Investor Relations | Royalty Payments | Contact Us | Home
 
 
Back to Main Page Energy Information  
1.  CPUC approves $3.2 Billion Solar Program, Jan 12:
2.  RMI Study Leads to Comprehensive Energy Bill to Reduce Hawaii's Oil Dependence
3.  Conference on data center efficiency, 31 Jan 06 - 1 Feb 06
4.  JOB:  Energy Program Manager, Newcomb Anderson McCormick   (SF)
5.   State Solutions Intern, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
6.  Sustainable Silicon Valley Energy and CO2 Best Practices Working Group Meetings
7.  Job:  Senior Energy Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists, Berkeley
*********************************************************

1.  CPUC approves $3.2 Billion Solar Program, Jan 12

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the California Solar Initiative, a program to install 3,000 megawatts of solar on California homes, businesses, farms, schools and public facilities over 11 years.

The California Solar Initiative creates 11 years of funding for consumer rebates. The CPUC will provide $2.8 billion in customer incentives for solar projects on existing residential buildings, as well as all public buildings, industrial facilities, businesses, and agricultural facilities. The California Energy Commission, meanwhile, will provide $400 million in incentives for new homes, specifically targeting collaborations with the builder / developer community. Incentives are to be gradually reduced over time and phased out by 2016 under the CPUC proposal. The money will come from existing funds already earmarked for solar power and a de minimis additional surcharge on monthly electric bills over eleven years.

The historic initiative will provide the power equivalent of six large natural-gas fired power plants, while reducing the need for costly updates to California's congested electric grid. According to a staff report prepared by the CPUC in the summer of 2005, the state's investment in solar power will save California ratepayers billions of dollars net of incentives over system lifetimes.

The plan, which will cover roughly one-third the cost of solar systems, was approved on a 3-1 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The program will be funded by a new $1.10 monthly fee on residential power bills. It will be offset, PUC officials said, by the elimination of another fee that expires in 2007.

Environmentalists and solar industry leaders celebrated, but said there are still two key provisions the state Legislature must approve. One would require developers of new subdivisions to offer solar power as an option on all homes. The other would increase the number of customers eligible to receive credit on their bills for generating surplus power and supplying it to the state power grid.

Existing law caps such credits at 0.5 percent of each utility's total demand. Because of the growth of solar power in California, that cap is close to being reached. Environmentalists, Schwarzenegger and the PUC want it increased to 2.5 percent or more, but utilities are resisting.

**********************************************

2.  RMI Study Leads to Comprehensive Energy Bill to Reduce Hawaii's Oil Dependence

Snowmass, Colo., 12 January 2006-Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a Colorado-based energy and resources think tank, announced today that the State of Hawaii is launching a comprehensive and integrated approach to reducing oil dependence, Republican Governor Linda Lingle's "Energy for Tomorrow" bill.  The Governor's "Energy for Tomorrow" bill is a comprehensive energy policy package that incorporates many of RMI's policy recommendations, and has the potential to transform Hawaii-the most oil-dependent state in the nation and the one with the highest energy costs-into a state that will lead the nation with a low-cost, sustainable, locally-produced, and secure energy system. The Office of the Governor announced the bill separately Thursday.

"This bill embraces Winning the Oil Endgame's strategy to reduce oil dependence through efficiency, renewables, and biofuels while strengthening the economy through agricultural revitalization," said Kyle Datta, RMI Senior Director of Research & Consulting, who coauthored the report. "We knew that energy leadership had to come from the state-level, but Hawaii, with the highest energy prices, a 90 percent dependence on oil for energy, and few traditional energy options, could become a test lab for redesigning our entire nation's energy architecture on a state-by-state basis."

 The bill's five major components include:
 
First,  "Savings through Efficiency" calls for the creation of a Public Benefits Charge that will be used to directly fund efficiency and distributed renewable energy through an independent third party. The approach is based on the State of Vermont's efficiency utility, Efficiency Vermont, which was created to implement energy efficiency services and programs in an unbiased, independent, rigorously-accountable, and evenly-applied manner. Today, Efficiency Vermont has achieved twice the national average in energy savings of other states' efficiency programs, while Hawaii currently achieves roughly half the national average.

Second, "Independence through Renewable Energy" contains provisions that strengthen Hawaii's renewable portfolio standard, setting it at 20 percent and explicitly tasking the Public Utilities' Commission with defining a methodology for valuing the long-run benefits of renewable power in reducing fossil fuel risk. The bill also calls for sharing the fossil fuel risk between the utility and its ratepayers.

Third, the centerpiece of "Fuels through Farmings" is a 20 percent Renewable Fuels Standard, backed with exemptions from the state fuels excise tax and state preferences for biofuels procurement.

Finally, this energy bill, Mr. Datta noted, could lead the 50th state to become a world leader in hydrogen energy technology. It calls for the immediate establishment of a world-class renewable hydrogen program.

The Democratic majority package mirrors the call for state leadership in energy efficiency by requiring LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification, and providing significant funding for energy efficiency in state buildings and photovoltaics in schools. The critical innovation is the Pay As You Save (PAYS) pilot program that provides a revolving fund to finance solar water heating for low-income residents that is paid back through energy savings.

This bill, Mr. Datta noted, would be good for Hawaiians, good the environment, and good for business. Implementation of all the conservation, renewable energy, and alternative transportation fuels components of this package, he said, are expected by the year 2020 to displace 110.5 million barrels of imported crude oil-saving Hawaii's consumers $6.32 billion; and avoiding 48.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

For more information, please contact Kyle Datta at 808-329-4360 at kdatta@rmi.org. You can also visit RMI's website at www.rmi.org.

********************************************************

3.  Conference on data center efficiency, 31 Jan 06 - 1 Feb 06

this conference is in part sponsored by Stanford's institute for environment!!!

The EPA's Energy Star program, with sponsorship by Stanford's Institute for the Environment, has organized a conference on opportunities for energy savings in enterprise servers and data centers. Participants will discuss current trends in the enterprise server market, share ideas on management, technical strategies, and best practices, and investigate obstacles to improved data center energy efficiency. They will also develop action plans to overcome these obstacles. For details and free registration for this conference go to http://www.energystar.gov/serverconference

Conference Chairperson

Jonathan G. Koomey, Ph.D - Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Consulting Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

Agenda

Welcome Reception: January 30, 2006, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Day 1, January 31st, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Enterprise Servers and Data Centers: Opportunities for Energy Savings

Sun Microsystems Conference Facility, Santa Clara, CA

Industry leaders and energy efficiency experts will open this meeting by discussing trends and challenges in the marketplace. A panel of end users will emphasize their desire for improved efficiencies in data centers. The second half of the day will focus on roadblocks to efficiency and drive the group toward solutions with the help of case studies and small group working sessions.

Day 2, February 1st, 8:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m: Challenges in Buildings Operations and Management for Owners/Operators of Service Provider and Enterprise Datacenters and Development of the ENERGY STAR® Building Benchmark for Mission Critical Facilities

AMD Conference Facility, Sunnyvale, CA

Stakeholders with interests in whole building energy performance are also encouraged to attend a complementary half-day meeting that will focus exclusively on the impact of enterprise servers and data centers on the design, operation, and management of whole buildings.


*******************************************************

4.  JOB:  Energy Program Manager, Newcomb Anderson McCormick (SF) 

Newcomb Anderson McCormick is a highly respected engineering consulting firm located in San Francisco and devoted to the field of energy engineering and consulting for institutional, industrial, and commercial facilities.  We provide a wide variety of energy efficiency services, including energy project scoping studies and detailed energy efficiency studies.  We provide a wide variety of program development, program management, technical regulatory compliance review, implementation support, technical quality assurance, and energy engineering services for many of California's largest public institutions and public and municipal utilities.

Energy Program Manager

The ideal candidate for this position has a minimum 10 years' experience with energy efficiency projects, utility programs, and commercial buildings, as well as an understanding of the California regulatory environment and energy issues affecting public institutions and investor-owned utilities. A BS degree in Engineering or a BA degree in a related field is required, and professional license is preferred.  Prospective candidates must be proficient in MS Office, including MS Project, and have outstanding organization and communication skills.

As a Program Manager, applicant would be responsible for the performance of various energy efficiency programs.  Candidates must possess a demonstrated ability to:
… Manage multi-year, multimillion dollar energy efficiency project programs.
… Manage disparate groups of professionals from organizations with different priorities.
… Effectively manage project team meetings.
… Review energy efficiency projects and calculations.
… Document program policies, project team decisions, meeting minutes, action items, milestones, and schedules.
… Perform project tracking using MS Project or other appropriate software.
… Provide accounting for project funding allocation and spending.

Interested applicants should e-mail resume and cover letter to: admin@newcomb.cc.

This position is in the San Francisco Bay Area and local candidates are preferred.  Newcomb Anderson McCormick is an equal opportunity employer.

Please email your resume to the email address listed on this ad, or fax your resume to 415-896-1900.  No phone calls please.

********************************************************

5. State Solutions Intern, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Pew Center on Global Climate Change seeks a recent college graduate or graduate student in environmental science, environmental policy, or related field for a State Solutions Internship from Jan. 2006 through June 2006.  The intern will research emerging state climate policies and support substantive Pew Center work on state climate change initiatives, including writing reports and articles.
The position is full time and comes with a stipend.

***********************************************************

6.  Sustainable Silicon Valley Energy and CO2 Best Practices Working Group Meetings.

To Facilities and Energy Managers in company, government, and NGO facilities:

We'd like to invite you to participate in the new Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) Energy and CO2 Best Practices Working Group, beginning Wednesday, January 18th, 9 am - 12 noon at Cisco Systems in San Jose, and sponsored by Wattstopper. (Follow this link for agenda ) SSV and corporate partner LifeScan, a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Company, are offering this training and information-sharing program based on US EPA's Energy Star Enhanced Best Practices.

The SSV Energy and CO2 Best Practices Working Group will use a phased approach to walk companies through the ten-step program of energy efficiency and ultimate cost savings that has been successful at companies around the world and is saving LifeScan $1.3 million per year. Participants will represent public and private organizations of all sizes, and will be able to move through the process at a rate appropriate to their own situation, learning from each other as well.

Participants will receive training packages for each phase of implementation, including the proven techniques recorded by LifeScan and specialized tools and calculators developed by Johnson & Johnson to project cost and return on investment.



******************************************************************

7.  Job:  Senior Energy Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists

The UCS Clean Energy Program, Berkeley office, is seeking an Energy Analyst to focus on renewable energy issues in California and the western United States.  The analyst will undertake research and advocacy in support of renewable energy and climate policies.  Candidates must have a strong background in the energy field.

Applicants should have a bachelor's and/or master's degree in engineering, science, economics, public policy or other field related to energy and solid relevant work experience on energy issues.

To apply, Please submit letter, resume and 1-3 page writing sample by February 10, 2006 via email to <cleanenergy@ucsusa.org> with a subject line of California Energy Analyst.
 
 
© 2008 MAP Royalty, Inc.