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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Super Efficient Refrigerator Program (SERP) is a model energy efficiency program for many reasons. First and foremost, SERP has proven that utilities working together can transform the market for energy-efficient refrigerators, accelerating the adoption of CFC-free sealed refrigeration system units, while simultaneously promoting energy efficiency. Backed by a solid program design crafted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison, twenty-four utilities committed a total of $30 million to push the market for super-efficient refrigerators using a winner-takes-all competition. The manufacturer that could create the most efficient, CFC-free refrigerator, coupled with the ability to manufacture, distribute, and track its sales, won the contract under which incentives would be paid as units were sold in SERP members’ territories.

The program’s spin-off effects have been huge. As a result of technology developed for the SERP RFP, Whirlpool’s entire line is now made up of CFC-free sealed refrigeration system refrigerators. In addition to producing the winning SERP model in record time, as per terms of their bid, Whirlpool has now developed three new SERP sizes for its 1995 series each of which is even more efficient than the original.

The direct energy savings effects of SERP refrigerators are quite dramatic, while the indirect effects will be fantastic. In terms of direct sales, 25,000 SERP refrigerators are forecast to be sold during 1994 which would provide annual energy and capacity savings of 7.1 GWh and 1.6 MW conservatively, based on the margin between the DOE 1993 appliance standard and the efficiency of the SERP model. When the program’s complement of 250,000 refrigerators enter the market as planned, the program will result in direct annual energy savings of 96 GWh and 22 MW. The program will result in lifecycle savings of 1,831 GWh. It is the indirect effects of the market transformation, however, that will create the greatest benefit. Because of the program Whirlpool’s competitors are now also focused on developing super-efficient refrigerators which is a clear indication of the program’s market transformation success.

While SERP provides a potent model of market transformation, the program has fallen short of some of its participating utilities’ expectations. Both SERP and Whirlpool were remarkably successful with their initial program responsibilities, but sales information has been slow to reach SERP member utilities. This has apparently been due to a lack of clear communication between Whirlpool, its distributors, and retail vendors as well as the link between participating utilities and SERP’s administration. Nevertheless, SERP provides a strong platform and a template for subsequent programs for other end-uses. While it is unclear how this program design will fit into the re-regulated U.S. utility environment, and the design may not be applicable in the transition, SERP has demonstrated that it is possible to provide a win-win solution for utilities, their customers, manufacturers, and the environment.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


The Jasper Energy Efficiency Project (JEEP) was recently completed in Jasper, Alberta and was a comprehensive, community-based effort that effectively used energy efficiency to reduce the demand for power thereby avoiding the need for more generating capacity. The project was also explicitly intended to research the potential for this kind of approach for other communities in Alberta Power Limited’s (APL) service area and was the first project of its kind in western Canada. In both residential and commercial sectors JEEP was carried out through aggressive marketing and educational campaigns (including door-to-door energy audits, marketing, and sales), and incentives.

Community support for JEEP was deemed essential to its success and endurance. To this end Alberta Power established the Public Information Committee which was involved in all phases of the project from planning to marketing and implementation. Representatives from the general public, various interest groups, and Alberta Power were a part of this committee that met monthly and operated on a consensus basis. Alberta Power also hired and trained residents of Jasper, who really knew the community, to go door-to-door explaining, selling and installing energy-efficient products that were obtained by the utility through a local supplier ensuring that they would be available once the project was completed. APL forged close ties with the local media to further community awareness and excitement. Wilfred Golbeck, the Alberta Power project coordinator actually moved to Jasper during the project making the power company readily accessible and responsive.

JEEP has been highly successful on a number of levels. Over 70% of residential and 53% of commercial customers participated in the program which exceeded its goal of a 2 MW (almost 20%) demand reduction with an annual energy savings of over six million kWh. On average, residential customers have saved 0.73 kW of demand and commercial customers nearly 15 kW. APL invested almost $1,095,600 in the project, the community $630,000, and the federal government $70,000 for a total of $1,795,600. In addition and another indicator of the project’s success, fully 38% of the residential program participants indicated in a follow-up telephone survey that they had undertaken additional energy-efficiency measures outside of the program. Corroborating this, the local hardware store reports having sold 1,000 additional compact fluorescent lamps since the project’s completion. These indicators attest to the deep level of education achieved through JEEP and the program’s success in terms of initiating a market transformation in Jasper, perhaps the project’s greatest success.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (commonly known as NUTEK) established the Swedish Technology Procurement Program (STPP) to exploit Sweden’s potentials for energy efficiency and to counter increases in electricity use where this could be done cost effectively. NUTEK’s goal for STPP is to reduce national demand for electricity by 10 TWh by the year 2000, thereby replacing 15% of the 60-70 TWh that Sweden currently generates using nuclear power. (In 1980, the public’s concern about nuclear safety prompted the passage of a referendum to phase-out nuclear power.) To fulfill this target, STPP has completed procurement of energy-efficient computer monitors, lighting, washing machines, windows, heat pumps for single-family houses, industrial flow control systems, and refrigerator/freezers, the focus of this Profile. In each case the technology procurement has been devised and implemented to transform the market by encouraging manufacturers to produce more and more efficient equipment, rather than subsidizing purchases of efficient technology through rebates and other forms of direct incentives.

Exluding electric heating refrigerator/freezers consume 30% of residential appliance consumption. After determining that there was strong potential for greater efficiency in this end-use area, NUTEK assembled the "strong actors" who had the most interest in participating in the procurement process. Together they designed a request for proposals and formed a purchaser group to buy at least 500 refrigerator/freezers for rental properties. The group wanted the new units to be 40% more efficient than models available at the time and to reduce or eliminate the use of chlorofluorocarbons in both the insulation and cooling systems of the new units. NUTEK has followed up the procurement with the "Eloff" labeling campaign which requests that retailers add energy labels to appliances to help consumers make better choices.

The winning proposal of the technology procurement was submitted by Elextrolux AB, a Swedish company. Its prototype "TR 1066" was a 10.15 ft3 unit that was 33% more efficient than the most efficient model already on the market, 44% more efficient than the most popular model, and 60% more efficient than the average model in use in homes in Sweden. The group’s original order was for approximately 600 units. Since the program’s inception in 1991, however, fully 3,350 Electrolux TR 1066s have been purchased, highlighting the immediate impact that the original purchase created. Furthermore, the market share for efficient refrigerator/freezers has increased from less than 1% to 5% in a matter of a few years, showing the leverage that incentives to a single manufacturer can cause. Cumulative savings through 1994 for the Electrolux model alone are more than 1 GWh and NUTEK estimates that annual savings from all of its market transformation initiatives will be 1 TWh by the year 2010, all at a cost to NUTEK of significantly less than half a million dollars.

 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) has managed the Conservation Assistance Program (CAP) since 1986. CAP is a direct-installation effort designed to assist low-income and "payment-troubled" customers better manage their water consumption through education and water efficiency measures and repairs, and in particular to help lower future water usage and cost. The program has resulted in an impressive average household water savings of 25%.

The Water Department has contracted the administration of the CAP program to the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia, Inc. (ECA), an organization that provides a range of social services in the City. The program is delivered by Neighborhood Energy Centers (NEC) located throughout the City and subcontracted by the ECA. The NECs are considered essential to the success and endurance of the program. These independent, education-oriented, community-based centers provide a range of services including job training, day care, and after-school programs, as well as various government fuel assistance efforts. The Centers are well-known in the areas they serve, therefore the marketing of the program is minimal, consisting mainly of NEC counselors informing customers of it, announcements in the NECs’ newsletters, workshops, and occasional bill stuffers by the Water Department.

As a revenue-generating department with an abundant supply of water, the Philadelphia Water Department is not looking to save peak demand or sell less water through the CAP program. Instead, the emphasis of the program is on education about water use, minor plumbing repairs, and efficient devices so that customers can reduce and pay their water bills. This said, the program has saved water. The annual water savings per participant is almost 4,000 ft3 at a cost per treated house of $186 including measures installed, labor, marketing, and administration. CAP not only repairs minor leaks and installs water-efficient devices such as low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators, but also takes the time to explain how the products work, how to maintain them, how to perform minor repairs, and how a customer may change his or her habits concerning water usage.

CAP has been successful in fulfilling several objectives including water savings, payment behavior, and cost-effectiveness. The reductions in water usage in treated homes average 25% with most of the savings coming from the highest usage customers. Bill arrearage decreased an average of $33, and for every dollar invested in CAP the Water Department receives $1.48 in benefits through reduced future arrears over a ten-year period. With a substantial rate increase in the last two years, the program has become an even more important tool in aiding Philadelphia’s low-income water customers.

 



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