Archive for July 2010
Texas Energy Deregulation Drives Innovation And Is The Model for Other States to Follow (Part 1)
July 29, 2010 | 
Author At the end of 1999, Texas and 22 other states had begun deregulating their electrical utilities. Since that time, Texas has successfully transformed from a typical state-regulated electric utility system to one that is 75% deregulated, allowing the bulk of its population to choose both their electrical service provider and a service plan that suits their lifestyle.
While only a handful of states have experienced problems implementing their versions of deregulation, all have regarded Texas as the model to follow. Why? Texas is the number one energy user in the country. Texas produces and consumes more electricity than any other state. And in spite of the sheer volume required to power up the state every day, Texas has made its deregulated electrical market succeed.
Ten years ago, Texas faced many of the same problems as the rest of the country under the regulated electricity system. The industry had stagnated, few power infrastructure improvements were being performed by the utilities to improve their efficiency in producing, transmitting, and metering electricity. Building new generation plants was often a slow, bureaucratic process because the utilities had to negotiate with state regulators both how to build new generation facilities and how to pass the expense on to consumers. Developments in green energy were under-funded and seldom progressed beyond the experimental stage. The utilities also had little incentive to improve service or innovate with emerging technologies because they had a monopoly: they were guaranteed a profit that pleased their stakeholders.
Throughout the country, however, more and more people demanded more and more electrical power. Already the second largest population in America, Texas is still among the fastest growing states and is expected to have 50 million by 2040. Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio are among the top 10 populated metropolitan areas in the country. The Austin area alone is expected to balloon to five times the current population over the next 30 years.
Texas is also the second largest economy in the United States (15th globally), with an annual output of over one trillion dollars. Unfortunately, Texas also emits 10% of total U.S. “greenhouse gases”.
Growing concerns about climate change and the environment drove both state and federal governments to pass mandates for developing new green alternative energies. ERCOT has estimated that peak demand for Texas electricity increased at an annual rate of 2.5% from 1990 to 2006 and will experience similarly high annual growth, requiring between 60,000 and 80,000 megawatts (MW) of new electricity generation capacity by 2030.
State regulators, as well as industry experts, quickly realized that the regulated electric utility system lacked the agility to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Why Did Texas Succeed?
There are four reasons why the deregulated utility market succeeded in Texas. The first is that deregulation stimulated new investment in electrical generation to meet demand and add reliability. Where power companies once had to petition the state regulators for permission, they now build facilities when they see the potential for profit. In Texas, this led to an investment of over $25 billion in 39,000 MW of new generation and ensured that investors, not consumers, took the risk on the sale of all of that electricity. Most of this investment was in low-polluting natural gas-powered generation plants. Today, over half of Texas’ electric power comes from natural gas. Texas produces 25% of the nation’s natural gas and is the largest producer; storing and supplying natural gas via pipeline for all regions of the country.
The investment and building generation capacity also added something that Texas needed as a rapidly growing state: reliability. For example, on a hot July day, electricity demand in the ERCOT area can threaten to overload both generators and transmission lines. The result would be a blackout of large areas of the state. By building additional generators, more power can be generated to make up for system short-falls. Also, different generators can be brought on line to take over for generators that need maintenance or upgrades.
The next reason is that restructuring has spurred the growth of more efficient, less-polluting electricity technologies. During the regulated utility years, innovation and alternative energy development languished, rarely moving beyond the demonstration phase. However, both the rising cost of energy production and concerns over the environment have spurred new development in co-generation, combined cycle generation, and green power. Nationwide, there is a huge demand for green power; customers are now more aware of greenhouse gases and climate change. Currently, more companies sell green power than ten years ago. This is not just because it is popular, but companies also see that green power sources are less expensive to operate in the long term than conventional systems. Two of the biggest innovations in green electrical power in Texas are wind and solar power.
Currently Texas leads the nation in wind-generated energy production with over 9,000 MW of installed wind energy. Over 2,000 wind turbines operate in the West Texas hills alone and the numbers continue to increase with development costs dropping and wind turbine technology improving. In 2007, Texas became the first State to reach the milestone of one giga-watt of wind capacity installed in a single year. At 736 MW, the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in central Texas is the largest wind power facility in the world. Recently, the state finalized a plan for a 17,000 MW increase in wind capacity that will meet the federally mandated Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) years ahead of schedule.
In spite of the defeat in 2009 of a $500 million state legislature plan to develop solar energy in Texas, the interest in taking advantage of Texas sun is still shining. A University of Texas study found the state could generate up to 123,000 new jobs by moving aggressively toward solar power panel manufacturing and installation. Several groups are already lobbying the governor to aim for a plan to generate 1,000 MW of solar power by 2015 and 5,000 MW by 2025. In March, 2010, the Texas State Energy Conservation Office awarded the City of San Antonio, the University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Philip’s College some $3.7 million in grants to invest in new solar distributed energy generation capacity. This will triple the amount of the area’s solar power generating capacity to 600 kilowatt (KW). Finally, design improvements by two Texas companies, Exeltech and Entech Solar, both of Fort Worth, will make solar electric panels even easier to install on consumers’ roofs.
The third reason deregulation succeeded has been the transformation of the Texas electrical grid. Operation of the Texas grid has changed to maximize its efficiency and increase reliability. Neither had gotten off the drawing board during the regulated years. In fact, one hold over from those days is that the Texas grid is largely disconnected from the rest of the country and presents significant challenges supplying power to the grids of both Texas and the rest of the country. In spite of this, electric Transmission and Distribution Utilities (TDUs) have succeeded in lowering transmission costs, both in terms of getting power to market and in reducing consumer energy waste.
In 2008, the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) set energy savings targets at 20% of load growth for Texas utilities in 2009. This means that if the increased demand measured 10 MW, Texas utilities had to save 2 MW through efficiency measures. To meet these goals, the TDUs administer incentive programs while Retail Electric Providers and energy efficiency service providers implement the programs. The programs are open to all customers and have the goal to reduce system peak demand, energy consumption and/or energy costs.
TDUs pay incentives or rebates to program participants for the installation of high efficiency equipment that produces measurable and verifiable demand savings (see www.texasefficiency.com). TDUs do not pay incentives directly to residential customers. Residential participants instead must go through a third-party sponsor for energy efficiency measures installed in their homes. Non-residential participants can act as self-sponsors and be paid directly for energy efficiency measures installed in their facilities or go through a third party.
The programs have been very successful. Between 1999 and 2006, energy efficiency programs have reduced peak demand by 756,000 kW and saved 2,005 million kilowatt hour (kWh) per year. Texas utilities reported efficiency program savings of 457,808 megawatt hours (mWh) in 2007.
Wind power is cheap only if you can get it to market. In February, 2009, the PUCT assigned approximately $5 billion of transmission projects to be constructed in Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ). The CREZ power-line projects represents one of the largest power transmission improvement projects in the state’s history. New transmission lines will be in service within four or five years, eventually transmitting 18,456 MW of wind generated power from West Texas to the power-hungry metropolitan areas of the state.
The final reason for success is that deregulation dismantled the monopolies and introduced market competition. After all, a reliable and growing electricity system is all about managing supply and demand. So, instead of one company making power, transmitting power, and billing you for the power in a one-size-fits-all format, the electricity market integrates wholesale and retail competition. Generation is separate from retail. Because retailers and their customers can choose where they buy power from, power generating companies are forced to produce power more efficiently because they are competing with other generator plants in other counties — and in some cases, even in other states. Retailers, meanwhile, have to be more efficient and careful in their purchasing and selling of power.
It is no secret that the Texas electricity deregulation process has been rocky. Part of the reason has been volatile fuel prices brought on by international political and economic turmoil over the years. However, markets don’t guarantee the lowest possible prices. They do guarantee the best possible prices based on a customer’s preference. Of course, when looking for the best price, be it groceries or gasoline, information is a consumer’s best friend. In a deregulated market, consumers can save money on their Texas electricity bills by staying informed about their energy usage, their energy plan’s pricing, and their energy provider’s competitors. The quickest way to lower your electric bill might mean shopping around for a better deal.
For example, residents in a Fort Worth seniors community recently had their eyes opened when columnist Dave Lieber of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram found that many were paying as much as 14 or 15 cents per kWh. Why? Possibly because many had only known the old utility monopoly their whole lives. They were used to the state making the choices and setting the prices. This was an incident where just a little information can save you a lot of money.
The past ten years have brought improved reliability to Texas’ growing energy demands. The old regulated system never could have kept up. Because of deregulation, there are more generation developments and greener innovations that make power more efficiently. There is now more reliability in power transmission with efficiency cutting both waste and energy cost in Texas. And finally, market competition has stimulated generators and retailers to cut their costs to deliver better service at a lower price to consumers.
That’s why all the other states are following Texas.
Posted in Climate Change | 
Tags: Deregulation, Drives, Energy, Follow, innovation, model, Part, States, Texas | 
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Energy Conservation
Renewable energy technologies have come a long way. But public attitudes lag far behind.
How to Make Your Office even Greener
Saving the planet can make your business big savings as well. For example, did you know that every UK office worker uses an incredible 35 litres of water every day- of which 30 could be saved by fitting water-saving devices to office toilets? Bristol is famous for being a hub of green activity, but all local businesses can do more to ensure our city stays at the forefront of the environmental revolution. Read on for some easily implemented tips to take to your boss, your staff or your business partners and take control of your business’s environmental footprint.
How can it help my business?
At the start of 2010, Avery conducted a national environment survey to find out office workers’ views on helping the environment. The results highlighted some worrying trends. Two thirds of office workers said they were not aware that their organisation had any environmental targets in place, and just 18% were told about targets during their induction. Yet, 46% of those surveyed say it’s important our companies should act responsibly when it comes to the green issues. The key reason for a lack of staff participation in greener office practices like conserving energy is that they feel disengaged from the business’s environmental interests: when surveyed, office workers admitted that the lack of empowerment, facilities and communication are the key reasons why they are not greener during working hours. 47% even said that they are less conscious of reducing power consumption because they aren’t the ones paying the bills. Key to overcoming disengagement will be involving your entire staff in your environmental policy; this will increase their stake in the move to go green. Have a meeting and brainstorm ideas! It’s a great way to bring your office staff together and increase dialogue between departments.
Reduce your waste
Waste removal costs businesses time and money. To reduce paper waste, try making phone pads out of scrap paper or setting up a ‘scrap paper’ box to use for printing non-important documents. Make sure you register your company with the Mail Preference Service to reduce the amount of junk mail you get. If you’re still using paper plates, plastic cups or any other disposables in the kitchen, consider installing an energy efficient dishwasher and making the change to proper crockery and cutlery- you’ll vastly decrease your waste (think how many cups of coffee your office consumes in a day) and it’s much more pleasant to eat and drink from. Likewise, try and change from using paper towels in the bathroom and kitchen to cotton. If you buy ten at once and get them laundered once a month with other household or business laundry, you’ll make savings. If your office has a vending machine, most will allow you to place your own mug in the dispenser so the plastic cup won’t appear. You’ll get a bigger hot drink too!
Recycling Tips
If you have unwanted office furniture or other odds and ends, chances are a local charity like the Sofa Store will want them – just visit your local Council website for an A to Z of waste items and what to do with them, with a list of community groups who need donations. For example, if you have unopened tins of paint from the office redecoration, donate them to the Children’s Scrapstore, a voluntary organisation. They aim to take clean, safe, waste products and re-use them as a creative resource for children’s art and play activities.
Importantly, make sure you recycle your inkjet and toner cartridges. Find an office supplies company which will take away your empties for free when you order new ones. And don’t dispose of computer hardware in the tip, particularly if sensitive commercial information could still be stored on it.
Buy in bulk and buy responsibly
As well as choosing recycled printer paper and other consumables, try to buy in bulk and avoid individual portion packs, like cereals and drinks. Ready-made convenience foods are often over-packaged so try and avoid these and remember that you are paying for unnecessary packaging. Why not arrange to have local foods sourced and delivered for your meetings’ catering, rather than supermarket sandwiches or ready-made cakes, to decrease food miles – benefits include building up useful local relationships and contributing to the local economy, which is great for your firm’s profile. Also, fresher food usually tastes better. For everyday kitchen items like tea, buy fair-trade, and local- and again, watch the packaging and don’t use plastic carrier bags. Better still, buy in bulk with a company which can deliver stationery, catering products, office machinery and office furniture all together; you’ll use less of the office budget and reduce the carbon footprint of your office considerably. You’re also saving time out of the working day which it takes to go to the supermarket every time you run out of printer paper, memory sticks or milk.
Save on utility bills
British businesses waste over £120 million each year just by leaving the office lights on. Energy usage of many companies and households is sky-high, yet so many computers are left on overnight unnecessarily. If they are not used overnight, give them – and the environment – a break by switching them off overnight when you go home. Turn off photocopiers, printers, monitors and lights, and make sure phones and chargers are unplugged to save more energy. Water is our planet’s most precious resource. In addition to the water savings you can make by adjustments to office toilets, make sure you report dripping taps; Southern Water estimates you will save the equivalent of a bathful of water a week, or more than £900/year in water and wastewater treatment costs.
Other quick money saving environmental tips:
Make sure you order re-usable batteries, since they are notoriously difficult to dispose of (although local recycling centres at supermarkets can often take care of it, you’ll have to travel to them). Re-chargeables are much cheaper in the long run too.
Don’t use printouts at meetings- take a memory stick and demonstrate your ideas on a computer when you get there, or use a projector. Use online workspaces (such as Google Wave) for projects, and online document storage for your personal work which you can access from anywhere. You’ll cut down on your filing mess too and your desk will be much more organised.
Start a car-sharing conversation with your colleagues, or make enquiries about local bike-to-work schemes- you can make substantial savings on bulk-buys on bicycles for staff. For those who are less able to make the trip under their own steam, consider electric bikes , which are very little effort and do not pollute the atmosphere.
Switch off heating in unused rooms, and NEVER leave windows open while a room is being heated- it’s a total waste of energy. Your heating costs will go up by 8% each time you increase the temperature by just one degree, so re-think the office temperature; stuffy, warm offices can also make your staff sleepy and unproductive.
70% of office waste is recyclable, but only 8% ever makes it as far as a recycling bin. If you do one thing this week, make sure you buy colour coded bins for the kitchen and office space and separate your rubbish. Visit the Bristol Council website for collection details.
There are plenty of small changes you can make in your office which will make a big difference not only to your staff but also to your bottom line costs. Even tweaking the ventilation and temperature can make a big difference; a recent survey found that staff were happier and more productive in energy efficient offices (without wasteful centrally controlled systems which heat or cool empty rooms and restrict window opening). Why not implement one of these tips every week? In a couple of months, you’ll have made some changes that could really make a difference.
Real Time Energy Metering
With the increasing energy use for many types of organizations at the present, challenges relevant to the use of energy are now faced by the major decision makers of enterprises. Decision makers of organizations of today are realizing the need to take actions in observing sustainable practices and mind the consequences of such energy use. Coupled with that responsibility, organizations are also burdened with high energy costs as well as ensuring energy security for future generations.
The company faces a strong call to become more sustainable and to cut back in every respect in the energy that the organization uses, as a consequence of the carbon emissions that result. The other challenge, of course, is the sheer cost of using the energy in the first place and the associated security concerns for the future.
If there is so much pressure on an organization to realize the scale of its energy use and to make improvements, the quality of information available to decision-makers must be very high. It will not be acceptable to just use historical data as improvements in technology such as real-time energy metering can help use of best case practices.
As organizations of every shape and size face a twin pronged challenge when it comes to their use of energy, management should explore every opportunity to arm themselves with the best possible information and the highest quality data to enable them to take their best position. The company faces a strong call to become more sustainable and to cut back in every respect in the energy that the organization uses, as a consequence of the carbon emissions that result. The other challenge, of course, is the sheer cost of using the energy in the first place and the associated security concerns for the future.
Real-time energy metering involves a dedicated network accessibility of data from meters throughout an entire system. Sometimes existing meters can be retrofitted, but at other times especially equipped meters are linked in order to capture data at specified intervals, for example every ten minutes.
An organization’s energy liability and carbon emissions footprint is effectively the sum of its energy use for each individual corporate asset. Each asset of any consequence must be metered in its own right, so that its contribution to the problem is assessed. Energy sustainability would be hardly attainable unless assets are made to be optimally efficient.
Data loggers, as part of real-time energy metering solutions, provide data to a central database, where results are integrated, analyzed and presented. Reports are available on a micro analysis level, enabling the operator to make critical decisions and change the operation of the asset or assets in real-time, during the course of the billing cycle.
Energy utility bills of any organization has always been a very big part of monthly statements. Where there was no real-time energy metering solutions which could have had fully digitized reporting systems, it was hard in the past to accurately match energy use with the electricity bill. Any errors evident would often go unnoticed and this would compromise a company’s efficiency and sustainability challenge.
When real-time energy metering is used with digitized utility bill checking, organizations have found that they are able to compare actual use versus chargeable liabilities to an accuracy of less than 1/10 of 1 percent.
In a deregulated energy society, a company that is able to analyze its electricity and energy use due to real-time energy metering, may well be able to procure its energy according to a “best case” scenario through use of sophisticated energy profiles. Accurate metering would be a very big contribution in the ultimate aim for carbon footprint reduction.
Posted in Carbon accounting | Tags: Efficiencies, Energy, great, metering, Real, Time, Yeilds | No Comments »
Making Your Business Energy Efficient
There are many reasons why making your company eco-friendly is such a great idea. There are also several myths about doing so – the major one being that it’s expensive. Making your company green doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it can save you money – so it’s really worth exploring what you can do to make a few changes.
What’s more, in today’s society where more and more people are concerning themselves with the environment, ethical companies gain more public respect. If your company proves itself to be ethical regarding environmental concerns, you could find yourself gaining a few more loyal customers who are enticed by your moral attitude.
So how can you green up your business? There are plenty of ways. The current buzz is all about reducing your carbon footprint, and one way of achieving this is by simply using less power. This may sound like a difficult task, but when you think about how many people don’t switch their computers off at the end of the night, or leave unnecessary lights on, a simple company email reminding people to do what they can to conserve precious energy is enough to make an adequate start. Conserve paper by emailing and discourage unnecessary photocopying.
Another way to go green is to make changes to your IT department. Whether you have an in house server or your company is big enough to need a data centre, large or small, these machines use a great deal of power and it is easy to curb this.
Technologies in the computing world, such as virtualisation and cloud computing have made it so that many IT aspects can be moved onto fewer servers rather than many, or placed online. Virtualisation allows you to ‘virtualise’ your servers and stack them all onto one machine that can access each interface. Cloud computing simply allows all software and applications to be accessed online, meaning far less hardware is needed and you can even let employees work from home, thus using less petrol due to being relieved of their daily commute.
Greening up your business really can be simple, and it’s cost-effective too. Using less power means lower energy bills and the two IT technologies mentioned above cost just a tiny fraction of what traditional in-house IT amounts to. Having a green business is a satisfying, ethical practice and one that could lower your carbon footprint, gain your company more public respect and help you save money – so see what you can do to start going green.
Go Green – Spread The Word
Many of us are responding to the call to Go Green. Sales professionals are also playing a great role in spreading awareness to save the environment. It not only helps a business to improve but also gives the business owners and marketers a chance to do something for the world. Green Marketing has become quite popular for the last few years. It has become a challenge for everyone to save the earth.
What is Green Marketing?
For those who still do not have a clear idea here we go. Green Marketing is the marketing of products or services that are environment friendly. At times it is also known as Ecological Marketing or Environmental Marketing as well. It includes various activities starting from production process to product modification, packaging as well as revising advertisements.
Green Marketing not only emphasize on production of environmentally safe commodities but also conservation of natural resources. It focuses on recycling and reusing of natural resources as well as reduction of waste. Protection of land and water is also equally important.
Spread Awareness:
If you are a business man/woman or sales professional you are lucky enough to save earth and spread the awareness to go green among your customers. Consumers are always willing to buy products that are useful and safe at the same time. They examine products before they buy it.
If you sell goods that are environment friendly and spread awareness about the positive aspects of your product the customers are sure to come back to you over and again. Create Green Marketing Ads to spread awareness. In this way you not only improve your business but improve the people’s life at the same time.
A Great Effort:
Go Green Marketing is a great effort by business professionals to focus on natural resource conservation into each and every area starting from home to office. They encourage use of recycled paper products in the office. Emphasis is also given on reduction of waste in the kitchen or the restroom.
Green Marketing Ads:
Green Marketing Ads are created to persuade the home makers to buy and use environment friendly products in the bedroom, kitchen or bathroom. The home makers are encouraged to use products like biodegradable cleaner. Focus is also given on organic food items that are made in environment friendly conservative methods.
Go Green Marketing is not only beneficial for the marketers but also for the consumers. This effort educates people how to use “green” products, how to reduce wastage and how to conserve natural resources and energy. The ads influence the public to change their old habits and adapt some new good habits in order to protect the planet and “live green”.
Marketers also encourage manufacturing processes that are environment friendly. New equipments have been introduced in order to reduce waste products while manufacturing goods. Certain equipments also help to generate environment friendly and energy efficient wind, solar and hybrid power from fossil.
Green Marketing also helps a business to get huge publicity and acquire a positive community image. Above all it gives you the opportunity to contribute a little in order to save the planet.
A world of environmental change starts with you
With just a few simple changes in your daily routine, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. To ease into your new eco-friendly lifestyle, try adopting a new green practice each day of the week.
To help get you started, consider the tips below:
Monday: Walk it out
Forgot eggs at the grocery store? Out of milk? Reduce your carbon footprint by walking or biking to pick up last minute items.
Tuesday: Green your caffeine
Consider purchasing a travel mug or tumbler to cart your coffee to work. Many coffee shops offer a discount on your morning java if you bring your own thermos.
Wednesday: Go paperless
Look for ways to cut down on printing. At work, consider sending information via email. If you must, print double-sided and make sure to use recycled paper. At home, read newspapers and conduct your banking online. Consider purchasing a chalk board so the family can jot down to-do lists and keep track of activities paper free.
Thursday: Keep the pedal off the metal
Taking your foot off the pedal can do more than save you from a speeding ticket. Driving the speed limit on the highway not only saves gas, it produces less smog.
Friday: Avoid the super soaker
Instead of soaking in the tub, take a five minute shower. Showers use far less water than baths making them friendly on the environment and your wallet.
Saturday: Clean naturally
Before rolling up your sleeves and diving into your summer cleaning, pick up cleaning products that are made with plant-based, biodegradable cleaning ingredients such as those in the Green Works line. Green Works natural cleaners are a great option as they remove dirt and grime without leaving harsh chemical fumes and residues behind. More information on these cleaners can be found online.
Sunday: Let Mother Nature dry your clothes
Make use of a sunny day and line-dry your laundry. Clothes dryers are one of the most energy inefficient household appliances.
Crackdown on Packaging
Moves to cut packaging waste received a boost this week as group of leading firms pledged to curb waste levels across their supply chain and new environment minister Lord Henley called on more High Street names to follow suit.
The government-backed Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) announced today that seven additional firms have signed up to its Courtauld Commitment 2 scheme since it was launched in March, taking to 36 the total number of businesses to have pledged to meet voluntary waste reduction targets under the initiative.
New members include Marks & Spencer, Heineken UK, Burton Foods, and Dale Farm, the first Northern Irish firm to join the scheme.
Under the second round of the Courtauld Commitment scheme, firms signing up to the initiative pledge to reduce the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10 per cent, cut household food and drink wastes by four per cent, and reduce supply chain product and packaging waste by five per cent by 2012.
The group held its inaugural meeting yesterday to identify the measures and best practices that will be required to try and meet the new targets.
The Courtauld Commitment was set up under the previous government, but has already secured the backing of the coalition with recently appointed environment minister Lord Henley telling the meeting that he wanted to see more retailers join the scheme.
“This government is right behind you – the Prime Minister has pledged this will be the greenest government ever, and waste is one of the biggest environmental challenges facing this country,” he said. “We must all work together, exploring ideas, sharing innovations and successes.”