Under Vice President for Energy Efficiency Richard Gènesè’s signature, BPA has issued a paper addressing what the paper calls;
“The realities we as a region are faced with have created headwinds to the pursuit of energy efficiency:
• The region is still reeling from the economic crash of 2007-2008. Many customers are experiencing no or slow load growth with conservation potentially putting upward pressure on retail rates.
• For the first time, customers, on average, are expected to deliver 25 percent of public power’s regional programmatic savings target, meaning some have to justify efficiency beyond BPA funding
• Some customers have Tier 1 “head room” and are not facing price signals from Tier 2 rates or the market; and,
• Some customers have significantly higher BPA energy efficiency budgets than their historical expenditures. “
The paper provides a framework for a utility to analyze individual financial and rate situations using its own costs and assumptions. It general indicates that a strong economic case for energy efficiency can still be made for utilities – event those with flat to moderate load growth projections. To read a copy of BPA’s Case for Conservation, click on the file below.