Energy Efficiency Articles & Analysis
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Why Isn`t the Deep South Green? Or is it?
Everyone is seeking the elusive killer app that will revolutionize energy. Most expect it to be a high tech gadget, or new form of generation or a way to finally store mass quantities of electricity. Not anthropologist Susan Mazur-Stommen. She’s looking in a completely different place: inside our heads, or more specifically inside the heads of those who live in the Deep South. ...
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Where do the US presidential candidates stand on energy efficiency?
We know that what a political candidate says during a campaign often differs from what the eventual office-holder does. We also know that candidates choose their words carefully to give themselves wiggle room for modifications in course. So we listen for innuendo and subtleties when candidates talk about our special interests. What kind of qualifying language do they use? Are they truly against ...
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Desert Year: Why Is It So Hard to Care?
Guest blogger, Energy Efficiency Markets Reposted from Real Climate Economics Why is it so hard to care about snakes? Or the desert? The climate? And especially the environment more generally? This time the snake was real. Right there on the side of the road. Some evenings ago, however, in the waning hours of twilight, it turned out to be just a short length of black rubber hose that was ...
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US$3.1bn for state energy efficiency programs - Just one catch
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act promises to advance the US energy efficiency movement with an unprecedented US$26 billion infusion of funds. Of that, US$3.1 billion goes to state energy efficiency programs through the Department of Energy’s State Energy Program. Great news, right? Maybe not, says the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON) and the National Association of ...
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Energy Efficiency is PRO Business
There is a lot of current debate about whether the State of WA should require utilities to make greater investments in energy efficiency. This has caused some waves within the business community which has legitimate concerns about energy prices and is usually in opposition to government mandates and. Although not proven, the common belief amongst businesses is that laws requiring investments in ...
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Where is energy`s cell phone
Electric industry restructuring often gets criticized for failing to deliver the goods. It was supposed to not only drive down rates, but also spark innovative new technologies. After all, deregulation of the telecommunications industry gave us the cell phone. Where is energy’s nifty gadget?Initiated more than a decade ago, electric deregulation has produced no such consumer hit. But it has led ...
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Efficiency and the jobs argument
How will the recent bad economic news affect energy efficiency efforts? Will state lawmakers retreat from the many financial commitments made over the last year?It is too soon to know the answer. But one thing is for sure, the industry may have to shift its marketing message. Consumers and politicians typically are keener on protecting the environment in good times than they are in bad.The fact ...
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Retire the clunker?
What would it take to convince you to get rid of your gas-guzzling old clunker? Would US$5,500 do? Some members of Congress think this is the magic figure. Under a bill introduced in the House and Senate today, Uncle Sam would give you a credit of up to US$5,500 to scrap your old car. You could spend the credit on a new, fuel efficient vehicle or mass transportation.The proposal makes a lot of ...
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Energy efficiency: not a sound bite business
I’m a star at the neighborhood playground because I write about energy. Let me explain. I have a young son, and often find myself next to the swings talking with other parents. Inevitably we talk about work. Inevitably it comes up that I know a little about energy. And inevitably I'm surrounded by a crowd that wants to know-- demands to know--why the US doesn’t use more green energy. They are ...
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A new EE resource: Distributed people
Energy efficiency is often described as the invisible resource. It improves our energy supply without any of the usual industry trappings: smokestacks, wind turbines, transmission lines and poles. This is one of its virtues.But efficiency’s invisibility also causes problems. Because it operates out of sight – inside walls, underneath lampshades, and in factory motors — efficiency tends to attract ...
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Breaking light bulb myths
I have to agree with the Tea Party; the US government should not choose the light bulbs I use in my home. And fortunately, it does not. Yet that’s the spin being pushed by those who want to roll back federal lighting performance standards. An odd mythology is developing around the standards. Opponents claim that the standards amount to government picking and choosing winners and ...
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Trillion dollar answer to Bachmann’s light bulb question
US Congresswoman Michele Bachmann often asks why government should tell us which kind of light bulb to choose. Turns out it’s a question with a trillion dollar answer. We will save $1.1 trillion through 2035 because of existing energy efficiency mandates for light bulbs and appliances, according to a report issued this week by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the ...
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Using car talk to sell home energy upgrades
By Elisa Wood September 29, 2010 Does the word ‘audit’ give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? Not likely. Yet it’s typically the first service an energy efficiency contractor offers to a prospect. Sometimes the audit is even free, much like the unwelcome kind we receive from the IRS. Use of words like ‘audit’ ‘retrofit’ and ‘weatherize’ ...
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Negawatts beat megawatts in New England
Energy efficiency advocates have argued for years that a negawatt is cheaper than a megawatt. That is, it is less costly to install energy efficiency equipment and reduce consumption than to build new power plants. In New England, the premise was recently tested, and the results should hearten anyone in the efficiency business. ISO New England invited demand-side resources, like energy ...
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Think gas prices are high? Electricity is next
Today’s interest in energy efficiency may be nothing compared to tomorrow’s, if power prices rise as much as expected. One of the biggest price drivers, at this point, appears to be greenhouse gas restrictions, which Congress is expected to enact. It’s not clear yet exactly what the rules will be. But a federal analysis of a leading proposal shows electricity prices rising 5% to 27% by 2020 and ...
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Energy efficiency: Cure for mortgage meltdown?
By Elisa Wood October 7, 2010 My first reaction was that the Alliance to Save Energy was stretching a bit by titling its October 6 talk: “Is energy efficiency the key to recovery from the recession?” But after hearing David Goldstein’s presentation, I must admit I’m thinking about energy efficiency in a whole different way. Goldstein, author of the book, ...
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Prospects for US energy efficiency companies in Israel
The push for energy efficiency has clearly become worldwide, creating new prospects for US green energy companies to pursue export and foreign partnerships. One such opportunity comes from Israel, with the help of the United States-Israel Science and Technology Foundation (USISTF), a Washington-based non-profit organization. Israel is not a country we hear much about in terms of energy ...
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Businesses like efficiency, but hold back
“It’s the economy, stupid,” the famous line of political strategist James Carville, seems even more relevant now than when he uttered it during Clinton’s 1992 campaign. A recent survey on executives’ attitudes shows that energy efficiency hasn’t escaped the shadow of recession, despite strong support for the resource.Johnson Controls and the International Facility Management Association asked ...
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The 14 best states for energy efficiency
Once a “token gesture,” energy efficiency is now increasingly becoming a “first fuel” — the resource utilities seek before any other, even before renewable energy or other in-favor generation sources. So says the report, “Meeting Aggressive New State Goals for Utility-Sector Energy Efficiency: Examining Key Factors Associated with High Savings,” issued today by the American Council for an ...
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Best Places to Learn About Energy Efficiency
Companies often email me asking for good sources of information about the energy efficiency business. These emails are coming more and more frequently as this industry continues to grow. Many of the emails come from newcomers trying to break into the field with a new product or service. They include information technology companies, engineers, manufacturers, mom & pops, insurance firms, ...
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