Energy Exchange

Is EnergyRM’s Metered Energy Efficiency Transaction Structure A Game Changer?

By Scott Hofmeister / Published: July 8, 2013

Source: EnergyRM

At EDF we are always on the lookout for innovative clean energy financing models, especially those that complement On-Bill Repayment (admittedly, one of our favorites). When we heard about EnergyRM’s recent financing approach – which uses a combination of an Energy Service Agreement (ESA), innovative measurement and verification (M&V) and utility bill repayment – we had to find out more.

EnergyRM’s Metered Energy Efficiency Transaction Structure (MEETS) went live on the Bullitt Foundation headquarters building last month. The promise of MEETS, developed by Rob Harmon’s EnergyRM, was quickly all over the news, including the New York Times.

Quick Factoid: The name Rob Harmon may be familiar to energy enthusiasts – he pioneered the Renewable Energy Credit (REC) 15 years ago. The REC served to catalyze the renewables industry. Harmon hopes his newest innovation will do the same for the efficiency market.

MEETS relies on EnergyRM’s DeltaMeter, a proprietary energy modeling software, to report energy savings in real time. The DeltaMeter seeks to address a perennial Achilles heel of many energy efficiency transactions: measurement and verification of energy savings. EDF is addressing this same problem head-on by working with stakeholders to establish protocols and standards for efficiency projects through the Investor Confidence Project. This complex problem, which has traditionally been part science and part art, has been impervious to a silver bullet solution. Lots of interested folks are itching to take a look inside the DeltaMeter black box and see how EnergyRM plans to solve it. Read More »

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment / Read 1 Response

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 »

Also posted in California, Demand Response, Time of Use, Utility Business Models / Read 1 Response

Audrey Zibelman’s Appointment Strengthens New York’s Clean Energy Commitment

By Elizabeth B. Stein / Published: June 28, 2013

One of the ways you can tell that in idea is gaining real momentum is by looking at the people being tapped to lead it. Last week, New Yorkers got a good idea how serious their leaders are about clean energy when the State Senate confirmed Governor Andrew Cuomo’s appointment of Audrey Zibelman, an internationally-recognized expert in energy policy, markets and smart grid innovation, to the New York Public Service Commission (PSC). The PSC regulates the state’s public energy utilities, and once Ms. Zibelman assumes office, Governor Cuomo will designate her as chair of the PSC.

Ms. Zibelman was president and chief executive officer of Viridity Energy Inc., a pioneering smart power company she founded after more than 25 years of electric utility industry leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. Previously, Ms. Zibelman was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of PJM, the Regional Transmission Organization that operates the world’s largest wholesale electricity market and serves 14 states throughout the eastern United States.

Ms. Zibelman’s is not a symbolic appointment. It is a welcome sign of New York State’s commitment to building a smarter, modernized energy system that enables wider use of renewable energy and energy efficiency and offers greater resiliency to extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy. Change takes both leadership and expertise, and EDF believes that Ms. Zibelman will provide both. Read More »

Also posted in New York, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Tagged Superstorm Sandy | Read 1 Response

President Obama’s Plan To Accelerate The Transition To A Clean Energy Economy

By Jim Marston / Published: June 25, 2013

Source: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Today President Obama took an important step toward meeting the promise of his inaugural address to “respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” The headline, of course, is the commitment to take serious action to address the most significant challenge our generation faces – climate change. And, with it, the extreme weather and public health burdens that are already making life harder for vulnerable regions and people nationwide, and that stand to become so much worse as the root cause remains unaddressed.

In his Climate Action Plan announced at Georgetown University, the President laid out his vision for putting in place common sense policies that will cut harmful carbon pollution while driving innovation, cutting energy waste and energy bills, creating jobs and protecting public health.

Most Americans would be shocked to know that there are no current limits on carbon pollution from power plants. By setting the first standards in history for carbon pollution from power plants in the United States – which produce 2 billion tons of this pollution each year, or about 40% of the nation’s total – the President will help modernize our power system, ensuring that our electricity is reliable, affordable, healthy and clean. And we can do this in a way that can give industry the flexibility it needs to make cost-effective investments in clean energy technologies.

A modern, intelligent, interactive electricity system will help minimize problems that arise from extreme weather events and other disruptions and maximize renewables, efficiency and consumer choice. Since the President took office, our country has seen the beginnings of a revolution in the energy sector – technological innovations have put us on track to energy independence and clean, homegrown energy resources constitute a growing share of electric generation capacity. Reducing wasted energy and using more clean energy offer enormous potential for our health, economy and climate, including:

– Little to no harmful pollution = improved public health

– An unlimited, homegrown energy supply = less reliance on foreign oil

– Economic development = more jobs

– Stable energy prices = lower electric bills and improved economic stability

– A more reliable, resilient energy system = less costly, scary blackouts

– A global leadership position in the multi-trillion dollar clean energy economy = reclaimed pride and competitiveness for America’s manufacturers

Also posted in Climate, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Washington, DC / Tagged Climate Action Plan, climate change, President Obama | Read 1 Response

Demand Response: Power For The Grid Starts With The People

By Marita Mirzatuny / Published: June 24, 2013

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel entitled, Resource Adequacy & Demand Response: Ensuring Texas’ Future Reliability at the 7^th Annual Platts Texas Energy Markets Conference in Houston, TX. Following fellow panelists, “Trip” Doggett, CEO of ERCOT; Milton L. Holloway, President and COO of the Center for the Commercialization of Electric Technologies; and John W. Fainter, Jr. President and CEO of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, I spoke about EDF’s work with the Pecan Street Research Institute (Pecan Street) to test and deploy various smart grid consumer products.

One of the many cutting-edge research projects being conducted by Pecan Street is an examination of consumer behavior with regards to energy usage. Trends in the data show that giving people the ability to control their energy use, and their energy generation, generally results in cost-effective, environmentally-conscious decisions. These shrewd decisions are becoming increasingly important as Texas faces a lack of energy resources to meet the state’s increasing need for more electricity.

With July just around the corner, the summer heat is ramping up in Texas, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is preparing for extreme temperatures to push the electric grid to its limits. State regulators and ERCOT stakeholders are urgently seeking a solution to the looming Texas Energy Crunch. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) has already raised the maximum price in the electricity market a number of times, but this is a band-aid for the problem, not a long-term solution. Read More »

Also posted in Demand Response, General, Texas, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

Cream Cheese And Time-Of-Use Electricity Pricing

By Jamie Fine / Published: May 7, 2013

This commentary was originally posted on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 blog.

“The cream cheese just fell off the roof of the car,” my 7-year old daughter said as I turned into my driveway after a trip to the grocery store. Right now you might be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with time-of-use pricing?” Allow me to explain.

We live in Alameda, CA, where plastic bags are prohibited and stores must charge for a paper bag. Alas, I had forgotten to bring a reusable one. To teach my children a lesson and avoid the public scorn (not so much the $0.05 per bag), I carried our groceries and asked the kids to lend their hands. And yes, I put the cream cheese on the roof of the car to free a hand to unlock it.

Once home, I realized that, in addition to almost losing my cream cheese, I’d been making potentially risky tradeoffs. After all, exiting the supermarket with full hands prevented me from holding my children’s hands while crossing a busy – and dangerous – parking lot.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not lamenting the ban on plastic shopping bags. I think it makes perfect sense, but it takes time to start making the adjustment and the risk tradeoffs aren’t always obvious.

This scenario– making adjustments that may seem inconvenient and a bit scary, but are well worth the effort– plays out in other areas of life as well. Particularly in rethinking how Americans use and pay for electricity.

Source: Union Atlantic Electricity

Most of us don’t think about how the time of day affects the cost of serving us power. In California, we aim to change that by moving to Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing – which will make electricity more expensive during times of peak, or high, energy demand and cheaper off-peak. In fact, just yesterday, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) recommended moving all residential customers to time-of-use rates by 2018 in an effort to give customers more control over energy costs.

EDF believes that TOU pricing will be best for people and the environment, just as banning plastic shopping bags effectively reduces their environmental impact. This approach can encourage conservation and reduce peak energy use while providing customers with more choices that can ultimately lower their monthly bills. Switching to TOU electricity pricing may feel to some like being thrust into a busy parking lot with an armload of groceries and two children to monitor. When should I use my dishwasher? Do I need to reset my air conditioner? Well, yes and no. You can choose to do nothing, or you can exercise a choice you don’t have with our current pricing structure: shifting energy use to times of lower electricity prices. It’s quite doable.

Also posted in California, General, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed