Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:May 19, 2004

*News and Events

• DOE, GM Launch a Fuel Efficiency, Emissions Contest for the Chevy Equinox
• Maryland Local Governments Buy a Large Amount of Wind Power
• State and Utility Clean Energy Programs Chalk Up Successes
• Popular PG&E Energy Efficiency Rebates Running Low on Funds
• EPA Awards Energy-Efficient Businesses and Congregations
  

DOE, GM Launch a Fuel Efficiency, Emissions Contest for the Chevy Equinox

DOE and General Motors Corporation (GM) announced a new competition last week that will challenge engineering students across North America to redesign a Chevrolet Equinox, increasing its fuel efficiency and reducing its emissions while maintaining the vehicle’s safety and performance. Called “Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility,” the three-year competition will pit teams of engineering students from 17 North American universities against each other in the redesign of Chevy’s compact sport utility vehicle (SUV). DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory will manage the Challenge X competition, and GM will supply each team with an Equinox SUV, $10,000 in seed money, technical mentoring, and additional production parts for the vehicle. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation will also contribute to the competition, as will a number of sponsoring corporations and organizations. See the DOE press release.

Maryland Local Governments Buy a Large Amount of Wind Power

A group of six county agencies in Montgomery County, Maryland, along with 11 local municipalities and nearby Prince George’s County, have agreed to purchase five percent of their electricity from wind power. Montgomery County executives announced the wind power purchase last week, and claimed it as the largest U.S. purchase of wind energy by a local government, the largest retail purchase of wind power in Maryland, and the fifth largest retail purchase of wind power in the country. The group is buying more than 38 million kilowatt-hours of wind power per year for two years from Community Energy, Inc. (CEI), which generates the wind power at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center in West Virginia. See the Montgomery County press release.

CEI, which markets power from most of the wind plants in New York and the mid-Atlantic, noted in late April that it is now selling more than 350 million kilowatt-hours per year. Since its founding in 1999, the company has sold more than two billion kilowatt-hours of wind power. But CEI isn’t the only game in town: Constellation NewEnergy announced in early April that it is supplying more than 50 megawatts of power to government buildings in New York City, roughly one-quarter of which will come from renewable energy. See the press releases from CEI and Constellation NewEnergy.

Wind power is also selling well in the West, where Avista Corporation has agreed to buy the next ten years of power output from 35 megawatts of wind turbines at PPM Energy’s Stateline Wind Energy Center, located near Walla Walla, Washington. Avista provides electric power to its customers in four western states. Meanwhile, students at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins will have a new opportunity in fall: the chance to buy 100 percent wind energy for their dorm rooms. The university is offering the wind energy option at a cost of $17 per year. According to CSU, the average residence-hall student uses about 1,600 kilowatt-hours of electricity during the school year. See the press releases from Avista and CSU.

State and Utility Clean Energy Programs Chalk Up Successes

From the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest, states and utilities are helping to cut energy use while advancing renewable energy.

In New York, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) released a five-year report on its Clean Energy Initiative last month, noting that the initiative has saved more than 624,000 megawatt-hours of electricity while cutting Long Island’s peak power demand by 110.5 megawatts. The initiative has helped to install 138 geothermal heating and cooling systems, more than 2.7 megawatts of solar power, and 40 fuel cell installations. See the LIPA press release.

Nearby, Pennsylania’s Energy Harvest grant program is proving a bit too popular, as last year’s $5-million program was greeted with 139 applications requesting a total of $45 million in funding. Another $5 million is available this year, but Governor Rendell hopes to boost funding to $80 million, spread over the next four years. Applications for this year’s funds are due on July 23rd. See the Pennsylvania Energy Harvest announcement and the press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

In the nation’s heartland, Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy has helped install more than 70 solar, wind, and biomass energy systems that will generate more than 4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and nearly 27,000 therms of energy. The partnership has also helped nearly 3,000 Wisconsin businesses save a total of nearly $15 million in energy costs since July 2001. See the Focus on Energy press releases from March 4th and April 22nd.

And in the Pacific Northwest, DOE’s Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) takes a different approach, offering a discount to the utilities that buy its power if they implement energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. As a result, the program has yielded an average energy savings of about 37.4 megawatts, and has resulted in nearly $14 million in investments in renewable energy projects over the past three years. See BPA’s interim report on its Conservation and Renewables Discount Program (PDF 85 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.

Popular PG&E Energy Efficiency Rebates Running Low on Funds

Homeowners and apartment building managers in northern and central California are clearly enthusiastic about energy efficiency. In fact, they’re so enthusiastic that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is already running out of funds for many of this year’s residential rebates for energy efficient products. PG&E has received “an overwhelming response” to its rebate program for multifamily property management (that is, apartments, townhouses, and the like), and is not accepting any more applications. The utility has also run out of rebate funds for energy-efficient dishwashers, room air conditioners, natural-gas-fueled furnaces, water heaters, dual-paned windows, and attic and wall insulation. According to the PG&E rebate Web site, funds for programmable thermostats are nearly gone, but your odds are better if you want to buy an energy-efficient clothes washer, central air-cooling system, whole-house fan, central heat pump, or a pool pump and motor. And last but not least, rebates are still available for one of the best buys when it comes to energy efficiency: lighting products that are Energy-Star qualified. See PG&E’s “Rebates for Your Home.”

California’s other large utilities don’t appear to be facing the same funding problems. Southern California Edison (SCE) is still accepting applications for multi-family housing rebates, and as of May 1st, the utility still has 75 percent of its funds for home energy efficiency rebates. San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) also appears to be accepting applications for all of its rebate programs. See the SCE and SDG&E Web sites.

EPA Awards Energy-Efficient Businesses and Congregations

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored energy-efficient small businesses and congregations, as well as the leaders in its Combined Heat and Power Partnership, in ceremonies in late April and on May 13th.

Thirteen small businesses and congregations earned Energy Star awards in late April for their contributions to energy efficiency. Institutions and organizations that promote energy efficiency among small commercial facilities also earned awards. The businesses included an inn, a grocery, a building materials supplier, and a non-profit corporation. The energy efficiency upgrades generally included energy-efficient lighting and heating and cooling systems, as well as insulating and sealing air leaks. See the EPA press release (PDF 12 KB) and the Energy Star Web site’s list of the winners. Download Acrobat Reader.

Last week, the EPA presented two awards and three certificates of recognition to companies that have installed combined heat and power systems at their facilities. BP Solvay Polyethylene North America won for a gas turbine system with heat recovery that operates at an estimated efficiency of 78 percent, and Calpine Corporation won for a combustion system with heat recovery that operates at 72 percent efficiency. See the EPA announcement and the full list of awardees on the EPA Combined Heat and Power Partnership Web site.

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