Austin Energy Invests in Wind Power

Yesterday, the Austin City Council approved the utility's plan to acquire over 4,500 acres in West Texas for potential wind farm development, with construction beginning as soon as 2013. Austin Energy will lease the land for 30 years, bringing the utility's total wind farm holdings to around 22,000 acres. Austin Energy will pay about $50,000 yearly for the new land.

The biggest hurdle to developing the land would be the additional construction of new transmission lines that are required to bring the wind-generated electricty to Central Texas. Austin Energy has already paid for around 4 percent of this cost, but there is still a long way to go. The state is scheduled to pick up most of the $5 billion cost of building the lines.

By owning its own wind farm, the cost to Austin Energy for providing wind energy would be half as much as it currently pays to purchase the power from private companies. Growing demand for wind power is continually driving up its price. "We don't want to be at the mercy of the marketplace," said Roger Duncan, Austin Energy's general manager. "Our overall strategy is to develop and own our own wind-generating capacity, and we think we'll get more certainty about prices that way."

Get Paid to Lower Your Electric Bill

Many utility companies, like Austin Energy, offer incentives in the form of rebates for customers to adopt energy efficiency improvements. In Idaho, the utility company is taking things one step further by actually paying customers not to use electricity.

Idaho Power, the state’s primary electricity provider, offers residential and agricultural programs that reward its customers for lowering their electricity consumption during peak hours. Electricity is most expensive during peak hours when demand is high and supply is tight as power plants are pushed to their maximum capacity. Many utilities resort to constructing costly “emergency plants” that are only called upon to produce electricity during peak summer hours. Reducing the need for such plants saves utility companies from inefficient spending and from having to raise electricity rates.

For example, Idaho Power’s Peak Rewards program reduces peak electrical load during hot summer afternoons by partnering with agricultural irrigation customers to reduce demand. The greatest demand for electricity occurs at the time when farmers are pumping water to their fields, and customers are using air conditioning to cool their homes and businesses. Some farmers receive a credit of over $700 by limiting their electricity usage.

Additionally, Idaho Power can in essence press a button that causes “smart thermostats” installed on participating air-conditioning units for residential and commercial customers to cycle on and off for intervals as long as 15 minutes. The program lowers usage during peak periods by about 1 percent, and during the summer participants are paid $7 a month.

To help pay for these and other energy-saving measures, Idaho Power charges customers a 4.75 percent “energy efficiency” rider on their electric bills. However, the program has resulted in a decrease in peak power demand by as much as 5.6 percent.

For more information, visit Idaho Power.

Austin Energy Launches New Solar Incentive

The Austin City Council has reaffirmed its support for Austin Energy's solar incentive program, including a new approach for commercial, multifamily, and non-profit customers. The new approach saves $2.4 million over the life of the program compared to the old way of administering the program for those customers.

Rather than provide an upfront rebate on the installation of solar systems, Austin Energy will pay for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced over a 10-year period. This is known as a fixed performance-based incentive (PBI) and it achieves two goals. First, it provides a fixed payment flow to a system owner by which payback can be calculated and second, it encourages proper design and maintenance of systems to maximize their production.

Over the next five years, the PBI program is expected to pay, on average, 8 cents per kWh of solar energy produced with program funding sufficient for almost 260 solar systems, each up to 20 kW in size. Total PBI payments over the next 14 years under the plan are projected at $4.8 million.

"When you combine federal tax credits available for solar installations along with the incentive this program provides, energy savings for most businesses and apartment communities will pay for their system in 6-8 years," said Karl R. Rábago, Vice President for Distributed Energy Services. "The life of these systems is 25 years on average."

Since the inception of the Austin Energy Solar Rebate Program in 2004, the utility has issued $12.8 million in rebates to residential customers and $6.3 million in rebates to commercial customers. There are 1,052 customer-owned solar systems and 52 municipal and school installations totaling more than 4 MW of solar capacity in Austin. When the program began, Austin has three solar design and installing companies. Today there are 35 solar companies to the Austin area with a workforce approaching 300.

Austin Energy residential customers may now apply to receive rebates at $2.50 per watt, with annual rebates limited to $15K and maximum rebates set at $50K over the life of installations at a single property. To qualify for Austin Energy solar rebates, a customer must also meet home energy efficiency standards.

For more information, visit Austin Energy.

Federal Goverment Creates Energy Efficiency Network

As part of the government's efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today the creation of the State Energy Efficiency (SEE) Action Network. This network is meant to help states achieve maximum cost effective energy efficiency improvements in homes, offices, buildings and industry by 2020.

“Expanding energy efficiency is one of the quickest, most cost-effective ways we can address climate change and grow America’s economy,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The DOE and EPA will lead the SEE Action Network, and in cooperation with other member organizations, they will help states with their energy efficiency initiatives, including residential efficiency programs, financing solutions, and improving availability of energy usage information.

The new SEE Action Executive Group will meet for the first time in early March. A number of working groups will continue to meet throughout the year to report on specific goals.

For more information, visit the new State Energy Efficiency Action Network.

Central Texas Schools Ranked Top-10 in Green Energy

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that for the first time, the Lake Travis Independent School District is one of the largest purchasers of green energy in the country for K-12 schools. Lake Travis ISD purchases almost two million kilowatt-hours of green power each year, accounting for 15 percent of the district's electricity usage. This green power purchase is equivalent to offsetting the amount of electricity needed to power around 200 average homes.

Lake Travis ISD ranks 7th on the EPA's Top-20 K-12 list of schools using green power.

Austin ISD ranks 1st on the list, with green power purchases of 65,640,000 kilowatt-hours annually, accounting for 39 percent of the district's electricity usage.

Round Rock ISD ranks 2nd on the list, with green power purchases of 16,996,468 kilowatt-hours annually, accounting for 25 percent of the district's electricity usage.

Pflugerville ISD ranks 15th on the list, with green power purchases of 996,000 kilowatt-hours annually, accounting for 3 percent of the district's electricity usage.

Fore more information on schools that purchase green energy, visit the EPA.

Energy Efficiency Industry Takes Off

The energy efficiency industry is poised to experience explosive growth in 2010. Last year while most areas of the economy were deep in recession, the U.S. energy efficiency sector grew an amazing 664 percent. With politicians giving speeches, appropriating funds and passing laws encouraging domestic energy efficiency projects, along with a growing global emphasis on energy efficiency, the energy efficiency sector is expected to see incredible growth in the coming years.

Other "green" industries which also experienced substantial growth in 2009 included biofuels, wind energy, and carbon capture technologies. These sectors are also positioned to see increased growth in 2010 and beyond.

For more information about the growth of green industries, particularly mergers and acquisitions, view the report by Peachtree Green Advisors.