and consumed. And the federal Department of Energy has taken proposals from utilities across the country wanting to demonstrate their smart-grid projects.

Carl Imhoff, a research director with Battelle, said that the regional reach of this proposal, with participants from Wyoming to Oregon, makes it stand out. “It’s cutting across a layer of the utility system that has not been done as aggressively,” he said.

“Using 12 different entities like this is a very compelling and bold experiment.”

As far as experiments go, this one isn’t as experimental as some; researchers are confident the grid will benefit from more smarts. But directions from the Department of Energy are clear: The goal isn’t to see whether proposed changes will improve the nation’s electrical system, but how those changes will improve the system.

The Northwest has a natural advantage in this area. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory already tested smart-grid technology in a 2006-2007 study in Washington and Oregon. The Bonneville Power Administration participated in that study, and would take part in the proposed project as well.

That earlier study, also paid for by the Energy Department, showed that customers shift their energy use to times when there’s less stress on the grid if it saves them money. Another piece of the same study showed that a utility can use specially designed appliances to flatten peaks in electricity demand.

Battelle’s $178 million plan would build on that earlier study. “That was just 120 homes,” Imhoff said. “We’re extending that to up to 60,000 units participating, not just 120.”

Participating utilities would maintain test sites, working on various pieces of the smart grid.

Inland Power’s project will be in the Airway Heights area, and Avista’s will be in Pullman, Wash.

Portland General Electric, which managed smart appliances in the earlier study, would run a project in Salem.

The project serves as a microcosm of the bigger smart grid effort, said Mark Osborn, the utility’s distributed resources manager. PGE would mix various power generation and storage systems to shift electricity where it’s needed.

That’s essential for an electrical system dominated by renewable energy sources. Wind and solar power aren’t always available, so emphasis is placed on storage and smart transmission, Osborn said.

The project will incorporate better transmission lines, high-tech meters, smart appliances, battery storage, diesel generators – basically everything available, Osborn said. “We did a few pilots here and there with appliances and battery technology. But we need to integrate them in one location where they’re all functioning together.”

What PGE proposes to do with its Salem customers, Battelle would do with the whole region, Imhoff said. Officials there expect to learn by the end of the year whether their proposal was accepted.

“The group felt this would offer the most compelling test of what the smart grid would be to consumers and utilities in the region,” he said. “There have been a number of one-off things, smart meters (etc.), but the group felt the next level of investigation is to evaluate the true benefit of orchestrating a broad number of concepts at all the levels of the power system.”

Justin Carinci, Daily Journal of Commerce - http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/09/smart-grid-to-get-test/

NW power panel: Save juice, build fewer plants September 3, 2009

A committee that guides the Bonneville Power Administration has called for buying more compact fluorescent light bulbs and building fewer carbon-emitting power plants in the Pacific Northwest.

The panel said energy efficiency in homes, businesses and factories could offset most of the demand for increased power supplies in the four-state region for two decades.

The plan submitted Thursday by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council said natural gas plants and wind energy could take care of the rest of the demand, and it did not envision new coal-fired plants.

The council said demand is expected to rise at a rate of 1.2 percent a year for the two decades beginning next year.

It said it had identified enough potential in efficient use of power to account for 85 percent of that increased demand.

An aggressive plan for efficiency is the “most cost-effective and least-risky resource available,” the council said in a statement.

“The average cost of the efficiency is half the cost of new power plants,” it said.

The council of eight members from Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington sets policy for the federal Bonneville Power Administration.

Using hydropower and a nuclear plant, the BPA is the region’s largest supplier of electricity, and its executives are required to act consistently with the council’s 20-year plans.

The plans aren’t binding on investor-owned utilities, but “I think you will find that they look at it as a bit of a blueprint,” said Bill Booth of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, chairman of the council.

Conservation groups said the council had exercised leadership in setting high goals for energy efficiency but fallen short of what it could have done: outline a plan to wean the region off coal-fired electricity.

Associated Press – http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/959662.html

New Energy management degree offered at Wash. CC August 18, 2009

Edmonds Community College is offering a new two-year energy management degree that will give graduates the expertise to turn energy wasters into energy savers and the know-how to help make our region more energy efficient, according to a press release.

The degree teaches skills suited for people currently working in the industry, seeking entry-level work in the field, or taking on new responsibilities in energy efficiency at their workplace.

Students will learn about where the region’s energy comes from, its uses and how to monitor energy programs. They will train to manage and account for energy use as well as to lead projects, analyze data and create reports.

Employers hiring workers trained in energy conservation are utilities, large corporations and businesses that install energy-saving equipment, including lighting and HVAC contractors, “green” builders, weatherization manufacturing and sales businesses and solar power system services.

Most classes for the energy management degree are offered evenings and online. Certificates are also available that can be completed in six months or less.

Students can become certified as a residential energy auditor, commercial lighting auditor, energy accounting specialist, or energy efficiency technician. Each certificate counts toward the two-year associate of technical arts degree in energy management, which transfers to Central Washington University.

The Enterprise Newspapers - http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090819/ETP08/708199847/-1/ETPZONELT&template=ETPZoneLTart

Congress Moves Bill to Address Energy Efficiency in schools May 14, 2009

Oregon stands to gain 58 million dollars under a multi-billion dollar bill that passed the U-S House Thursday.

The so-called “green schools’ bill” is meant to create thousands of jobs, nationally, by building energy efficiency into public school buildings.

Northwest Oregon congressman, David Wu, says the house included his proposal, to expand the bill to also allow spending on seismic upgrades.

Congressman David Wu: “It’s just in the last 15 to 25 years that we’ve found out about a severe earthquake problem in our corner of the country, and we haven’t had as much time to adjust to the earthquake threat as, say the California schools have. So I hope some of the money will go into seismic retrofits.”

The bill now moves to the Senate. Wu says he’s optimistic about its chances, even though senators stripped similar provisions out of the federal stimulus package, earlier this year.

Republican rep Greg Walden was the only member of Oregon’s delegation to vote against the green schools’ bill Thursday.

BY ROB MANNING, OPB News - http://news.opb.org/article/4988-congress-moves-bill-address-energy-and-earthquakes/

Venture companies scaled back clean energy investments May 11, 2009

Venture capital investments in clean energy companies were hit hard in the first quarter of 2009 because of the economy, although some energy-related categories continue to attract badly needed funding.

A report on the Wall Street Journal website cites new statistics from Ernst & Young showing that clean-tech venture investments fell from $571 million to $277 million in the first quarter of the year, largely due to ongoing weakness and uncertainty in the economy.

The report notes that in the area of electricity generation, investments dropped off with one noteable exception being $40 million for a solar thermal energy company, while interest in energy efficiency and advanced batteries or other fuel storage technologies had remained strong.

Elsewhere, a report in the Atlanta Business Chronicle notes that energy storage companies saw investments more than double last quarter compared to the first quarter of 2008, while fuel cell companies earned $45 million in investments compared to zero at this time last year.

For battery storage companies, the Chronicle cited a 37 percent investment increase from the beginning of 2008.

Washington Energy Services – http://www.washingtonenergy.com/articles/article/412/venture-companies-scaled-back-clean-energy-investments

Oregon House Approves Vechicle Energy Efficiency Bill May 10, 2009

The measure would order new rules on how long big rigs can idle in truck stops or ships can idle in port.

But the centerpiece of the legislation is a section that requires a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicle fuel.

Supporters like Democratic Representative Ben Cannon say that would encourage more use of locally-produced renewable fuels.

Rep. Ben Cannon:  “A low carbon fuel standard along with the other provisions of this bill will take important next steps in the direction of energy independence, green jobs, and prosperity in a carbon-constrained future.”

Opponents ridiculed the bill as a bureaucratic boondoggle that will end up costing businesses and consumers more in the long run.

The action came on the same day that Oregon lawmakers eased up on another bio-fuel mandate.

The House voted to make ethanol optional for premium-grade gasoline.  Both bills now head to the Senate.

Online:Oregon House Bill 2186

Oregon’s carbon footprint would shrink under a bill narrowly approved Friday by the Oregon House. The measure would affect everything from the fuel you buy to the tires you drive on.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

BY CHRIS LEHMAN, OPB News – http://news.opb.org/article/4952-oregon-house-approves-energy-efficiency-bill/

Solar farms are on Douglas County, Ore. wish list May 10, 2009

As federal stimulus dollars make their way into Jackson County, local governments are trying to tap into even more money for a wish list of projects.

The county is asking the federal government for $94 million to build solar farms that would generate electricity, and it hopes to snag another $5 million to remove the 105-year-old Gold Ray Dam from the Rogue River as early as summer 2010.

The Oregon Department of Transportation hopes to repave Highway 62 from White City to just south of Shady Cove.

Both Medford and Ashland are seeking millions, for projects ranging from a pedestrian bridge over Barnett Road for the Bear Creek Greenway to repairs for sewage treatment plants.

Jackson County Commissioner Dave Gilmour said he expects organizations, such as Dunn House women’s shelter and ACCESS Inc. food bank, also will receive federal money, though some of the details still are being worked out.

But the county’s bid for solar farms appears to be the most ambitious project so far.

“It is a very substantial amount we’re putting in for, and we don’t know if we’ll get it,” he said.

As part of the federal stimulus package, there is $3.2 billion available in energy efficiency and conservation grants. Another $16 billion is available for renewable energy projects such as wind or solar.

The county wants to install a solar farm on a 47-acre parcel near Highway 62 that is in the flight path of the Medford airport. Gilmour said that portion would cost $74 million.

Another $8 million would be spent at the airport to add solar panels to the new terminal and in the parking lot. Almost $7 million would be spent retrofitting the Compton Arena at the Jackson County Expo Center in Central Point with solar panels.

Retrofitting the Jackson County Courthouse with energy-efficient windows and new heating and lighting would cost $4 million. Gilmour said the remainder of the money would place a smaller solar installation at a county truck barn in White City.

Gilmour said that if the installations were built in Southern Oregon, it could help create a solar-based economy locally.

It also would provide the largest solar center in the state, which Gilmour said would help promote Jackson County.

“More people would think highly of moving here and setting up businesses here,” he said.

Damian Mann, Mail Tribune – http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090510/NEWS/905100333

$15.5M in Stimulus money to go to energy efficiency in Wash. May 9, 2009

About $14.5 million in federal stimulus money will go to installing energy efficient upgrades in middle class homes under a bill signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire Thursday.

Local community organizers fought hard for the allocation, which comes out of a $60 million pot of stimulus money Washington state is receiving for discretionary spending on energy projects.

One group already has a project in mind for the Pierce County area that would boost energy efficiency in about 1,500 homes while providing local construction jobs. Leaders still must apply to the Washington State University’s Energy Extension Program to have a shot at the money.

State officials said the $60 million is perhaps the most flexible of any of the money Washington is receiving from the federal stimulus package. With fewer strings attached, private companies had urged the Legislature to spend the funds on large retrofitting projects or renewable energy research.

Instead, the moderate-income weatherization money will focus on energy efficiency measures such as replacing oil-burning furnaces and installing insulation in homes and small businesses.

The $14.5 million will pay for at least three neighborhood-based weatherization projects throughout the state.

The projects would target families that make between $50,000 and $70,000 per year, unlike existing programs managed by utilities and the state that help only lower-income families.

“It’s going to affect the people that are in a higher wage bracket,” said Dusty Hoerler, an organizer with Sound Alliance, a collection of congregations, labor unions and community organizations in the Puget Sound area. “The long-term stimulus is that it will lower people’s energy bills.”

The largest chunk of the state’s $60 million in flexible energy stimulus money will create a grant and loan program run by the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED).

Governments and companies throughout Washington can apply for a portion of that $38.5 million.

CTED officials are pleased the Legislature is letting them solicit applications for projects to receive funding, said Cory Plantenberg, CTED energy program manager. Department officials said last month that they wanted a chance to evaluate projects individually instead of having funds prescribed by the Legislature.

Pierce County and other local jurisdictions may be among the applicants for that grant money, said Randy Harrison, a special assistant to County Executive Pat McCarthy.

The county and other local agencies are holding meetings to discuss collaborative energy projects they could pursue, Harrison said.

Part of those discussions include how four Pierce County jurisdictions will spend about $7 million they are receiving directly from the stimulus package in the form of energy efficiency and conservation block grants. Jurisdictions have until June 25 to develop their proposals.

“We’re forming collaborative partnerships that will allow us to be more effective with our energy solutions money,” Harrison said. “All of the different things we can do for climate change, we want to be one of the leaders in.”

ENERGY MONEY FROM THE STIMULUS PACKAGE IN WASHINGTON

Here’s a summary of what Washington state and local governments are receiving from the federal stimulus package for energy projects.

STATE ENERGY PROGRAM

$60 million statewide

These funds have few federal requirements attached. The state Legislature decided to dole out the money like this:

• $38.5 million for loans and grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects

• $14.5 million for at least three community-wide energy efficiency improvement projects

• $5 million for credit enhancements, which will help ensure favorable loans for public energy efficiency projects

• $500,000 to increase energy efficiency on farms

LOW-INCOME WEATHERIZATION

$60 million statewide

• $60 million for the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development’s low-income weatherization program, which helps fund energy efficiency improvements for homeowners making less than 125 percent of the federal poverty level, or $27,563 for a family of four in 2009.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS

$17 million statewide

This money can be spent on a variety of energy efficiency or conservation projects, to include green buildings, transportation infrastructure and energy conservation. About $6.4 million is going directly to large jurisdictions throughout the state, while smaller cities can submit grant applications to the state for the remaining funds.

Jurisdictions receiving money through a federal funding formula have until June 25 to come up with project proposals.

Here’s what governments in Pierce County and South King County are receiving so far, based on population formulas.

Pierce County: $4,376,400

Tacoma: $1,947,300

Lakewood: $541,000

Puyallup: $164,500

King County: $6,141,100

Federal Way: $777,700

Auburn: $235,500

Local governments can also apply for competitive federal grants distributed by the U.S. Department of Energy. For a more complete list of what’s available, go online and visit www.energy.gov/recovery/funding.htm.

Melissa Santos, The News Tribune – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/735935.html

Stimulus funds aid weatherization effort in Spokane April 9, 2009

Federal stimulus money will double the pace of home weatherization in Spokane, creating jobs and reducing dependence on imported oil in the process, officials said Tuesday.

Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs, which administers the federal Weatherization Action Program in the community, will get $1.73 million annually over the next three years, on top of the $465,000 received currently, said Chris Davis, the organization’s director of housing improvement.

Washington will receive a total of $59 million for weatherization assistance, said Sen. Maria Cantwell. The program has improved the energy efficiency of 85,000 homes since it was launched in the mid-1970s, she said, but hundreds of thousands in the state still need work.

She said weatherization saves an average homeowner $358 a year on utility bills. To qualify for the program, a family of four can earn no more than about $44,000, she said.

Cantwell said the new money from the U.S. Department of Energy will boost the number of Spokane homes weatherized each year with federal dollars to more than 900, from about 320 now.

Still more homes are weatherized using funds from other sources, said SNAP Executive Director Larry Stuckart.

Because repairs using federal money are capped at $6,500, non-federal dollars are used to complete work on homes that need more extensive work, he said.

Ron Gaunt, who supervises the seven SNAP weatherization crews, said homes are first audited to determine where a home is wasting energy. Infrared cameras, for example, reveal where more wall insulation is needed.

Depending on a home’s deficiencies, electricians install energy efficient lighting fixtures, carbon monoxide and smoke alarms, and programmable thermostats. Heating and air-conditioning equipment, as well as water heaters, are replaced. Insulation crews then fill in the walls, seal cracks and replace windows.

Davis said the additional funds will allow him to add 10 workers to the 34 already in the field, and hire private contractors.

“We’re ready to push the money directly to them,” Davis said.

Last year the program provided training to more than 1,000 people in how to better manage energy use.

Daniel Morgan said his home was weatherized in 2007. “I could really feel the difference from one winter to the next,” he said, adding that the work’s social benefits increased his satisfaction with the program.

Morgan’s is one of 5,667 homes SNAP has weatherized since 1993, according to an agency fact sheet.

Bert Caldwell, Spokesman Review - http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/apr/08/stimulus-funds-aid-weatherization-effort/

Mont. to get $13M for energy efficiency improvements March 27, 2009

More than $13 million is headed to Montana for energy efficiency improvements.

The $13,971,000 is in addition to $52,398,777 already granted to the state by the Obama administration for weatherization and energy funding. The additional funding, which will filter $3.2 billion to U.S. cities, counties, states, territories and Native American tribes, was announced Thursday by Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

“These investments will save taxpayer dollars and create jobs in communities around the country,” Biden said. “Local leaders will have the flexibility in how they put these resources to work, but we will hold them accountable for making the investments quickly and wisely to spur the local economy and cut energy use.”

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide formula grants for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions and improve energy efficiency.

The funding will support energy audits and energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements.  Other activities eligible for use of grant funds include transportation programs that conserve energy, projects to reduce and capture methane and other greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, renewable energy installations on government buildings, energy efficient traffic signals and street lights, deployment of Combined Heat and Power and district heating and cooling systems, and others.

“The Block Grants are a major investment in energy solutions that will strengthen America’s economy and create jobs at the local level,” Chu said. “The funding will be used for the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy technologies we have – energy efficiency and conservation – which can be deployed immediately.  The grants also empower local communities to make strategic investments to meet the nation’s long term clean energy and climate goals.”

A local breakdown of the funds includes $50,000 for Anaconda-Deer Lodge, $175,500 for Bozeman, $138,700 for Butte-Silver Bow and $198,700 for Gallatin County.

Montana’sNewsStation.com  – http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=10078829&nav=menu227_3

Ore. Cities/Counties get $33M for energy efficiency March 26, 2009

Millions in federal funds will be heading to Oregon for energy efficiency projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“Our dependence on foreign fossil fuel drains wealth from our families and our nation while contributing to global climate change,” said Merkley.  “Efforts to reduce energy use are critical to break this dependence while improving our environment.  Equally important, improving energy efficiency will create jobs all across Oregon and reduce energy bills paid by Oregonians.  With our unemployment rate now in the double digits, these jobs are vitally important for our communities.”

“No economic recovery is going to be complete until we do something about making the United States more energy efficient while at the same time creating jobs in the alternative energy industry,” Wyden said. “The $33 million coming to Oregon for energy efficiency will jumpstart Oregon’s goal of becoming an alternative energy leader and will help put Oregonians back to work.”

The White House announced plans today to invest $3.2 billion in energy efficiency and conservation projects in U.S. cities, counties, states, territories, and on Native American tribal lands.  The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will provide funding for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions, as well as improve energy efficiency nationwide.

Oregon state, county, and city governments will receive over $33 million through the program:

• Oregon State Energy Office – $9,593,500
• Albany – $201,500
• Beaverton – $914,900
• Bend – $745,500
• Corvallis – $511,600
• Eugene – $1,485,800
• Gresham – $901,500
• Hillsboro – $924,700
• Keizer – $138,500
• Lake Oswego – $157,900
• Medford – $729,700
• Portland – $5,626,100
• Salem – $1,521,200
• Springfield – $539,400
• Tigard – $230,500
• Clackamas – $3,159,500
• Deschutes County – $325,700
• Douglas County – $442,900
• Jackson County – $524,800
• Josephine County – $343,200
• Lane County – $561,200
• Marion County – $609,000
• Umatilla County – $312,900
• Washington County – $2,596,900
• Yamhill County – $403,100

Tribal governments in Oregon will also receive funds for energy efficiency upgrades on tribal lands (Please note that if a Tribe spans more than one state, the amounts below reflect the entire amount the Tribe will receive):

• Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon – $29,000
• Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon – $63,500
• Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon – $301,100
• Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon – $305,500
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon – $68,900
• Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon – $129,300
• Coquille Tribe of Oregon – $64,400
• Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon – $96,800
• Klamath Tribes, Oregon (formerly the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon) – $91,500
• Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon – $25,800

KOHD – http://kohd.com/news/local/101827

WA cities/Counties get $56M for energy efficiency March 26, 2009

Washington cities, counties and the state will get about $56 million in federal stimulus money for projects that reduce energy use.

Washington tribes will receive an additional $2.6 million to improve energy efficiency.

The Obama administration announced the grants Thursday as part of $3.2 billion distributed nationwide.

The money could be used to conduct energy audits, retrofit buildings to use less energy, add solar panels to city buildings or upgrade traffic lights.

The money is separate from $120 million that Washington will get to weatherize between 7,000 and 10,000 homes and to pay for other energy projects.

The first chunk of energy stimulus money is expected in early April, said Tony Usibelli, head of energy policy for the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development. “We hope we will have projects up and running as early as this summer.”

Usibelli’s agency will get the largest chunk, about $10 million, of the grants announced Thursday.

The state plans to distribute a portion of that money to smaller towns and counties that don’t get direct grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Among 26 cities receiving direct grants, Spokane will get nearly $2 million, Vancouver about $1.6 million and Seattle about $6 million.

Among 10 counties getting money, Clark will receive nearly $2.3 million, Snohomish $4.8 million and Yakima about $630,000.

“This funding will create green jobs, deploy energy-efficient programs, and use new technologies to curb greenhouse gas emissions,” said U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

Nearly $60 million in stimulus money will go toward the state’s decades-old weatherization program, which last year received only $5 million in federal money.

Steve Payne, managing director in the Economic Development agency’s housing division, said as many as 10,000 homes could be weatherized over the next two years. A maximum of $6,500 can be spent on each home, but money is not given directly to families.

The state contracts with 26 community service providers across the state to run the program.

Qualifying households get an energy audit and a plan on how to reduce energy use, such as insulating water heaters, sealing duct leaks and weather-stripping windows. The service provider hires work crews to make the improvements.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Payne said.

By PHUONG LE, Associated Press – http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/799609.html

National: $3.2B more in Fed Funding for Energy Efficiency March 26, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced plans to invest $3.2 billion in energy efficiency and conservation projects in U.S. cities, counties, states, territories, and Native American tribes. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide formula grants for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency nationwide.

The funding will support energy audits and energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements. Other activities eligible for use of grant funds include transportation programs that conserve energy, projects to reduce and capture greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy installations on government buildings, energy efficient traffic signals and street lights, deployment of Combined Heat and Power and district heating and cooling systems, and others.

To ensure accountability, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will require grant recipients to report on the number of jobs created or retained, energy saved, renewable energy capacity installed, greenhouse gas emissions reduced, and funds leveraged. Funding is based on a formula that accounts for population and energy use.

Cities and counties will receive nearly $1.9 billion under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, and states and territories will receive nearly $770 million. States will receive and administer funds for those counties and cities that are not large enough to qualify for direct DOE funding. More than $54 million will flow directly to Tribal governments.

Up to $456 million of this funding is planned to be made available under a separate competitive solicitation for local energy efficiency projects. That solicitation will be released at a later date.

Today’s announcement is in addition to DOE’s recent release of nearly $8 billion to support weatherization and state energy projects.

A detailed breakdown of the funding by state, county, city and tribal government is available on the DOE’s Recovery Act Web site.

Following today’s announcement at the White House, Secretary Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis are visiting the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Workers at the facility are being trained for the kinds of “green jobs” that the city and county are investing in—ranging from construction and facility upgrades of green buildings to installation of energy efficient street lights to building energy audits. Secretaries Chu and Solis will highlight the city and county efforts as a model for other communities and an example of how this funding can create local jobs and save energy.

More information on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program is available on the Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program’s Web site.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy – http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=154

Mont. Legislation Would Create Energy Efficiency Weatherization Standard March 25, 2009

With energy costs on the rise, a bill introduced in the Montana Legislature could lower utility bills while providing jobs and energy security for Montana consumers.

Legislative Reporter Holly Baker heard from supporters of the bill, which would create an Energy Efficiency Weatherization Standard from both NorthWestern Energy and the Montana Environmental Information Center. Listen to her report here.

House Bill 641 would require gas and electric utilities that serve more than 20,000 customers to perform a study to estimate how much energy could be saved in their service area by the year 2020.

It would also set biennial goals to reduce energy use through 2020, as well as implement energy efficiency measures from power plants to meet energy reduction goals by the year 2020.

Bill sponsor and Democratic Representative Art Noonan of Butte says the legislation provides a process to ensure energy efficiency is the priority.

“Before we ask the questions about what we need to build, before we ask the questions about what type of investment we have to make, we have to know what we can get in terms of energy efficiency.”

Noonan says while some corporations may want to opt out of the process, the bill is not about the corporate bottom line.

“This bill is not about convenience for those people that provide us with electricity, this is about the bottom line for consumers, this is the question we have to ask for rate payers.”

Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center says ever since deregulation was passed by the 1997 legislature energy prices have risen for the consumer. She says NorthWestern Energy’s support for the bill shows there is progress in energy policy.

“The way to achieve savings is not through buying or building new power plants necessarily. It is through energy efficiency and renewable energy. We have to move beyond the status quo and this bill will help us get there.”

John Vincent of the Montana Public Service Commission says the bill holds promise for job creation in making buildings more energy efficient.

Holly Baker is reporting from the state capitol for the University of Montana’s Legislative News Service.

By Holly Baker, Legislative News Service, Guest Writer, 3-24-09 – http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/montana_legislation_would_create_energy_efficiency_weatherization_standard/C37/L37/

Lawmakers may consider national energy efficiency standard March 24, 2009

A Washington think tank is calling for the creation of a national energy efficiency resource standard to accompany a number of other environmental initiatives currently being considered.

According to the Center for American Progress, a national EERS would require utilities to meet specific electricity and natural gas reductions. The center goes on to explain that the savings would be measured with credits that can be earned through things like documented demand reduction for energy, distribution of high-efficiency energy and the use of combined heat and power systems.

The center estimates that a national standard could help create 222,000 jobs while preventing 262 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and making the construction of 390 new power plants unnecessary.

Along with those savings, the group cites the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy as projecting potential savings of $168.6 billion for consumers in the form of less electrical and natural gas usage.

The group also notes that the chairman of the House Energy Committee, Henry Waxman, may include EERS language with his forthcoming global warming bill.

Washington Energy Services – http://www.washingtonenergy.com/articles/article/719/lawmakers-may-consider-national-energy-efficiency-standard

Report envisions renewable future for Northwest March 19, 2009

A new report says that the Pacific Northwest can dramatically reduce its emissions in the coming years while meeting new energy efficiency standards and adopting clean energy technologies.

According to the Northwest Energy Coalition, the region’s power system has the potential to reduce its carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent by 2050 and 15 percent by 2020.

The coalition says that energy efficiency is the “powerhouse” of its plan, since it can help cut energy use by as much as 60 percent and because the Northwest has already apparently saved about 3,700 megawatts through energy efficiency efforts since 1978.

One part of energy efficiency is combined heat and power technology, which uses the heat generated for power and uses it to directly heat buildings, providing further savings in the process. With tax incentives to cover capital costs and other needs, the coalition envisions this technology saving another 5,100 megawatts of electricity by 2050.

Finally, renewable energy is a big part of the Northwest’s future already, but the organization says that the region has enough generating potential to far exceed its own needs in the coming years, even amid projections that up to 10,000 megawatts of power will be required by 2050 to meet future regional energy needs.

Washington Energy Services – http://www.washingtonenergy.com/articles/article/540/report-envisions-renewable-future-for-northwest

Feds Give $8B to States for Energy Efficiency & Weatherization March 12, 2009

Here is the excerpt from the TriCity Herald:

Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu also announced $8 billion in stimulus money to be directed to state and local weatherization and energy efficiency efforts.

To read the entire story click below:

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/newswire/politics/story/506635.html

Wash. Senate passes energy efficiency bill March 11, 2009

The Washington Senate approved a measure Tuesday requiring new buildings and major retrofits to use less energy. The goal is to reduce the amount of overall energy consumption by 70% by 2031.

The bill passed the Senate with a 42-5 vote. The House passed a similar bill Monday.

The measures require utilities to track how much energy large commercial and public buildings use. Environmentalists made the bills <one> of their top priorities this year.

The bills are Senate Bill 5854 and House Bill 1747.

The Associated Press – http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9981570&nav=menu484_2_2

National: Preparing for a Flood of Energy Efficiency Spending February 28, 2009

To the casual eye, the basement of this city’s Firehouse 9 looks like a jumble of old hydrants, Dr Pepper cartons, rakes and random gear. To specialists in energy efficiency, the 1960s-era building is a mess of a different sort: wasteful hot water heaters for the firefighters’ showers, ancient refrigerators andoutdated lights.

Wrapping up an elaborate energy audit, Knoxville is about to find out which of 99 city buildings are wasting the most energy. It hopes to begin repairs this summer, just in time to catch a tsunami of federal stimulus money earmarked for such unglamorous tasks as replacing light bulbs and fixing leaky insulation.

Knoxville’s timing is excellent. The city began the arduous work of cataloging deficiencies before the stimulus bill passed, and it is well along in planning its next steps. But experts worry that other beneficiaries, especially cities, are not ready to oversee the huge sums of energy-efficiency money about to come their way.

The money in the bill is enough to pay for a tremendous expansion of efficiency efforts across the country. But as with other parts of the stimulus package, the efficiency plan is creating tension between spending the money quickly, to get rapid economic stimulus, and spending it well, to do the most good over the long run.

“There’s enormous opportunity here for expansion of energy efficiency in this country,” said Lowell Ungar, the policy director for the Alliance to Save Energy, an advocacy group. “But there is certainly the potential for waste.”

President Obama signed the stimulus package into law on Feb. 17, hailing it as a shot of money big enough to help shake the economy from its lethargy while advancing many of his campaign priorities. Accelerating the country’s energy transition is at the top of his list. Many experts in the field agree with him that carefully chosen investments in efficiency will ultimately save more than they cost, by cutting energy bills.

At least $20 billion in the stimulus bill was earmarked for programs like improving the efficiency of government buildings and the homes of poor people, and trying to find better ways to save energy. That is far more, advocates say, than any bill in history. Within a few months, the money is likely to start landing in the bank accounts of thinly staffed state and city agencies that are accustomed to scraping for a dime here, a dollar there.

Utah expects that its state energy office will receive $40 million for energy efficiency, renewable energy and related programs — 123 times the size of the office’s current budget, said Jason Berry, who manages the four-person unit. He is about to go on a hiring spree.

The package contains $5 billion to weatherize low-income homes through the Department of Energy, enough to give the state programs that manage that work 10 to 30 times the money they received last year, said Christina Kielich, a department spokeswoman.

For advocates of this relatively obscure program, “it’s like they finally got to the other side of the desert and it’s pouring rain,” said Seth Kaplan, a vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group.

The stimulus package also contains $4.5 billion to modernize federal buildings and $2.5 billion for research into energy efficiency and renewable energy. The biggest chunk, $6.3 billion, will be distributed by the Energy Department in grants to state and local governments, which can spend the money on things as diverse as thicker window panes for state capitols and rebates for homeowners who change their light bulbs.

Homes and commercial buildings account for 39 percent of national energy consumption. Experts say that improving their efficiency is not only cost-effective but also a good way to reduce the nation’s emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

But figuring out how to spend the money effectively — learning which university buildings need their doors caulked, for example, or which firehouse walls have insulation that is too thin — can involve time-consuming, tricky analysis by skilled technicians.

“People are very conservative about their buildings,” said Donald Gilligan, the president of the National Association of Energy Service Companies, a trade group. “Nobody wants to put a failed technology into the school buildings or have the lights not work.”

In Knoxville, a team of auditors hired by the city is spending six months peering into the grimy nooks of fire and police stations and even the convention center, where one employee referred to the downstairs boiler area as a “money-eating room.”

Knoxville — which says the stimulus money may help accelerate or expand its program — hopes to reduce the city’s energy bills as much as 25 percent, and the city is “definitely on the front end of the wave as far as efficiency and municipalities addressing efficiency,” said John Plack Jr., a director of project development for Ameresco, which is conducting the Knoxville energy audit.

In the Southeastern region of the country, where Mr. Plack works, low electricity prices have often made saving energy an afterthought, unlike in California and much of the Northeast. For example, Nashville, nearly 200 miles west of Knoxville, has not conducted an energy audit of its city buildings, though it hopes to use stimulus money to look through its own stock of fire stations and libraries.

“There’s a lot of municipalities out there who are completely unaware this is moving forward,” Mr. Kaplan said, referring especially to smaller cities. “They just don’t have the infrastructure in place to deal with this.”

The Energy Department, which is doling out most of the grants, has been assailed on Capitol Hill for delays in disbursing other types of assistance for clean energy. Ms. Kielich said in an e-mail message that the department hoped efficiency grants would begin flowing to city and state energy offices within 120 days, and that it planned to begin disbursing weatherization money “expeditiously and responsibly.”

On the receiving end, absorbing the huge increase in money for weatherization could be particularly challenging, said Ian Bowles, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts. Though he contends it can be done, “the weatherization folks are going to have to quintuple their effort in order to put that money out,” he said.

In some cases, the managers of efficiency programs may not need to look far to find ways to spend the money.

In Knoxville, the Community Action Committee, whose operations include helping poor people weatherize their homes, works from a building with a $14,000 monthly utility bill — some of it because of an enormous skylight that lets in too much blistering Tennessee sunshine in the summer.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Barbara Kelly, executive director of the committee. “We do better for our clients than we do for us.”

By KATE GALBRAITH, The New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/business/energy-environment/26efficiency.html?_r=1

Sea-Tac Airport plans to reduce emissions by 15% February 27, 2009

The Port of Seattle is reportedly taking action to reduce its emissions at the Sea-Tac Airport by 15 percent in the coming years.

A report this week in the Seattle Post Intelligencer describes the plan, which will apply only to a small percentage of the total emissions from the airport. Sea-Tac reportedly produces 4.7 million tons of carbon emissions each year.

The strategy reportedly focuses on improving energy efficiency at the airport and on cutting fuel costs and emissions for airlines at Sea-Tac. Other items noted include plans to fuel jets from a tank farm rather than trucks, and to use more centralized pre-conditioned air that doesn’t require auxiliary power units.

The newspaper also added that the airport itself is taking some small steps towards using more renewable energy, with ten one-kilowatt wind turbines in the works along with plans for solar panels.

This is just one of the countless efforts underway across the Pacific Northwest to help the environment and to save money by promoting energy efficiency and renewable power. A growing number of consumers are also getting involved by investing in eco-friendly home improvements and other products.

Washington Energy Services – http://www.washingtonenergy.com/articles/article/357/port-of-seattle-plans-to-reduce-emissions

Ore. bill encourages energy efficiency upgrades February 20, 2009

Oregon lawmakers hope to encourage property owners to invest in energy efficiency upgrades by expanding a state loan program.

A bipartisan group of legislators announced their plan Wednesday, saying the move would help combat climate change while also creating jobs throughout the state by dramatically increasing the number of efficiency projects each year.

The program would allow property owners to take out loans and grants, financed through state bonds, to help fund upgrades. They could repay the loan at a low interest rate over a long period time through their utility bills.

Sponsors said property owners would see an almost immediate decrease in their utility bill, even with the loan payment tacked on.

“We know that energy efficiency and renewable energy projects are good investments in the future,” said state Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland, one of the bill’s chief sponsors.

The legislation does a number of things to encourage financing these products, including offering simplified payment options, a point of contact that helps plan and implement the projects and increased bond funding.

Bailey said tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects could be funded through the program if approved, the added benefit of which would be economic stimulus to the state.

The bill has attracted both Democratic and Republican sponsors. One of them, state Rep. Tim Freeman, R-Roseburg, called the plan “the most cost-effective way to meet the challenges of climate change.”

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., was also on hand to support the program, which he said could become a national model.

“I will be watching very carefully what these gentleman and their colleagues do,” Blumenauer said. “I think the work that they’re going to be doing can have broad national implications.”

The Associated Press – http://www.kpic.com/news/local/39816767.html

Clean Energy Aspects of now signed recovery act February 18, 2009

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Tuesday and the measure includes US $16.8 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The funding is a nearly tenfold increase for EERE, which received $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2008.

The act also directs DOE to analyze the nation’s electrical grid to determine if significant potential sources of renewable energy are locked out of the electrical market by a lack of adequate transmission capacity. DOE must then provide recommendations for achieving adequate transmission capacity.

While the bulk of the new EERE funding is supporting direct grants and rebates, $2.5 billion will support EERE’s applied research, development and deployment activities, including $800 million for the Biomass Program, $400 million for the Geothermal Technologies Program, and $50 million for efforts to increase the energy efficiency of information and communications technologies.

An additional $400 million will support efforts to add electric technologies to vehicles. And separate from the EERE budget, $400 million will support the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), an agency to support innovative energy research, modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The economic stimulus act also stipulates that $5 billion will go towards the Weatherization Assistance Program, and the act also increases the eligible income level under the program, increases the funding assistance level to $6,500 per home, and allows new weatherization assistance for homes that were weatherized as recently as 1994.

A complementary measure in the act provides $4 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to rehabilitate and retrofit public housing, including increasing the energy efficiency of units, plus an additional $510 million to do the same for homes maintained by Native American housing programs. HUD will receive an additional $250 million to increase the energy efficiency of HUD-sponsored, low-income housing.

The act also directs $2 billion in EERE funds toward grants for the manufacturing of advanced battery systems and components within the United States, as well as the development of supporting software. The battery grants will support advanced lithium-ion batteries and hybrid electric systems. Another $300 million will support an Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program, and an additional $300 million will support rebates for energy efficient appliances, while also supporting DOE’s efforts under the Energy Star Program.

The act also stipulates that $3.2 billion will go toward Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, which were established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, but were not previously funded. The grants will go toward states, local governments and tribal governments to support the development of energy efficiency and conservation strategies and programs, including energy audit programs and projects to install fuel cells and solar, wind, and biomass power projects at government buildings. For background on the program, see pages 176-183 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

The act also stipulates that $3.1 billion of EERE funds will go toward the State Energy Program for additional grants that don’t need to be matched with state funds, but the act only allows such grants for states that intend to adopt strict building energy codes and intend to provide utility incentives for energy efficiency measures. To help states implement the measures, a separate portion of the act allocates $500 million to the Department of Labor to prepare workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Renewable Energy and Smart Grids

The act includes $6 billion to support loan guarantees for renewable energy and electric transmission technologies. The funds are expected to guarantee more than $60 billion in loans. The act requires the DOE Loan Guarantee Program to only make loan guarantees to projects that will start construction by September 30, 2011, and that involve renewable energy, electric transmission, or leading-edge biofuel technologies.

The act also directs DOE to analyze the nation’s electrical grid to determine if significant potential sources of renewable energy are locked out of the electrical market by a lack of adequate transmission capacity. DOE must then provide recommendations for achieving adequate transmission capacity. To help achieve those recommendations, the act includes a provision allowing the Western Area Power Administration to borrow up to $3.25 billion from the U.S. Treasury for transmission system upgrades, particularly for facilitating the delivery of power from renewable energy facilities.

In addition, the act provides $4.5 billion for the DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability for activities to modernize the nation’s electrical grid, integrate demand-response equipment and analyze, develop and implement smart grid technologies. The funds will also support research in energy storage technologies, efforts to facilitate recovery from energy supply disruptions and efforts to enhance the security and reliability of the nation’s energy infrastructure. A complementary section of the act opens smart grid demonstration projects to electric systems in all areas of the country and establishes a smart grid information clearinghouse to share data from the demonstration projects.

Greener Federal Buildings and Fleets

Federal buildings and fleets will become greener under a measure of the new bill. The act provides $4.5 billion to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to convert federal buildings into high-performance green buildings, which generally combine energy efficiency and renewable energy production to minimize the energy use of the buildings. The act also directs $4 million toward the establishment of an Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings within the GSA. In addition, the act provides $100 million for the Energy Conservation Investment Program within the Department of Defense, as well as another $100 million for energy conservation and alternative energy projects at facilities of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

For federal vehicle fleets, the act provides $300 million to cover the costs of acquiring greener motor vehicles, including hybrids, electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, once they become commercially available. Buying plug-in hybrids could be an iffy proposition, however, as the funds must be spent by September 30, 2011.

Renewable Energy Tax Credits

The tax section of the act provides a three-year extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for most renewable energy facilities, while offering expansions on and alternatives for tax credits on renewable energy systems. The extension keeps the wind energy PTC in effect through 2012, while keeping the PTC alive for municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower, and biomass and geothermal energy facilities through 2013.

In addition, a two-year extension of the PTC for marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy systems will keep that tax credit in effect through 2013. The PTC provides a credit for every kilowatt-hour produced at new qualified facilities during the first 10 years of operation, provided the facilities are placed in service before the tax credit’s expiration date.

For 2008, biomass facilities fueled with dedicated energy crops (“closed-loop biomass”), as well as wind, solar, and geothermal energy facilities earned 2.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, while other qualified facilities earned 1 cent per kilowatt-hour.

Unfortunately, the current slump in business activity means that fewer businesses are seeking tax credits, which means that renewable energy producers are having trouble taking advantage of the PTC. With that in mind, the act also allows owners of non-solar renewable energy facilities to make an irrevocable election to earn a 30% investment credit rather than the PTC. The option remains in effect for the current period of the PTC, that is, through 2012 for wind energy facilities and through 2013 for other qualified renewable energy facilities.

Alternately, the facility owner could choose to receive a grant equal to 30% of the tax basis (that is, the reportable business investment) for the facility, so long as the facility is depreciable or amortizable. The grants are also available for renewable energy facilities that would normally earn a business energy credit of 10%-30%, including systems using fuel cells, solar energy, small wind turbines, geothermal energy, microturbines and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies.

To earn a grant, the facility must be placed in service in 2009 or 2010, or construction must begin in either of those years and must be completed prior to the termination of the PTC. For facilities that would normally earn a business tax credit, construction must be completed prior to 2017. The grants will be paid directly from the U.S. Treasury. A separate measure in the act removes limitations on the business credit based on how the systems are financed and also removes a business credit limit on small wind energy systems.

The stimulus bill also provides greater tax credits for clean energy projects at homes and businesses and for the manufacturers of clean energy technologies. For homeowners, the act increases a 10% tax credit for energy efficiency improvements to a 30% tax credit, eliminates caps for specific improvements (such as windows and furnaces), and instead establishes an aggregate cap of $1,500 for all improvements placed in service in 2009 and 2010 (except biomass systems, which must be placed in service after the act is enacted).

The act also tightens the energy efficiency requirements to meet current standards. For residential renewable energy systems, the act removes all caps on the tax credits, which equal 30% of the cost of qualified solar energy systems, geothermal heat pumps, small wind turbines and fuel cell systems. The act also eliminates a reduction in credits for installations with subsidized financing.

For businesses and individuals buying electric vehicles, the act simplifies and expands the available tax credits. For electric low-speed vehicles, motorcycles, and three-wheeled vehicles, a 10% tax credit is available through 2011, with a cap of $2,500. For vehicles converted into qualified plug-in electric vehicles, a 10% tax credit is also available through 2011, with a cap of $4,000. And starting in 2010, full-scale commercial plug-in electric vehicles can earn a maximum tax credit of $7,500, depending on their battery capacity. The credit will phase out over a year for each manufacturer after they sell 200,000 plug-in vehicles.

The act also provides a bonus to homeowners or business owners installing clean fuel refueling systems at their homes or businesses. For businesses, the maximum credit for installing such refueling systems increases to $50,000 for most systems, up from $30,000, and it increases to $200,000 for hydrogen refueling stations. For homeowners, the credit is doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Homeowners might install their own natural gas refueling system for a natural gas vehicle, or they might install recharging systems for plug-in electric vehicles. The credit is available through 2010 for most refueling systems and through 2014 for hydrogen refueling systems.

The economic stimulus act has also added a new tax credit to encourage investment in the manufacturing facilities that help make such clean energy projects possible. A new 30% investment tax credit is available for projects that establish, re-equip or expand manufacturing facilities for fuel cells, microturbines, renewable fuel refineries and blending facilities, energy saving technologies, smart grid technologies and solar, wind and geothermal technologies.

The credit also applies to the manufacture of plug-in electric vehicles and their electric components, such as battery packs, electric motors, generators and power control units. The credit may also be expanded in the future to include other energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Secretary of Treasury must establish a certification program within the next 180 days and may allocate up to $2.3 billion in tax credits.

Clean Energy Bonds Expanded

Two bonding mechanisms for financing renewable energy and energy efficiency systems have been expanded under the tax section of the act. The act authorizes the allocation of as much as $1.6 billion in new Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs), which are tax credit bonds for financing renewable energy projects. CREBs were previously limited to a maximum of $800 million. The act also authorizes the allocation of $2.4 billion in qualified energy conservation bonds, up from the current limit of $800 million. These tax credit bonds are allocated to states and large local governments to finance a variety of clean energy projects.

Unlike normal bonds that pay interest, tax credit bonds pay the bondholders by providing a credit against their federal income tax. In effect, the new tax credit bonds will provide interest-free financing for clean energy projects. But because the federal government essentially pays the interest via tax credits, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service must allocate such credits in advance. However, tax credit bonds require the investment of a bondholder that will benefit from the federal tax credits, and those investors may be hard to find during the current business downturn. To try to draw more investment, a separate measure in the tax bill will allow regulated investment companies to pass through to their shareholders the tax credits earned by such bonds. Yet another measure adds a prevailing wage requirement to projects financed with CREBs or energy conservation bonds.

RenewableEnergyNews.com – http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/02/clean-energy-aspects-of-the-american-recovery-and-reinvestment-act

Montana to receive $626 million from stimulus February 17, 2009

Here are the energy highlights from the Associated Press story

Energy and weatherization programs, $52.7 million.

Water systems, $39.2 million.

Furthermore, the senators said the bill will provide $1.6 billion in clean renewable energy bonds to encourage alternative energy <nationwide>.

Here is the full story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/02/14/news/mtregional/news08.txt

National: Energy Related parts of the Stimulus Plan February 16, 2009

Here is part of an article by the Associated Press:

An examination of how the economic stimulus plan will affect Americans

Homeowners looking to save energy, makers of solar panels and wind turbines and companies hoping to bring the electric grid into the computer age all stand to reap major benefits.

The package contains more than $42 billion in energy-related investments from tax credits to homeowners to loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and direct government grants for makers of wind turbines and next-generation batteries.

There’s a 30 percent tax credit of up to $1,500 for the purchase of a highly efficient residential air conditioners, heat pumps or furnaces. The credit also can be used by homeowners to replace leaky windows or put more insulation into the attic. About $300 million would go for rebates to get people to buy efficient appliances.

The package includes $20 billion aimed at “green” jobs to make wind turbines, solar panels and improve energy efficiency in schools and federal buildings. It includes $6 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects as well as tax breaks or direct grants covering 30 percent of wind and solar energy investments. Another $5 billion is marked to help low-income homeowners make energy improvements.

About $11 billion goes to modernize and expand the nation’s electric power grid and $2 billion to spur research into batteries for future electric cars.

To read the entire article click here