Energy Exchange

On-Bill Repayment & Community Solar: Clean Energy Investments Underserved Californians Can Afford

By Rachel Neil / Published: October 25, 2013

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

It sounds like the opening line of a joke: What can finance do to reduce inequality?

However, this is exactly the question I tried to tackle during my presentation at the Clean Power, Healthy Communities conference last week. Hosted by the Local Clean Energy Alliance, this annual conference focuses on equitable, community-based clean energy solutions for the Bay Area.

In keeping with this theme, I took the opportunity to explain how On-Bill Repayment (OBR) can increase access to energy efficiency and distributed generation installations for low and middle-income families. By overcoming cost barriers, OBR can deliver energy savings, cost savings, jobs and more comfortable and healthy homes to underserved communities. In addition to these tangible benefits, it offers residents greater control over energy generation, as well as their energy consumption.

While I was able to share EDF’s finance work with community organizers and other environmental advocates, the conference was also a chance to hear about and discuss variety of other community-based solutions. One initiative that OBR has tremendous potential to support and complement is community-owned solar. Signed into law in September, California’s Senate Bill 43 allows for shared ownership of renewable generation. This means that individuals who are unable to install solar panels at their residences can invest in an off-site solar system, and receive credit on their utility bill for their share of the power generated.

Also posted in California, On-bill repayment / Tagged Environmental Justice, OBR | Read 1 Response

“Go Time” for Groundwater Testing In Wyoming

By Jon Goldstein / Published: October 16, 2013

Everyone wins when states institute strong, science-based groundwater testing programs around oil and gas development areas. Landowners get important information about their water quality and protection from potential spills. Oil and gas companies get what is essentially an insurance policy tracking the quality of area drinking water sources both before and after drilling. And regulators get an important new source of data to help them understand local conditions and target clean up, if needed.

EDF has advocated for a program in Wyoming that aims to do exactly this – establish a groundwater quality baseline in areas where oil and gas development is planned, and then follow up with two sets of tests to monitor for potential impacts from this specific activity. And Wyoming regulators have proposed a program that would, on the whole, create a strong, scientifically valid groundwater testing program.

Late last week, Wyoming’s powerful paper of record, the Casper Star-Tribune, announced it agrees.

Also posted in Natural Gas, Wyoming / Comments are closed

Unique Partnership Creates New Energy Efficiency Loan Model For Rural Homeowners In North Carolina

By Greg Andeck / Published: October 10, 2013

Duke Energy is the largest utility in the United States, so of course it gets a lot of attention in its home state of North Carolina. Yet millions of residents in rural parts of the state rely on electric cooperatives, not Duke Energy, to keep the lights on. In fact, rural cooperatives serve all or part of the customers in 93 of 100 counties in North Carolina.

This is important because rural areas have just as much, if not more, need to increase energy efficiency. Case in point: a seven-county area in eastern North Carolina served by Roanoke Electric Cooperative. The cooperative has made great strides in promoting energy efficiency, yet there are still customers with utility bills that are higher than their mortgage payments some months. Close to half of Roanoke Electric’s customers live in manufactured homes, which typically have less energy-saving insulation than standard homes. And, in an economically-distressed region, few homeowners have extra money to pay for energy efficiency improvements, like caulking around windows or adding insulation.

Now, thanks to a new program offered by Roanoke Electric Cooperative, homeowners can secure low-cost loans from a private lender to make home improvements that will reduce energy use and save money. The loan is paid back on the monthly utility bill, reducing paperwork for homeowners and making repayment easier. In this program, the energy efficiency home loan is made by Generations Community Credit Union, a lending institution focused on assisting underserved rural communities in North Carolina. Homeowners can borrow up to $4,000 for improvements, with interest rates as low as 3.5%.

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, North Carolina, Utility Business Models / Tagged Duke Energy | Read 2 Responses

Texas Universities Exhibit At The Solar Decathlon And Drive Clean Energy Research

By Kate Zerrenner / Published: October 3, 2013

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s Texas Clean Air Matter blog.

Source: Architect Magazine

The Solar Decathlon, a competition that challenges colleges across the nation to design and construct efficient, affordable and attractive solar powered-home, is taking place October 3-13 at Orange Country Great Park in Irvine, California. The bi-annual event, organized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), awards the team that excels in combining cost-effectiveness, consumer appeal and energy efficiency into a state of the art home. But like many competitions, the real winners are those that pursue the challenge long after the bout ends, and this decathlon is no exception. Year after year, students graduate and form the next wave of clean energy entrepreneurs, engineers and architects looking to advance energy efficient homes.

This year, the University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College have joined forces to create Team Texas. The last time a Texas university participated in the Solar Decathlon was in 2007, when the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University competed as two separate teams.

This year Team Texas has submitted ADAPT, a house that reflects the nature of the two universities’ homestead, El Paso. Its design maximizes the use of solar energy, an abundant resource in the Southwest, and is meant to feel natural on a mountain plateau, high desert or green farmland. ADAPT embraces the belief that “a home is not just a location or state of mind but a place where the heart is”. Read More »

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Texas / Comments are closed

Bringing Fugitives To Justice In Wyoming

By Jon Goldstein / Published: October 1, 2013

Source: Scott Dalton for The New York Times

When it comes to healthy air, what you can’t see can hurt you.

Leaks of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and methane, the primary components in natural gas, may be invisible – but that doesn’t mean they are harmless. These leaks – called “fugitive” emissions – can create serious air quality problems when VOC’s are involved. Meanwhile, methane leaks mean less product available for sale and a wasted resource.

But, while you can’t always see leaks with the naked eye, you can use modern technology to help you detect and fix them. Cameras that use infrared technology to “see” leaking hydrocarbons and inexpensive hand held sensors that measure leaks are commonly used to help operators find and fix leaking equipment. Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) programs that require operators to check for leaks frequently using these modern technologies, and expeditiously repair them, can produce huge air quality benefits. Such programs are currently required in permits for a number of operators in Wyoming’s Jonah Pinedale Anticline Development Area. Read More »

Also posted in Methane, Natural Gas, Wyoming / Comments are closed

EDF Energy Innovation Series Feature: Green Mountain Energy Company Sparking Solar In Texas

By Jim Marston / Published: October 1, 2013

EDF’s Energy Innovation Series highlights innovations across a broad range of energy categories, including smart grid and renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency financing and progressive utilities, to name a few. This Series helps illustrate that cost-effective, clean energy solutions are available now and imperative to lowering our dependence on fossil fuels.

Find more information on this featured innovation here.

As this series has demonstrated, energy innovation is happening around the world in a wide range of areas, from energy storage and smart grid technologies to renewables, electric vehicles and energy-saving software and services.

But innovation isn’t just about inventing new technologies. It’s about getting those technologies out into the market. And when it comes to bringing renewable energy options to residential and commercial customers, Texas-based Green Mountain Energy Company was the first to be 100% dedicated to cleaner energy with the electricity market opened to competition in the state in 2002.

Founded in 1997, Green Mountain is the country’s longest-serving retailer dedicated to renewable energy, selling all-renewable energy options directly to residents and businesses in competitive markets in Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas, and partnering with utilities in other regulated markets.

Also posted in Energy Innovation, Renewable Energy, Texas / Comments are closed