EREN Network News

August 8, 2001

News and Events

• President Bush Signs Executive Order on Standby Power
• Study: U.S. Homes Could Slash Energy, Water Use
• Californians Continue to Save Energy, but Save Less in July
• GM Shows Home Fuel Cell, Gasoline-Powered Fuel-Cell Pickup
• New Eighty-Megawatt Hydro Plant Online in West Virginia
• EREN Network News Survey Results are Very Positive

Site News

• Municipal Network for Energy Efficiency (MUNEE)

• Light-Colored Roofs are Proven to Save on Cooling

News and Events

President Bush Signs Executive Order on Standby Power
President George W. Bush signed an executive order last week that requires federal agencies to buy electronic devices that use only one watt or less when not turned on. Devices with an external power supply, remote control, or a clock display can draw as much as 20 watts of power when turned off. In many cases, this "standby power" is much more than necessary and can easily be reduced by the manufacturer. Last week's executive order requires DOE to compile a list of products that either meet the one-watt standard or have the lowest standby power for that product line. Agencies must buy electronic products from that list unless doing so would not be cost- effective or practical. See the executive order on the White House Web site.

The executive order fulfills a promise made by President Bush during a visit to DOE in June. See the July 5th edition of the EREN Network News.

DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) estimates that standby power may account for 5 percent of the electricity used in U.S. homes, totaling more than $4 billion per year in electricity costs. See the Standby Power home page on the LBNL Web site.

Study: U.S. Homes Could Slash Energy, Water Use
New energy-efficient appliances can save between 25 and 68 percent of the energy used by older appliances and save from 38 to 67 percent of the water used, according to a study released by DOE last week. The Save Water and Energy Education Program (SWEEP) study was conducted in 25 homes in Oregon.

"Based on our estimates, a typical family with a home more than a decade old could save $200 per year in electricity and water bills, and 18,600 gallons of water, by switching to highly energy and water efficient appliances," said Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. See the DOE press release.

DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNL) participated in the study. See the report on the PNL Web site.

Many of the appliances used in the study carried the Energy Star label. The Energy Star program, a joint effort of DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, now labels a wide range of products, including appliances and home electronics. The Web site, by the way, includes information on the standby power used by most electronic products. See the Energy Star product list.

Californians Continue to Save Energy, but Save Less in July
With the threat of rolling blackouts seeming to dissipate, Californians still saved electricity in July, but less than they have in recent months. Governor Gray Davis announced last week that the state's overall electricity use in July was 5 percent lower than last year, although the peak power use was down by 11 percent. The governor congratulated the state's residents, but warned that "this is no time for complacency."

The state's figures are adjusted for weather and economic growth. The actual metered peak power, without adjustments, was down by 7.1 percent, and the overall electricity use was down by 4.3 percent. For full details, see the California Energy Commission Web site.

The governor also lauded the success of the state's 20/20 rebate program, which gives an extra 20 percent rebate on the electric bills of customers that cut their electricity use by 20 percent or more. In June, nearly 30 percent of the customers of the state's three major utilities qualified for the rebate, earning a total of nearly $60 million in rebates.

Ironically, while California has thus far passed through the summer unscathed, a heat wave in the Midwest and eastern United States has led to record peak electrical demands in the past two weeks. For instance, ISO New England Inc. — the independent system operator for New England's electrical grid — declared a power alert yesterday. It reached a new record peak demand of 24,780 megawatts, an increase of 4.5 percent over last year's record. See the ISO New England Web site.

Media reports also said that the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and Consolidated Edison had called for emergency demand reductions yesterday, although this could not be confirmed on the company's Web sites at press time. See the NYISO Web site.

GM Shows Home Fuel Cell, Gasoline-Powered Fuel-Cell Pickup
General Motors Corporation (GM) unveiled its latest advances in fuel-cell technologies yesterday, first by driving to an automotive conference in a gasoline-powered fuel-cell vehicle, and then by displaying a fuel-cell generator for homes and businesses.

GM's fuel-cell-powered S-10 pickup truck features an onboard reformer that converts gasoline into hydrogen to power the fuel cell. Although several fuel reformers have been technically demonstrated in research settings, GM claims that the company's gasoline reformer is the first to actually be used in a vehicle. GM's new fuel cell also produces about 25 percent more power for the same volume as the company's previous model. The fuel cell generates 25 kilowatts, or roughly 33 horsepower, and the truck achieves twice the fuel economy of today's S-10 pickup.

GM also introduced a 5-kilowatt power generator for homes or businesses that uses the same fuel-cell technology and runs on natural gas, methane, or gasoline. GM has been operating the unit at a research facility for the past six months.

New Eighty-Megawatt Hydro Plant Online in West Virginia
Gauley River Power Partners (GRRP) announced last week that a new 80-megawatt hydroelectric project is now operating commercially in Summersville, West Virginia. The hydropower facility is located adjacent to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam on the Gauley River, and is owned by the City of Summersville. GRRP, which is owned by Catamount Energy Corporation, built and is operating the plant, and Appalachian Power Company, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, is buying the power from the unit. See the press release on the Catamount Web site.

Hydropower facilities often raise concerns about impacts on fish populations, but recent work at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) may help to address those concerns. PNNL is working with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to study the effects of strobe lights on fish near the Grand Coulee Dam. Suspended near the mouth of the third power plant, the strobe lights are intended to frighten fish away from the turbine. A variety of fish tracking techniques will be used over a five-week test period to determine the effectiveness of the strobe lights. An estimated 402,000 fish pass through the turbines each year, and 85 percent of them pass through the third power plant's turbine. See the Tribe's press release on the PNNL Web site.

PNNL also announced Monday that a new acoustic camera may greatly improve researchers' abilities to track fish underwater. Tested at The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River, the camera allowed PNNL researchers to view juvenile salmon movements up to 30 feet away. The camera was originally developed at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory. See the PNNL press release.

EREN Network News Survey Results are Very Positive
Our sincere thanks to all who responded to the EREN Network News survey — nearly 20 percent of subscribers took the survey. In general, we found that most of you are happy with what we're doing — nearly everyone likes the length, likes getting it weekly, and reads it often. More than 75 percent of you find the newsletter to be comprehensive and unbiased.

About a quarter of you reported occasionally having trouble with links. We should note that links sometimes don't work because the Web site we're linking to goes down, or because the site changes the link after the newsletter is sent out. We also recognize that some email programs have difficulty interpreting the links. We suggest that if you encounter problems with the links, try using our online version of the newsletter (that is, the one you're using now). We fix broken links on the online version and also use more precise Web addresses to point you more directly to the news (these addresses are often too long to include in the email version).

Another way for us to address the issue of links is to send you the newsletter as an HTML file. About 27 percent of you favor this option, although a majority prefer the text version. We'll consider adding an HTML version as an option in the future, as we'll also consider the wide range of other suggestions that you made. Thanks again for your helpful feedback!

Site News

Municipal Network for Energy Efficiency (MUNEE)
MUNEE is a program of the U.S. Agency for International Development that aims to improve energy efficiency in the cities of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Web site includes information about energy efficiency financing options and MUNEE's projects and policy and planning activities.

For this and other recent additions to the EREN Web site.

Energy Facts and Tips

Light-Colored Roofs are Proven to Save on Cooling
Is your roof starting to look a bit shabby? If you're in the market for a new roof, and if you use a significant amount of energy for cooling your home in the summer, you might want to consider replacing your current roof with a light-colored roof. Although light-colored materials for roofs makes intuitive sense, the benefits have only recently been quantified in studies. The most recent study, performed in Florida by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), showed that reflective white roofs can cut cooling costs by 20 percent or more. The study was carried out by installing a variety of roofing materials on seven otherwise identical homes in Fort Meyers, each of which kept their thermostat at 77 degrees Fahrenheit. The study found the best results with white metal and cement tile roofs, which reflected from 66 to 77 percent of the solar energy, cutting cooling costs by 20 to 23 percent. See the FSEC report, with links to the press release and photos.

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