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Utilities looking for timely, interesting and relevant analysis about solar integration have a new resource: Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) has launched its new Utility Solar Blog .

To kick things off, SEPA’s Research Director Mike Taylor discusses an interesting trend behind the 2012 Utility Solar Rankings awards that were announced on April 16th at SEPA’s Utility Solar Conference. The story compares megawatts to other metrics to get a more a accurate picture of growth in the solar market.

SEPA will be updating posts monthly, so bookmark it and check back at the end of May for more.

• May 10 – Statement of Intent to participate in Western’s renewable energy certificate solicitation for 2013 - Deadline extended!
• May 26 – Early-bird registration deadline for ACEEE 2013 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry  
• June 13 – EDA Economic Development Assistance Programs Federal Funding Opportunity (funding cycle 4)
• June 20 −  Applications for Tribal Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Deployment Assistance
• June 27 − Applications for Community-Scale Clean Energy Projects in Indian Country

April 16
Noon CDT

Clean Energy Ambassadors (CEA) Lunchtime Webinar Series continues with a free webinar on designing demand-side management (DSM) programs that succeed.

Figuring out what makes a DSM program work can be tricky, to say the least. Different, and sometimes competing interests must be balanced: What goals does the utility have for the program? What do your customers want? What do they need? Learn secrets from utilities that have cracked the code to create innovative and award-winning programs.

Clean Energy Ambassadors presents the webinar series noon to 1 p.m. Central time (11 a.m. to noon Mountain) on the third Tuesday of the month. The webinars are designed to help utilities save money and better serve their customers. Presentations focus on the needs of consumer-owned utilities; and feature specific, candid and informal discussion. Register  for this free webinar and check out the full line-up of CEA services and events. If you have any questions, please contact Anthony Cutler at 406-969-1040.

The American Public Power Association (APPA) is asking utility professionals to help them design the program for the 2013 Customer Connections Conference . The annual event is coming up November 3 to 6, at the Hilton Hotel and Executive Tower in downtown Portland, Ore.

Share your ideas for what you’d like to see on the program by filling out a survey  by Wednesday, March 20.

The Customer Connections Conference offers informational sessions and roundtable discussions for public power utility professionals in the areas of:

• Customer services
• Economic development
• Energy services
• Key accounts
• Public communications

Your suggestions for session topics and speakers will help the planning committee create a program that is relevant and valuable for APPA member utilities. If you have thoughts or suggestions not covered in the official survey, or would rather provide your input directly, please email APPA.

Western, the Department of Energy and the American Public Power Association  (APPA) are looking for a public power utility that has distinguished itself in wind power leadership for the 2013 Public Power Wind Award. Nominations are due March 25, 2013.

This marks the 11th year DOE, APPA and Western have collaborated on the Wind Cooperative of the Year award. The Public Power Wind Award provides recognition to public power utilities that have helped make the United States a leader in wind power. Previous winners include: Palo Alto Utilities, Denton Municipal Electric, CPS Energy, Princeton Municipal Light Department, Nebraska Public Power District, Cowlitz and Klickitat PUDs, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Waverley Light and Power, town of Hull, Fort Collins Utilities, Austin Energy, and Aspen Municipal Electric.

A panel of experts from the power and wind industries evaluate nominees in four areas:

• Corporate leadership
• Innovative marketing
• Benefits to customers
• Project creativity

All APPA member utilities are eligible to apply. Anyone can nominate a public power utility, and self-nominations are allowed. Nominations must be submitted by close of business on March 25, 2013, to Randy Manion, Western Area Power Administration, P.O. Box 28123, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213.

This year’s winner will be recognized at the APPA National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, the week of June 14, 2013.

Working with the Solar Electric Power Association  (SEPA) and other organizations, the Energy Department (DOE) this week released two Funding of Opportunity Announcements (FOA) related to utilities.

Solar Utility Networks: Replicable Innovations in Solar Energy (SUNRISE) is being issued by DOE to solicit applications for two topic areas. Topic A focuses on enabling utilities to develop long-term strategic plans for integrating high levels of renewable energy generation and ensuring that power systems operate reliably in real time under high renewable penetration. Topic B aims to provide technical assistance for building capacity through utility-scale photovoltaic planning and installation. 

DOE’s express purpose in issuing this FOA is to demonstrate cost-effective and reliable solar integration in real time, at utility-scale, in successful utility business models. DOE anticipates providing up to $12 Million through this FOA, for projects two to four years long, depending on the topic area. Awardees must share project costs. This FOA is part of the DOE SunShot Initiative.

SUNRISE deadlines:

• Concept papers due: March 8, 2013
• Expected date for response to concept papers: March 20, 2013
• Deadline for questions: April 21, 2013
• Full applications due: April 24, 2013

The second FOA, Grid Engineering for Accelerated Renewable Energy Deployment (GEARED) seeks applications to increase power system research, development and analytical capacity. Projects should also be designed to prepare electric utility professionals to manage high penetrations of solar and other distributed energy technologies. To achieve these dual goals, GEARED will support two activities:

• Training consortia focused on quickly bringing their findings into training and educational initiatives
• A national coordination network that will link these consortia to one another and other relevant power system research and development and training activities

Increasing the power systems capabilities and talent pool promotes electric grid security, as well as environmental and economic benefits for all consumers. The GEARED FOA provides funding to support creating three to five regional consortia that work with universities and utilities to incorporate power systems analysis, research and development into curricula and short courses, cooperative internships and continuing education. GEARED will also support the creation of a national training network for distributed power system professionals. The FOA does not apply to undergraduate or graduate fellowships.

GEARED deadlines:

• Concept papers due: April 12, 2013; 5 p.m. EST
• Deadline for questions: April 16, 2013; 5 p.m. EST
• Full applications due: April 19, 2013; 5 p.m. EST

Some of the topic areas are seeking utility applicants, while others are seeking utility groups or other types of entities.  SEPA member utilities that wish to apply directly or would like to apply in partnership with SEPA should contact SEPA President Julia Hamm at 202-559-2025 as soon as possible.

Feb. 21, 12 noon MST

Utility Feed-In Tariff Programs: Are We Getting Things Right?, presented by the Solar Electric Power Association  (SEPA), will feature Resource Planner Jon Abendschein speaking on his experiences with the City of Palo Alto Utilities . The Western customer offers a feed-in tariff (FiT) to encourage consumers to install photovoltaic systems.  

FiT programs, in which utilities buy power from small independent electricity producers, have stimulated growth in solar installations to record levels around the world.  But U.S. utilities are a different breed, and may not be able to meet their local objectives by copying established programs. Join SEPA tomorrow to learn about the challenges utilities are encountering in home-grown FiT challenges and how they address them. 

The webinar will focus on FIT program design and execution to meet end objectives. The material will be of particular interest to strategic planners and renewable program staff, as well as solar industry stakeholders. Presentations will cover:

• Examples of key utility FIT programs and lessons learned
• How to evaluate FIT programs for effectiveness
• How to successfully adapt programs to meet challenges

The cost is $199 for non-members, and free to SEPA members and the media (subject to verification).

Understanding what electricity consumers want, and how they value electricity service has implications for the entire utility industry. Power providers could use the knowledge to design different pricing structures and select feedback technology most likely to induce customers to change their energy use. Such programs could help utilities lower supply costs, increase the value of electricity to customers and boost customer satisfaction.

The Electric Power Research Institute  (EPRI) recently released a new study that attempts to answer fundamental questions that still puzzle program planners after decades of research. Understanding Electric Utility Customers—What We Know and What We Need to Know: A Summary Report  is a technical evaluation of studies on utility behavioral programs. The report focuses on three major areas—pricing, feedback and controls—for the commercial, industrial and residential sectors.

EPRI researchers created readiness scores for behavior change programs that rank the levels of uncertainty about program outcomes. The lower score indicates that more research is needed to determine the cause and effect relationship between the measure and the results.

Utilities should not read the report simply as “What works and what doesn’t,” researchers stress. Rather, it attempts to show where specific results can be linked to programs, and where it is unclear if the program actually produced the results. This information can help program planners determine if a specific measure is likely work with their target audience.

EPRI’s assessment of behavioral program impacts and their general readiness for prime time will be a continual process, to be updated as new evidence becomes available. In conducting an ongoing review, EPRI will suggest ways to fill the understanding gaps through collaborative industry research. Ultimately, this review will accelerate learning across the industry, identifying best practices and mistakes to avoid, while minimizing overall research costs.

Tuesday, Feb. 19
Noon CST

Lighting is becoming more and more energy efficient, and upgrades continue to offer low-hanging fruit that utilities aren’t capturing. Join utility program managers for the Lunchtime Webinar, Best Opportunities for Community-wide Lighting Upgrades  to learn how they improved lighting efficiency, not just for a few businesses or homes, but for the entire community.

Register for this free event today. Please contact Anthony Cutler at 406-969-1040, if you have any questions.

Clean Energy Ambassadors   presents its Lunchtime Webinar series on the third Tuesday of each month. Candid, informal discussions center on ways consumer-owned utilities can save money and better serve their customers. Webinars are held from 12 to 1 p.m. Central time (11 a.m.-12 p.m. Mountain).

New technologies and innovative program designs are combining to create energy-efficiency programs that can meet the aggressive saving targets many states are setting, according to a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy  (ACEEE).

Frontiers of Energy Efficiency: Next Generation Programs Reach for High Energy Savings finds that these next-generation technologies and programs can potentially achieve and sustain savings as high as 27 percent of forecasted electricity use and 19 percent of forecasted natural gas use by 2030. “As our report shows, new technologies and practices plus new program approaches unlock further opportunities to achieve large energy savings,” said Dan York, ACEEE utilities program director, and lead-author of the report.

Energy-efficiency programs for utility customers have been in place for over three decades in many areas in the United States. In the last 10 years, policies establishing high, specific energy savings targets have contributed to significant growth of these programs. For example, increasingly stringent building codes and energy-efficiency standards for appliances and other technologies are moving baselines for energy-efficiency performance higher.

The challenge facing these programs over the next two decades is to continue to achieve and sustain high savings levels. Certain types of programs in particular are having difficulty achieving high participation rates. The report profiles technologies and programs that offer an answer to these concerns.

While savings opportunities exist for all types of customers, the report finds some of the greatest potential exists for renovations and retrofits of homes and commercial buildings. Lighting also remains a large source of energy savings along with building mechanical systems and a variety of electronics.

Reaching more customers is another direction for next generation programs. Better data analytics improve understanding of more narrowly defined customer segments, enabling program administrators to focus incentives and marketing. Programs serving historically hard-to-reach customers, such as multifamily housing residents and manufactured home owners, are finding more success.

Another clear trend across program portfolios is an emphasis on better understanding customer behavior and motivations. Utilities are using such insights to design programs that engage greater numbers of customers to take actions that save energy.

The report examines a total of 22 different program types and concepts, from residential lighting to commercial buildings to industrial processes, along with a wide range of energy-efficiency technologies, including light-emitting diode (LED) lighting; high-efficiency heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment; and combined heat and power (CHP) systems. The authors interviewed a large number of experts on customer programs and technologies, and collected numerous examples of these leading principles and practices in action.

Maggie Molina, ACEEE state policy senior manager and report co-author, called the report a valuable resource for utilities looking to help consumers save money by using less energy. “With a wealth of information on the leading edge of program designs and energy-efficiency technologies, this report shows that program designers have an increasing number of options to achieve greater energy efficiency,” she said. Source: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, 1/9/13