Proposed decision on Natural gas cap and trade...

The CPUC has just issued a proposed decision on the first steps of bringing natural gas under the state’s cap and trade program. This allows the utilities to participate in auctions and begin complying in January. The decision sides with the one recommendation we made — to not limit the percentage of allowances that utilities have to pay for after 2015. In 2015, they only have to pay for 25%, which is CARB’s minimum requirement. For 2016 and beyond it remains to be decided.

We have two interests in this. We want the price of natural gas to incorporate GHG impacts and we want some of the auction revenue to be used to continue the CSI-Thermal program after the CSI money starts drying up.

Next step in the proceeding is to decide how much of the auction revenue should be used for programs versus given to customers as bill credits.

For a complete free full copy go to  http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/SearchRes.aspx?ProposedDecisions=1&DaySearch=30 

U.S. ranks 13 of 16 in ACEEE ratings.

The World Cup of Energy Efficiency

Germany Tops the Chart This year, Germany won the World Cup of soccer in Brazil. What a tournament. I was stunned by how many people were excited about it. Germany also won the World Cup of Energy Efficiency, a ranking developed by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). It evaluated 16 leading world economies on 31 categories. These 16 economies represent 81% of global gross domestic product and 71% of global energy consumption. The ACEEE ranking system looks at both "policy metrics" and "performance metrics" to measure a country's overall energy efficiency. Examples of "policy metrics" include the presence of a national energy savings target, fuel economy standards for vehicles, and energy efficiency standards for appliances. The "performance metrics" measure energy use and provide quantifiable results. Examples of "performance metrics" include average miles per gallon of on-road passenger vehicles and energy consumed per square foot of floor space in residential buildings. New metrics for this year's edition include water efficiency policy, agricultural efficiency, building retrofit policies, heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards, and investment in energy efficiency by the private sector. 1. Germany 2. Italy 3. European Union 4/5. Tie: China and France 6/7. Tie: Japan and United Kingdom 8. Spain 9. Canada 10. Australia 11. India 12. South Korea 13. United States 14. Russia 15. Brazil 16. Mexico ACEEE divided the 31 metrics across four groupings: those that track cross-cutting aspects of energy use at the national level, as well as the three sectors primarily responsible for energy consumption in an economically developed country -- buildings, industry, and transportation. The top-scoring countries in each grouping are: E.U., France, and Italy (three-way tie for national efforts); China (buildings); Germany (industry); and Italy (transportation). ACEEE noted that the United States, long considered an innovative and competitive world leader, has progressed slowly and has made limited progress since its last report, even as Germany, Italy, China, and other nations surge ahead. The EPA's new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants proposed this June would be a major stride in raising the US score. ACEEE documents dozens of other international best practices that the U.S. could implement to improve its score. U.S. Congressman Peter Welch (Vermont) said: "There's really no excuse for the U.S. lagging behind other nations on energy efficiency. States like Vermont have demonstrated that energy efficiency saves money, reduces environmental impact, and creates jobs. And, in an environment of gridlock, there is bipartisan common ground on this issue in Congress." In fact, Vermont recently increased its net energy metering cap, nearly quadrupling the percent of power that the state's utilities can accept from distributed resources. Vermont's bipartisan cap is now a whopping 15%!

The World Cup of Energy Efficiency

Germany Tops the Chart This year, Germany won the World Cup of soccer in Brazil. What a tournament. I was stunned by how many people were excited about it. Germany also won the World Cup of Energy Efficiency, a ranking developed by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). It evaluated 16 leading world economies on 31 categories. These 16 economies represent 81% of global gross domestic product and 71% of global energy consumption. The ACEEE ranking system looks at both "policy metrics" and "performance metrics" to measure a country's overall energy efficiency. Examples of "policy metrics" include the presence of a national energy savings target, fuel economy standards for vehicles, and energy efficiency standards for appliances. The "performance metrics" measure energy use and provide quantifiable results. Examples of "performance metrics" include average miles per gallon of on-road passenger vehicles and energy consumed per square foot of floor space in residential buildings. New metrics for this year's edition include water efficiency policy, agricultural efficiency, building retrofit policies, heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards, and investment in energy efficiency by the private sector. 1. Germany 2. Italy 3. European Union 4/5. Tie: China and France 6/7. Tie: Japan and United Kingdom 8. Spain 9. Canada 10. Australia 11. India 12. South Korea 13. United States 14. Russia 15. Brazil 16. Mexico ACEEE divided the 31 metrics across four groupings: those that track cross-cutting aspects of energy use at the national level, as well as the three sectors primarily responsible for energy consumption in an economically developed country -- buildings, industry, and transportation. The top-scoring countries in each grouping are: E.U., France, and Italy (three-way tie for national efforts); China (buildings); Germany (industry); and Italy (transportation). ACEEE noted that the United States, long considered an innovative and competitive world leader, has progressed slowly and has made limited progress since its last report, even as Germany, Italy, China, and other nations surge ahead. The EPA's new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants proposed this June would be a major stride in raising the US score. ACEEE documents dozens of other international best practices that the U.S. could implement to improve its score. U.S. Congressman Peter Welch (Vermont) said: "There's really no excuse for the U.S. lagging behind other nations on energy efficiency. States like Vermont have demonstrated that energy efficiency saves money, reduces environmental impact, and creates jobs. And, in an environment of gridlock, there is bipartisan common ground on this issue in Congress." In fact, Vermont recently increased its net energy metering cap, nearly quadrupling the percent of power that the state's utilities can accept from distributed resources. Vermont's bipartisan cap is now a whopping 15%!

ATTENTION ALL APARTMENT OWNERS, DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS FREE GUIDE

It's here! A 100% free guide written by Solar expert Ted Bavin for the apartment owners. Just click for your free copy!

http://whitepaper.allvalleysolar.com

Interested in how to buy solar for your apartment building? Do not miss Ted Bavin's next article in the September issue of AOA Magazine.

California Solar Initiative
CSI-Thermal Program

Rebates are available for Solar Water-Heating Systems

The CSI-Thermal Program offers cash rebates of up to $2,719 for solar water heating systems on single-family homes. Multifamily and Commercial properties qualify for rebates of up to $500,000. Save money on gas or electricity bills by harnessing the heat of the sun!
Funding for the CSI-Thermal program comes from ratepayers of PG&E, SCE, SoCalGas, and SDG&E. The rebate program is overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission as part of the California Solar Initiative.

All Valley Solar, Inc. can help you with all your solar needs... from design, installation and service, WE ARE #1! 

Solar road could change how we power the world

What if one single source of renewable energy could replace our reliance on coal-fired energy? That's the dream of electrical engineer Scott Brusaw, who, for the better part of a decade, has been working on just such a project. His idea? Cover all the roadways and parking lots in the US with photovoltaic panels to harvest the power of the sun.

In the intervening eight years, Brusaw and his wife have received two rounds of funding from the US Federal Highway Administration to develop Solar Roadways.

The Solar Roadways system consists of interlocking tempered glass hexagonal panels, which have been tested for impact, load and traction. Embedded in these panels are photovoltaic panels that harvest the power of the sun, making use of the wide expanses of road and parking lots, many of which can sit empty for long periods of time. These panels, the Brusaws say, can be hooked up to homes and businesses via driveways and parking lots.

"A nationwide system could produce more clean renewable energy than a country uses as a whole," Brusaw writes. "They have many other features as well, including: heating elements to stay snow/ice free, LEDs to make road lines and signage, and attached Cable Corridor to store and treat stormwater and provide a 'home' for power and data cables."

This may sound like an unrealistically lofty goal, but the idea is being taken seriously. It has won awards and nominations from GE, the World Technology Award, Google and the IEEE Ace Awards, and Brusaw has spoken at TEDx, NASA, and Google's Solve for X.

In fact, the project is about to enter Phase II testing, and is seeking funding on Indiegogo to produce enough solar panels to build a prototype parking lot -- following which the Brusaws plan to sell the product to individuals before taking it to the roads.

"We need to make a few tweaks to our product and streamline our manufacturing process so that we can make our panels available to the public as quickly as possible," Brusaw wrote."With your help, we can move into manufacturing quickly and begin installing sidewalks, parking lots, driveways, playgrounds, patios, etc., and then when we feel we are ready, we'll begin to install roads and highways."

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U.S. Solar Capacity Grew 418 Percent In The Last Four Years

CLIMATE PROGRESS.  By Kiley Kroh, April 24th, 2014.  Solar energy is booming across the U.S., with capacity up an astounding 418 percent in the last four years alone, according to data released this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).  Residential and commercial rooftop solar, along with other forms of photovoltaic (PV), have grown steadily over the past four years, specifically those that are net-metered. When customers install their own solar panels in states with a net metering policy, they are compensated for the excess electricity they send back to the grid. According to the EIA, these net metered applications have increased every year by approximately 1,100 MW since 2010. California currently has the largest net metered solar capacity with 38 percent of the nation’s total. Not far behind are New Jersey and Massachusetts, which together represent 21 percent of the total capacity in the U.S.

CREDIT: ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION

Net metering has been at the center of several recent battles between the solar industry, consumers and utilities across the U.S. As rooftop solar in particular booms, utility companies are growing increasingly concerned about the threat it poses to their bottom line. As more customers install solar panels, utilities will sell fewer units of energy and argue they’ll have to charge more in order to cover the cost of maintenance and labor. But distributed energy sources like rooftop solar also provide a benefit to utilities by generating during peak hours, when a utility has to provide electricity to more people than at other times during the day and energy costs are at their highest. Solar panels feed excess energy back to the grid, helping to alleviate the pressure during peak demand. In addition, because less electricity is being transmitted to customers through transmission lines, it saves utilities on the wear and tear to the lines and cost of replacing them with new ones.

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Obama touts energy plans, trumpets W. House solar panels

USA TODAY. May 9, 2014. By David Jackson.  President Obama will announce new plans Friday designed to boost solar power and promote energy efficiency, including the completed installation of solar panels on the White House roof.  The solar panels on the president's residence are "part of an energy retrofit that will improve the overall energy efficiency of the building," said White House spokesman Matt Lehrich. During a visit to Wal-Mart in Mountain View, Calif., near San Jose, Obama will also outline what aides call some 300 "private and public sector commitments" designed to create jobs and reduce carbon pollution.  The speech comes three days after the administration issued a report saying that climate change caused by pollution is already damaging the environment and triggering extreme weather conditions. "Acting on climate change is more urgent than ever," said Michael Boots, acting chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality. In a campaign fundraising speech this week in Los Angeles, Obama said his administration has "actually reduced our carbon emissions faster than any other country in the world, even as we are also producing more energy generally, doubling our production of clean energy." The initiatives Obama will announce Friday include programs aimed at financing for new solar business ventures, training and developing a solar workforce, and enforcing new building codes to promote efficiency. Private companies, including Wal-Mart, will commit to similar projects, the White House said.  The plans are projected to create enough new solar energy to power more than 130,000 homes, and energy savings that are the equivalent of taking 80 million cars off the road for one year, the White House said.

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