When the federal government or states establish appliance and equipment standards, they are setting the bar for minimum energy efficiency of products. Standards save money for energy users, protect the environment, and boost the economy. They hasten adoption of energy-saving technology in products, often with improved performance. … Read More
The Vermont Public Service Board (Board) ordered the creation of the energy efficiency utility in response to a request from the Department of Public Service, all of the state’s 22 electric utilities, and a dozen consumer and environmental groups. Through Efficiency Vermont, consumers, businesses, manufacturers, and farmers across the state can participate in the same seven energy and money-saving programs.… Read More
As part of Illinois’ electricity deregulation process that began implementation in 1998, all electricity suppliers in Illinois must provide environmental information in utility bills four times per year. These include charts and graphs that will help consumers learn more about where their electricity comes from, and how much pollution it causes.… Read More
Efforts are underway at the federal level and in many individual states to develop fair and uniform interconnection standards to help facilitate the deployment of distributed generation. A handful of states have already adopted interconnection standards that other states can modify for their circumstances.… Read More
The objective of the future electricity system should be to optimize efficiency of the use, production and distribution of electricity. Regulators must quantify the benefits of dispersed power (and efficiency and storage) and develop pricing mechanisms that reflect the true costs of electricity distribution that encourage the siting of distributed generation resources when and where they are most needed.… Read More
New Jersey Natural Gas Company (NJNG) received approval in January 2003 from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to offer a special pricing plan to residential and commercial customers who use natural gas to fuel distributed generation (DG) technologies like fuel cells or microturbines. Under the rates, commercial and residential DG projects could see savings of up to 50 percent on their fuel costs.… Read More
As a result of the electricity crisis in California in 2001, initiatives to knock down the barriers to distributed power were enacted over subsequent years that can provide a model for other states to consider. … Read More
With aims to inspire renewable energy generation at the local level, in October 2003, Merton became the first local authority in the United Kingdom (UK) to adopt a policy requiring new non-residential developments to generate a portion of their energy needs from on-site renewables.… Read More
Recognizing the benefits that small-scale and locally-owned wind projects can have, in 2005 Minnesota lawmakers enacted legislation requiring all of the state’s electric utilities to establish Community Based Energy Development (C-BED) tariffs. The key aspect of the C-BED tariff is higher payments in the first 10 years of a power purchase contract. The only other state to enact such a law is Nebraska.… Read More