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Each year, people drape their homes in festive lights to brighten up the long nights. Each year, decorative lighting has become more efficient and affordable, and so, each year, Energy Services updates its popular Holiday Lighting fact sheet.

But some of you may still not be convinced that Christmas trees and the like use that much energy. Then, behold the Ghost of Christmas Tree Present.  Pretty fearsome, isn’t it? If that sight turned you into an Energy Scrooge, eager to help customers mend their ways, you might want to sign up for Infrared Thermography: Hands-on Training for Utility Systems and Customer Service Applications  in Billings, Mont., Jan. 9.

Merry Christmas to all from Western’s Energy Services!

The Solar Electric Power Association is offering a limited number of scholarships for electric utility staff to attend one of their conferences in 2012. The scholarships are intended to encourage attendance by utility staff that would not otherwise be able to attend due to budgetary and/or travel restrictions. Municipal, cooperative and investor-owned utility staff are eligible to apply for a scholarship to:

• PV America 2012 West, March 19-21 in San Jose, CA – Deadline is Jan. 20; applicants will be notified no later than January 30, 2012.
• Utility Solar Conference, April 17-18 in Tucson, AZ – Deadline is Feb. 17;  applicants will be notified no later than February 27, 2012.
• Solar Power International, Sept. 10-13 in Orlando, FL – Deadline is June 15, 2012; applicants will be notified no later than June 25, 2012.

Recipients will receive complimentary full conference registration, and a travel stipend for coach airfare and hotel stay (receipts reimbursed). For PV America and USC, the travel stipend is up to $750. For SPI the stipend is up to $1,000 because of the conference’s duration. SEPA will consider geographic location, utility-type and SEPA membership status to ensure diversity of recipients. Only one scholarship is available per utility, per event, and is available only to utilities. Applicants must be at a management level or above.

Apply today! Questions about the scholarship program can be directed to Jessica Sliva.

As utilities seek to add more renewable generation to meet renewable portfolio standards (RPS), they must choose between two procurement options—ownership or contracting. 

Buy versus Build: A Qualitative Comparison of Financial, Tax and Regulatory Issues Influencing Utility Solar Procurement, a new report from the Solar Electric Power Association, explores the factors that impact a utility’s decision whether to buy (PPA) or build (own) solar generation. Considerations include:

• How imputed debt, cost of capital and accounting treatment affect the financial decision-making process
• Whether investor-owned utilities will be influenced by tax incentives to build solar generation
• Creative ownership structures that may help municipal and cooperative utilities monetize the benefits of tax incentives
• The effect of regulatory considerations, such as integrated resource planning and cost recovery risk, on a utility’s determination whether to build or buy?

Login to download the report. For more information, contact Becky Campbell at 202.559.2030.

Topic #1: U.S. Small Wind Market Report: 144,000 Turbines Deployed
Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011
11:00 – 12:00 MTN, (or 1:00 – 2:00 Eastern time)

Windustry invites you to attend a free webinar examining the market for clean, affordable, homegrown wind energy and recent growth in sales, capacity and incentives for small wind turbines (up to 100 kW) powering homes, farms and businesses.

This is the first in a series of free webinars funded by the DOE Wind Powering America Initiative. The presentations are focused on answering questions from the general public, local officials, state and Federal regulators, permitting officials, facility siting officials, state and Federal policy makers and others interested in small and community wind development.

America’s small wind turbine industry saw substantial growth in 2010, highlighted by a 26 percent expansion in the market for small wind systems with 25.6 megawatts (MW) of capacity added, as well as a robust increase in sales revenue. Nearly 8,000 small wind units were sold last year, totaling $139 million in sales. The U.S. small wind industry represents an estimated 1,500 full-time equivalent jobs. Small wind turbines manufactured in North America typically incorporated 80-percent domestic content.

With small wind scaling up during the last few years, its benefits are becoming more noticeable. Growth in 2010 pushed cumulative sales in the United States to an estimated 179 MW of capacity—a total that reaches well into the range of many utility-scale wind farms. As a result, small wind is having a positive impact on the environment, as installations now annually displace 161,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That is the equivalent of taking 28,000 cars off the road.

The webinar speakers will discuss:

• Market Highlights
• Federal & State Incentives
• Small Wind Market Drivers
• Distinguishing Product Features
• Economic Value of Small Wind
• 2010 Developments & Challenges
• Industry Perspectives

There is no need to sign up in advance. 

Audio access
1-888-469-0883 (toll free) or 1-517-308-9044
Enter the participant passcode: 6252105

Web access:
URL: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PW2406963&p=6252105&t=c
If you have trouble with the above link, try going to this website and enter the info separately:
URL: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join/
Conference number: PW2406963
Participant passcode: 625210

Using energy consumption reports and friendly neighborhood competition to motivate customers to save energy was the topic of another Public Power Magazine story in October.

Last year, City Water Light and Power (CWLP) in Springfield, Ill., conducted a pilot program in which 400 randomly-selected households received messages comparing their average energy use to that of their neighbors. Another group of 400 households received messages comparing their average energy use to that of residents citywide. The performance reports also included a summary of total household electric costs and energy use during previous months as compared to others nearby, along with energy conservation tips.

The amount of energy the experimental groups consumed compared to a control group was not significantly different, the utility found after seven months. However, study participants believed the energy performance reports pushed them to conserve.

CWLP’s study is similar the Behavior and Energy Savings program Fort Collins Utilities launched in 2010. That pilot proved successful enough that it is expanding to Loveland, Colo., and other cities in the region.

Read more about using social marketing to reduce consumers’ energy use.

In the October 2011 issue of Public Power Magazine, the American Public Power Association shined a spotlight on Western customer Lincoln Electric System (LES) for its Sustainable Energy Program.

The Nebraska municipal utility launched the program in 2009, even though it offers customers some of the lowest rates in the country. According to LES Energy Services Manager Marc Shkolnick, the Sustainable Energy Program will help keep the rates down by dampening peak load when purchased energy rates are at their highest. Perhaps more important, carefully chosen energy-efficiency measures could help LES put off building a new power plant for up to 10 years.

Learn more about how LES is encouraging customers to change their energy use habits without paying out incentives.