EREN Network News

May 9, 2001

News and Events

• Federal Agencies to Cut Power Use in California
• DOE Issues Action Plan for Saving Energy in California
• Californians Reduce Energy Use by Nine Percent in April
• Los Angeles Airport to Make Power from Food Waste
• BPA Plans Wind Farms in Washington and Montana

• Canadian Solar Industries Association

• Avoiding the Peak: The Lingo of Electricity Loads

News and Events

Federal Agencies to Cut Power Use in California
President Bush announced last week that the federal government will try to help with the power crisis in California by reducing energy use in federal facilities located there. DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham noted that 30 to 35 rolling blackouts may hit California during the coming summer.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) will take the lead in the federal effort by reducing its peak electrical load in California by 10 percent this summer. DOD plans further reductions next summer to 15 percent below last summer's peak electrical demand. To accomplish this, DOD will spend a total of $51 million this year and next, and intends to leverage that with private funding of $300 million.

DOD expects to reduce its electrical demand by 200 megawatts by next summer, achieving 150 megawatts of power reduction through conservation and by installing energy efficiency improvements. The remaining 50 megawatts will come in part from two existing natural-gas-fired generators; DOD is also exploring the possibility of adding new generation from wind, geothermal, and solar energy sources, as well as from fuel cells. Altogether, the project should yield energy savings of $25 million per year.

See the announcement on the White House Web site.

See also the corresponding DOD news briefing.

In addition to his announcement, President Bush released a memo to all Federal executive departments and agencies, directing them to take appropriate actions to conserve energy. See the White House memos.

The President's announcement was well timed, as rolling blackouts hit California again this week. The California Independent System Operator (ISO)— the operator of the state's electrical grid — said that a combination of record high temperatures and power plant shutdowns led to the electricity shortage. See the California ISO Web site.

DOE Issues Action Plan for Saving Energy in California
To support President Bush's directive, DOE has issued an action plan for federal facilities in California. During electrical emergencies in California, federal facilities will rapidly reduce their electricity loads by increasing indoor air temperatures to 78 degrees or by shutting off non-essential equipment and lighting. The action plan also directs building managers to pre-cool the buildings during off-peak times, and asks employees to be diligent in reducing their use of lighting and office equipment.

As further help in implementing the President's directive, Secretary Abraham has asked DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to work with federal agencies in California. FEMP will deploy special teams to identify short-term energy saving opportunities in up to 24 of the largest energy-consuming federal facilities in California.

FEMP has the charge of saving energy in federal facilities, and already has a great track record: The federal government has reduced energy consumption by more than 20 percent between 1985 and 1999, saving taxpayers more than $19 billion. In the same time period, energy costs for federal buildings were cut nearly in half. The federal energy bill for fiscal year 1999 decreased 7.5 percent from the previous year alone. See the DOE press release.

See also the FEMP Web site on EREN.

DOE has also established an Energy Emergency Task Force to respond quickly and appropriately to any energy emergencies that may occur this summer. DOE will work with the Federal Emergency Management Administration and other federal, state, and local authorities to identify where DOE can provide assistance during energy emergencies. See the DOE press release.

Californians Reduce Energy Use by Nine Percent in April
California Governor Gray Davis was heartened by the news last week that the state had achieved a 9 percent reduction in electricity use in April, compared to one year ago. The news suggested that the state's goal of achieving a 10 percent cut in electricity use is within reach. See the May 2nd press release by selecting "Press Releases." on the governor's press room.

California has also set up a new Web site that provides easy access to its rebates for energy efficiency and demand reduction. The Web site provides a link to a database of rebate programs available in California. See the California rebates Web site.

Los Angeles Airport to Make Power from Food Waste
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) announced Monday that it will start turning its food waste into electricity through a six-month pilot program. The airport currently ships as much as 7,800 tons of food waste to landfills each year. Through the new pilot program, the waste will instead be shipped to the Hyperion Treatment Plant, run by the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, where a digester will convert the waste into methane and carbon dioxide. The methane will then be piped to a power plant and burned to generate electricity. See the LAWA press release.

LAX also opened a natural gas fueling facility in late April. The facility will provide compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the vehicles operated by the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), including more than 250 CNG vehicles and 55 LNG shuttle buses. See the LAWA press release.

BPA Plans Wind Farms in Washington and Montana
In the past week, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has announced plans for a two new wind power plants, one in Washington and one in Montana.

A 150-megawatt wind facility is planned for the Columbia River Basin, about 15 miles north of Prosser, Washington. The first turbines could begin producing power in late 2002 at the facility, which will generate enough power to meet the needs of 36,000 homes. Called the Maiden Wind Farm, the facility could eventually be expanded to 400 megawatts. See the BPA press release.

In Montana, BPA is making plans for the first major wind facility on tribal lands. A 36- to 66-megawatt wind power generation facility is proposed for the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Glacier County, Montana. If built, it could generate enough power for up to 22,000 homes. BPA is holding a series of public meetings in May; if the project is approved, it could start generating power in late 2002. See the BPA press release.

More wind facilities could also be coming to Minnesota soon, thanks to a new initiative called "Wind on the Wires." With sponsorship from the McKnight Foundation and the Energy Foundation, the new $4.5-million, two-year project will focus on overcoming transmission system issues for wind installations in rural Minnesota. According to Paul White, Midwest Project Manager for enXco, a wind energy development company, "Wind on the Wires will help by working to update government rules so that wind power has fair access to the market." See the Wind on the Wires press release.

Wind energy facilities often have trouble gaining access to the power transmission systems they need to send their power to the market, and the rate structures for these systems are often unfavorable for wind power. To learn more, see the white paper, "Fair Transmission Access for Wind," on the American Wind Energy Association Web site.

Site News

Canadian Solar Industries Association
This site explains solar energy technologies for heating water and air and generating electricity. Visitors can browse product guides for solar water heating, solar pool heating, and daylighting. The site also has a directory of solar professionals, as well as news about solar energy in Canada.

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

Energy Facts and Tips

Avoiding the Peak: The Lingo of Electricity Loads
With rolling blackouts again hitting California, now is an excellent time to examine the special terminology that applies to saving electricity. Most homeowners mainly concern themselves with their monthly usage of electricity, measured in kilowatt-hours — after all, this determines their bill. But electric utilities are more often concerned about their electrical load — that is, the total number of kilowatts or megawatts being used at any one time. If you turn on all your lights and appliances for just one hour every day, you will have a high electrical load for that period, even though your overall usage for the day might be low. Unfortunately, almost everyone uses the most electricity during the day or early evening, causing the demand for electricity to peak during those hours — what's known as the "peak demand."

Unlike most energy sources, such as gasoline or natural gas, electricity is difficult to store for later use — essentially all the electricity feeding the electrical grid at any time is generated at the instant that the power is needed. Because of this instantaneous nature of electricity supply, utilities trying to meet their peak demand are forced to power up more expensive generating units, or buy expensive "peak power" from other companies. If insufficient sources of power are available, utilities first "shed" some of their load by cutting off power to certain industries. These industries generally get cheaper power by agreeing to an "interruptible" power supply. If such load shedding strategies fail, the only option may be to reduce loads through brownouts (reduced voltage) or rolling blackouts — intentional blackouts in limited areas. These actions are necessary to prevent large areas of the electrical grid from failing.

In addition to such load shedding strategies, utilities can reduce their peak power loads a number of ways. For instance, a technology being explored by the New Power Company uses the Internet to turn up homeowner's thermostats slightly during peak demand periods, reducing the electrical demand for air conditioning. The homeowners, in turn, also gain the ability to control their thermostats via the Internet. See the New Power press release.

Utilities also try to reduce their peak demand by shifting some of the electrical load to off-peak times. DOE's call for federal building managers to pre-cool their buildings during off-peak times is an example of such "load shifting." Homeowners can also shift their loads by avoiding the use of major appliances until late in the evening.

Requests for consumers to shift their loads to off-peak times are often unsuccessful, since doing so is inconvenient, and generally doesn't have any impact on their electric bills. Utilities, however, often pay much more for power during peak periods than during off-peak periods. To remove this inequity, and to give consumers a cost incentive, some utilities are instituting "time-of-day" rates that charge people less for using power during off-peak periods. Puget Sound Energy, which serves Washington state, received approval in April for the largest time-of-day rate plan in the country — setting special rates for 300,000 of its residential customers. See the Puget Sound Energy press release.

Is this all too much for you? Perhaps you'd rather have your own source of power, so you don't have to worry so much about peak electrical demands. Such self-generation — what the power industry calls "distributed generation" — can also help reduce peak power demands. And if you live in California, you're in luck: The California Energy Commission (CEC) is now accepting applications on a first-come, first- served basis for its Solar Energy and Distributed Generation Grant Program. See the CEC's Consumer Energy Center CEC's Consumer Energy Center Web site.

About this Newsletter

You can subscribe to this newsletter using the online form at: http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/subscribe/. This Web page also allows you to update your email address or unsubscribe to this newsletter.

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) home page is located at http://www.eren.doe.gov/.

If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact the editor.