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Learn the latest about planning, integration, operations and new technologies for renewable energy generation and transmission on Oct. 18 at the Renewable Planning and Operations Conference in Denver, Colo.

Presented by the Rocky Mountain Electric League  (RMEL), the conference agenda targets professionals in electricity generation and transmission, as well as those who work in sustainable energy programs. Speakers will discuss renewable energy, such as wind, solar and biomass, and cover regulatory and policy issues.

Kicking off the program is a panel on Utility-Owned vs. Purchase Power Agreements. Ron Rebenitsch of Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Dan Brickley of SRP will join Greg Greenwood of Westar Energy to explore the pros and cons of engaging in purchase power agreements and/or owning renewables.

Luke O’Dwyer, also of SRP, will talk about the challenges of interconnecting renewable generator systems. His presentation will cover reliability studies, construction timing, equipment and design changes and interconnection queue management.

Discover how Nebraska utilities used the Nebraska Statewide Wind Integration Study to better understand impacts of wind energy facilities being built in the state. Jon Iverson of Omaha Public Power District will discuss what Nebraska’s largest power providers learned from simulated wind scenarios.

Other presentations will cover wind forecasting for load management, demand-side management, system regulation, storage and more. Attendees will receive a continuing education certificate from RMEL worth 6.0 Professional Development Hours.

The Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows provides the location and lodging for the conference. Register today, and reserve your room .

Lending agencies take note: Loans made to finance energy-efficiency upgrades have low default rates, according to a new study from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy  (ACEEE).

The 24 energy-efficiency loan programs reviewed for What Have We Learned from Energy Efficiency Financing Programs? revealed default rates ranging from 0 to 3 percent, a number that has remained largely unchanged during the collapse of the housing bubble. Moreover, existing loan programs are just scratching the surface of the potential market, according to the report’s authors. Less than .5 percent of the targeted customer class is participating in the programs, suggesting a significant untapped market.

The loan programs provide funding directly to building owners or managers for projects that lower energy bills and reduce annual energy costs by an average of 12 to 17 percent. Small commercial banks and credit unions are the agencies most often offering these programs, sometimes in collaboration with utilities or local and state governments. The programs evaluated by the ACEEE report have loaned out over $1.5 billion. Subsidies and energy program funds keep interest rates for borrowers at about 3 to 5 percent annually.

Read the ACEEE press release.

Tuesday, Oct. 18
12 noon Central Time

Some municipal utilities and electric cooperatives are working with community groups and local colleges to develop energy audit programs and new low-cost energy savings campaigns.

How to Expand Your Energy Audit Capabilities will focus on how to accomplish energy audits that REALLY produce energy improvements. Participants will hear from a community organization that used an energy audit as a springboard to update a local rescue mission with energy-efficient upgrades and retrofits. There will also be a presentation from a municipal utility that is using energy audits to help promote their direct-install program.

Clean Energy Ambassadors hold free webinars from noon to 1 pm Central time (11 a.m. – noon Mountain) on the third Tuesday of each month. Because the events focus on needs of consumer-owned utilities, the discussion can be specific, candid and informal.

Register for this free Webinar and to see the full line-up of CEA services and events. If you have any questions please contact Stevie Moe at 406-969-1040.

The City of San José, Calif., hosted the Municipal Solid State Lighting Consortium’s (MSSL)   final workshop of the 2011 fiscal year Aug. 25 and 26.

Following a welcome by San José Mayor Chuck Reed, 88 attendees spent a day and a half exploring topics that included: 

• City of San José LED Street Lighting Program
• Reading and Understanding LM-79 & LM-80
• Cost Benefit Analysis Financial Tools – Evaluating the Impacts
• LED Streetlights and the Environment
• Calculating Light Loss Factors in the LED World
• The MSSLC Consortium’s LED Luminaire Specification
• Purchasing an LED and Advanced Control System – Lessons Learned
• California LED Street Lighting Tariff Pilot Program for Variable Usage
• Technology and Market Assessment of Networked Outdoor Lighting Controls – NEEA Study
• MSSLC Specification – Remote Monitoring and Adaptive Lighting Control Systems

Audience participation was particularly strong for the session, Cost Benefit Analysis Financial Tools, presented by Emma Berndt of Clinton Climate Initiative. The need for such a tool became evident when the speaker asked who would download this program when it became available, and just about everyone in the audience raised their hands. This presentation, along with Jason Tuenge’s presentation on the new luminaire specification, energized attendees with anticipation for these two documents that MSSL will release over the next few weeks.

Attendees also had opportunities to network during extended breaks and lunch.  Participants came from as far away as Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. Thursday evening, most of the attendees joined a bus tour of San José’s residential and arterial street outdoor LED lighting and controls pilot installations. The outing included a tour of the Philips Lumileds LED fabrication plant in San José, providing an overview on how this technology works. Attendees learned which fixtures and which applications result in best performance and the most energy savings. 

According to attendee surveys, the workshop offered much-needed insight into the use of LEDs in municipal applications. Download the workshop presentations and other materials to learn more.

The MSSL Consortium is busy planning educational activities for the new fiscal year. Expect a webinar this fall on the Cost Benefit Analysis financial tools.

Utility professionals who like to keep on top of the latest in energy-efficiency technology should check out the new online networking community, Energy-Efficiency Emerging Technology, or E3T Connect.

Co-sponsored by Western and Bonneville Power Administration, E3T Connect brings together engineers, utilities, designers, policy-makers and others interested in energy efficiency to share resources and knowledge to advance emerging technologies.

E3T Connect has several sub-groups for members who are interested in specific topics. Those in the utility industry, particularly key account and member services managers, should check out the Energy Management group. The discussions in this group range broadly across technologies, systems and strategies that have the potential to reduce energy consumption at the consumer level. Other groups focus on individual technologies, such as lighting, motors and more.

You don’t have to be a member to browse the resources E3T Connect offers, but you need to join to participate in discussions and submit articles. Membership is free, however, so why not join? It’s your opportunity to help shape the future of energy efficiency.