Julie Michals is the Director of Clean Energy Valuation at E4TheFuture. In this role, her focus is on initiatives that improve approaches to measuring and evaluating clean energy program implementation. Prior to joining E4TheFuture, she spent 14 years with Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, most recently as director of the Regional Evaluation, Measurement and Verification Forum.
Click here to read an interview with her conducted by “Home Energy Magazine.”
One August afternoon, a few MEEAites embarked on a recon mission to gather data on smart devices in two major retailers of home appliances. Sadly, the budget didn’t approve our (Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance) request for black turtlenecks and spy gear, so we had to make do with business casual.
Our goal was to get a general idea of what type of technology comes with today’s appliances that are commonly available to the public. As MEEA sets out to not only understand, but also influence on the world of intelligent efficiency, we have recently found ourselves arriving at the same question that starts at the consumer: What do customers experience today when buying new home appliances?
Not content to be armchair EE professionals, we walked into the first store, and my co-worker immediately blew our cover by telling a salesperson that we were looking for connected devices. We quickly learned, though, that “connected” isn’t a request that salesmen are hoping for, and a store associate quickly figured out that we didn’t need help and walked swiftly in the opposite direction. See ya. Left on our own, we embraced the opportunity and completely surveyed the appliance section and photographed any sign of an appliance being smart, connected, energy efficient, advanced…you get the picture.
After visiting two stores, we learned a few lessons to share.
Click here to read more.
U.S. commercial buildings could cut energy use by 29 percent on average by taking full advantage of controls technology and implementing a few other base energy-efficiency measures, according to a new study from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Commercial buildings account for 20 percent of U.S. energy use and produce 50 percent or more of a city’s greenhouse gas emissions (75 percent in New York). If we want “smart cities” to be more than just a catchy phrase, this is an opportunity we must seize.
The trouble is, the opportunity has been sitting there for a very long time. The Clinton Foundation announced a multibillion-dollar initiative to cut urban energy in 2007, on the same day the National Academy of Sciences, along with the scientific academies of 12 other countries, called on world leaders to address global warming by increasing energy efficiency. And yet, building energy use has risen over the past five years in even the most efficiency-conscious cities, based on an analysis of American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy data. What gives?
Part of the problem is flat-out lack of action. The other part is the persistent problem of performance drift — buildings and building systems should be highly efficient, but performance deteriorates rapidly or never matches the model. Culprits such as ineffective controls and a mismatch between design assumptions and building occupant behaviors get a lot of (deserved) scrutiny. But to really solve the problem, we need to rethink the metrics we use to measure energy design for smart buildings.
Click here to read more.
One issue that the right and left agreed upon in the 2016 election? Infrastructure. The country’s roads, bridges, highways, hospitals, railways, and water systems need immediate attention. President Trump promised to spend $1 trillion to improve the situation; so far, no comprehensive plan has been released–but the president is implementing policy that will impact how these projects are designed and built. And according to environmentalists and architects, it might make infrastructure weaker, not stronger.
On August 15, Trump signed an executive order that shortened the permitting process for federal infrastructure projects by overhauling the environmental review process, which he believes has slowed the pace of infrastructure construction and repair. Trump also revoked an Obama-era rule mandating extra flood protections for all federal infrastructure projects–designed to build resilience and mitigate damage from climate change. As the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Texas government assess the damage from Hurricane Harvey and its flood waters, and begin to rebuild, this policy change will impact how new infrastructure is designed and to what specifications.
Read more (Fast Company)
Hurricane Harvey’s path of destruction has left hundreds of thousands of Texans without power, and the state’s utilities are facing days, or even weeks, before the floodwaters recede and they can begin to repair the damage.
As of Monday afternoon, about 290,000 customers were without power in the southeastern parts of Texas, as the hurricane that ripped into the coast on Saturday lingered on as a rain-dumping tropical storm for its third day. The outage numbers are bit lower than the 300,000-plus without power as of Sunday afternoon, but just barely, according to Department of Energy storm updates.
The DOE’s assessment from the Texas utilities in the storm’s path was simple, but grim. “Impacted utilities have issued statements that they are expecting power outages to last several days. Restoration efforts cannot begin until weather conditions are safe. High rainfall total and flooding could extend restoration times in many affected areas.”
Read more (Greentech Media)
The giant natural gas leak that hit California’s Aliso Canyon reserve in late 2015 led to a massive quantity of methane being released into the environment, contributing to man-made climate change and raising health concerns for nearby residents.
But the leak of more than 100,000 tons of methane also served as a critical test for a demand response, a practice in which electric utility companies push customers to reduce consumption in times of high demand or limited supply. Faced with the shutdown of one of the largest natural gas storage facilities in the U.S., utilities needed to find a way to ensure a steady electricity supply to more than 10 million people in the Los Angeles region without being able to simply build more power plants.
Demand response offered a solution. Southern California Edison, the local utility company, put millions of dollars into programs that would reduce demand during summer days when there might have been blackouts. Thanks to the effort, they were able to give rebates to customers who cut their energy use during time peak demand and pay customers to install a thermostat that communicates with the company, among other initiatives.
Even if you couldn’t step outside to watch the solar eclipse take place today, it was still possible to participate in this historic event. No, not just by watching the NASA livestream — but by curbing your electricity usage.
The eclipse will affect around 1,900 utility-scale solar PV power plants across the U.S. today, causing an estimated 9,000 megawatts of solar capacity to go offline as the moon passes in front of the sun. California alone was projected to lose 6,000 megawatts of solar capacity. Generation profiles from the California Independent System Operator show a roughly 5,000-megawatt drop shortly before 12 noon.
All of this generation had to be made up for somehow. The data shows that hydropower and natural-gas-powered turbines largely carried the burden of compensating for lost solar output. Energy storage may have also played a role.
While these large-scale, high-tech responses are critical, the influence of the individual electricity consumer cannot be underestimated, said Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). In fact, consumers have to start thinking more about how their energy use fits into a larger system due to the grid needs even on non-eclipse days.
Read more (Greentech Media)
Residential PACE has been the best financing solution for the roughly 160,000 homeowners who have used it for energy, water, and safety related projects that they wanted or needed to make; projects that made their homes more comfortable, healthier, safer, less expensive to heat and cool, and more valuable. State and local government partners also appreciate the tens of thousands of local jobs that R-PACE has helped create and sustain. PACE financing for commercial, industrial, agricultural and non-profit owned properties is now available widely throughout the United States, a success story the Journal has ignored.
There is a great story to tell. But instead, the Wall Street Journal, yesterday, ran another in a series of misleading stories about PACE. Yesterday’s, again, includes many ill drawn conclusions and seems to reflect the author’s clear bias for sensationalism.
There is simply no evidence to suggest that PACE is a looming crisis for the banking industry or homeowners. None. Zero. There is no data to suggest that PACE homes are delinquent or likely to default at rates higher than those for the broader housing market in PACE served communities. With more than 60,000 new homes using PACE over the previous year, it is not surprising that the number of defaults has increased. But there is absolutely no indication that the PACE assessment has been the direct cause of the delinquencies or defaults in any but the tiny number of anecdotal cases that the Journal has reported on.
Read more (PACENation)
Southeastern residents currently face historically high poverty rates, and low-income households spend an average of three times as much on energy bills, as a portion of their monthly income, than other families. Energy efficiency investments could help lower energy bills, but low-income residents in the region often lack access to energy-saving upgrades.
In two recent surveys of large electric utilities, ACEEE found that most utilities in the Southeast spend less on targeted low-income efficiency programs per residential customer and see fewer savings than those in other parts of the country. This lack of investments means that Important economic development and poverty reduction strategies are underutilized. But it’s not too late. States can help their low-income residents get a leg up by emphasizing smart programs and policies crafted for them. Our new series of Southeastern state fact sheets shows how.
Steps for serving low-income households in the Southeast
Our new fact sheets use ACEEE and Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance data to offer a quick overview of current utility low-income energy efficiency efforts. We also provide strategies that states can use to scale up resources for this population. Our research shows that utilities, regulators, and policymakers in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia have many options to reduce the energy burden of low-income households.
Read more (ACEEE)
Weather and geography is also a big factor in energy consumption. In Wyoming, Alaska and North Dakota, cold winters ensure high heating demand, while big empty stretches mean residents burn a lot of gasoline to get around.
On the other end of the spectrum, states like New York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii and Florida consume the least energy per capita.
New York’s large population makes it rank as one of the highest consuming states in the nation, but its energy intensity and per capita consumption are remarkably low. “The state’s energy efficiency results in part from the New York City metropolitan region’s widely used mass transportation systems,” the EIA explains. “More than half of New York City workers use public transit, and more than one-fourth of state residents do, which is five times the U.S. average.”
Similarly, California is the most populous state in the union and supports energy intensive industries, but has one the lowest per capita total energy consumption levels in the country. The state’s intensive efforts to promote energy efficiency have paid off but the state also has its mild climate to thank for its low consumption levels. More than two-fifths of state households do not have or do not use air conditioning, making residential energy use per person in California lower than every other state except Hawaii.
Read on to find out where your state lands on the list.
Read More. (Forbes)
