Monthly Archives: July 2013

Now Is Not The Time To Gut Funding For Innovative Energy Research

By EDF Blogs / Published: July 8, 2013

This commentary, authored by Robert Fares, originally appeared on Scientific American’s “Plugged In” blog.

Modeled after the successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) uses small grants to bring transformative energy technologies to commercialization. (Source: ARPA-E)

Last month, a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives quietly voted to gut funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) efforts to promote innovative energy research. The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) was first on the chopping block. The subcommittee voted to slash its funding from the current level of $252 million to just $50 million—an 80% cut. On top of that, the subcommittee cut funding for the DOE’s work on renewable energy in half.

ARPA-E was created by the 2007 America COMPETES Act, signed into law by then President George W. Bush. The agency is modeled after the successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—credited for transformative innovations like GPS and computer networking. ARPA-E is intended to facilitate small government grants for basic research into transformative energy technologies that are too risky for the private sector. Since its first funding allocation from the Obama administration in 2009, ARPA-E awardees have already doubled the world-record energy density for a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and pioneered a near-isothermal compressed air energy storage system. Read More »

Posted in General, Renewable Energy / Comments are closed

On-Bill Repayment in California: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

By Brad Copithorne / Published: July 2, 2013

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 Blog

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) issued a proposed decision with the final implementation rules to create the nation’s first On-Bill Repayment (“OBR”) program for commercial properties.  If properly constructed, the program is expected to allow building owners to finance clean energy retrofits with third party capital and repay the obligation through their utility bills.

The good news is the CPUC’s proposed decision contains the vast majority of the program elements necessary to create a flourishing financing market for energy efficiency and renewable projects.  The CPUC ordered robust disclosure to tenants and property owners of any OBR obligation in place, required a centralized program administrator to reduce expenses for market participants, required an equitable share of partial payments between the utility and the lender and agreed that nonpayment of an OBR obligation will result in the same collection procedures from the utility as nonpayment of an electricity charge.

Unfortunately, constructing a successful financing program is much like building a boat.  A boat with 90% of its hull in place will not travel very far.  The proposed decision appears to also have a potentially fatal flaw.  The CPUC has required all subsequent owners and tenants of a property to provide consent to ‘accepting’ the OBR obligation, but does not specifically state what will happen if the consent is not given.

OBR can work for lenders when it significantly reduces risk and simplifies the underwriting decision.  ‘If the lights are still on, then the lender is getting paid’ is a simple rule that will provide significant comfort to ratings agencies and credit committees.  Downtown office buildings and suburban shopping malls are foreclosed on a regular basis, but in almost all cases the lights stay on.  If an OBR obligation is sure to be paid — even after a foreclosure — the availability of investment and cost of financing will improve dramatically. Read More »

Posted in California, Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Read 2 Responses

It’s Time for Latino Leadership on Climate Change

By Jorge Madrid / Published: July 2, 2013

(This post first appeared on EDF voices)

Source: Thomas Hawk/Flickr

I love California in the summertime, and Fourth of July weekend is one of my favorite holidays. But it is getting excruciatingly HOT out here, and according to the best science, it is going to get much hotter.

This past weekend the West Coast broke nearly every temperature record on the books, well ahead of August and September, which are usually the hottest months of the year.

And last year was the hottest year on record for the continental United States. Crops were devastated, cities were hit by supercharged storms, and people, mostly the poor, suffered and died amid some of the most destructive extreme weather events in our history. All told, the United States spent more than $110 Billion on weather related disasters in 2012.

There’s more bad news ahead. Extreme heat projections for the U.S. in 2030, based on research from Stanford University, shows that the West and Southwest are going to get really, really hot! Read More »

Posted in California, Clean Energy, Climate, Solar Energy, State / Tagged | Comments are closed

How’s Your Electric Bill Treating You? Time To Give It Some Thought

By Jamie Fine / Published: July 1, 2013

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 Blog

When was the last time you really gave a lot of thought to your electric bill?

If your answer is “not very often”, then you’re not alone. In fact, the typical household thinks about their electric bill only six minutes a year.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) now has the opportunity give people another way to control household energy bills by creating a system where changing the time you use electricity can save money. This won’t mean you’ll need to invest more time thinking about energy use, but you’d be well-served to think about the timing of it.

Last week, the CPUC held a public workshop inviting stakeholders — PG&E, SCE and, SDG&E, along with consumer, industry, and environmental groups — to present and discuss their proposals for revising the system of charges for residential electricity use. I had the pleasure of presenting EDF’s proposal for a time-of-use (TOU) pricing system: For customers looking for another option for saving money on their monthly bill, EDF sees TOU as the best pricing policy for both people and the environment; customers uncomfortable with this option would be able to “opt out” and choose another pricing structure.

Currently, the standard “tiered” rate charges customers higher prices for higher electricity usage. The approach is intended to send the message: “The more you use, the more you pay.” Read More »

Posted in California, Demand Response, Grid Modernization, Time of Use, Utility Business Models / Read 1 Response