The economic premise behind energy efficiency –, it is cheaper, a unit of energy than to make a save - on trapped in the United States has. Energy efficiency issues, and our energy consumption is declining, both per capita and per dollar gross domestic product measured according to the Government.
So it is not surprising, the year several begins energy efficiency with busy in traditional markets, as well as some good suggestions, respond how they moved customers more elusive.
Here are some of the recent deals that came across my desk.
Ameresco, one of the major players in the contracts, energy services was early January with two contracts out of the gate. First contract the Massachusetts-based company a $6.8 million energy performance with a housing authority in Fall River, Massachusetts for more than 1,500 residential units. The work includes CHP, control and monitoring systems, and upgrades to water, temperature and lighting controls, and mechanical space heat and domestic hot water systems. The Housing Authority expects to save $13 million over 20 years. Secondly, the company hit a $5.2 million deal with Austin Energy of the nation eight largest publicly-owned electrical use. Under an energy performance contract, Ameresco installed a new memory system for 24,000 tonne-hour chilled water to the utility district cooling plant, which power consumption hours will layer as energy is less expensive.EnerNOC, which after a live-ticker on its website customers more than $545 million (and counting) has saved provides demand response and energy efficiency for the Denver Public Schools. The project includes 24 school buildings, a total 4.5 million square feet. The deal comes after Denver Mayor Michael Hancock homebuilders, non-profit organizations and President Barack Obama Push for energy savings meet public schools by 20 percent by 2020 over 1.6 billion square feet of Office, industrial, municipal, hospital, University and school in question provided. World energy solutions, a Massachusetts-based energy management services company with $30 billion in energy, request-reply and ecological raw materials transactions, installed the Telkonet EcoInsight thermostats in 187 supported living apartments in the State. The thermostats are the first step towards the introduction of a more complex energy management Systems.American DG Energy began operating two 75 kW power heat power (CHP) plant at the Cumberland County jail in Portland Maine, under a $2.4 million, more than the company uses 15 years dealing with a business model that has the American DG Energy and operates cogeneration units prior to place utility called and the prison pays only for the energy, which he used. American DG Energy guarantees that the prison pay less than what would free the local utilities.
New ideas
Meanwhile came some interesting reports around the first of the year, reaching efficiency opportunities for energy companies offer new or sometimes indifferent.
Washington, D.C.-based market transformation Institute has, for example, consultancy, efficiency to the multifamily housing. The Institute published a report in early January, promoting benchmarking of multifamily housing. Provides benchmarking data of the building energy use, the equivalent of a nutritional label for food. MTI underlines several advantages for the approach: it leads to a better designed programmes and incentives, the owners, to promote updates. Upgrade the tenants energy costs lower, creating a comfortable indoor climate and can give owners better cash flow. Furthermore, in real estate transactions buyers better understand of the building energy profile and can accordingly set the property value. MTI provides $9 billion in savings from America's multifamily building.
"As a rule of thumb, a positive development, the markets work better transparency all around, to help", said Julia Stasch, Vice President of the U.S. programs of the John D. and Catherine t. MacArthur Foundation.
Meanwhile, Northeast the Connecticut Fund for the environment (CFE) and environment published a report here for, to create successful energy efficiency financing programs for private clients.
"A well designed residential energy efficiency financing program can help expand access to capital and pave the way for increased program participation" Roger Reynolds, Senior Attorney for the CFE said. "This report shows that there are a number of program design elements that are necessary for the success of energy efficiency financing products and therefore the programmes as a whole."
And most recently, the clean energy and Bond Finance Initiative (CE + BFI) a financing model that uses bond financing on safe, low-cost capital for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects exhibited.
"How the clean energy industry matures and grows, it needs to be less dependent on federal tax credits as an important source of financing," said Lew Milford, President of the clean energy group.
Industrial development bonds or IDBs called, offering tax-free interest to private borrowers, comply with the specific requirements of the non-profit. Borrower must have or middle small American manufacturers.
The paper on the IDB model is part of a series on the financing of CE + BFI published. It is aimed at the State and local governments. See www.cebfi.org.
ELISA Wood is a long-time energy writer. Subscribe to their free energy RealEnergyWriters.com EfficiencyMarkets newsletter
Showing posts with label Great. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great. Show all posts
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Energy efficiency: great deals and new ideas
Saturday, January 12, 2013Ярлыки: deals, efficiency, Energy, Great, ideas 0 коммент.
Sunday, December 02, 2012
On-Bill Repayment Shows Great Promise for Energy Efficiency, But Significant Challenges Remain
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Although on-bill repayment programs have many advantages, these programs are still in their infancy and many barriers to widespread deployment remain. One of the programs’ advantages is that they build on utilities’ preexisting customer relationships. Another advantage is that the programs tend to be reliable investments if customers have a track record of paying their utility bills consistently.
However, some barriers still exist. As is the case with most energy efficiency financing mechanisms, lenders and utilities lack market experience with on-bill repayment. Therefore, many different perspectives exist about what is needed for on-bill repayment programs to succeed.
To get a sense of some of the current issues, Clean Energy Finance Center staff talked with individuals who are trying to make on-bill repayment programs work across the United States.
On-bill repayment makes energy efficiency available to almost all utility customers, including those who may not qualify for existing loan programs using standard underwriting criteria.
“If you ever want energy efficiency and renewables to compete head-to-head with buying energy, you have to buy them as a service,” said Dave Carey, Principal of Harcourt Brown & Carey, a consulting firm specializing in clean energy finance. On-bill repayment can be viewed as a service because it can be packaged with utilities’ other services.
Carey said that while 50 to 60 percent of residential customers are approved for energy efficiency loans currently, on-bill repayment could increase that figure to 95 percent or more. While it is important to increase loan approvals to expand customer access to energy efficiency finance, programs also need to consider the risk that higher numbers of approvals could lead to greater loan default rates.
According to Carey, there are four main components of on-bill repayment, all of which depend on the choices of program developers; programs rarely have all four of them. These components are: a payment which is on the utility bill, a shutoff option for non-paying customers, a requirement that the cash flow resulting from the investment stay positive, and an option to transfer the cost to new property owners. While these components are intended to strengthen on-bill repayment programs, some of them can be controversial and difficult to implement.
Adam Zimmerman, Executive Vice President of Craft3, a community development financial institution which has been the primary lender for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program, said residential customers in Oregon and Washington have been very responsible in repaying their energy loans. Previous utility bill payments are a reliable indicator of future behavior, Zimmerman said. Because of the positive results Craft3’s residential lending program has achieved, using utility payment history as a qualification, Craft3 dropped its required credit score to 590 and does not have income requirements. Using these criteria, Zimmerman estimated, a large state like California could increase program enrollment levels by 25 percent.
“A lot of energy efficiency programs haven’t generated as much demand as those of us in the environmental community have wanted them to,” said Brad Copithorne, Energy and Financial Policy Specialist at Environmental Defense Fund. He believes on-bill repayment programs can increase demand for energy efficiency and drive private sector investment in both the residential and commercial sectors.
Bill Codner, Program Manager at National Grid, said he is excited about bringing lenders on board to support energy efficiency programs. He has a goal of expanding National Grid’s commercial and industrial on-bill repayment program by a factor of two or three this year — if he can get sufficient funding from lenders to do so.
“We are seeing strong uptake on the two coasts,” Carey said. He has observed that regulators on the east and west coasts tend to be more supportive of innovations in financing, including on-bill repayment, although all programs are still in their infancy. While National Grid has strong support from regulators in Massachusetts, that is not always the case for utilities in other states. In Oregon, legislation paved the way for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program.
Driven by requirements from the state’s Public Utilities Commission, California is developing on-bill repayment programs for both the residential and commercial sectors. Copithorne played a large role in developing the blueprint for the state’s on-bill repayment program. He said he hopes other states will copy California’s program and “have it go viral as soon as possible.”
Environmental Defense Fund is also collaborating with stakeholders in Ohio and Texas; the initial results have been positive despite the political differences between the states. Copithorne said on-bill repayment has broad political appeal because it is both business-friendly and environmentally positive.
“In the end, this all boils down to a dialogue between regulators and utilities,” Carey said.? He said regulators in many states seem reluctant to allow utilities to begin on-bill repayment programs. “There’s always trepidation about risks and unknowns. In the end, there has to be an economic reward,” Carey said.
Utilities are also cautious about starting on-bill repayment programs, which require changes ?to their IT and billing systems. Copithorne is working with stakeholders to build support for a statewide program in California; he said he considers it essential to make the on-bill repayment process easy for both utilities and their customers. He also said utilities want to protect their reputations and customer relationships.
Copithorne emphasized that utilities can focus on their core competencies and play the role of middlemen rather than becoming deeply involved in financing. He uses the analogy of a Visa card, since Visa is the middleman for transactions between lenders and customers. Similarly, utilities can partner with lenders so they don’t need to become financial experts to offer on-bill repayment programs.
While many utilities are concerned that they may find the cost of making changes to their IT and billing systems to be costly, others have been able to make the changes at a relatively low cost. For example, according to Zimmerman, the Oregon and Washington utilities which collaborate with Craft3 found the cost of altering their billing systems to accommodate on-bill repayment to be very reasonable.
Craft3’s programs are designed to minimize the risk to utilities’ reputations. Zimmerman is skeptical of programs which promise customers a net neutral or net positive return (also known as bill neutrality). He said the utilities he works with are cautious about promising bill neutrality due to the many uncertainties inherent in energy efficiency retrofit projects.
Customers hesitate to participate in programs for many reasons, including the cost of upfront capital investment. For example, Codner is interested in starting the first on-bill repayment program for natural gas in the United States. However, according to Codner, natural gas poses a financing challenge because the payback period for the customer investment is longer than it is for electricity. In the current economic climate, National Grid’s commercial and industrial customers are reluctant to initiate programs unless the payback period is short-term.
Making the loan application process user-friendly is essential. Copithorne said he would like to see the private sector make it as easy as possible for utility customers to apply for loans. Ideally, the process might become as easy as applying for an auto loan. When a customer goes in to purchase a car, an employee takes down his or her information and provides loan options before he or she leaves the building. Auto dealerships offer same-day service.
Energy services agreements – where an intermediate company sells energy services to a customer and shoulders the burden of the risk – can reduce commercial building owners’ reluctance to participate in programs, said Copithorne. A building owner may lack the upfront cash for upgrades, the lease may require the owner not to borrow, the owner may not be able to pass on costs to the tenants, or the owner may simply be skeptical of salespeople. Copithorne believes that energy services agreements can solve some of these problems and should be part of commercial on-bill repayment programs.
National Grid targets its loans selectively to reach commercial customers who might otherwise not participate in programs. Codner said, “Our goal is not to provide zero-interest loans for everybody. Our goal is to get those companies that would not move forward with a project to do something. A lot of companies have capital constraints.”
Zimmerman said cash rebates may be more effective, from a residential sales perspective, than buying down interest rates. “Free money brings people to the table as customers,” he said.
This story was originally published by the Clean Energy Finance Center (CEFC). You can subscribe to future stories from the Clean Energy Finance Source by visiting the CEFC's news page.
View the original article here
However, some barriers still exist. As is the case with most energy efficiency financing mechanisms, lenders and utilities lack market experience with on-bill repayment. Therefore, many different perspectives exist about what is needed for on-bill repayment programs to succeed.
To get a sense of some of the current issues, Clean Energy Finance Center staff talked with individuals who are trying to make on-bill repayment programs work across the United States.
On-bill repayment makes energy efficiency available to almost all utility customers, including those who may not qualify for existing loan programs using standard underwriting criteria.
“If you ever want energy efficiency and renewables to compete head-to-head with buying energy, you have to buy them as a service,” said Dave Carey, Principal of Harcourt Brown & Carey, a consulting firm specializing in clean energy finance. On-bill repayment can be viewed as a service because it can be packaged with utilities’ other services.
Carey said that while 50 to 60 percent of residential customers are approved for energy efficiency loans currently, on-bill repayment could increase that figure to 95 percent or more. While it is important to increase loan approvals to expand customer access to energy efficiency finance, programs also need to consider the risk that higher numbers of approvals could lead to greater loan default rates.
According to Carey, there are four main components of on-bill repayment, all of which depend on the choices of program developers; programs rarely have all four of them. These components are: a payment which is on the utility bill, a shutoff option for non-paying customers, a requirement that the cash flow resulting from the investment stay positive, and an option to transfer the cost to new property owners. While these components are intended to strengthen on-bill repayment programs, some of them can be controversial and difficult to implement.
Adam Zimmerman, Executive Vice President of Craft3, a community development financial institution which has been the primary lender for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program, said residential customers in Oregon and Washington have been very responsible in repaying their energy loans. Previous utility bill payments are a reliable indicator of future behavior, Zimmerman said. Because of the positive results Craft3’s residential lending program has achieved, using utility payment history as a qualification, Craft3 dropped its required credit score to 590 and does not have income requirements. Using these criteria, Zimmerman estimated, a large state like California could increase program enrollment levels by 25 percent.
“A lot of energy efficiency programs haven’t generated as much demand as those of us in the environmental community have wanted them to,” said Brad Copithorne, Energy and Financial Policy Specialist at Environmental Defense Fund. He believes on-bill repayment programs can increase demand for energy efficiency and drive private sector investment in both the residential and commercial sectors.
Bill Codner, Program Manager at National Grid, said he is excited about bringing lenders on board to support energy efficiency programs. He has a goal of expanding National Grid’s commercial and industrial on-bill repayment program by a factor of two or three this year — if he can get sufficient funding from lenders to do so.
“We are seeing strong uptake on the two coasts,” Carey said. He has observed that regulators on the east and west coasts tend to be more supportive of innovations in financing, including on-bill repayment, although all programs are still in their infancy. While National Grid has strong support from regulators in Massachusetts, that is not always the case for utilities in other states. In Oregon, legislation paved the way for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program.
Driven by requirements from the state’s Public Utilities Commission, California is developing on-bill repayment programs for both the residential and commercial sectors. Copithorne played a large role in developing the blueprint for the state’s on-bill repayment program. He said he hopes other states will copy California’s program and “have it go viral as soon as possible.”
Environmental Defense Fund is also collaborating with stakeholders in Ohio and Texas; the initial results have been positive despite the political differences between the states. Copithorne said on-bill repayment has broad political appeal because it is both business-friendly and environmentally positive.
“In the end, this all boils down to a dialogue between regulators and utilities,” Carey said.? He said regulators in many states seem reluctant to allow utilities to begin on-bill repayment programs. “There’s always trepidation about risks and unknowns. In the end, there has to be an economic reward,” Carey said.
Utilities are also cautious about starting on-bill repayment programs, which require changes ?to their IT and billing systems. Copithorne is working with stakeholders to build support for a statewide program in California; he said he considers it essential to make the on-bill repayment process easy for both utilities and their customers. He also said utilities want to protect their reputations and customer relationships.
Copithorne emphasized that utilities can focus on their core competencies and play the role of middlemen rather than becoming deeply involved in financing. He uses the analogy of a Visa card, since Visa is the middleman for transactions between lenders and customers. Similarly, utilities can partner with lenders so they don’t need to become financial experts to offer on-bill repayment programs.
While many utilities are concerned that they may find the cost of making changes to their IT and billing systems to be costly, others have been able to make the changes at a relatively low cost. For example, according to Zimmerman, the Oregon and Washington utilities which collaborate with Craft3 found the cost of altering their billing systems to accommodate on-bill repayment to be very reasonable.
Craft3’s programs are designed to minimize the risk to utilities’ reputations. Zimmerman is skeptical of programs which promise customers a net neutral or net positive return (also known as bill neutrality). He said the utilities he works with are cautious about promising bill neutrality due to the many uncertainties inherent in energy efficiency retrofit projects.
Customers hesitate to participate in programs for many reasons, including the cost of upfront capital investment. For example, Codner is interested in starting the first on-bill repayment program for natural gas in the United States. However, according to Codner, natural gas poses a financing challenge because the payback period for the customer investment is longer than it is for electricity. In the current economic climate, National Grid’s commercial and industrial customers are reluctant to initiate programs unless the payback period is short-term.
Making the loan application process user-friendly is essential. Copithorne said he would like to see the private sector make it as easy as possible for utility customers to apply for loans. Ideally, the process might become as easy as applying for an auto loan. When a customer goes in to purchase a car, an employee takes down his or her information and provides loan options before he or she leaves the building. Auto dealerships offer same-day service.
Energy services agreements – where an intermediate company sells energy services to a customer and shoulders the burden of the risk – can reduce commercial building owners’ reluctance to participate in programs, said Copithorne. A building owner may lack the upfront cash for upgrades, the lease may require the owner not to borrow, the owner may not be able to pass on costs to the tenants, or the owner may simply be skeptical of salespeople. Copithorne believes that energy services agreements can solve some of these problems and should be part of commercial on-bill repayment programs.
National Grid targets its loans selectively to reach commercial customers who might otherwise not participate in programs. Codner said, “Our goal is not to provide zero-interest loans for everybody. Our goal is to get those companies that would not move forward with a project to do something. A lot of companies have capital constraints.”
Zimmerman said cash rebates may be more effective, from a residential sales perspective, than buying down interest rates. “Free money brings people to the table as customers,” he said.
This story was originally published by the Clean Energy Finance Center (CEFC). You can subscribe to future stories from the Clean Energy Finance Source by visiting the CEFC's news page.
View the original article here
Ярлыки: challenges, efficiency, Energy, Great, Onbill, Promise, remain, Repayment, shows, Significant 0 коммент.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
'Great Green Fleet' Tests Biofuels in Hawaii Exercise
Sunday, July 29, 2012
The U.S. Navy tested its "Great Green Fleet," a Carrier Strike Group's aircraft and surface ships, on advanced biofuel.
Credit: U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy recently used advanced biofuel to power its "Great Green Fleet," a selection of aircraft and surface ships of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike Group, to test the fuel's performance in an operational setting. The demonstration took place on July 17 and 18 off the coast of Hawaii as part of the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. The operation was the first ever using biofuels in an exercise of this scale. The biofuel blends are 50-50 mixtures of biofuel (made from used cooking oil and algae) and either petroleum-based marine diesel or aviation fuel. Approximately 450,000 gallons of 100% biofuel were purchased in 2011 in preparation for the Great Green Fleet demonstration.
During this operation, the Great Green Fleet also showcased energy efficiency technology that increase combat capability by allowing Navy ships to achieve greater range and reduction of dependence on a vulnerable logistics supply chain. Further, this demonstration included the following maritime efficiency measures: the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to save energy, especially when replacing incandescent fixtures or in colored lighting applications; a ship energy dashboard which provides real-time situational awareness of energy demand associated with equipment; and a smart voyage planning decision aid, which sends messages to ships with optimized routing plans for both ship safety and fuel savings. The Navy signed a Statement of Cooperation with the Royal Australian Navy to formalize future cooperation on alternative fuel deployment.
The demonstration is a component of a broader administration effort to reduce reliance on imported petroleum by partnering with the private sector to speed the commercialization of next-generation biofuels. For example, in early July the Energy Department, the Navy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $30 million in funding to support commercialization of "drop-in" biofuel substitutes for diesel and jet fuel, and the Energy Department announced an additional $32 million to support research into advanced biofuel technologies that are in earlier stages of development. See the USDA press release , the Navy website, and the July 5 EERE Network News.
View the original article here
Credit: U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy recently used advanced biofuel to power its "Great Green Fleet," a selection of aircraft and surface ships of the U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike Group, to test the fuel's performance in an operational setting. The demonstration took place on July 17 and 18 off the coast of Hawaii as part of the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. The operation was the first ever using biofuels in an exercise of this scale. The biofuel blends are 50-50 mixtures of biofuel (made from used cooking oil and algae) and either petroleum-based marine diesel or aviation fuel. Approximately 450,000 gallons of 100% biofuel were purchased in 2011 in preparation for the Great Green Fleet demonstration.
During this operation, the Great Green Fleet also showcased energy efficiency technology that increase combat capability by allowing Navy ships to achieve greater range and reduction of dependence on a vulnerable logistics supply chain. Further, this demonstration included the following maritime efficiency measures: the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to save energy, especially when replacing incandescent fixtures or in colored lighting applications; a ship energy dashboard which provides real-time situational awareness of energy demand associated with equipment; and a smart voyage planning decision aid, which sends messages to ships with optimized routing plans for both ship safety and fuel savings. The Navy signed a Statement of Cooperation with the Royal Australian Navy to formalize future cooperation on alternative fuel deployment.
The demonstration is a component of a broader administration effort to reduce reliance on imported petroleum by partnering with the private sector to speed the commercialization of next-generation biofuels. For example, in early July the Energy Department, the Navy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $30 million in funding to support commercialization of "drop-in" biofuel substitutes for diesel and jet fuel, and the Energy Department announced an additional $32 million to support research into advanced biofuel technologies that are in earlier stages of development. See the USDA press release , the Navy website, and the July 5 EERE Network News.
View the original article here
Ярлыки: biofuels, Exercise, fleet, Great, green, Hawaii, Tests 0 коммент.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
On-bill Repayment: Great Promise, but Challenges Remain
Thursday, July 19, 2012
On-bill repayment has received a great deal of attention during the last few years as a potential approach to expanding the reach of energy efficiency financing in the residential and commercial sectors. With on-bill repayment, utilities or third-party lenders cover the upfront cost of energy efficiency retrofits and customers pay back the loans through their utility bills.
Although on-bill repayment programs have many advantages, these programs are still in their infancy and many barriers to widespread deployment remain. One of the programs’ advantages is that they build on utilities’ preexisting customer relationships. Another advantage is that the programs tend to be reliable investments if customers have a track record of paying their utility bills consistently.
However, some barriers still exist. As is the case with most energy efficiency financing mechanisms, lenders and utilities lack market experience with on-bill repayment. Therefore, many different perspectives exist about what is needed for on-bill repayment programs to succeed.
To get a sense of some of the current issues, Clean Energy Finance Center staff talked with individuals who are trying to make on-bill repayment programs work across the United States.
On-bill repayment can expand the reach of energy programs
On-bill repayment makes energy efficiency available to almost all utility customers, including those who may not qualify for existing loan programs using standard underwriting criteria.
“If you ever want energy efficiency and renewables to compete head-to-head with buying energy, you have to buy them as a service,” said Dave Carey, Principal of Harcourt Brown & Carey, a consulting firm specializing in clean energy finance. On-bill repayment can be viewed as a service because it can be packaged with utilities’ other services.
Carey said that while 50 to 60 percent of residential customers are approved for energy efficiency loans currently, on-bill repayment could increase that figure to 95 percent or more. While it is important to increase loan approvals to expand customer access to energy efficiency finance, programs also need to consider the risk that higher numbers of approvals could lead to greater loan default rates.
According to Carey, there are four main components of on-bill repayment, all of which depend on the choices of program developers; programs rarely have all four of them. These components are: a payment which is on the utility bill, a shutoff option for non-paying customers, a requirement that the cash flow resulting from the investment stay positive, and an option to transfer the cost to new property owners. While these components are intended to strengthen on-bill repayment programs, some of them can be controversial and difficult to implement.
Adam Zimmerman, Executive Vice President of Craft3, a community development financial institution which has been the primary lender for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program, said residential customers in Oregon and Washington have been very responsible in repaying their energy loans. Previous utility bill payments are a reliable indicator of future behavior, Zimmerman said. Because of the positive results Craft3’s residential lending program has achieved, using utility payment history as a qualification, Craft3 dropped its required credit score to 590 and does not have income requirements. Using these criteria, Zimmerman estimated, a large state like California could increase program enrollment levels by 25 percent.
“A lot of energy efficiency programs haven’t generated as much demand as those of us in the environmental community have wanted them to,” said Brad Copithorne, Energy and Financial Policy Specialist at Environmental Defense Fund. He believes on-bill repayment programs can increase demand for energy efficiency and drive private sector investment in both the residential and commercial sectors.
Bill Codner, Program Manager at National Grid, said he is excited about bringing lenders on board to support energy efficiency programs. He has a goal of expanding National Grid’s commercial and industrial on-bill repayment program by a factor of two or three this year — if he can get sufficient funding from lenders to do so.
Progress varies across state lines
“We are seeing strong uptake on the two coasts,” Carey said. He has observed that regulators on the east and west coasts tend to be more supportive of innovations in financing, including on-bill repayment, although all programs are still in their infancy. While National Grid has strong support from regulators in Massachusetts, that is not always the case for utilities in other states. In Oregon, legislation paved the way for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program.
Driven by requirements from the state’s Public Utilities Commission, California is developing on-bill repayment programs for both the residential and commercial sectors. Copithorne played a large role in developing the blueprint for the state’s on-bill repayment program. He said he hopes other states will copy California’s program and “have it go viral as soon as possible.”
Environmental Defense Fund is also collaborating with stakeholders in Ohio and Texas; the initial results have been positive despite the political differences between the states. Copithorne said on-bill repayment has broad political appeal because it is both business-friendly and environmentally positive.
Utilities and regulators are cautious
“In the end, this all boils down to a dialogue between regulators and utilities,” Carey said.?He said regulators in many states seem reluctant to allow utilities to begin on-bill repayment programs. “There’s always trepidation about risks and unknowns. In the end, there has to be an economic reward,” Carey said.
Utilities are also cautious about starting on-bill repayment programs, which require changes to their IT and billing systems. Copithorne is working with stakeholders to build support for a statewide program in California; he said he considers it essential to make the on-bill repayment process easy for both utilities and their customers. He also said utilities want to protect their reputations and customer relationships.
Copithorne emphasized that utilities can focus on their core competencies and play the role of middlemen rather than becoming deeply involved in financing. He uses the analogy of a Visa card, since Visa is the middleman for transactions between lenders and customers. Similarly, utilities can partner with lenders so they don’t need to become financial experts to offer on-bill repayment programs.
While many utilities are concerned that they may find the cost of making changes to their IT and billing systems to be costly, others have been able to make the changes at a relatively low cost. For example, according to Zimmerman, the Oregon and Washington utilities which collaborate with Craft3 found the cost of altering their billing systems to accommodate on-bill repayment to be very reasonable.
Craft3’s programs are designed to minimize the risk to utilities’ reputations. Zimmerman is skeptical of programs which promise customers a net neutral or net positive return (also known as bill neutrality). He said the utilities he works with are cautious about promising bill neutrality due to the many uncertainties inherent in energy efficiency retrofit projects.
Customer-friendly programs are essential
Customers hesitate to participate in programs for many reasons, including the cost of upfront capital investment. For example, Codner is interested in starting the first on-bill repayment program for natural gas in the United States. However, according to Codner, natural gas poses a financing challenge because the payback period for the customer investment is longer than it is for electricity. In the current economic climate, National Grid’s commercial and industrial customers are reluctant to initiate programs unless the payback period is short-term.
Making the loan application process user-friendly is essential. Copithorne said he would like to see the private sector make it as easy as possible for utility customers to apply for loans. Ideally, the process might become as easy as applying for an auto loan. When a customer goes in to purchase a car, an employee takes down his or her information and provides loan options before he or she leaves the building. Auto dealerships offer same-day service.
Energy services agreements — where an intermediate company sells energy services to a customer and shoulders the burden of the risk — can reduce commercial building owners’ reluctance to participate in programs, said Copithorne. A building owner may lack the upfront cash for upgrades, the lease may require the owner not to borrow, the owner may not be able to pass on costs to the tenants, or the owner may simply be skeptical of salespeople. Copithorne believes that energy services agreements can solve some of these problems and should be part of commercial on-bill repayment programs.
National Grid targets its loans selectively to reach commercial customers who might otherwise not participate in programs. Codner said, “Our goal is not to provide zero-interest loans for everybody. Our goal is to get those companies that would not move forward with a project to do something. A lot of companies have capital constraints.”
Zimmerman said cash rebates may be more effective, from a residential sales perspective, than buying down interest rates. “Free money brings people to the table as customers,” he said.
By Kat Friedrich, Guest Blogger, Energy Efficiency Markets
Kat Friedrich is a staff writer for the Clean Energy Finance Center, which works with stakeholders to develop policies and programs that drive investment in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy. This blog is a repost courtesy of the center.
View the original article here
Although on-bill repayment programs have many advantages, these programs are still in their infancy and many barriers to widespread deployment remain. One of the programs’ advantages is that they build on utilities’ preexisting customer relationships. Another advantage is that the programs tend to be reliable investments if customers have a track record of paying their utility bills consistently.
However, some barriers still exist. As is the case with most energy efficiency financing mechanisms, lenders and utilities lack market experience with on-bill repayment. Therefore, many different perspectives exist about what is needed for on-bill repayment programs to succeed.
To get a sense of some of the current issues, Clean Energy Finance Center staff talked with individuals who are trying to make on-bill repayment programs work across the United States.
On-bill repayment can expand the reach of energy programs
On-bill repayment makes energy efficiency available to almost all utility customers, including those who may not qualify for existing loan programs using standard underwriting criteria.
“If you ever want energy efficiency and renewables to compete head-to-head with buying energy, you have to buy them as a service,” said Dave Carey, Principal of Harcourt Brown & Carey, a consulting firm specializing in clean energy finance. On-bill repayment can be viewed as a service because it can be packaged with utilities’ other services.
Carey said that while 50 to 60 percent of residential customers are approved for energy efficiency loans currently, on-bill repayment could increase that figure to 95 percent or more. While it is important to increase loan approvals to expand customer access to energy efficiency finance, programs also need to consider the risk that higher numbers of approvals could lead to greater loan default rates.
According to Carey, there are four main components of on-bill repayment, all of which depend on the choices of program developers; programs rarely have all four of them. These components are: a payment which is on the utility bill, a shutoff option for non-paying customers, a requirement that the cash flow resulting from the investment stay positive, and an option to transfer the cost to new property owners. While these components are intended to strengthen on-bill repayment programs, some of them can be controversial and difficult to implement.
Adam Zimmerman, Executive Vice President of Craft3, a community development financial institution which has been the primary lender for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program, said residential customers in Oregon and Washington have been very responsible in repaying their energy loans. Previous utility bill payments are a reliable indicator of future behavior, Zimmerman said. Because of the positive results Craft3’s residential lending program has achieved, using utility payment history as a qualification, Craft3 dropped its required credit score to 590 and does not have income requirements. Using these criteria, Zimmerman estimated, a large state like California could increase program enrollment levels by 25 percent.
“A lot of energy efficiency programs haven’t generated as much demand as those of us in the environmental community have wanted them to,” said Brad Copithorne, Energy and Financial Policy Specialist at Environmental Defense Fund. He believes on-bill repayment programs can increase demand for energy efficiency and drive private sector investment in both the residential and commercial sectors.
Bill Codner, Program Manager at National Grid, said he is excited about bringing lenders on board to support energy efficiency programs. He has a goal of expanding National Grid’s commercial and industrial on-bill repayment program by a factor of two or three this year — if he can get sufficient funding from lenders to do so.
Progress varies across state lines
“We are seeing strong uptake on the two coasts,” Carey said. He has observed that regulators on the east and west coasts tend to be more supportive of innovations in financing, including on-bill repayment, although all programs are still in their infancy. While National Grid has strong support from regulators in Massachusetts, that is not always the case for utilities in other states. In Oregon, legislation paved the way for the Clean Energy Works Oregon program.
Driven by requirements from the state’s Public Utilities Commission, California is developing on-bill repayment programs for both the residential and commercial sectors. Copithorne played a large role in developing the blueprint for the state’s on-bill repayment program. He said he hopes other states will copy California’s program and “have it go viral as soon as possible.”
Environmental Defense Fund is also collaborating with stakeholders in Ohio and Texas; the initial results have been positive despite the political differences between the states. Copithorne said on-bill repayment has broad political appeal because it is both business-friendly and environmentally positive.
Utilities and regulators are cautious
“In the end, this all boils down to a dialogue between regulators and utilities,” Carey said.?He said regulators in many states seem reluctant to allow utilities to begin on-bill repayment programs. “There’s always trepidation about risks and unknowns. In the end, there has to be an economic reward,” Carey said.
Utilities are also cautious about starting on-bill repayment programs, which require changes to their IT and billing systems. Copithorne is working with stakeholders to build support for a statewide program in California; he said he considers it essential to make the on-bill repayment process easy for both utilities and their customers. He also said utilities want to protect their reputations and customer relationships.
Copithorne emphasized that utilities can focus on their core competencies and play the role of middlemen rather than becoming deeply involved in financing. He uses the analogy of a Visa card, since Visa is the middleman for transactions between lenders and customers. Similarly, utilities can partner with lenders so they don’t need to become financial experts to offer on-bill repayment programs.
While many utilities are concerned that they may find the cost of making changes to their IT and billing systems to be costly, others have been able to make the changes at a relatively low cost. For example, according to Zimmerman, the Oregon and Washington utilities which collaborate with Craft3 found the cost of altering their billing systems to accommodate on-bill repayment to be very reasonable.
Craft3’s programs are designed to minimize the risk to utilities’ reputations. Zimmerman is skeptical of programs which promise customers a net neutral or net positive return (also known as bill neutrality). He said the utilities he works with are cautious about promising bill neutrality due to the many uncertainties inherent in energy efficiency retrofit projects.
Customer-friendly programs are essential
Customers hesitate to participate in programs for many reasons, including the cost of upfront capital investment. For example, Codner is interested in starting the first on-bill repayment program for natural gas in the United States. However, according to Codner, natural gas poses a financing challenge because the payback period for the customer investment is longer than it is for electricity. In the current economic climate, National Grid’s commercial and industrial customers are reluctant to initiate programs unless the payback period is short-term.
Making the loan application process user-friendly is essential. Copithorne said he would like to see the private sector make it as easy as possible for utility customers to apply for loans. Ideally, the process might become as easy as applying for an auto loan. When a customer goes in to purchase a car, an employee takes down his or her information and provides loan options before he or she leaves the building. Auto dealerships offer same-day service.
Energy services agreements — where an intermediate company sells energy services to a customer and shoulders the burden of the risk — can reduce commercial building owners’ reluctance to participate in programs, said Copithorne. A building owner may lack the upfront cash for upgrades, the lease may require the owner not to borrow, the owner may not be able to pass on costs to the tenants, or the owner may simply be skeptical of salespeople. Copithorne believes that energy services agreements can solve some of these problems and should be part of commercial on-bill repayment programs.
National Grid targets its loans selectively to reach commercial customers who might otherwise not participate in programs. Codner said, “Our goal is not to provide zero-interest loans for everybody. Our goal is to get those companies that would not move forward with a project to do something. A lot of companies have capital constraints.”
Zimmerman said cash rebates may be more effective, from a residential sales perspective, than buying down interest rates. “Free money brings people to the table as customers,” he said.
By Kat Friedrich, Guest Blogger, Energy Efficiency Markets
Kat Friedrich is a staff writer for the Clean Energy Finance Center, which works with stakeholders to develop policies and programs that drive investment in energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy. This blog is a repost courtesy of the center.
View the original article here
Ярлыки: challenges, Great, Onbill, Promise, remain, Repayment 0 коммент.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Another Great Example of (Non-Solar) Guerrilla Marketing
Friday, April 20, 2012I love finding guerrilla marketing examples on YouTube. Unfortunately, I rarely find ones that are related to solar. Bummer. Nevertheless, it’s always great to get inspired, and below is a wonderful model that you might be able to adapt…if you’re willing to push that button.
Watch this video first, and then we’ll discuss why it has nearly 80,000 views on YouTube, as of this writing, and we'll also go into how this structure might be adapted for solar marketing purposes.
So, why does this work? Let me count the ways:
1. It’s fun. There’s a smile on your face when you’re watching this. You’re saying, “Wow, this is so crazy, so cool, so amazing, so…” etc.
2. It’s mysterious. Big button, middle of the street, and a sign that says “Push this button for drama.” We’re naturally curious humans, and we also like to be challenged. Sure, there’s a little danger there, but that sign is so odd. Someone is going to have the courage to push that button.
3. It’s surprising. If people pushed that button, and someone just shook their hand, that wouldn’t go viral. What makes this work so well is that it exceeds our curious expectations. Not one, but many dramatic scenarios happen after pushing that button. The marketers here did not disappoint our expectations for “drama.” Which brings me to...
4. It had a purpose. This was a crazy kind of stunt, but by the end you see that there was actually a method to this madness. The stunt of perpetual "drama" was related to TNT, an international cable channel that offers dramatic films and television. Therefore, these stunts were designed to mimic the dramatic scenarios that you might see every night on TNT. It wasn’t push the button and see 20 clowns coming out of a Mini Cooper. That would be unrelated. Instead, you saw "drama" that hammered the point that TNT is the channel you want to be watching when you’re in the mood for... action and drama.
5. It was video taped. Guerrilla marketing isn’t going to be cost effective if only the attending audience views the stunt. This puppy was filmed so that others could enjoy it on websites, media, and social media, such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and of course, YouTube. So, whatever you come up with, film it to make it last.
How to apply this lesson for solar guerrilla marketing:
Essentially, this is “Pandora’s Box” guerrilla marketing. You need to make a sign that points to an object and dares the reader to do some action.
With that in mind, choose a public place. If it's too mysterious (like the TNT example above), alert the police or internal security guards and let them know what’s going to happen. A box, trunk, or button in the middle of the street or park plaza could be seen as a threat, so if anyone calls authorities, they’ll tell them what’s going on. Naturally, obey all local laws. If you need a permit to do street theater, get one.
it’s up to your company’s creative solar engineers to figure out the Rube Goldberg solar-related event that’s going to happen when you hit that button, or lift up that box, or uncover those panels. Could you demo a small solar tracking system? Perhaps an AC/micro-inverter solar panel?
Huzzah. Go for it. But be sure to structure a beginning, middle, and end to your plan. That is, once the panels point towards the sun or are uncovered, then what happens? What’s that solar panel juice going to turn on and energize? An over sized radio with a real rock band inside? An air conditioner? Huge fan on a hot summer day? A fridge with free, solar-cooled soda?
And what happens when the panels are covered abruptly or a cloud goes by? That is, what further unexpected thing will happen when the solar power disappears, either naturally, or by pushing another button?
Finally, what’s your ending? Like the banner that comes down at the end of the above video, build in a fun way to identify your brand—and your point.
Just another fun way…to UnThink Solar.
Tor Valenza a.k.a. “Solar Fred” advises solar companies on marketing, communications, and public relations. Contact him through UnThink Solar or follow him on Twitter @SolarFred.
Ярлыки: Another, Example, Great, Guerrilla, Marketing, NonSolar 0 коммент.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Obama Administration Announces Great Lakes Wind Projects Agreement
Saturday, April 07, 2012The Obama Administration joined the governors of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania on March 30 to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) streamlining offshore wind development in the Great Lakes. DOE, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Energy Consortium are among the signatories.
The MOU will enhance collaboration between federal and state agencies to speed review of proposed offshore wind projects. Specifically, the agencies will develop an action plan that sets priorities and recommends steps for achieving efficient and responsible evaluation of proposed offshore wind power projects in the Great Lakes region. The area has the potential to produce more than 700 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind, about one fifth of the total U.S. offshore wind potential. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that each gigawatt of offshore wind installed could produce enough electricity to power 300,000 homes.
To safely and responsibly develop offshore wind resources, federal and state agencies—which share jurisdiction in the Great Lakes—must fully evaluate the potential social, environmental, safety, and security impacts of projects. See the DOE press release, a fact sheet
, and the complete MOU.
Ярлыки: administration, agreement, announces, Great, Lakes, Obama, Projects 0 коммент.
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