Utilities Emphasize Efficient, Renewable Energy
Published Jul 09, 2008
A foggy sunrise near Palm Springs reveals wind turbines that are part of a revolutionary program to meet the energy needs of the most populous state.
Meeting the energy demands of California’s 37 million people, many of whom work in power-hungry industries like agriculture, aerospace and technology, can be daunting. And while it may be melodramatic to say the state’s 2000-01 energy crisis represented a dark period, there’s no denying that it precipitated an overhaul of state energy policy. Now, with both investor-owned and municipal utilities generating juice in increasingly innovative fashion, Californians can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The California Energy Plan lies at the heart of the new effort. Among the plan’s components, energy efficiency looms largest, followed by demand response (minimizing load during times of peak usage) and renewable resource development.
“We have come a long way in using energy efficiency as our first line of defense against shortages,” Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spokeswoman Katie Romans says, speaking of the utility’s recent $1 billion commitment to conservation initiatives.
In one such program, PG&E, serving Northern and Central California, offers businesses on-site inspections to identify potential energy savings in lighting, heating and cooling. Companies then can receive a rebate for upgrading to more efficient equipment.
Southern California Edison, providing power to 5,000 large and 280,000 small businesses in coastal and Southern California, also offers incentives to help defray the cost of efficiency upgrades. Beyond tweaking lighting and HVAC systems, Southern California Edison can analyze the load required by equipment in heavy-usage industries like agriculture, according to Campbell Hawkins, manager of economic development.
OTHER TARGETED PROGRAMS
When the grid does become strapped for resources, the utilities go into demand-response mode. During these curtailment periods, PG&E offers financial incentives to participating customers for using less power, with the programs “being very targeted to have the least impact on business operations,” Romans says.
In terms of renewable energy, PG&E partners with the California Solar Initiative to provide inducements for installing solar equipment. Additionally, businesses can opt into PG&E’s Climate Smart program, in which they voluntarily offset their energy usage with a contribution to a sustainable-energy project accredited by the state. This in essence leaves the company with a zero-carbon footprint.
For its part, Southern California Edison has a renewable-energy portfolio of roughly 16 percent, one of the largest in the country.
Southern California Edison also has a plethora of economic development projects in the pipeline, Hawkins says, including a suite of business-centered tools. He is especially high on a new GIS (geographic information system) application that will aid site-selection professionals. Its graphical representations include local workforce demographics, educational systems and suppliers.
MUNICIPAL POWER PROJECTS
Not to be outdone in terms of innovative power solutions are the state’s publicly owned utilities. For example, at Sacramento Municipal Utility District, known as SMUD, “We’ll work with companies of any size on getting connected and finding out exactly how much it will cost to do business here,” says Greg Hribar, economic development manager.
Like investor-owned utilities, SMUD offers energy-efficiency and demand-reduction programs, and it also collaborates with local economic development organizations.
The district is especially proud of its clean-energy program. “We’re doing more than is being mandated,” Hribar says. “By 2011, up to 25 percent of our energy portfolio will be renewable,” including hydropower, wind power, solar power and biomass power.
SMUD, which has been providing public power for more than 60 years, also partners with the McClellan Technology Incubator to help facilitate the early-stage development of companies working on energy efficiency projects.
Clearly, by drawing on California’s base of technological expertise and business savvy, the power providers are working on all cylinders to keep the state’s businesses humming.
Story by Jon Brooks
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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