News & Listservs – California's Local Government Energy Efficiency Portal

Resources and Opportunities

der, EE, utilities

Performance incentive mechanisms (PIMs) are one of the various policies that incentive enery efficiency. ACEEE’s research finds that PIMs are among the most important factors contributing to higher savings and increasing utility energy savings year to year. They can be structured to provide business opportunities that are competitive with what utilities can earn through investments…

Rethinking Traditional Finance – How efficiency-as-a-service unlocks new potential for businesses – Apr. 2

December 12, 2018

Efficiency-as-a-service is a relatively new financing mechanism in which customers pay a provider for the service of energy savings. On this webinar, we will highlight a new efficiency-as-a-service toolkit and Better Buildings Financial Allies will share insights from the field. Click here to learn more from US DOE.

ICEPAG 2019: Microgrid Global Summit – Mar. 26-28

December 12, 2018

Held at the University of California, Irvine, ICEPAG 2019 supports the annual presentation of the Microgrid Global Summit, an update on the technologies, applications, and roles of microgrids in the smart grid of the future. The 3-day Colloquium is a valued balance of academia, industry, national laboratories, and government agencies actively engaged in the evolution…

Net-Zero-Energy homes pay off faster than you think – even in chilly midwest

December 12, 2018

residential buildings, zne

“On a drive down a country road, builder Bill Decker gives an off-the-cuff seminar about energy efficient homes. He shifts from carpentry to electrical engineering, and then to theology—his belief that his faith compels him to take care of the earth. Every few minutes, he pauses and points out a house his family-owned company has…

Willdan awarded new SoCalGas schools energy efficiency program

December 12, 2018

education, schools, SoCalGas

“Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WLDN) announced today that it has been selected by Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) to implement the utility’s new Schools Energy Efficiency Program (SEEP). This $2.7 million direct install program promotes natural gas savings by delivering no-cost energy-efficiency projects and education to participating public and private schools throughout SoCalGas’ service territory.…

‘Energy-efficient design can be simple’

December 12, 2018

Indiana, residential buildings

“Kelsey Johnston and her husband Tyler began looking at lots for sale rather than for a home, and stumbled upon the one that would ultimately become theirs. Johnston shares that she and her husband had strong opinions about what the structure would be like—but were also on a budget. Originally, Johnston wanted a one-story, L-shaped…

More jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency

December 12, 2018

energy economy, energy efficiency, labor economy, renewable energy

“In 2017, altogether 54 thousand full-time jobs in the Netherlands were associated with renewable energy and energy efficiency. This number was up from 35 thousand in 2008. Employment in these activities has increased continuously since 2008, with only a small dip in 2011. Employment in conventional energy grew steadily from 2008 to 2014 and subsequently…

Republican introduces ‘technology neutral’ tax credit bill to boost energy innovation, efficiency

December 12, 2018

“Rep. Tom Reed, R-NY, on Thursday, introduced the Energy Sector Innovation Credit Act, which he says will encourage the U.S. energy market to be “technology-diverse” and stop “picking winners and losers.” The bill includes an Emerging Energy Technology Electricity Production Credit and an Emerging Energy Technology Investment Credit.” Click here to read more from Utility DIve.

When hospitals think green, they see green

December 12, 2018

“The health care sector — one of the nation’s largest industries — is responsible for nearly 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions — hundreds of millions of tons worth of carbon each year. Hospitals make up more than one-third of those emissions, according to a paper by researchers at Northeastern University and Yale. Increasingly,…

How to make computers faster and climate friendly

December 12, 2018

“Your smartphone is far more powerful than the NASA computers that put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969, but it is also an energy hog. In computing, energy use is often considered a secondary problem to speed and storage, but with the rate and direction of technological advancement, it is becoming…

Air conditioning is broken. Here’s how we can (and must) fix it

December 12, 2018

air conditioning, industry

“The use of energy for cooling buildings has more than tripled between 1990 and 2016, with nearly 70 percent of this increase stemming from the residential sector. According to Solving the Global Cooling Challenge, a new report by the Rocky Mountain Institute, room air conditioners (RACs) — the typical window and split units used in…

Electric heat pumps can slash heating emissions by more than half in California homes

December 12, 2018

heat pumps, residential buildings