Energy Exchange

Loose Use Of Facts Undermines Credibility Of White’s OpEd

This commentary was originally posted on the EDF Texas Clean Air Matters Blog.

An erroneous and misleading opinion piece by Kathleen Hartnett White with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, ran in Sunday’s The Austin American-Statesman. In the article, White misrepresents several important details from a 4-year old EDF report that was prepared by Dr. Al Armendariz, a former Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The report catalogued emissions from oil and gas production in the Barnett Shale area. Her purported facts about the study findings are just plain wrong.

First, she claims that the report concluded that ozone precursor emissions from Barnett Shale production are twice as large as all mobile source emissions in the area. In fact, the report concluded that peak Barnett Shale emissions, while significant, were roughly comparable to emissions from cars and trucks (see press release accompanying the report).

White then claims that Dr. Armendariz’s study considered methane to be an ozone precursor, contrary to what is clearly stated in the report at p. 8. While it is true that methane does form ozone, albeit slowly, the report states “[m]ethane and ethane are specifically excluded from the definition of VOC” (volatile organic compounds). Thus, the report excluded methane from the comparison to mobile emissions of ozone precursors.

It is unclear if the author even read Dr. Armendariz’s work, which was not computer modeling, as she claims. Rather, it was an emissions “inventory,” a catalog of the air pollutant emissions from oil/gas sources in the Barnett Shale area, constructed using established engineering practices and industry-backed data sources. The core pieces of information for the inventory were oil/gas production data that are available for every county in Texas from databases at the Texas Railroad Commission. Dr. Armendariz’s resulting emissions estimates were in reasonable agreement with estimates issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality later in 2009 (10-20% difference).

You can’t make a strong case when you get facts wrong. And, it is irresponsible for White to make her case by manipulating science, while cynically blaming government bodies of committing the same sin.

It’s time we all get the facts right and use science to expose truths, not veil our own agenda. For our part, EDF is working with leading academic researchers and industry leaders to conduct scientifically rigorous measurements of emissions from natural gas production. Leaks that occur during production (as well as distribution and use) stand to significantly undermine the potential of natural gas as a lower carbon energy source.

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas, Texas / Comments are closed

Demand Response Means Big Money for Big Users

After a full week of triple digit temperatures in central Texas, the forecast this weekend for highs in the mid-90’s seems like a blessing both for our thermostat and for the unending topic of this blog series: our electric grid.  Officials from the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) have been worried about the strain on our electric grid all summer long, but they aren’t just worried about this summer.  The energy crunch is an issue that we know will be with us until we deal with it; we can’t rely on dancing cats to ease the crunch. We need real solutions to avoid real problems in the future. 

It doesn’t have to be that way though, and it doesn’t need to cost as much as some worry it will, but that’s assuming that the PUC and ERCOT are able to move quickly and decisively to encourage demand response.  In our blog post last week we focused on the benefits of demand response for residential customers and small businesses, and that’s probably where the greatest overall potential lies.  But the quickest return – and the most financially savvy electric customers – might lie in the commercial and industrial markets today.  Fortunately two great examples in other parts of the country show how we could be doing more for those markets in demand response as well.

 “Making the Most of Your Energy” in NYC

Large commercial buildings typically face a number of hurdles when trying to upgrade their energy systems – particularly those with multiple tenants.  In New York City, the Rockefeller Group Development Corporation saw these hurdles as an opportunity for a new approach to energy management.  By selling their demand reductions to the grid, in the manner we’ve proposed for ERCOT, they managed to reduce energy usage by 60,000 kWh per month and reduced peak demand by 1.4 MW.  McGraw Hill now receives a net income (after payments for the financed upgrade) of $500,000 annually.

Rules in ERCOT might allow for this kind of savings already in some small ancillary services markets, so long as their metering system complies with ERCOT protocols.  Those ERCOT demand response markets are capped and already oversubscribed; leaving developers who want to build smart buildings or upgrade older ones are looking to other markets for their business.

Meanwhile, in the heartland….

We mean Warrick County, Indiana specifically. Alcoa, one of the world’s leading aluminum producers has worked with their grid operator Midwest ISO (MISO) to develop a completely new approach to industrial demand response that has blown the doors off of the possibilities for Texas’ industrial sector.  The market for aluminum is ruthless, and Before Alcoa anything that gives Alcoa a leg up helps them preserve critical jobs and tax income in their communities around the country. 

With this new market, Alcoa has managed to maintain international competitiveness for their Warrick County plant and is looking to expand demand response to their aluminum smelters in other parts of the country.  In Texas, where Alcoa’s Rockdale smelters are were not able already struggling to maintain international competitiveness and have been idled as a result, , new markets like the pilot project announced by ERCOT on Monday could mean the difference for other industries between staying profitable and shutting down operations.

Whether it’s in the city or the country, a big user or a small mom and pop store, demand response markets offer a new benefit to customers if the market rules allow customers to compete with other resources.  As we discussed earlier this week, the potential for these resources in Texas would help us meet 15 percent of our peak demand needs according to ERCOT’s Brattle Report.  That potential stretches across all types of customers, and must be part of the solution to the energy crunch in Texas if we want to keep rates down and maintain reliability.

Posted in Demand Response, General, Texas / Comments are closed

Saving Energy One Crab At A Time

Imagine the embarrassment of leaving your office lights turned on and returning to find a giant fiddler crab sitting on your desk.  This fishy situation is happening in office buildings all across Charlotte, North Carolina –the crabs are plastic, and the fiddler variety is used for their notorious attraction to light.  It is all part of a fun, social experiment happening in uptown Charlotte office buildings to remind employees to shut of their lights when leaving the office and power down their computers when headed home.  If employees leave their lights on, coworkers will place crabs in the offending employee’s office to remind them to turn off their lights. In order to rid themselves of the burdensome crab, that employee must covertly “tag” another absent minded coworker by leaving a crab on their desk – all in the name of energy efficiency.  

And the amazing thing is that the playful reminder works!  After “Crab, You’re It!” was introduced in one of Mecklenburg County’s office buildings, 26% more lights were turned off when not in use, leading to significant energy savings.  

The “Crab, You’re It!” game – now adopted as part of the Envision Charlotte project – is just one of several innovative employee behavior change experiments that are leading to real energy reductions in office buildings in this entrepreneurial North Carolina city.  The creators of the game – the County of Mecklenburg staff – knew that most office employees are not motivated to save energy solely out of the goodness of their heart.  We are all busy and saving energy in the office is not always top of mind.  The key was to find a way for employees to actually get excited and have fun while saving energy.  And, let’s be honest.  Nobody wants to be crabbed.

Posted in Grid Modernization, North Carolina / Tagged | Read 1 Response

A Dynamic Approach To California Energy Use

This commentary was originally posted on the EDF California Dream 2.0 Blog.

Californians are poised for a more functional, data-driven model for setting the prices people pay for electricity.  The new model will make the massive differences in costs of providing electricity during the course of a typical day more evident to us as energy users, thereby inspiring more efficient use of electricity resources.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) started a rulemaking to examine if the current rate structure for residential energy users is fair and equitable across customer classes and if it:

  • supports statewide-energy goals;
  • facilitating technologies that enable customers to better manage their usage and bills;
  • enables conservation and efficiency on the customer side of the meter; and
  • increases the reliance on non-fossil based generation to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.

We know already that the short answer is “no”, so CPUC is eyeing a transition to time variant (“dynamic”) rates.  According to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), with time variant, or what is often referred to as “time-of-use”, pricing – rates “will be higher during summer weekday afternoons when electric demand is higher, typically noon to 6 p.m., May through October. In return you’ll pay lower rates at all other times. This means that when you use energy is just as important as how much you use.” 

EDF’s Energy team has been, and will continue to be, closely involved in the CPUC’s rulemaking, which will examine several facets of the current system.  EDF has also been involved in the related smart grid proceedings, such as the deployment of smart grid infrastructure – which provides the ability to both measure energy use in real time and inform customers about the costs (and environmental impacts) of their choices to use electricity at different times of the day.  This Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) enables a smoother transition to dynamic rates for residential consumers.

EDF is very encouraged that the CPUC is considering  time variant pricing because it will help consumers to be more thoughtful about their energy usage, particularly at times when demand is peaking and pushing electricity supply sources to their limits.  This type of rate structure can encourage conservation and reduce peak demand while providing customers with more choices that can ultimately lower their monthly bills.  For example, allowing consumers to see how much they can save on their electric bills by reducing their energy use during peak hours will encourage a shift of energy-intensive activities, such as washing and drying clothing and dishes, to off-peak (and less expensive) times of the day. 

Because a dynamic pricing system will alleviate pressure on the electric grid during peak demand, it will also lead to a more stable, less expensive energy system that is increasingly resilient to extreme weather events.  The economic motivation should also help to create an easy way for consumers to make decisions more efficiently, thereby lowering their electric bills and shrinking their environmental footprints.   

Futhermore, dynamic pricing can help integrate renewables and electric vehicles into the electric grid by allowing utilities to respond to price signals more effectively.  For example, time-of-use rates support electric vehicle charging at times when grid resources aren’t strained, such as late at night or early in the morning when most people are sleeping. 

This new approach will facilitate conservation and energy efficiency, as well as an increase in the use of clean energy sources that avoid harmful greenhouse gas and urban air pollution.   If adopted, the dynamic pricing model can be a common sense approach to saving energy and money, while promoting energy efficiency and a smarter, “greener,” electric grid country-wide.

Posted in California, Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization, Time of Use / Read 3 Responses

Getting ‘Smart’ About Your Energy Use Just Got Easier

This commentary was originally posted on the EDF California Dream 2.0 Blog.

Source: Green Button

On Wednesday, I attended a presentation of the Green Button at EMC2, hosted by Silicon Valley Leadership Group, OSIsoft and SolarCity, and moderated by Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Tech Officer and Advisor to the President.  

In essence, Green Button is literally a green button on utility customer interface websites that customers can click to instantly download their historical energy use data in a simple, standardized electronic format.  Customers can then upload the data into software applications, or give it to consultants that provide services such as identifying how to save money by using less energy. 

All of the big California utilities – SCE, SDG&E and PG&E – have embraced the concept and will offer the Green Button to their millions of customers. There is a hope that utilities across the country will also adopt it.

One presenter observed that Americans, on average, waste 20% of the energy that they purchase. This creates a huge opportunity to save money on energy and help to protect the environment by avoiding demand for energy generated by dirty sources, including coal-fired power plants.

Yesterday’s event revealed what can be accomplished when software innovators, government leaders and utilities focus on a common goal. Chopra is widely recognized as an IT innovator in government and he challenged the utility industry to develop access to consumer data in September 2011. Now Green Button is a fully operational, widely embraced standard that will provide a buffet of energy use data for hungry software application developers. 

Testimonials were provided by up-and-coming CEOs in the energy sector, including oPower, Tendril, Lucid Design Group and Simple Energy.  Each company demonstrated how Green Button will drive innovations in energy use software applications.  For example, Tendril announced that its platform, Tendril Connect, will “connect utilities and energy service providers, consumers and app developers to achieve smarter energy usage.”

One question I was left with was, “just how green is the Green Button?” Currently, only the color pallet is green; no pollution information (such as greenhouse gas emissions) is associated with the energy use data. 

While Dr. David Wollman, Deputy Director of Smart Grid & Cyber-Physical Systems, and Manager, Smart Grid Standards and Research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), indicated that the Green Button standards do have accommodations for emissions information, there will need to be positive pressure to fully develop that piece of the button. 

And that’s where EDF and you can come in.  We need to encourage efforts to rigorously link emissions information with energy use, in both time and place.      

As part of EDF’s smart grid work, we are working with utilities, regulatory agencies and third parties in California and across the country to ensure that innovators have access to an emerging and competitive utility market.  Access to standardized energy use data is an essential piece.  Why?  So they can provide consumers with new tools that help them better understand and manage their energy use, which can save money, cut pollution and help protect the planet.

Posted in California, Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization / Read 3 Responses

Just Do It: Sometimes Jumping In With Both Feet Is The Best Choice To Make

By Jen Weiss, 2011 EDF Climate Corps Fellow at Shaw University, MEM Candidate, Nicolas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC

A few weeks ago, I found myself peering over the edge of a forty-two foot platform willing myself to take the leap – to tackle the Mega Jump.  Okay, maybe peering is not the right word.  I was gripping the side of the platform, looking out over the horizon, and wondering how I had ever gotten convinced to do this given my severe fear of heights.  But, there I was.  I decided to stop thinking about it.  Better to trust that it was all going to work out fine than analyze every detail.  I closed my eyes, released my grip, and jumped …

The next moment, I was on the ground.  I checked for breaks or cuts – nothing.  The only thing I felt was exhilaration – a feeling of success and accomplishment.  I had done it. And I had survived.

I get a similar sense of nervous anticipation with energy efficiency.  What’s that?  You don’t follow my leap?  Consider this …

I have just wrapped up my EDF Climate Corps Fellowship at Shaw University in downtown Raleigh.  My EDF partner, Eliza, and I have made recommendations that could save the university over $125,000 a year in annual energy savings.  And, some of these recommendations come at absolutely no cost:

  • Power management (sleep mode) for PCs and copiers
  • Summer setback temperatures for some of the dorms
  • Upgrading exit signs to LED versions
  • Upgrading the residence hall’s laundry services to more energy efficient washing machines
  • Consolidation of office equipment and mini-fridges

A few other recommendations have a small price of admission, but with Progress Energy rebates and very short payback periods, they can be done quickly and savings can be seen within six months:

  • Install vending misers on all vending machines
  • Upgrade lighting to more efficient T-8s
  • Install programmable thermostats (my personal favorite – the savings here are huge!)

Shaw is now standing on the edge of the platform waiting to jump.  The eager faces in the audience as Eliza and I presented these recommendations tell me that they have the desire and commitment to make the changes and lead Shaw into sustainability.  And they certainly have the experience and knowledge to get it done.  The next step is up to them. 

At this point, Shaw needs to take a leap of faith. They need to jump off the platform and feel the exhilaration that comes from saving the planet (and saving money).  There is absolutely nothing to lose and a tremendous amount to gain. My advice? 

Just Do It!

EDF Climate Corps Public Sector (CCPS) trains graduate students to identify energy efficiency savings in colleges, universities, local governments and houses of worship. The program focuses on partnerships with minority serving institutions and diverse communities. Apply as a CCPS fellow, read our blog posts and follow us on Twitter to get regular updates about this program.

Posted in EDF Climate Corps / Tagged | Read 1 Response