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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.

Electric utility groups are applauding the Energy Department’s (DOE) decision to reconsider a rule it issued last year that would limit the size of residential water heaters manufactured after April 2015.

In April 2010, the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency issued a final rule on energy conservation standards for residential water heaters. Electric utility groups feared the rule would interfere with demand-response programs in which consumers allow their utilities to control their water heater’s cycling based on grid conditions.

On June 6, DOE issued a request for information seeking comments on how the rule would affect utility programs that use high-storage-volume (above 55 gallons) electric storage water heaters to reduce peak electricity demand.

The American Public Power Association (APPA) , National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) , PJM Interconnection  and the Steffes Corp.  issued a statement June 12 applauding the DOE’s move to request more information on this issue.

“APPA is pleased that the Department of Energy has taken this important first step toward relieving the 2010 constraints imposed on electric water heaters in utility demand-response programs,” said President and CEO Mark Crisson. “Large-volume electric water heaters provide an environmentally friendly and cost effective means for utilities to improve overall system efficiency.”

NRECA CEO Glenn English concurred, noting that electric co-ops have relied on the energy storage capacity of residential water heaters to help manage demand on their distribution systems.

DOE will accept comments through July 13. Information on submitting comments can be found in the RFI. APPA encourages its members that have water heater programs to submit information. Read more.

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently met with American Public Power Association (APPA) regarding rulemaking on energy conservation standards for residential water heaters.  Based on the meetings, APPA created a survey asking utilities about their water heater load control programs.

The results from this survey will give APPA the information needed to continue working with DOE to amend the conservation standards for residential water heaters.  APPA would like to have responses to this survey no later than close of business, Friday, March 9, 2012. 

This is a great opportunity for Western customers to contribute to rules that will affect their programs into the future. Also, if you have a story to share about water heater load control at your utility, you can contact Energy Services Bulletin. You just may be the next headline story!

Has your utility just launched a Facebook page and now you are scrambling for content to engage your customers?  You might want to check out the APPA Product Store, now offering Facebook content through the eco@home consumer outreach program.

Subscribers to this service will receive postings for each work day that provide daily energy-efficiency information and energy-saving tips for residential customers. Subscriptions to the Facebook content service are on an annual basis. Utilities will receive their posts each month via email.

The APPA Product Store also offers the eco@home quarterly newsletter. The newsletters are co-branded with the utility’s name and contact information and include tips to help public power customers save energy and reduce their costs. The deadline for enrolling in the spring edition of the newsletter is March 1.

For more information or to subscribe to the eco@home newsletter or Facebook content service, contact the APPA Product Store or 202-467-2926.

From Public Power Daily  , American Public Power Association, Jan. 11, 2012

Energy behavior programs aimed at reducing building energy use through change in employees’ attitudes and behaviors, such as those instituted at the House of Representatives, can help build an energy-efficient office culture, according to a Jan. 10 report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Energy savings from the five energy behavior projects studied ranged from 4 percent (from a stand-alone behavior program) to nearly 75 percent (from a comprehensive project in which a behavior program is a component), said the study, Greening Work Styles: Analysis of Energy Behavior Programs in the Workplace .

These programs also create benefits that extend beyond the workplace, as participants often become more energy conscious at home and in their communities, ACEEE said.

One program, the “Green the Capitol” initiative, promoted a comprehensive package aimed at reducing energy use, waste and the carbon footprint of the House of Representatives by switching electricity fuel from coal to natural gas, relighting the Capitol dome with compact fluorescent light bulbs, and promoting a series of behavior programs at offices such as turning off computers and other office equipment when not in use, carpooling, commuting by bicycle, and recycling, the report said. Eighteen months after its launch, the Green the Capitol program had reduced the House’s carbon footprint by 74 percent, ACEEE said.

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.

The American Public Power Association’s 2011 Customer Connections Conference,  Nov. 6 to 9 in Savannah, Ga., will feature a full track of sessions devoted to energy services topics.

The conference will cover:

• Low-cost ways to deliver Smart Grid benefits to your community
• Smart grid stories: sharing smart practices
• Justifying your utility’s energy-efficiency programs
• Energy-efficiency technologies for C&I customers
• Programs to meet your energy-efficiency and renewable portfolio standards
• Changing infrastructure developments

The Customer Connections Conference also offers sessions on key accounts, public communications, marketing and customer service, as well as roundtable discussions, networking breakfasts, receptions and other opportunities for networking and information exchange.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to attend a full-day pre-conference seminar on Sunday, Nov. 6, on “Energy Services that Work: Commercial Energy-efficiency Programs.” This in-depth seminar will focus on commercial energy-efficiency activities, energy audit programs and the importance of evaluation, measurement and verification (EM&V) of results. It has close ties to the new APPA publication, Energy Services That Work, produced with the association’s Demonstration of Energy-Efficient Developments program.

Conference fees are $645 for APPA members and $1,290 for non-members who register before Oct. 14. Pre-conference seminars require a separate registration fee.

American Public Power Association is offering 50 DOE-funded tuition slots for a series of three online courses for electric power industry workers on clean energy solutions and smart grid deployment. The grants are available to the first 50 individuals who register.

Intended to be an overview, Renewable Energy Sources and the Smart Grid was developed by the Energy Providers Coalition for Education in cooperation with the Center for Adult Education and Learning. The webinar series explores:

• Electricity production from various forms of renewable energy as well as the function, operation and vision of the smart grid
• Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, ocean, biomass and geothermal
• A high-level look at smart grid challenges, benefits, technology needs and the vital role of the consumer

Students who successfully complete this 10-hour, self-study course offered by Bismarck State College’s National Energy Center of Excellence will earn one continuing education unit. To register, please contact Laura Alden at 303-804-4671.