http://www.cbbulletin.com/413271.aspx
Columbia Basin Bulletin
Report Shows Energy Efficiency Efforts In 2010 Marked Biggest Megawatt
Savings Gain In 30 Years
Posted on Friday, October 14, 2011 (PST)
Increased conservation during 2010 by Pacific Northwest electricity
users saved 254 average megawatts, the equivalent annual power use of
153,900 homes, according to the annual “Utility Conservation
Achievements Report” released this week by the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council and Regional Technical Forum.
That’s the biggest one-year gain since regional energy-efficiency
programs began more than 30 years ago.
The 2010 savings bring the region’s total since 1978, when energy-
efficiency programs began in the Northwest, to 4,600 average megawatts
- enough power for four cities the size of Seattle. Those total savings
equal what was needed in 2009 to power the states of Idaho and Montana
combined.
The measures implemented in 2010 saved Northwest electricity ratepayers
$135 million and will produce the same amount of savings every year for
the next 15-20 years, at least.
“The efficiencies you make in one year continue to save energy” in
succeeding years, said Terry Morlan, the Council’s Power Planning
Division director. The report was previewed by NPCC energy policy
analyst Gillian Charles, conservation resources manager Tom Eckman and
senior power division analyst Charlie Grist Wednesday during the
Council’s meeting in Portland.
Overall utilities spent about $389 million to achieve the $135 million
in savings in 2010, but the investments made last year will continue to
bring savings in the years to come and very soon pay for themselves.
The Council and RTF, an advisory committee established in 1999 to
verify and evaluate electric energy efficiency savings, calculated the
savings from the results of a survey of the region’s electric
utilities, the Energy Trust of Oregon, the Northwest Energy Efficiency
Alliance, and the Bonneville Power Administration.
The fiscal year/calendar year 2010 survey represents the activities of
76 utilities serving over ninety-eight percent of the region’s retail
electricity sales. The RTF has not independently verified the reported
savings and expenditures.
The 2010 savings surpassed the Council’s target for the year in its
Northwest Power Plan, 200 average megawatts, by 25 percent. Regional
energy conservation achievements have surpassed power plan targets in
every year since 2005.
The Council revises its power plan every five years, forecasting energy
demand 20 years into the future and recommending a mix of electricity
resources to meet that demand. The current plan is for the years
2009-2029.
To see summaries and individual utility reports for 2010 go to:
http://www.nwcouncil.org/energy/rtf/consreport/2010/
The savings occur when electricity is used more efficiently – using
less power to accomplish the same tasks. Those saving can be gain by
replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents or LED
bulbs, which produce the same amount of light with less electricity, in
homes, businesses, and industries, and also by improving insulation or
replacing windows in buildings so less power is needed to heat or cool
them.
Replacing inefficient motors, pumps, furnaces, and other types of
machinery also yields energy savings, as do changes in how much energy
is used during the day, such as through programmable thermostats. The
RTF has identified 90 measures that improve electric energy efficiency.
Other highlights include:
–The average cost of the efficiency to utilities in 2010 was 1.7 cents
per kilowatt-hour. The average cost of power from new generating plants
that use wind or natural gas is much more expensive – between 9 cents
and 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
– Among the various sectors of electricity use, the biggest
improvements in 2010 were in commercial businesses and industries.
Those two sectors together accounted for half of the savings.
– Residential improvements accounted for 28 percent of the savings.
Most of the residential improvements were in lighting.
– Improved efficiency of products such as water heaters, furnaces,
clothes washers and other equipment, which is tracked by the Northwest
Energy Efficiency Alliance, accounted for 18 percent of the total.
The Council’s 20-year Northwest Power Plan, which is implemented by the
federal Bonneville Power Administration, the largest electricity
supplier in the region, calls for meeting 85 percent of the growth in
demand for power through 2029 with energy efficiency. The plan, which
also serves as a guide for investor-owned utilities, includes targets
for efficiency improvements.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is a compact of the states
of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington and is directed by the
Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare a power plan to assure the
Northwest region an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable
electricity supply and a companion program to protect, mitigate, and
enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin affected by
hydropower dams.
http://www.cbbulletin.com/413271.aspx
