Energy Exchange

Seeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices

By Tim O'Connor / Published: September 5, 2013

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

By: Tim O’Connor and Shira Silver

Californians struggling with high gas prices should feel optimistic about the future. A new memo by economists from EDF and Chuck Mason, a prominent economist at the University of Wyoming, demonstrates that policies established to reduce emissions and help the state reach its climate change goals also help to arm consumers at the pump.

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard, cap and trade, and other complementary policies such as Governor Brown’s Zero Emission Vehicle program and national Renewable Portfolio Standards seek to integrate lower or zero-carbon fuels into the energy market in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

As our memo explains, in California these efforts also help to increase the market share for alternative, lower-carbon fuels. Between now and 2020, alternatives may grow to occupy between 15 and 24 percent of the market, creating new jobs and addressing the large market share that oil companies have in California.

Currently six oil companies control 94 percent of the fuels market in California. Through a set of mergers and other factors they have developed a strong lock on fuel in the state, and more specifically on consumers’ pocketbooks at the pump.

Also posted in Electric Vehicles / Tagged California, emissions, EV | Comments are closed

Aloha for Clean Energy Finance: A Tale of Two States

By Brad Copithorne / Published: September 3, 2013

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

For over two years, EDF has been working to establish an On-Bill Repayment program in California that would allow property owners to finance energy efficiency or renewable generation projects and repay the obligation through their utility bill. Since utility bills tend to get paid and the obligation could ‘run with the meter’, defaults are expected to be low, which will improve the availability and reduce the cost of financing. In May 2012, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) agreed with our position and ordered the large utilities in California to develop a program for commercial properties. EDF estimates that this program could generate $5B of investment over 12 years, which is expected to support 36,000 jobs.

Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the nonresidential OBR pilot in California to be implemented and if the utilities get their way, we may be waiting for close to another full year. The California utilities appear to be fearful of change, distributed generation, and the impact of reduced demand. They have employed aggressive tactics with teams of lawyers arguing and re-arguing every potential issue, even after the issues have presumably been settled by the CPUC.

This stands in sharp contrast to what is happening in Hawaii. On March 25, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (“HPUC”) ordered the primary Hawaii utility, Hawaiian Electric Company, (“HECO”) to establish an OBR program for residential and commercial customers. I just returned from 3 days in Honolulu and it appears that they are working cooperatively to get the program running in the first quarter of 2014. This timetable of 12 months from HPUC order to implementation is less than half of what we seem to need in California, despite the fact that the Hawaii program covers a much broader range of property types and relies on public as well as private sources of financing.

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment / Tagged California, Energy Efficiency, Hawaii, OBR | Read 1 Response

Auto dealers vs. Tesla: Why the market will decide

By Brad Copithorne / Published: August 29, 2013

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s Voices blog.

Source: jurvetson/Flickr

The European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and the State of California have all set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Given that a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions comes from transportation (including 29% of U.S. emissions), it will be very tough to meet this goal without “decarbonizing” our cars and trucks.

The most obvious solution is electric vehicles (EVs) charged by clean energy sources like solar or wind. While several startup EV companies – including Fisker, Coda and Better Place – have struggled, the Tesla car company seems to be succeeding. At least that’s the current view of the markets: Tesla shares have more than tripled since March and in May the company raised almost $1 billion in new capital.

Also posted in Electric Vehicles / Tagged EV, Tesla | Comments are closed

Agricultural Offsets are to 2013 as Energy Efficiency was to 1973

By Robert Parkhurst / Published: August 28, 2013

In 1973 Chase Manhattan Bank saw “virtually no scope for conservation” of electricity. In 2011 the total market for energy efficiency in buildings was worth $68 billion and is expected to grow more than 50% by 2017.

The same thing is being said about greenhouse gas (GHG) protocols for agriculture today as energy efficiency 40 years ago. When the California Air Resources Board (CARB) stated that they plan to consider a protocol for rice farmers in California and the Midsouth, some stated that the reductions from the protocol would be “very small” and not “widely used.” These criticisms miss a key point.

The rice protocol is the jumping off point for a wide-range of agricultural offsets. The rice protocol will demonstrate the benefits from the use of biogeochemical models, such as the DeNitrification DeComposition (DNDC) model, pioneered by the University of New Hampshire over the past two decades. It will show how agricultural producers can aggregate their reductions with fellow farmers to create an offset project. It will revolutionize ways to verify large amounts of data through risk-based sampling. In short, this is the start of something significant.

Once the rice protocol is approved, CARB can turn its attention to other crops such as corn, wheat, or leafy greens. They can look at grazing practices on land across the United States. These practices, just like energy efficiency, add up fast. It is entirely possible to achieve annual GHG reductions of one hundred million metric tons of CO₂e reductions, equivalent to taking more than 20 million cars off the road, over the next ten years.

Because agriculture is the largest uncapped sector under California’s cap-and-trade program, it has a unique potential to help California meet its 2020 target. To play a role in the program, the rice protocol needs to be adopted this spring and additional offset protocols from agriculture need to be considered in the upcoming years.

Posted in California / Comments are closed

AB 32’s Scoping Plan is a Tale of Two Energy Futures

By Tim O'Connor / Published: August 14, 2013

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

For a window into two vastly different visions of our state’s future, take a look at the comments filed last week as part of the AB 32 Scoping Plan update process. The 2008 Scoping Plan lays out the approach that California will take to achieve its goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and this is the first 5 year update.

EDF’s comments reflect what most Californians have already asked for – a laser focus on expanding emission reductions and providing ample clean energy opportunities for businesses throughout the state.

This includes:

Increasing emission reductions from vehicles, goods movement and the agriculture sector;
Developing diversified low-carbon fuels that yield cost reductions;
Integrating clean energy and energy efficiency through programs like “time-of-use” pricing and On-Bill Repayment;
And, extending the cap-and-trade program and low carbon fuel standard beyond 2020;

All of the opportunities outlined by EDF aim to fulfill the Scoping Plan’s mission: achieving the maximum technologically feasible reductions in greenhouse gas pollution in a cost-effective way.

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment / Tagged California, Clean Energy, emissions, OBR | Comments are closed

California’s Capital Leads the Nation in Energy Efficiency Financing

By Climate Corps Fellow / Published: July 30, 2013

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

By: Kate Daniel, EDF Climate Corps Fellow

Kate Daniel, Climate Corps Fellow

Great news for California and the future of energy efficiency in Sacramento.

Today I took part in an announcement by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson unveiling the nation’s largest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) project in the country — and potentially a huge boost for businesses in the state’s capital.

Launched by Clean Energy Sacramento, the property owners of Metro Center, Metzler Real Estate, will now be able to take advantage of PACE financing to fund $3.1 million in energy efficient upgrades, including high efficiency rooftop units for heating and cooling and a state-of-the-art building management system. Ultimately, these upgrades will save $140,000 in annual utility costs for the property.

This project is not just good news for Metro and Metzler, but for the entire Sacramento region. Here’s how it works: Under the PACE program Metzler will receive private funding from Ygrene Energy Fund, who covers the upfront costs of the project Metzler pays the costs back on their property tax bill while Johnson Controls will design and implement the upgrades.

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment, Utility Business Models / Tagged Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, OBR, PACE | Comments are closed