Energy Exchange

Pennsylvania Gives Clean Energy Not One, but Two Boosts

By Dick Munson / Published: June 18, 2015

All industries use acronyms, but anyone who reads this blog can attest the electricity sector seems to have more than its fair share. One of these acronyms – TRC – stands for Total Resource Cost and represents the key means by which utilities measure the cost effectiveness of energy efficiency. Another – DR – is demand response, or a voluntary energy conservation tool that rewards people who use less electricity during times of peak, or high, energy demand.

Getting each of these acronyms – and their associated clean energy resources – right is critical if we are to run our electric grid as efficiently as possible. Fortunately for Pennsylvania’s clean energy economy, the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) last week took a commendable step toward more fairly valuing both energy efficiency and demand response. Read More »

Want to See EDF at SXSW Eco 2015? Cast Your Vote!

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 18, 2015

Every year, SXSW Eco – one of the most high-profile environmental conferences – selects its programming based on votes from the public. This means anyone, regardless of whether you submitted a panel, can cast a vote.

This year, seven experts from Environmental Defense Fund are featured on dynamic panels that cover everything from solar equity and new utility business models to innovative building efficiency programs and the threat of methane pollution. To make sure EDF and energy-related programming is represented at the conference in Austin, TX this October, we are asking our readers to please vote for your favorite EDF panels and presentations. Read More »

Also posted in California, Clean Energy, Climate, EDF Climate Corps, Energy Efficiency, Energy-Water Nexus, General, Grid Modernization, Illinois, Methane, Natural Gas, Renewable Energy, Texas, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

U.S. Supreme Court Breathes New Life into FERC Order 745, Demand Response

By Michael Panfil / Published: May 4, 2015

You’ve probably heard the saying “life is a journey,” but this could not be more true for EPSA v. FERC, the landmark demand response case clean energy experts have been eyeing for more than a year as it’s made its way through the U.S. legal system.

Starting in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals back in May 2014, EPSA v. FERC (also known as the “FERC Order 745 case”) now rests with the U.S. Supreme Court where, today, it was given new life when the Justices accepted the U.S. Solicitor General’s request for review submitted on behalf of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). Review was granted on both petitions, which have been consolidated, by FERC and Enernoc, et. al, case numbers 14-840 and 14-841. The Supreme Court granted review to both central questions, one about FERC’s authority and a second about challenges to central provisions to the order providing for fair valuation of demand response. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), along with a broad coalition of consumer advocates and environmental groups, supported FERC’s petition before the Supreme Court earlier this year and will continue to do so as the matter is reviewed by the high Court.

The decision to review the case is great news for demand response, a voluntary energy conservation tool that relies on people and technology, not power plants, to affordably meet our country’s rising electricity needs. It’s also a welcome sign for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – the government entity tasked with ensuring our electric rates are ‘just and reasonable’ – and anyone in favor of cleaner, more reliable, lower-cost energy. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy / Tagged FERC | Comments are closed

The Story of Demand Response

By Michael Panfil / Published: April 24, 2015

Demand response. It’s a cost-effective energy resource that pays customers to use less energy. Few people even know exists, but it invisibly impacts the life of so many Americans. It’s a clean energy resource that embodies precisely what electricity can and should be: cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient than traditional fuel sources.

We’ve written about demand response at length, discussing a potential case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving the resource and what the road ahead could look like. Today, however, we’re telling the story of how the resource got here. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Grid Modernization, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

A Legislative Push to Get Texas Serious About Demand Response

By Guest Author / Published: April 21, 2015

By: Suzanne L. Bertin, Director of Regulatory Affairs at EnerNOC

With the blooming Texas bluebonnets signalling the end of winter and at least a few weeks before the blazing heat begins, spring might not seem the ideal time for the Texas Legislature to debate laws about keeping the lights on or electric grid reliability.

But with a history of extreme temperatures, a booming population and economy, and new federal clean air rules coming into effect, now is the time for the Texas Legislature to take a strong policy stance in favor of demand response, an energy management program too long neglected as part of Texas’ comprehensive energy portfolio. Simply put, demand response is an innovative tool that rewards people who use less electricity during times of peak, or high, energy demand. In effect, demand response relies on people and technology, not power plants, to meet the need for electricity. But energy market rules prevent demand response from reaching its potential in Texas, because they fail to fully recognize its value and pose barriers to its providing energy and reliability services.

Advanced Energy Management Alliance (AEMA) – a coalition which includes demand response providers, end-user customers, suppliers, and affiliated businesses operating in Texas – is joining with the Environmental Defense Fund to support bills that would expand the deployment of demand response in Texas and eliminate constraints that impede its growth. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Texas / Comments are closed

Experts Agree: We Can Preserve Electric Reliability While Protecting Public Health Under the Clean Power Plan

By Michael Panfil / Published: April 16, 2015

Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first ever national carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. Fossil fuel-fired power plants account for almost 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, making them the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the nation and one of the single largest categories of greenhouse gas sources in the world.

Under the Clean Power Plan, these emissions will decline to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 – accompanied by a significant decline in other harmful pollutants from the power sector, such as sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. The power sector is already halfway to this target, already 15% below 2005 levels.

The EPA has carefully designed the Clean Power Plan to provide extensive flexibility so that states and power companies can continue to deliver a steady flow of electricity while deploying cost-effective measures to reduce carbon pollution over the next fifteen years. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Clean Power Plan, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy / Read 1 Response