Americans Win "Most Innovative" in Europe Just 12 Americans joined over 350 others at the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy's Summer Study in the south of France in early June.
During the poster session, attendees voted for 4 awards among the 50 posters. The award for "most innovative" was earned by Katherine Johnson and Ed Thomas, the only Americans among the winners. The program was the Light Bulb Fund Raiser program implemented for Delta-Montrose Electric Association in Colorado.
Due to aggressive policies, CFLs are routinely distributed for free and the U.K. has announced plans to abolish the sale of incandescents. However, Europeans at the conference were intrigued with the program model of leveraging community non-profit groups to sell energy-efficient products at full retail price bundled with a group donation.
It seems that program developers across the ocean also struggle with creating innovative ways to motivate homeowners to take actions that save energy. Integrating a "help our group raise funds" message into the program materials was of great interest to attendees.
CFL Fund Raiser Paper |
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Great Lakes Co-op Fixes Home Cold Spots
Great Lakes Energy Cooperative (Great Lakes) offers to its members the full line of energy-efficient, high-quality electric space heaters manufactured by ConvectAir. The heaters are purchased primarily by members looking to efficiently heat basements, room additions or other home areas that are not as comfortable as rest of the house heated by a central system.
The Residential Electric Space Heating Program was developed and implemented by Great Lakes Energy Cooperative with ConvectAir.
The electric space heating program was launched in November 2005. Among the first to take advantage of the program were the cooperative's own employees. Over 150 units were sold to among the cooperative's 225 employees at deep "employee only" discount offered by Convectair to introduce the product to the cooperatives' "front line" sales force.
Great Lakes has sold over 385 Convectair units since launching the program in November 2005. They believe sales would be even higher if its members weren't hampered by the tough unemployment picture in its service territory which has resulted in lower electricity and product sales system wide.
Shari Joles, Program Manager for Great Lakes Electric Cooperative recommends to others who consider starting a similar program:
· Talk to Other Cooperatives
· Try Out the Units
· Introduce the Program Before Heating Season
· Offer an "Across the Board" Solution
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Colorado Utility Exchange Interest Survey
A web-based survey is now underway to determine who would be interested in participating in a conference titled Colorado Utility Exchange: Integrating Carbon Footprint and Demand Response into Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programs that may be presented in Aspen, Colorado this October.
Please consider taking a few minutes to review the event description at the link below then completing a brief online survey.
If there is sufficient interest, the event will be presented on October 24-26, Aspen Meadows Resort, Aspen, Colorado. City of Aspen Utilities and Holy Cross Energy Cooperative have agreed to serve as co-host utilities to lead the agenda planning committee efforts. Market Development Group would handle all event logistics.
This event's primary goal would be to provide a networking and professional development forum for 50-100 mid-level staff of energy and water utilities serving Colorado and neighboring states and trade allies who are responsible for developing and implementing customer programs related to energy efficiency, water efficiency, demand response and renewable energy.
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Greetings! Thanks for the encouraging comments about the last issue of our Market Developments newsletter! Hope you're having a great summer. We look forward to speaking with you at an upcoming event this fall. In the meantime, please email or call when we can help.
Sincerely,
Katherine Johnson
Ed Thomas
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Future of Electric Water Heating
A new white paper explores how "The Future of Residential Electric Water Heating is Off-Peak" for forward-thinking electric utilities. The paper was written by Ed Thomas and Katherine Johnson in collaboration with thought leaders from Marathon Water Heaters, an equipment manufacturer, and leading electric utility cooperatives.
The paper names specific actions that program managers can take today to preserve and grow the net revenue potential of home electric water heating loads in ways that create win-win scenarios for the cooperative and its members.
The authors contend that too many American homes continue to fulfill their water heating needs with a poorly insulated conventional water heater installed at a location far removed from the homeowner's point of end use. As the result of industry competition and current manufacturing techniques, water heaters are built to last for the length of their warranty, necessitating that virtually the entire installed inventory of residential steel water heaters will need to be replaced every ten years. The commonly held wisdom has been that it is always cheaper to heat water with natural gas or propane than electricity. But increasingly volatile gas prices are shifting the economics for homeowners in favor of electricity, particularly off-peak electricity.
The authors believe that the fundamental structure of the residential water heating market has changed, driven by an increasing need for cooperative utilities to consider incorporating both energy efficiency and load management into their program offerings. Off-peak water heater programs, which allow the utilities to avoid high cost peak-load resources while enabling their customers to save money, provide an ideal opportunity to achieve both of these strategic objectives. But, it is essential that these new programs are carefully designed and deployed in order to realize the greatest savings potentials for both cooperatives and their members.
Water Heater White Paper |
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Beyond Home Energy Audits Workshop 
A "Beyond Home Energy Audits with Home Performance with ENERGY STARŪ" workshop will be presented on September 19-20, 2007 at Hyatt Wind Watch, Long Island, NY following the Association of Energy Services Professionals' Technology Symposium. To learn more, visit www.hpwes.org .
The workshop is co-sponsored by Building Performance Institute, Conservation Services Group, U.S. Department of Energy, Edison Electric Institute, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ICF International, Long Island Power Authority and New York State Research and Development Authority with Energy Finance Solutions, Electric & Gas Industries Association, Market Development Group and Performance Systems Development.
The workshop will explore how program sponsors in 20+ states are beginning to transform the home improvement marketplace beyond free "clipboard" home energy audits and single-measure rebates with a whole-house approach to energy efficiency, demand response, renewable energy and carbon footprint issues.
Home Performance with ENERGY STARŪis a national program from the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE that offers a comprehensive, whole-house approach to improving energy efficiency and comfort at home, while helping to protect the environment. Unlike typical home energy audit programs, the goal of Home Performance with ENERGY STARŪ is to turn recommendations into improved homes.
HPwES Workshop homepage |
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50 Attend NRECA "How To" Workshop 
A "full house" attended the "How to Develop and Launch Home Energy Efficiency Programs: Best Practices and Lessons Learned" workshop co-presented on May 15 by Katherine Johnson and Ed Thomas just before the Touchstone Energy and NRECA Connect 2007 Conference in Miami.
The agenda explored how leading utilities develop, launch, and cost-justify programs that promote home energy efficiency as well as renewable energy and demand side management.
Case studies illustrated the strategies and tactics that have made programs successful, and the lessons that utilities have learned in the process. Also, Market Development Group had a booth in the Expo and Ed moderated the conference session "Out with the Old, in with the New."
The workshop is available to be presented on-site for cooperatives, or as a pre-event at state or regional utility meetings. Click on the link below for a glimpse of the online proceedings that are provided afterwards to all workshop attendees
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AGL Resources Rents Water Heaters
 When Florida City Gas was acquired by AGL Resources in November, 2004, almost 50% of the utility's 100,000 customers in North and Central Florida rented a water heater or other appliance from the Florida utility. Appliance rental programs have been a mainstay of many gas utilities dating back to the 1940s, but the utility quickly realized that administering such a program was no longer a core competency for the utility. After an extensive review of alternates, the utility chose to sell its appliance rental program portfolio to America's Water Heater Rentals.
Water heater rentals make more sense for a utility customer than ever due to steeply rising equipment costs, permit fee increases and more complex power venting requirements. The key customer segments for water heater rentals are not our middle-income customers but rather those on either side: higher income customers and landlords who don't want the hassle of ownership, and lower-income customers who don't have the upfront cash for replacement when their water heater needs replacement.
The success of the program transition in Florida led AGL to launch a similar pilot water heater rental program for utility customers in Southeastern Georgia, to include the cities of Savannah and Valdessa. The region chosen for the pilot is ideal because it has a mix of upper income as well as lower income customers in an area with little need for space heating.
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Katherine Co-Authors Handbook
 Katherine Johnson is a contributing author in the newly-released "Handbook of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, published by CRC Press edited by F. Kreith and D. Yogi Goswami. Katherine wrote a chapter explaining the role of geothermal heat pumps as part of a comprehensive study on best technologies to promote energy efficiency. Her co-authors include some of the industry's leading thinkers and scientists from around the world.
The handbook features discussions on the following topics:
· State-of-the-art engineering requirements for a sustainable energy future
· Projections for energy supply, demand, and prices of energy through the year 2025
· Options such as plug-in hybrid vehicles, bio-fuels, fuel cells, diesel engines, and city planning to prevent a transportation energy crisis
· Provides data on the availability of renewable sources such as solar, wind, municipal waste, and biomass
· Analyzes solar-thermal, photovoltaics, biomass, wind, and geothermal generation technologies
Handbook details | |
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