Alliance to Save Energy - Promoting Energy Efficiency World Wide: News: May-June 2006 State Energy Bulletin

May-June 2006

Newsletter Contents:

Guest Highlight
Susan L. Macey of the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) on Indiana as a crossroads for energy efficiency.

Alliance to Save Energy Column
Brian T. Castelli explains his role as a member of the Greenhouse Gas Emission Control Strategies workgroup on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s State Advisory Board on Air Pollution (SAB).

State Updates
Legislative updates from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington State.

Indiana: A Crossroads for Energy Efficiency
By Susan L. Macey
Indiana's Utility Consumer Counselor

Photo Susan L. Macey The phrase “Crossroads of America” adorned Indiana’s license plates a few years ago. While this was an obvious reference to highways, the Hoosier State is also at the crossroads of hot summers and cold winters; the North American electric grid; and an abundant, multi-state coal supply. In other words, we have all the ingredients that add up to the need and opportunity for strong energy-efficiency initiatives.

While we join other states in recognizing that energy efficiency is more important today than ever and realize that there is a great deal of work to be done, the public and private-sector partnerships we have formed are already bearing fruit. My staff at the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) is working hard to develop innovative ways of encouraging energy conservation both inside and outside the regulatory arena.

Most recently, the OUCC reached an agreement with Vectren Energy Delivery which will - if approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) - empower Vectren’s natural gas customers throughout Indiana with new tools that will help them reduce consumption and reduce their bills, while securing an annual commitment of more than $4.3 million from the utility to fund conservation initiatives. These initiatives will include rebate programs for energy efficient appliances, Internet-based energy audit tools, a comprehensive media campaign to educate the public, and more.

Our agency and other stakeholders will work with the utility to start the initiatives which will ultimately be overseen by an independent third-party administrator. The agreement will also adjust Vectren’s rate design and remove the utility’s current incentive to encourage higher consumption to increase its profit margin. Our hope is that this bold, innovative effort will lead toward a statewide approach involving other natural gas and electric utilities.

Regarding electricity, the OUCC and the administration of Gov. Mitch Daniels are committed to the use of Indiana coal in the most efficient and environmentally friendly manner possible. Among other initiatives, we are supporting the feasibility study for a proposed new integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant in southwestern Indiana, which will be jointly operated by Vectren and Duke Energy Indiana (pending IURC approval). Coal gasification technology is a concept we strongly support as it will be good for our economy, our environment, and most importantly, the consumer.

The OUCC is also involved in collaborative demand side management (DSM) efforts with other investor-owned electric utilities serving Indiana. These include:

A lighting incentive plan, energy-efficient cooling systems, residential audits and other efforts with Duke Energy Indiana totaling annual savings of 323 megawatts;
Income qualified weatherization, a high-efficiency HVAC program, a compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb promotion and other efforts with Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL);
Energy-efficient traffic lights and street lighting for both IPL and Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO); and,
A residential weatherization program with Indiana-Michigan Power.

We are particularly excited, however, about the voluntary Air Conditioning Load Management – or Direct Load Control (DLC) – programs now available to residential customers throughout our state who own their homes and have central air conditioning.

Three Indiana investor-owned utilities (Duke, IPL and Vectren) and 22 Rural Electric Membership Cooperatives offer these programs, which involve the installation of a small switch on the customer’s air conditioner. The utility can use switches to cycle numerous units during short time periods on peak demand days – allowing it to better manage its power supply while resulting in minimal discomfort for participating customers. In most cases, customers who sign up for these voluntary programs receive bill credits regardless of whether or not their air conditioners are cycled.

Our experience with DLC programs in Indiana has been excellent, and this is an approach we’d recommend to utilities and our fellow consumer advocates in all states for exploration and discussion. To learn more, you can visit the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, where you’ll find a link on our home page to our new consumer fact sheet appropriately titled, “A Small Switch.”

Twice this year, I have had the pleasure of welcoming Kateri Callahan and the Alliance to Save Energy to Indiana for news media events promoting energy conservation. As collaborative efforts of state government, the Alliance and Indiana utilities, these events demonstrate how consumer advocates and utilities can work together to inform the public of what we are doing to promote energy efficiency. More importantly, partnerships such as “The Power is in Your Hands” can serve as a bold call-to-action, encouraging all consumers to take the steps that will reduce their bills while helping our states and our nation in using energy more wisely.

Susan L. Macey is the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. Appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels in March 2005, Macey and her staff are charged with representing the interests of all Indiana residential, commercial and industrial utility consumers in state and federal regulatory proceedings.

Alliance Vice-President selected to serve two-year term on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s State Advisory Board on Air Pollution
Brian T. Castelli
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Photo of Brian Castelli The Commonwealth of Virginia's State Advisory Board (SAB) is chartered to identify air quality issues and analyze their potential impacts on health and the environment. The SAB serves in an advisory capacity to the State Air Pollution Control Board (SAPCB) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Board members are experienced air quality managers and practitioners derived from a wide variety of disciplines within the field to ensure comprehensive perspective and analyses. Some examples include scientists, lawyers, public administrators, and representatives from public interest groups. Typically, two to three projects are selected for the SAB each year. The goals and expected outcomes of the selected projects are then clearly identified by SAPCB and DEQ.

This year the SAB has selected four topics of critical importance to the energy and environmental community:

Mercury Control for Non-Energy Generating Units;
Evaluation of Costs/Benefits of Biodiesel Fuels;
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Control Strategies; and,
Public Health Risk Analysis of Different Pollution Control Strategies.

As a member of the SAB, I will be serving on the Greenhouse Gas Emission Control Strategies workgroup which is chartered to perform an in-depth review of GHG reduction programs in other states, options available and useful in the Commonwealth, and how those programs and controls comport with a bill in the Virginia General Assembly.

The workgroup has begun to gather information and perform analyses that will result in a report that addresses three topics:

Background to describe what greenhouse gases are, potential types of activities that generate greenhouse gases, and what is known about greenhouse gases as they relate to Virginia activities;
Actions that other countries and states are taking on greenhouse gas emissions; and,
Approaches that could help address the issue.

My role on the workgroup is to ensure that energy efficiency is a significant part of the actions and approaches that could help the Commonwealth of Virginia in any potential programs that might be carried out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Brian T. Castelli is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Alliance to Save Energy, and served as chief of staff to the U.S. Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy from 1994 to 2001.

California

Assembly Bill 1012
Passed Assembly 6/01/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Transportation & Housing 6/8/06.
AB1012 would require the state board, by January 1, 2008, to develop and adopt regulations that would become operative no later than January 1, 2010, to increase the use of clean alternative fuels for motor vehicles.

Assembly Bill 1925
Passed Assembly 5/30/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Environmental Quality 6/20/06.
AB1925 would require a report to the legislature with recommendations for how the state can accelerate the adoption of cost-effective geologic sequestration strategies for industrial carbon dioxide.

Assembly Bill 1970
Passed Assembly 5/30/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Energy, Utility, and Communications 6/8/06.
AB1970 would require the manufacturer of an appliance sold in California to place a power content label on each appliance that shows the energy consumption or energy efficiency of the appliance.

Assembly Bill 2189
Passed Assembly 5/04/06, Unanimously Passed Senate Committee on Environment, Utilities, and Communications 6/20/06.
AB2189 would provide that a small hydroelectric generation facility that is an eligible
renewable energy resource retains eligibility if efficiency improvements are undertaken at the facility.

Assembly Bill 2021
Passed Assembly 05/31/0, Referred to Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications 6/15/06.
AB 2021 would require the Energy Commission to identify all potentially achievable cost-effective electricity and natural gas efficiency savings and establish statewide annual targets for energy efficiency savings and demand reduction over 10 years.

Assembly Bill 2160
Passed Assembly 05/31/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Governmental Organization 6/15/06.
AB 2160 would require the Sustainable Building Task Force and Technical Group to define a life cycle cost assessment methodology to be used for state building and construction decisions. It would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to identify and develop financing to facilitate state building energy or resource-efficient projects, and identify appropriate incentives to facilitate those projects.

Assembly Bill 2264
Passed Assembly 05/31/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Governmental Organization 06/15/06.
AB 2264 would establish a minimum fuel economy standard for the purchase of passenger vehicles and light duty trucks for the state fleet.

Assembly Bill 2321
Passed Assembly 05/31/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Governmental Organization 06/15/06.
AB 2321 would establish the Governor's Green Action Team with a primary mission to oversee and direct progress toward reducing electricity purchases for state-owned buildings by 20% by 2015, and achieve comparable reductions in electricity purchases for state and local governments, schools, and commercial buildings.

Assembly Bill 2576
Referred to Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications 6/15/2006.
HB2576 would require the Public Utilities Commission to provide discounts under a commission-approved program that are graduated based on the program participant's energy usage. Those people using less energy receive a greater discount.

Assembly Bill 2600
Passed Assembly 5/22/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing 05/31/06.
AB 2600 would extend the requirement regarding issuance, distinctive decals, labels, and other identifiers for vehicles that meet California's super ultra-low emission vehicle standards for exhaust emission, and the federal inherently low-emission vehicle (ILEV) evaporative emission standards.

Assembly Bill 2616
Referred to Committee on Revenue and Taxation 5/10/06.
AB 2616 would allow a $3,000 tax deduction for the purchase or lease of a hybrid vehicle.

Assembly Bill 2647
Passed Assembly 5/26/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing.
AB2647 would establish the Truck Retrofit Assistance Program to help finance the purchase and installation of truck cab and parking space electrification technologies and SmartWay Upgrade Kits.

Assembly Bill 2880
Passed Assembly 5/31/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Environmental Quality 6/15/06.
AB 2880 would require state agencies to gather, analyze, and make available public resources about green buildings.

Assembly Bill 2924
Passed Committee on Natural Resources 4/19/06, Referred to Committee on Appropriations 5/17/06.
AB 2924 would require any person or entity that receives funding from the state for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to report those emissions.

Assembley Bill 2928
Passed Assembly 5/30/06, Referred to Senate Committee on Environmental Quality 6/08/06.
AB 2928 would require the California Integrated Waste Management Board to develop voluntary green building guidelines for home construction.

Senate Bill 1539
Passed Senate 05/18/06, Held at desk in Assembly 5/18/06
SB 1539 states the legislature's intent to develop and implement energy management plans, and advise local governments to adopt those plans, including energy-efficiency measures.