EREN Network News
May 10, 2000
News and Events
- BP Amoco to Promote Solar Energy with GreenMountain.com
- Massachusetts Renewable, Efficiency Fund Gets Green Light
- DOE Announces Funds, Awards for Alternative Fuel Vehicles
- Thirteen Utilities Meet the Million Solar Roofs Challenge
- DOE Awards Energy Efficiency Grants to New Hampshire
- DOE Hosts Contest for EnergySmart Student Inventors
Site News
Energy Facts and Tips
- Bob Vila's "Home Again" Looks at Energy Star Appliances
About this Newsletter
News and Events
BP Amoco to Promote Solar Energy with GreenMountain.com
BP Amoco announced last week that it has purchased
18.5 percent of GreenMountain.com, a U.S.-based green
power marketer. According to BP Amoco, the investment is
aimed at "significantly extending" the market for renewable
energy to U.S. businesses and households. BP Amoco also
announced a "multi-faceted commercial relationship" to
market and promote GreenMountain.com's solar energy
offerings using BP Solarex's solar technology, products and
services. BP Amoco will have an exclusive agreement to
market GreenMountain.com's energy products to industrial
and commercial customers. GreenMountain.com will also
market its green power to BP Amoco service stations
operating in its service areas. See the BP Amoco press
release.
In GreenMountain.com's announcement, the company also
noted an agreement with Lycos to market the company's
energy products. The company estimates that investments
from BP Amoco, Lycos, and other partners will total up to
$100 million. See the GreenMountain.com press release.
BP Solarex, a business unit of BP Amoco, moved to a new
"energy smart" headquarters building recently. The building
features a 23-kilowatt solar energy system and includes
high-efficiency lighting. The company plans to produce
40 megawatts of solar energy products this year. See the
BP Solarex press release.
Massachusetts Renewable, Efficiency Fund Gets Green Light
The resolution of a two-year legal battle is finally allowing
Massachusetts to proceed with its energy efficiency and
renewable energy programs. The state created the
Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust as part of its
electric industry restructuring legislation in 1997. But since
March 1998, the Trust has been at a near standstill due to a
legal challenge that questioned the constitutionality of the
Trust's funding. That challenge was defeated late last month.
The Trust will receive about $150 million over five years to
accelerate the use of cleaner sources of electricity and
invest in the development of the renewable energy industry
in Massachusetts. In subsequent years, the Trust will receive
about $20 million a year. The Trust is administered by the
Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation (MTPC). See
the MTPC press release.
DOE Announces Funds, Awards for Alternative Fuel Vehicles
DOE presented the National Partner and Clean Cities
Coalition awards yesterday to two dozen industry partners
and local coalitions from around the country. The annual
awards recognize cities and organizations that have made
outstanding contributions relative to alternative fuel vehicles.
The awardees range from a California ranch that opened a
public-access liquefied natural gas (LNG) refueling station in
Coalinga, to the state of Arizona, which has established a
significant incentive package for alternative fuel vehicles.
Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson also announced more
than $3.8 million in awards to 21 states and their Clean
Cities partners to build local markets for alternative fuels and
vehicles. An additional $800,000 will fund rebates on the
cost of alternative fuel vehicles operating in private and local
government fleets, and another $400,000 will support
stakeholder conferences, international trade missions, and
training for Clean Cities coalitions. See the DOE press
release.
Thirteen Utilities Meet the Million Solar Roofs Challenge
The Utility Photovoltaic Group (UPVG) commended 13 of its
member utilities yesterday for meeting the group's challenge
to promote photovoltaic systems to their customers. The
UPVG's Million Solar Roof Challenge, issued in August
1999, called for utilities to install a photovoltaic system on
one of their own facilities, to develop customer education
packages, to adopt international electrical standards for
connecting systems to their electrical grid, and to register all
systems with DOE's Million Solar Roofs registry.
UPVG, a non-profit group, is trying to get a majority of its
93 electric service provider members to meet the challenge.
The current 13 honorees are mainly located in the western
United States, with the exception of Commonwealth Edison
in Chicago, Illinois, and the New York Power Authority in
New York City. See the UPVG press release.
The President's Million Solar Roofs Initiative aims to install
solar energy systems on one million U.S. buildings by 2010.
DOE is coordinating the initiative. See the Million Solar Roofs Web site on EREN.
DOE Awards Energy Efficiency Grants to New Hampshire
DOE announced last week the award of nearly $450,000 to
New Hampshire for energy efficiency projects. The projects
include a partnership of DOE's Rebuild America Program
with the Governor's Office to renovate more than 13 million
square feet of building space in state-owned buildings,
including the university system. The program is also helping
seven New Hampshire school districts and 10 municipalities
renovate buildings. Other projects include the New Hampshire
Industries of the Future program, which is saving energy in
the metal casting industry, and several energy efficiency
programs run by the Governor's Office of Energy and
Community Services. New Hampshire will contribute
approximately $100,000 toward the projects. See the DOE
press release.
For more information about the Rebuild America Program, see the program's newly revised Web site on EREN.
DOE Hosts Contest for EnergySmart Student Inventors
Do you know an elementary school student that has an
inventive streak? Would he or she like to meet with a top
U.S. energy scientist or engineer? A new contest, sponsored
by DOE and Owens Corning, will allow four young students
to do just that.
The EnergySmart Schools Invention Kids Contest is
accepting entries for original energy-saving devices.
Students entering the fourth, fifth, or sixth grade must draw
and describe the invention for submission by November 10th.
Four winning entries will each receive a $250 savings bond,
an all-expense-paid trip to a DOE laboratory to build their
invention, and a trip to New York City to exhibit their
invention. See the press release on the EnergySmart
Schools Web site on EREN.
In related news, this year's National Science Bowl
competition was won yesterday by duPont Manual High
School from Louisville, Kentucky. Sponsored by DOE, the
National Science Bowl is the premier high school science
and mathematics academic competition in the country.
Three hundred students on 60 winning regional teams
gathered in Washington, D.C., for the championship match;
more than 11,000 students around the country competed in
Science Bowl competitions this year. See the DOE press
release.
Site News
BestPractices
DOE’s BestPractices team, a program under the Office of
Industrial Technologies, helps industrial end users improve
the energy- and cost-efficiency of their manufacturing plants.
The team provides technical assistance in assessing and
upgrading energy-consuming components and systems,
including electric motor, steam, compressed air, and process
heating systems. The site provides software tools, efficiency
tips, updates on emerging technologies, information on cost-
sharing opportunities, technical and market publications, and
access to industrial efficiency experts.
For this and other recent additions see the EREN Web site.
Energy Facts and Tips
Bob Vila's "Home Again" Looks at Energy Star Appliances
Continuing our look at Bob Vila's "Home Again," this week's
show includes a discussion of Energy Star appliances that
will help the new homeowners save energy and money. For
more details about the "Home Again" show, plus lists of local
TV schedules, see Bob Vila's Web site.
If you didn't see the show a couple weeks ago, you missed
seeing how an infrared camera can be used to expose heat
leaking from buildings (and, as Bob Vila demonstrates, even
from people). You can still see the Web version of the story
on the Bob Vila Web site.
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