Energy Exchange

NY Governor Cuomo launches Green Bank in Aggressive Move to Tackle Climate Change

By Rory Christian / Published: December 23, 2013

One of the worst hit states by last year’s Superstorm Sandy, New York is moving aggressively to avert future climate-related weather events. Governor Cuomo announced the launch of a Green Bank last week, giving the state a timely and much-needed Christmas gift.

The move shows the state’s strong commitment to the acceleration of a clean, low-carbon energy economy. New York joins the ranks of several other states, including Connecticut and Hawaii, in addressing a key issue holding clean energy in America back, namely financing. The Green Bank, which has $210 million in initial funding originating from existing ratepayer and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative funds, targets market barriers to private financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Working with private sector financial institutions, the Green Bank will offer financial products such as credit enhancement, loan loss reserves and loan bundling to support securitization (which promotes liquidity in the marketplace) and help build secondary markets. These products have long-proven successful in stimulating market developments and creating investment-quality, asset-backed securities that can be bought and traded. Read More »

Posted in Energy Efficiency, New York, Renewable Energy / Tagged Clean Energy Financing, Governor Cuomo, Green Bank | Read 1 Response

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reins in State Drilling Laws, Stands Up for Localities

By Mark Brownstein / Published: December 20, 2013

Source: Pennlive

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stood up for the traditional powers of local governments to decide where — and, to a significant extent, how — oil and gas development happens in their communities. In a 4-2 vote, the Court overturned Act 13, a 2012 state law that had stripped localities of some of their power to decide where the industry can operate. For example, Act 13 required that drilling, waste pits and pipelines be allowed in every zoning district, including residential districts, as long as certain buffers are observed.

That provision and others were challenged in a lawsuit filed by seven Pennsylvania localities. The suit was supported by an amicus brief written by lawyers at Earthjustice and signed by EDF and other environmental groups. We congratulate the local governments on this important victory and thank Earthjustice for its leadership.

This is a big win for local governments because it preserves their right to make sensible land use decisions that can impact quality of life. Home to the gas-rich Marcellus shale basin, Pennsylvania has emerged as the nation’s fastest-growing producer of natural gas and now ranks third in the nation, behind only Texas and Louisiana. Pennsylvania accounts for more than 10 percent of the nation’s total natural gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Alongside this spike in production, however, serious concerns about air and water quality in the region have also emerged. Read More »

Posted in Natural Gas / Tagged Pennsylvania | Read 1 Response

Demand for Clean Energy Choices Grows in North Carolina

By Greg Andeck / Published: December 20, 2013

Duke Energy secured approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission this week to offer more renewable energy to its most energy-intensive customers in the state, including data centers, manufacturers and college campuses.

Duke’s “green source” program comes at the request of customers like Google, which opened a $600 million data center in Lenoir, NC, and asked Duke Energy to provide them with more renewable energy offerings.

This is great news for economic development, jobs and the environment in North Carolina. Duke’s green source program will increase renewable energy investment beyond the goal set by North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard.

Under the green source program, Duke Energy will work with eligible customers to identify the amount, type and source of renewable energy they want. Duke will then arrange long-term power purchase agreements with solar, wind or other renewable energy suppliers. Participating companies pay any additional costs of purchasing renewable energy. Read More »

Posted in North Carolina, Renewable Energy / Tagged Duke Energy | Comments are closed

EDF-Led Public-Private Coalition a Model for Cities around the World

By Abbey Brown / Published: December 20, 2013

By now you might have heard the story. Andy Darrell and his fellow colleagues in EDF’s New York office were staring out the window of their office near Gramercy Park several years ago when they noticed thick plumes of black smoke rising from a nearby building. As New York regional director of the Environmental Defense Fund and a member of outgoing Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC Sustainability Advisory Board, it struck Andy that they could actually do something about it. Embarking on a plan that aimed to phase out the City’s dirtiest heating oils, the successful EDF-led NYC Clean Heat campaign was born.

This story officially entered New York City environmental lore when New York Magazine included it in the annual Reasons to Love New York issue as “Reason 19. Because Our Air Is the Cleanest It’s Been in 50 Years.” The recent article describes the public-private coalition of city officials, lawmakers, non-profits and private sector banks that came together for a $100 million financing program that would help building owners make the transition to cleaner fuels. The result: around 3,000 buildings have converted to cleaner fuels, which has been the primary driver in reducing sulfur-dioxide pollution by nearly 70 percent. Read More »

Posted in New York / Tagged Mayor Bloomberg, NYC Clean Heat, PlaNYC | Comments are closed

EDF’s Energy Efficiency Protocols Gain Traction

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 19, 2013

By: Matt Golden, Senior Energy Finance Consultant, Environmental Defense Fund

Source: Spark Energy

Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Investor Confidence Project (ICP) aims to bring transparency and accountability to the energy efficiency market by introducing a system of standardization. Traditionally, most energy efficiency analyses are done by the companies selling retrofit services to commercial building owners and investors, resulting in biased results that do not always ensure return on investment (ROI). Additionally, inconsistencies in the methodology for arriving at these ROI metrics have created barriers to standardizing a measure of success for energy retrofits.

For the first time, ICP’s Energy Performance Protocols were used to leverage financing for a $2 million office building retrofit in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This new model could accelerate the vast potential of energy efficiency retrofits in commercial buildings.

ICP’s protocols have been developed with broad stakeholder participation including engineers, industry allies, financial market participants, insurers, regulators and utilities. The protocols aim to significantly increase stakeholder confidence in the resulting savings by: Read More »

Posted in Energy Efficiency, Investor Confidence Project / Tagged ICP | Read 1 Response

New Sustainable FERC Website Charts Progress to Clean, Low-Carbon Energy

By Elizabeth B. Stein / Published: December 18, 2013

The Sustainable FERC Project, a coalition of environmental and clean energy organizations, launched its new website today: www.sustainableFERC.org. The site will inform the public and policymakers about the coalition’s efforts to increase the amount of clean, low-carbon energy powering the nation’s electric grid, which focus on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the regional entities regulated by FERC.

FERC is a federal agency whose activities include regulation of transmission and wholesale sales of electricity in interstate commerce. Working on behalf of its coalition partners, the Sustainable FERC Project develops and advocates for federal policies and regional implementation and practices that will give rise to a cleaner, more efficient energy system. The coalition’s top priorities include removing the barriers to getting clean energy on the transmission grid, maximizing the use of energy efficiency in planning and facilitating a transition to a cleaner energy future.

Source – Windpower Engineering Development

EDF’s work as a member of the Sustainable FERC Project coalition complements our own Smart Power Initiative, which is working, primarily through state-level advocacy, to change the trajectory of the U.S. electricity system to help avoid dangerous climate change through smart power policies and clean energy investments. The Smart Power Initiative focuses on ensuring that the right state policies are in place to allow for better integration of clean energy resources into the power grid.

Optimizing the environmental performance of the U.S. electric grid – which is sometimes called the “largest machine on the planet” – requires environmentally-sound policies and practices at all levels to drive system planning and operation. The new website (www.SustainableFERC.org) will feature issue analysis, coalition comments filed with FERC and regional grid organizations and links to blogs written by representatives from the coalition. It should become a go-to site for those wanting to deepen their understanding of environmentally-important smart grid developments in the federally-regulated portions of the U.S. electric system.

Posted in Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization / Tagged Clean Energy, Electric Grid, FERC | Comments are closed