A coalition of electricity consumers aiming to reduce electricity consumption and costs through expanded electric utility efficiency programs Efficiency Texas has been formed. The Coalition was recently granted intervener status by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) for its CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC ratemaking case (Docket No. 32093) and is participating in settlement discussions among the CenterPoint interveners starting today.
Efficiency Texas, whose members include commercial building owners, retailers, churches, environmental organizations, citizen groups and individual businesses, was organized earlier this year by Austin-based Good Company Associates. The Coalition represents over 40,000 retail stores, more than four million individuals and over 661 million square feet of building and office space. Mark R. Stover, who recently joined Good Company Associates after spending eleven years in Washington, DC as a government and public affairs specialist, will direct the Coalition.
“Energy efficiency programs are a popular, cost-effective and pragmatic way to curb escalating energy demand and to help offset the need for expensive new power plants. With rising electricity prices due to increasing fuel costs, growing concerns about air pollution, a stressed electric power grid and shrinking reserve margins, energy efficiency has never been more important,” said Robert J. King, president of Good Company Associates. “Efficiency Texas’s involvement in the CenterPoint rate case is the first step to bolstering the energy efficiency programs in the Lone Star State.”
Customer demand for utility efficiency programs is extraordinary, which has brought on the need for increased funding and availability. The majority of the efficiency programs are oversubscribed and most funds are gone for the remainder of 2006, leaving large numbers of customers unable to obtain efficiency assistance or the cost savings that would have come with efficiency improvements. Additionally, the environmental benefits associated with energy efficiency mainly reduced air pollution go unrealized as a result of under funded programs.
Efficiency Texas wants cost-effective efficiency programs to be available year-round and fully funded to ensure that consumer demand for such programs is adequately met. To reach its goals, Efficiency Texas supports incentives and cost recovery for utilities to exceed the minimum efficiency goal mandated by the Texas Legislature as part of its 1999 Texas Electric Restructuring Act (SB7).
Senate Bill 7 requires each investor-owned electric utility to offer cost-effective, market-based energy efficiency programs to meet at least ten percent of the utility’s annual electric load growth. The PUCT subsequently established rules to administer the legislative mandate. Since SB7’s implementation, the utilities’ efficiency programs have been effective.
In 2004, for example, 448,020,000 Kilowatt Hours (KwH) of electricity demand enough yearly power for 38,174 homes was saved, and 1,460,352 pounds of nitrogen oxide emissions were avoided. Of the state-supervised programs launched by Texas’s investor-owned utilities, the programs save approximately one dollar for every quarter invested in incentives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized two Texas utilities CenterPoint and TXU Electric Delivery for achievements in their efficiency programs.
Texas utilities spent approximately $67 million a year on efficiency programs since 2002. California utilities, by comparison, averaged $286 million a year on efficiency programs from 2000-2004 and plan to spend roughly $714 million a year for 2006-2008. Utility spending in California for efficiency programs has helped keep the state’s electricity load growth essentially flat, while Texas’s continues to rise.
“Texas’s utilities have no incentive to increase current spending beyond the minimum goal established by the Legislature. We want to change that so the financial incentives of our regulated utilities like CenterPoint are aligned with desires of consumers seeking the benefits of efficiency programs,” said Mark R. Stover, director of the Coalition. “Increased efficiency means consumer savings and a healthier environment. Texas leads the nation in energy use. Isn’t it time for Texas to become the leader in energy efficiency?”
To learn more about Efficiency Texas and its campaign, please visit the following website:
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