Monthly Archives: October 2017

How utilities can enter the energy-saving business this Energy Efficiency Day

By Kate Zerrenner / Published: October 5, 2017

Today is Energy Efficiency Day in the U.S. As someone who’s advocated for energy efficiency for nearly a decade, I’m glad to see the resource celebrated. Efficiency, from LED lightbulbs to insulation, is the most critical energy resource we have – energy we don’t use is our cleanest and cheapest option.

So, why isn’t everyone jumping on the efficiency bandwagon? In part it’s because utilities don’t usually encourage customers to save electricity. Electric companies make money by selling more electricity, so they’re reluctant to reduce use and their profits.

Nevertheless, utilities are logical places for energy efficiency programs, given their electricity relationships with customers.

Many states have efficiency goals that require utilities to invest in efficiency programs for customers, but much more could be done if the utility business model were reformed to align utility incentives with customer energy efficiency. Fortunately, several states across the country are reimagining the role of electric utilities in America’s 21^st-century energy system, which could unlock efficiency’s potential. Read More »

Posted in Energy Efficiency / Comments are closed

Looking beyond pipelines to address New England’s electricity needs

By Liz Delaney / Published: October 4, 2017

Our dramatic seasonal temperature fluctuations here in New England create a unique energy challenge. Most days of the year (i.e. spring, summer, and fall), we have enough pipeline capacity, or space, to meet electricity and heating demand. However, approximately 40 days out of the year natural gas pipeline capacity becomes scarce, and in certain hours, unavailable; and the system relies on storage to maintain sufficient gas supply and delivery to homes, businesses, and electric power plants.

Many people look at the region’s pipeline constraints and assume that the only solution is to build more pipelines. This is a logical reaction, but it overlooks an opportunity to explore multiple solutions in a more economical and holistic way. Rather than only looking at pipeline solutions, why not broaden the solution conversation by calling forth market competition?

The grid needs to foster participation by all resources

All resources can help ensure reliability during those key hours when pipelines are constrained. By allowing resources, such as batteries, pumped storage, demand response, and LNG, to compete, market forces can be used to fill in gaps, reward resources that are flexible and available to meet peak demand, and ultimately signal to investors when and where right-sized investments are needed. Read More »

Posted in Gas to Clean, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Stopping the self-deal: Preventing pipeline investors from offloading risk on ratepayers

By Natalie Karas / Published: October 4, 2017

A recent report published by Oil Change International highlights the failure of regulators to protect ratepayers against utility affiliate-backed contracts for new pipeline capacity -in other words, when a regulated utility acts as both the developer and customer for a new pipeline. It’s a widespread and growing issue. Case in point: Con Ed’s investment in the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia, hundreds of miles from Con Ed’s New York service territory.

Con Ed claims that signing up for transportation service on the pipeline will result in cost savings for customers. But the day Con Ed signed up as a pipeline customer, the company also formed a new “midstream” entity to invest in the pipeline. The new unregulated entity shares the same corporate parent as the regulated utility, but operates under significantly different rules and legal obligations. This transactional structure means that Con Ed’s ratepayers would be on the hook for paying for the project, while Con Ed’s midstream arm will enjoy a return in excess of risk. From the company standpoint, it’s heads-I-win, tails-you-lose. Read More »

Posted in Gas to Clean, General, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

New York becomes first city to hatch a 1.5°C Paris Agreement-compliant climate action plan

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 4, 2017

By Ellen Shenette, manager, EDF Climate Corps

Earlier this week, New York City became the first city to devise a plan for meeting the goals outlined in the Paris Accord —the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement from which President Trump pledged to pull the U.S. from. The 1.5°C Paris Agreement-compliant climate action plan comes in response to Executive Order 26 (EO26), signed by Mayor de Blasio that reaffirms the city’s commitment to upholding the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The plan identifies specific strategies for reducing GHG emissions necessary to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as set forth in the Paris Agreement. Leading the charge is the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability (MOS), which has been moving the city’s decarbonization efforts forward by accelerating the implementation of existing projects launched under the 80 X 50 initiative—a goal of reducing GHG emissions 80 percent by 2050.

This landmark piece of climate leadership is a big deal. It’s evidence that cities aren’t just making bold commitments with no plan of how to achieve them; they’re taking action and setting the processes for how to get there. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, EDF Climate Corps, New York / Read 1 Response

Methane leadership is a competitive advantage, says global investor

By Sean Wright / Published: October 4, 2017

Early oil and gas industry adopters of methane management strategies and technologies are starting to see these reductions as an opportunity to gain a competitive edge.

Just last week, ExxonMobil announced a new methane reduction program for its XTO Energy subsidiary, underscoring that the industry is paying close attention to the issue.

Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is leaked and vented across the oil and gas supply chain every day as the world energy mix shifts towards greater natural gas usage, according to the International Energy Agency. The oil and gas industry wastes billions of dollars a year of methane that simultaneously acts as a climate change accelerator, harming the brand of natural gas as a cheap and clean fuel source. Methane is 84 times more powerful as a heat-trapper than carbon in its first 20 years in the atmosphere.

In the second part of Environmental Defense Fund’s recent interview with Tim Goodman, Director of Engagement at London-based Hermes Investment Management, Goodman shares his views on why oil and gas companies addressing methane emissions are gaining a competitive edge, and how investors are paving the path for more companies to follow suit. (You can find the first part of the interview here.) Read More »

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Historic buildings or energy efficiency? Texas gets both, with innovative financing.

By Kate Zerrenner / Published: October 3, 2017

When it comes to the history and DNA of a city, new buildings have nothing on century-old ones. Yet the reverse can be said in regard to water and energy efficiency. Older buildings reflect the culture and history of a community, but typically are highly inefficient.

Such was the case with the Butler Brothers Building in Dallas, a previously-abandoned 1910 structure that was often referred to as an eyesore. So when the real estate developer Alterra International decided to turn the building into a mixed-use complex with apartments, hotel rooms, and retail space, a lot of work was needed to improve its water and energy efficiency – work that required up-front capital investments.

Through the Texas PACE Authority’s “PACE in a Box” model, Alterra International was able to secure $23.9 million in PACE financing for upgrades that will slash carbon pollution, cutting energy use by about 40 percent and annual water use by almost 700,000 gallons.

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is a financing model that helps local governments and the private sector back energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades for homes and businesses. Texas is the only state that includes water in its PACE programs and could serve as a model for other water-strapped states. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Financing, Texas / Comments are closed