Bonneville Power Administration, Energy $avings Plan (industrial), Profile #18

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Energy $avings Plan provides energy reviews of industrial facilities, payments for conservation acquisitions, and rebates for the purchase of energy-efficient motors. One of the E$P's most unique features is its adaptability to many areas. It is not a formally defined program but rather a collection of principles which define conservation acquisitions that the Bonneville Power Administration would like to make in its industrial sector. The program is implemented by BPA's area offices and by utilities that receive firm power service from BPA. Each implementing agency interprets the E$P principles to create a DSM program that best suits its service territory.

Customers wishing to participate in the E$P can receive funding to conduct energy reviews of their facilities in order to locate potentially cost-effective areas for energy-efficiency improvements. Customers can then submit proposals to BPA for partial funding of these projects, based upon their levels of energy savings. Rebates for the purchase of energy-efficient motors are also available through the E$P. These rebates are based on the purchase price of the motor and are very simply calculated.

The E$P was first offered in 1987 as a pilot program and has been growing and evolving since then. BPA currently employs an annual review process to continually improve the program. This process seeks input from participants, non-participants, advocates, BPA headquarters staff, area office staff, and staff of implementing utilities. Most agree that the program is a good one that has yet to mature. Areas of the program most debated include: the acquisition payment (some feel it is not large enough); the number of appropriate post-installation verifications (some advocate multiple verifications others feel that one post-installation verification is adequate); and methodologies for determining free ridership and if screening for free ridership is even worthwhile.

Projects which receive funding through the E$P are generally large and often complex. It is not uncommon for three years to pass between a project proposal being submitted to BPA and that project's completion. Between October 1, 1988, and July 10, 1992, 55 E$P projects were completed. These projects' average annual energy savings is 1.8 GWh each. BPA paid an average of $81,000 to each of these projects. The cost of saved energy for these projects, computed at a 5% discount rate and assuming a 15.18 year measure lifetime, is a very inexpensive 0.38 ¢/kWh.

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