September-October 2003
Conservation Update
Feature Article
Laying the Foundation for Market Transformation
by Chris Calwell and John Zugel, Ecos Consulting
Reprinted with permission from May - June 2003 issue of Home Energy.
It has been 23 years since the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) was first introduced. Over its first two decades of sales, the CFL made only modest incursions into the residential marketplace thoroughly dominated by a century—old lamp design—the incandescent bulb. Then, in 2001, the market share gains for CFLs outpaced all of the gains achieved in the first 260 months of the products' existence. National sales of CFLs grew from 0.5% share in mid-2000 to 1.6% share in mid-2001, reaching 2.1% by the fourth quarter of 2001. In this same year, California sales absolutely soared, reaching a peak of 8.5% in the second quarter and stabilizing at between 5% and 6% in the third and fourth quarters of 2001 (see Figure 1). What happened?
The events of 2001 built on the foundations laid by energy efficiency programs in previous years. And on top of this groundwork, a number of extraordinary factors came into play in 2001, particularly in California. Any one or two of them alone might have led to a banner year of sales, but together they created something of a "perfect storm"—a confluence of factors at the right time and place to drive an unprecedented market outcome.
 CFL Share of Retail Screw-Based Bulb Sales |
Dramatic Growth
 The California experience with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) gives valuable lessons for transformation of other markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency products. |
Between 1997 and 1999, a number of things occurred that planted the seeds for dramatic future growth of efficient lighting sales. First, the EPA launched an ENERGY STAR® labeling program for residential light fixtures, and later an ENERGY STAR labeling program for screw-based CFLs as well. During this same period, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) accelerated sales of high-quality subcompact (approximately incandescent-sized) CFLs through a targeted procurement and testing effort.
In California, starting in 1999, a utility-led effort, the California Residential Lighting and Appliance Program (CRLAP) undertook a broad, sustained initiative to build a conscious market preference for Energy Star-labeled bulbs, torchieres, and hard-wired fixtures. This included:
- a decisive shift from bill stuffers and utility-driven advertising to in-store advertising materials and events, including point-of-purchase banners and shelf-mounted signage, frequent sidewalk sales, and heavily publicized torchiere turn-in events
- a massive statewide effort to build retailer infrastructure for marketing the products, including professional training of sales representatives and regular visits by field staff to each store to display merchandise attractively, tabulate inventory levels, and maintain point-of-purchase displays; and
- significant investments of incentive dollars into competitively allocated manufacturer buydowns, which maximized price leverage per dollar invested. More importantly, this investment greatly amplified competition among manufacturers. Those who successfully moved their initial allocations of incentive dollars through retail channels by the program deadline could obtain additional allocations from their less successful competitors. This gave upstart manufacturers a foot in the door when competing for retail distribution space with larger, well-established competitors.
Collectively, these program elements helped accomplish something previous California utility programs had not: They built a truly competitive marketplace in efficient lighting. Suddenly, energy-efficient lighting became an important enough revenue source to Home Depot, Lowe's, Home Base, Orchard Supply, and other retailers to cause them to invest their own promotional resources (such as discounts and advertising) to grab market share from their competitors. More importantly, however, the ongoing investment by California throughout the 1990s and 2000 was quietly building an efficiency infrastructure that would pay enormous dividends in 2001, when unprecedented changes in the energy landscape would drive consumers to stores in record numbers to purchase energy-efficient products.
The 2001 Experience
Even allowing for sharp declines in the average selling price of CFLs, CFLs outsold incandescent bulbs on a dollar basis in California for the full year 2001. Here are some of the factors that contributed to this increase in sales.
Episodic power shortages, rolling blackouts, and the fear that they would become more frequent and last longer. As reserve margins of electricity supply became tight in California, utilities and regulators switched from a market transformation mode to a resource acquisition mode. Instead of steadily decreasing incentives and relying primarily on marketing and education to drive sales, the utilities offered rebates that nearly equaled the purchase price of a CFL. The rebate amounts were not particularly high by historical standards. PG&E, for example, offered rebates of $3 per bulb compared to rebates of $4 to $7 per bulb in the early 1990s, yet achieved CFL sales of approximately 7 million units in 2001—a massive increase compared to year 2000 volumes.
Rebates alone could not drive a stampede of purchases. Retail sales staffs were already very familiar with the benefits of CFLs; branding and consumer education messages were firmly in place; and retailers had already established longstanding relationships with numerous competitors. All this made possible the large orders that would follow.
Public awareness messages broadcast by state and city government officials and utilities. These messages urged customers to conserve, specifically by purchasing and using CFLs. The state's Flex Your Power campaign, with initial funding of $20 million and later budget additions, was able to promote simple energy efficiency messages very widely in the state.
Massive direct purchases by state and local governments. The California legislature mobilized $20 million of emergency funding for the California Conservation Corps (CCC) to purchase and distribute free CFLs to nearly half a million low-income households.
Rising electricity rates, especially for usage above baseline amounts. While baseline electric rates held steady, Californians saw very steep increases in their incremental rate for consumption above baseline.
Unprecedented competition among manufacturers and retailers. This competition resulted in substantial internal discounting (manufacturers and retailers accepting lower gross margins than they typically would for CFLs). It created a "virtuous cycle" in which price cuts drove greater sales, increasing economies of scale in manufacturing and making possible even lower prices on subsequent orders.
The imposition of steep tariffs on Asian manufacturers. Tariffs of up to 75% were set by the European Union in response to charges of dumping (below-cost selling). This caused numerous low-cost suppliers from Asia to shift the focus of their marketing efforts to North America, greatly increasing the available supply of products and driving additional price competition. This increase in manufacturers is perhaps most evident in the Energy Star CFL program data. At the beginning of 2001, the program included 17 manufacturers offering 161 qualifying products. By the end of the year, that list had grown to include 94 manufacturers and 455 qualifying products.
Lasting Effects
 California is monitoring whether the changes in the CFL market are permanent. |
A number of market changes have occurred that are likely to persist even after utility rebate levels and promotional efforts drop off. Unprecedented competition has fueled a wave of product innovation and aggressive pricing that will make CFLs affordable and potentially attractive to most purchasers from now on. Stores like Home Depot, Ikea, Costco, and Kmart have made inexpensive CFLs a standard promotional item, in many cases bypassing major manufacturers to offer a private-label brand at a lower price.
Not all of these private-label CFLs meet ENERGY STAR requirements, however, which raises legitimate questions about their performance and longevity. ENERGY STAR has gained enough support in the marketplace to be willing to limit participation to products verified to have high quality. Thus the program has moved from a recruitment phase to a discernment phase, requiring manufacturers to meet more stringent specification and testing requirements beginning in July 2002. It no longer needs simply to encourage consumers to buy any CFL instead of an incandescent bulb; it can instead direct consumers toward high-quality CFLs with superior efficiency and performance.
Retailers now clearly understand the benefits of CFL technology, both to consumers (energy savings and convenience) and to the retailers themselves (higher sales revenues per unit of shelf space than incandescent bulbs). As a result, some level of in-store CFL promotion will now be self-sustaining, allowing the utilities to retarget or reduce their funding and still achieve a given level of market success.
Utilities, regional groups, and state governments have come to understand that a largely transformed CFL market represents a very fruitful place to prospect for resource acquisition, both on a short-term and on a long-term basis. The CCC program generated a payback of approximately one year on a $20 million investment of public funds, though long-term evaluations will be needed to verify the persistence of savings and continued usage rates.
Most importantly, the program put approximately 6 times more dollars in the hands of low-income residents through long term energy savings than if it had simply given the $20 million to the residents directly. This multiplier effect is likely to feature prominently in future low-income programs, or in others that need to achieve demand reductions quickly to meet local or regional power shortages.
One overarching lesson from the events of 2001 is that market transformation takes time. CFLs ground their way to begrudging market acceptance for more than two decades before finally gaining traction with consumers. That period reflects multiple generations of revision to the technology itself, the trying and refining of numerous utility program approaches, and a great deal of hard work by a whole array of allies. Large incentives by themselves do not guarantee large energy savings, but they can stimulate a dramatic short-term response in an already substantially transformed, competitive market.
State Energy Offices Bulletin
Stories submitted by state energy offices about their projects.
Arkansas
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Arkansas� Cabot Middle School South saved more than $4,000 from August 2002 to April 2003, as compared to the same period the previous year. |
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Arkansas Energy Office to Sponsor Teacher Training
Active Physics teachers from around the country who are interested in adding "Light Up My Life" to their school curricula are invited to attend the second two-day workshop sponsored by the Arkansas Energy Office in Little Rock on February 10-11, 2004. The office will pay as much as $500 toward travel and hotel accommodations for each teacher who attends the Teacher Training Workshop. Active Physics "Light Up My Life" asks students to think actively about energy use and savings as they apply to lighting. Students analyze the lighting in a variety of community buildings for quality, quantity, and cost.
District of Columbia
Energy Office Publishes Energy Plan
The Washington, D.C., Energy Office recently developed and published a Comprehensive Energy Plan for 2003-2007 (known as CEP III). The CEP III is an energy efficiency guide for District residents, businesses, energy providers, and energy regulators. The plan includes 43 recommendations that are practical and attainable with collaborative efforts on the parts of government and private industry. Twenty-one recommendations address the major energy end-use sectors: DC Government, Residential, Commercial/Industrial, Institutional ,and Transportation. The other 22 recommendations address several special strategies: Energy Assistance, Public Information/Education, Regulatory Intervention, Research and Development, and Emergency Planning.
In general, the CEP indicates the need to use nonrenewable energy more efficiently, use renewable resources more aggressively, and ensure that the legislative, administrative, and regulatory mechanisms are in place to support wiser use of energy in the city. The plan also acknowledges that in the District of Columbia, according to the 2000 census, approximately 52,000 households, or 23% of the total, are at or below the poverty level. Special efforts must continue to help these citizens keep up with the cost of energy, at least until their homes can be made energy efficient and they become energy-smart consumers.
Find the Comprehensive Energy Plan on the D.C. Energy Office's Web site.
Hawaii
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Tons of recovered driftnets are converted to electricity in Hawaii's most unusual waste-to-energy project. |
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Hawaii Driftnets Turn from Threat to Resource
Driftnets snagged in reefs surrounding the wildlife refuge of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are being recovered and burned to generate electricity in Honolulu. Workers from a variety of public and private agencies cut the nets loose from reefs, where they endanger marine wildlife, and haul them into Kewalo Basin, a port on Oahu. Hawaii Metal Recycling, a company specializing in materials recovery, cuts up the nets, which are then taken to the HPOWER waste-to-energy plant in Campbell Industrial Park.
The burning net generates enough electricity for about 40 homes for a year-and the marine life in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is safer, too. During the summer of 2001, about 80 tons of net were collected. In 2002, 103 tons were hauled in, and in 2003 the harvest is expected to reach 130 tons.
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Credit: NOAA photo by Ray Boland |
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Hawaii Prepares for Energy Emergencies
Hawaii's energy emergency preparedness, readiness, and security are established policies, plans, processes, and procedures for managing energy disruptions caused by international market fluctuations, terrorist-based incidents, and natural disasters. In the case of terrorism, industry, government, law enforcement, and National Guard units have implemented intelligence sharing, measures procedures for systematic, coordinated, and cooperative rapid ramp-up of security levels, and critical infrastructure security protection via specific infrastructure security guidelines, security assessments, energy security measures, and energy security force deployment plans.
The State of Hawaii Energy Council, consisting of Hawaii's major energy companies, specialized military units, and agencies from all levels of government (including the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism) has been preparing for these types of emergencies. Simulations are vital to this effort, since terrorist threats, hurricanes, and energy market disruptions can affect the Hawaiian Islands with little or no warning.
Hawaii Showcases Hydrogen Technologies
Many challenges face Hawaii's energy system-no interconnection between islands, high utility rates, over dependence on imported, nonrenewable fossil fuels. Each island has unique renewable energy attributes, but all share siting constraints for conventional power plants and high-voltage distribution lines. Couple this with short driving distances, high gasoline costs, and limited discretionary driving to make the state an ideal site for deploying state-of-the-art hydrogen technologies.
Hawaii showcases power generation and transportation fuel applications of hydrogen. In addition, the University of Hawaii's Hawaii Natural Energy Institute has established research excellence in hydrogen and renewable resources. Federal and private entities, including the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility in Honolulu; the Hydrogen Power Park, planned for the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) in Kona; and the Gateway Distributed Energy Resources Center, also at NELHA, have made major investments in local hydrogen research and development. Already, researchers and local energy innovation businesses such as Hoku Scientific are working to make hydrogen fuel use a reality in Hawaii.
Idaho
Idaho Wind Prospecting Moves into the Owyhee Mountains
Idaho scientists installed a 98-foot tall anemometer on state land in the Owyhee Mountains near Silver City on June 24. It's part of a wind prospecting program sponsored by the Idaho Energy Division to identify locations for possible commercial development of wind power. Idaho ranks thirteenth in the nation among states with wind power resources, but does not yet host a single large wind power project.
This may soon change with help from Energy Division's wind development program. Currently it has more than a dozen anemometers on loan to citizens who believe they have commercially viable wind power on their properties. Scientists from DOE's Idaho National Engineering Environmental Laboratory will download the data from the anemometer near Silver City for analysis.
Iowa
Iowa Launches Solar Web Site for Midwest
A new Web site provides photovoltaic (PV) information and materials for seven states in the Midwest. With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Power in the Midwest site offers resources for consumers and professionals on incorporating PV into buildings. The site includes a "yellow pages" of resources, case studies, links to state and national sites, and educational materials. Resources from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are included.
Solar professionals can request to have their information included on the site by contacting the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Iowa's Polk County Gets a Lift through Energy Efficiency
Polk County, home to Iowa's capital city, has recently undergone an energy efficiency facelift. Since February 2003, the county has saved more than $45,000 annually in costs related to energy management through the Rebuild Iowa program. The county created several strategies to enhance energy efficiency efforts, including rate changes and rebates for new equipment. Additionally, energy efficiency installations and the implementation of an Energy Management Improvement plan have resulted in the most savings for Polk County. "The core of what Polk County hopes to do is operate our facilities more efficiently and avoid the unnecessary cost of inefficient equipment," said Chris Frantsvog, Polk County's energy/resource coordinator.
In the program's first year, energy improvements and studies have focused on the county's administration building, courthouse, jail, planning/public works facility and central maintenance facility. Improvements have included upgraded light fixtures, occupancy sensors, energy-efficient furnaces and water heaters, programmable thermostats, vending machine control devices, insulation, and changes in lighting schedules. Environmental results from Polk County's initiative are also a testimony to the success of the program. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions prevented through energy savings is equivalent to removing 97 cars from the road. Carbon dioxide emissions also have been reduced by 800 tons.
Kansas
Energy Contracts Make Kansas a Leader in Savings
Although beset by budget woes like every other state, Kansas is benefiting today from an energy efficiency program it began three years ago. Through energy savings performance contracts, Kansas is saving millions on its energy bills after increasing the energy efficiency of its buildings.
Already in place in many states, Kansas began work to put energy savings performance contracts in place in 2000 with the passage of "enabling legislation" by the Kansas Legislature (KSA 75-37,125). In addition, the state implemented a program to pre-quality energy service companies (ESCOs) to bid for work on state facilities. These companies finance efficiency improvements to state facilities and pay for the projects with energy savings. After the projects are paid off and terms of the contracts are complete, the state continues to reap the savings from improved efficiency in its buildings.
In addition to qualifying ESCOs, Kansas established low interest bond financing available to state agencies through the Facility Conservation Improvement Program and the Kansas Development Finance Authority.
This summer, Kansas released information on its first series of energy savings performance contracts, and the numbers are good news for the hard-pressed budget for the state of Kansas. Projects under way today involve buildings with a combined floor area of more than 20 million square feet. They yield an estimated annual savings on Kansas' energy bills of more than $7.1 million and will pay for themselves in energy savings simple payback of 10.8 years. Half of the floor area (square feet) in buildings owned by the state will soon be covered by an energy savings performance contract.
Results from Energy Service Performance Contracts for |
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|---|---|
Project costs |
$77,861,749 |
Estimated annual savings |
$7,192,832 |
Simple payback |
10.8 years |
Total square feet of building floor area involved |
20,853,152 |
*These results include eight projects under construction and nine projects in final negotiations as of September 1, 2003.
Projects under construction include:
- Hutchinson Correctional Facility
- Kansas Neurological Institute
- Kansas School for the Blind
- Kansas State University - Campus
- Kansas State University - Housing
- Pittsburg State University
- University of Kansas - Campus
- University of Kansas Medical Center
As in other states, DOE's Rebuild America has led the charge for performance contracting. For details, see its local partnership called Rebuild Kansas. The Kansas Corporation Commission was key to moving the process forward and documenting savings, and DOE's State Energy Program supports the KCC's involvement in these projects. This documentation is important because it shows state leaders that efficiency saves the state its cash reserves. For more details, see Rebuild Kansas' database of building projects.
Kentucky
City Managers Learn Energy Management
Through a grant received from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Kentucky Division of Energy with the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center conducted a workshop in June to help Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) learn how to reduce its $5-$7 million utility bill. More than 40 LFUCG managers attended the workshop and learned the basic "whys, whats, and hows" of an Energy Management Program.
LFUCG chief administrative officer Michael Dohoney said after the workshop, "I am convinced that the workshop will prove beneficial in helping our organization become more energy efficient." He added, "We would readily recommend this type of workshop to other local governments."
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Conference participants view translucent baffles that distribute natural sunlight into a classroom at Smith Middle School. |
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Kentuckians Learn about High Performance Schools in North Carolina
In early August, Kentucky architects and school officials planning new school construction visited North Carolina to learn about high performance, energy efficient design and the feasibility of applying it to their projects. Mike Nicklas of Innovative Design, contributor to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools, and Ken Redfoot of Corley, Redfoot, Zack gave tours of three schools in the Raleigh-Durham area that demonstrate a whole-building approach to high performance design and extensive use of controlled natural daylight. Participants also met with Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) officials to learn about their award-winning Energy Management Program and the WCPSS Maintenance Excellence program.
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This exhibit at the 2003 Kentucky State Fair showcases energy efficiency through ENERGY STAR. |
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Kentucky Cooperative Extension Agents Become Energy Efficiency Experts
Kentucky is partnering with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture to promote energy efficiency through each county's Cooperative Extension Service Office. The kickoff to this statewide initiative was a 2,000-square-foot exhibit at the Kentucky State Fair on energy efficiency, which featured displays on ENERGY STAR construction, appliances, and lighting, and a display showing an ENERGY STAR manufactured home under construction. County extension agents staffed the exhibit and were provided with on-the-job training in ENERGY STAR, which they will use as they take information on energy efficiency to each of Kentucky's 120 counties.
The exhibit will also be featured at home and garden shows throughout the state, and parts such as the lighting display will be used in county events sponsored by the county Cooperative Extension Service Office.
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Kentucky NEED sponsored a workshop for these teachers this summer at Northern Kentucky University. |
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Kentucky Teachers "Energized" by Workshop
In July, 24 teachers from across Kentucky spent five days touring energy sites in the western part of the state as part of the 2003 Kentucky Energy Conference for Educators, sponsored by Kentucky National Energy Education Development (NEED). All aspects of energy, including its science, sources, consumption, electricity, efficiency, and environmental and economic impacts were studied. Teachers received graduate credit from Northern Kentucky University for the workshop.
Kentucky Teachers Take a Field Trip
The Kentucky National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project recently organized a field trip for K-12 teachers to learn about energy. For five days, the teachers became students as part of the 2nd Energy Conference for Educators. Conference participants visited energy-related sites across western Kentucky-including a coal mine, hydroelectric power plant, and a gaseous diffusion plant-to better understand energy production and use.
Attendees also received training on how to teach energy topics in the classroom, based on NEED's K-12 energy curriculum that meets requirements of the Kentucky Department of Education's Program of Studies and the National Science Education Standards. "Energy efficiency is the underlying theme," noted Karen Reagor, executive director of the Kentucky NEED Project.
The tours provided the educators with a better understanding of energy, giving them more confidence when teaching the subject in the classroom, explained Reagor. The conference drew a cross section of teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools. Last year, participants visited sites including an oil refinery, coal-fired power plant, and a school with a photovoltaic array.
Sponsors included the Kentucky Coal Council, Equitable Resources, American Electric Power and the Kentucky Division of Energy, lead organization for Rebuild Kentucky.
The Kentucky NEED Project is an affiliate of the National Energy Education Development Project, a Rebuild America Strategic Partner.
Mammoth Cave National Park Leads the Nation in Biodiesel Conversion
Thanks in part to the assistance of the Kentucky Corn Growers Association and the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition, trucks, buses, heavy equipment, tractors-and even two ferryboats plying the Green River-are now using biodiesel fuel at Mammoth Cave National Park. The park's vehicles represent the first 100% alternative fuel fleet in Kentucky and the first national park in the country to install E85 fueling on site. This leadership in the alternative fuel arena contributed to the park's recognition as a "National Park of Environmental Excellence" by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It was one of 20 parks to receive this designation (of 385 parks in the system).
"There is a serious air pollution problem all over the southeastern United States," said Steve Kovar, facility manager of the park. "As a national park, we wanted to try something to correct it, or at least to do our part." So in 1998, the park began switching its fossil fuel vehicles to E85, a blend of 15% gasoline and 85% ethanol, created by fermenting the sugar found in corn. Last spring, the remaining fossil fuel light-duty vehicles switched to a 10% ethanol, 90% gasoline blend, which requires no vehicle modifications. The park installed an ethanol fueling station for these vehicles, thanks in part to the assistance of the Kentucky Corn Growers Association and the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition.
The park's heavy equipment switched from diesel to a biodiesel blend made from soybean oil or yellow grease, purchased from Valor Oil in nearby Bowling Green. Even the park's lawn tractors and its two ferryboats operating on the Green River are powered by biodiesel. Buses transport 400,000 visitors a year from a common parking area to the cave entrance; six of these were converted to propane.
Minnesota
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Marathon runner Tom Andrews nears completion of a 500-mile run for E85 and clean air in Minneapolis on September 27. |
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Minnesota Capitol Is Finish-Line for Ethanol Run
Champion ultra-marathon runner Tom Andrews completed a 500-mile "E85 Run for Clean Air" on September 27 at the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul. The run began September 13 in Fargo, North Dakota, with a send-off from North Dakota Governor John Hoeven. The purpose of the run was to increase awareness of E85 fuels and flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) that run on both ethanol and gasoline.
At the ceremony in Saint Paul, General Motors Corporation (GM) announced plans to expand the use of FFVs. GM produces more than a third of the three million plus FFVs on American roads that can operate with E85. For example, all 2002 and newer Chevrolet and GMC full-size sport utility vehicles are equipped with the Vortec-5300 engine that is compatible with E85; as are the Silverado and Sierra pickups.
New York
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Wanda, the talking clothes washer, educates New Yorkers about energy efficiency. |
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New York Talking Washing Machine Puts a Clean Spin on Energy Efficiency
New York is using a new tool to grab public attention: Wanda, the talking ENERGY STAR-labeled clothes washer. Wanda educates the public on energy efficiency, water savings, and the ENERGY STAR label. When she appears at fairs or educational events, several New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) staffers located at a remote site supply her voice, answering consumer questions as they arise.
Source: September 3 issue of Alliance to Save Energy's e-fficiency News.
South Carolina
South Carolina Projects Energy Savings of $2.2 Million
The South Carolina Energy Office (SCEO) estimates its ConserFund will save taxpayers more than $2.2 million in 2004. ConserFund provides state agencies, public colleges and universities, school districts, and local governments with low-cost financing for energy efficiency projects.
The fund provides as much as $500,000 per project for eligible energy improvements. Annual interest rates are 1% per year. The fund revolves so that payments generate additional loans and savings continue to grow over time. As shown in the chart, fiscal year 2003 was a banner year for savings by South Carolina state agencies.
Sample of 2003 ConserFund Projects |
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Agency |
System Upgrade |
Life-Cycle Savings |
Darlington County School District |
Envelope — insulation and new energy-efficient windows. |
$160,000 |
South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind |
New air handler, chiller, heat reclamation; lighting retrofit. |
$545,000 |
South Carolina Division of General Services |
Two new energy-efficient chillers, rated at 750 and 540 tons. |
$3,400,000 |
Greenville County Government |
New climate controls and lighting retrofit. |
$800,000 |
Clemson University |
Lighting retrofit. |
$1,300,000 |
Trident Technical College |
Upgrade of HVAC equipment and lighting retrofit. |
$700,000 |
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division |
Lighting retrofit. |
$237,000 |
Over the lifetime of SCEO projects already implemented since 1995, taxpayers will save approximately $45.3 million in energy costs. And SCEO estimates these savings will grow substantially in coming years, thanks in no small part to its ConserFund.
Tennessee
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Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell and Commissioner of General Services Gwendolyn Davis together test the new E85 pump. It is the first station in Tennessee to make an alternative transportation fuel - ethanol E85 - available to the public. |
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Tennessee Opens First Public Station with Alternative Fuels
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) celebrated on August 19 the opening of the state's first public fueling station. Located in downtown Nashville near the Tennessee Titans' football stadium, the station pumps E85 for state fleets operating on ethanol and gasoline.
The project was partly funded by a grant from the National Ethanol Vehicle Corporation to the Clean Cities Coalition of Middle Tennessee. The coalition is currently seeking designation under DOE's Clean Cities.
According to DECD, the new station is an important milestone in Tennessee's energy efforts and is the next step toward achieving greater energy independence, improving air quality, and enhancing the nation's economy. In the Nashville area approximately 1,200 fleet vehicles and 8,000 privately owned vehicles can use E85.
Vermont
Vermont's State Energy Program Manager Retires
Lois E. Jackson, a 31-year public servant with the State of Vermont, retired May 29th. She had been associated with the State Energy Office since 1977 and was the most senior person in the program nationwide. Her time and effort as a policy advisor in the areas of energy and conservation to present and past commissioners in the state operating unit, the Department of Public Service, proved invaluable; she held the institutional memory as the political scene changed in the way the business of energy was conducted within the state. Jackson leveraged $18,000,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other sources that kept Vermont involved in programs beneficial to the well being of the citizenry. She is well known and respected among her colleagues at the state and federal levels. The Boston Regional Office has benefited enormously from her dedication to the program and will miss her enthusiasm and spirit.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Bioenergy Projects Boosted by $1.7 Million in Grants
Renewable energy will play a bigger role in Wisconsin's energy mix, thanks to more than $1.7 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The projects funded by these grants will increase the amount of the state's electricity generated from biogas sources by more than 17% and generate more than 35.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year-enough to power more than 3,700 Wisconsin households.
Eleven Wisconsin projects were among the grant recipients announced by U.S. Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas C. Door on August 25th. Wisconsin was one of 24 states to receive funding, which was authorized through the 2002 Farm Bill. See the chart below for a list of grant recipients.
Wisconsin Recipients of USDA Bioenergy Grants |
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Company |
Wisconsin Location |
Amount |
Biopower LLC |
Krakow |
$179,700 |
Burr Oak Hills Dairy / Eugene and Shawn Smith |
Clinton |
$90,000 |
CADC Renewable Energy LLC |
Cashton |
$200,000 |
Dairy Dreams |
Casco |
$99,950 |
Omro Dairy |
Omro |
$99,950 |
Pagel's Ponderosa Dairy LLC |
Kewaunee |
$99,950 |
Quantum Dairy LLC |
Weyauwega |
$205,991 |
Schopf's Hilltop Dairy LLC |
Stugeon Bay |
$240,589 |
Suring Community Dairy LLC |
Suring |
$99,950 |
Tidy View Dairy |
Kaukauna |
$99,950 |
Vir-Clair Farms / Gary Boyke |
Fond du Lac |
$299,580 |
"This is a tremendous step forward in the use of renewable energy to meet Wisconsin's energy needs and continues Wisconsin's development as a national leader in the use of farm-based anaerobic digesters," said Larry Krom, manager of business sectors and research and development for Focus on Energy's Renewable Energy program. "It was possible because Wisconsin has built a network of experts in a variety of fields who were able to identify projects that qualified for the grants and then helped the candidates navigate the challenging application process."
All the projects involve the installation of anaerobic digesters at farms. These systems convert animal waste or other organic materials to biogas for generating heat and electricity, and substantially reduce odors. Combined, they will eliminate the need to burn nearly 43,000 tons of coal and the resulting annual emission of more than 85.9 million pounds of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. That's the environmental equivalent of removing 5,786 cars from Wisconsin's roads.
Wisconsin Renewable Energy Program Awards R&D Grants
Wisconsin's Focus on Energy Renewable Energy program recently awarded six grants to support research and development projects that may help wind, solar, and biomass play more important roles in Wisconsin's energy mix.
The grants, totaling $199,786, were awarded to projects designed to assess Wisconsin's renewable energy resources, develop new renewable energy technologies, and maximize the output of renewable energy systems. Recipients included Bioenergy and Environmental LLC of Wheaton, Ill., Cyclus Envirosystems Inc. of Olympia, Wash., Walter Novash of Madison, Wis., Seventh Generation Energy Systems Ltd. of Belleville, Wis., Superior Safety and Environmental Services, Inc. of Middleton, Wis. and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"Wisconsin's residents, businesses, and farmers depend on having reliable and affordable sources of power," said Charlie Higley, director of Focus on Energy's Renewable Energy program. "Renewable energy offers tremendous potential for helping meet the state's future energy needs while helping protect our environment for future generations. The projects supported by these grants will gather information and develop new technologies that could help wind, solar, and biomass meet a bigger portion of Wisconsin's energy needs."
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Rexnord Industries' new heat recover at its Elastomer Division plant in New Berlin saves $55,000 a year in energy costs. |
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Wisconsin-Built Heat Recovery Improves Industrial Efficiency
Rexnord Industries Elastomer Division in New Berlin, Wisconsin, installed a new, state-of-the-art heat recovery system in August 2003. The system was developed and installed at Rexnord by Environmental Systems, Inc. in Waukesha with support from Wisconsin Focus on Energy.
The installation also includes an energy audit of the Rexnord plant by the local utility, We Energies. The audit pointed to potential savings by adding time controls and safety features on the company's eslastomeric casting and molding facilities.
State Energy Information
New state Web sites and publications, and DOE pubs dealing with energy efficiency and renewable energy in the states.
Weatherization Assistance Program Web site
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) publishes this newly redesigned Web site that has more than 100 pages of new and revised content, including DOE guidelines, program metrics, state activities, and information resources for weatherization
Benefits of E85
(PDF 545 KB)
The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition publishes this brochure online about the benefits of E85 for Iowa drivers and farmers; 8 pp.; August, 2003.
Deliberating Diesel: Environmental, Technical, and Social Factors Affecting Diesel Passenger Vehicle Prospects in the United States
(PDF 288 KB)
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) publishes this report written by James Kliesch and Therese Langer on diesel-powered transportation options; read the report 50 pp; September, 2003.
Energy Efficiency Program Planning Workbook
(PDF 102 KB)
The National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) publishes this report for state energy officials about how to structure their energy efficiency programs; 32 pp; December, 2002.
Energy Efficiency and Emissions Trading: Experience from the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 for Using Energy Efficiency to Meet Air Pollution Regulations
(PDF 288 KB)
ACEEE publishes this report written by Dan York on emissions trading; read the report 22 pp; June, 2003.
Increasing Energy Efficiency in New Buildings in the Southwest — Energy Codes and Best Practices
(PDF 2.44 MB)
The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project publishes this report on the status of energy codes for new buildings in the six states comprising the Southwest; 115 pp.; August, 2003.
Renewable Energy and Jobs: The Employment Impacts of Developing Markets for Renewables in California
(PDF 314 KB)
The Environment California Research and Policy Center publishes this report on jobs generated by the state's renewable portfolio standard; 45 pp.; July, 2003.
State Energy Program and State, Territory Energy Offices Deliver Annual Energy and Cost Savings
(PDF 159 KB)
The National Association of State Energy Offices publishes this brochure targeting state energy decision makers; September, 2003.