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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Osage Municipal Utility’s Comprehensive DSM program has been heralded as one of the most effective DSM efforts ever. In large part, Weston D. Birdsall, Osage’s recently-retired General Manager, is to be credited to this exemplary DSM effort. Birdsall believed and proved that the citizens of a small community could collectively take responsibility for their energy use (both electric and gas) and profit! By marshalling the support from all members of the community, from schoolchildren to professionals, Osage’s success in terms of gross savings and the remarkably low costs of the savings, has yet to be replicated.

The Osage program was designed to reduce the utility bills of all customers to improve the economic well-being of the community. Its other purpose was to reduce the growth rate of electric peak demand to delay the need to expand its generating capacity. Both objectives were met, the town actually experienced three electricity rate reductions and the capacity additions are still not necessary. For a total cost of less $500,000 over eighteen years, Osage has been able to save some 92.4 GWh, 4 MW, and about 8 million therms of gas since 1974. Furthermore, 100% of OMU's customers have participated in the program, at an average cost of only about $100 per customer total, or just over $6 per customer per year!

The most unique element of the Osage effort is the positive relationship that the utility has built with its customers. Through a series of educational programs and successful DSM measures, OMU has earned the trust of its customers. Once the people in the community realized that the utility was trying to help them reduce their bills and save money, it became successively easier to implement programs and achieve high participation rates.

Not only was OMU successful in achieving its main goals but an indirect benefit of economic development was realized. By keeping rates relatively low and helping businesses and industries reduce their energy consumption the economic viability of these businesses was also increased. This not only helped businesses and industries expand but also attracted new ones. Thus, the Osage community has enjoyed a stable local economy and unemployment rates far below the national average.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Northeast Utilities’ Energy Conscious Construction (ECC) Program provides building owners and designers with the education, technical assistance, and direct financial incentives to incorporate energy-efficient design principles and technologies into new construction and major renovation projects. For buildings less than 50,000 ft2, the ECC program provides "prescriptive" incentives: predetermined rebates for a variety of efficiency measures. For buildings larger than 50,000 ft2, the much larger part of the program, the ECC program offers a comprehensive approach including the provision of technical experts who work with the building owner’s design team to build in energy efficiency through careful building design coupled with state of the art, energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems. This has resulted in participating buildings that use an average of 25% less energy than non-participating buildings.

The ECC program was redesigned in 1988 as a result of the New England Collaborative process. At that time the program’s incentives were increased and now NU pays the entire incremental cost of the efficiency upgrades. Also in that year NU published their Energy and Economics Guidebook which explains how new construction can be energy-efficient without higher costs. Education has been perhaps the most significant success of the program. The educational component has focused on the design professionals who participate in the projects. These designers learn, in the most direct way, that energy-efficient design is technically, aesthetically, and fiscally sound.

The ECC program is currently being offered through NU’s operating subsidiaries in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. The data presented in this profile reflects only the costs and savings at the far larger Connecticut Light and Power program. The CL&P ECC program saved 11 GWh and 2.67 MW of summer peak capacity, 1.79 MW winter peak, in 1990 at a total cost of $3.8 million. Though much of the data regarding participation is preliminary, the ECC program appears to be capturing a significant portion of the new commercial construction market. In 1991, some 12 million square feet of new buildings were commissioned in the CL&P service territory, and ECC signed contracts with 8.5 million square feet.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has spent over a billion dollars on DSM since 1982. BPA's Super Good Cents (SGC) program focuses on increasing the efficiency of new, electrically-heated residential construction by offering incentives for efficiency that met the Northwest Power Planning Council's Model Conservation Standards (MCS).

The Super Good Cents program, which commenced in 1984, was part of a two-pronged implementation effort. The SGC program was a marketing and education program promoting energy-efficient building practices. The other prong of the effort was a building code adoption program called Early Adopter. Both programs were designed to take advantage of the opportunity cost of building new homes to higher energy efficiency standards rather than trying to retrofit them at some later date. Inversely, both programs were designed to avoid the lost opportunity of not building energy-efficient homes in the first place.

The objectives of making both the public and the home builders aware of the SGC program and the advantages of a well-insulated home were largely achieved. The participation rate for certified SGC homes built within the BPA service territory (25%), however, fell short of the program's stated goals.

In 1991 SGC provided BPA and its retail utilities with 30.8 GWh of energy savings and 3.99 average megawatts of capacity, at a cost of $10.9 million. These savings were achieved by providing incentives for increased ceiling, wall, floor, and slab perimeter insulation; duct insulation for heating and cooling systems; double or triple pane windows; and thermally improved doors. Through 1991 BPA paid $1,000 for each site-built home constructed to SGC standards, and $2,000 for new manufactured housing.

The overall results of SGC have to be considered excellent. In 1991 the states of Washington and Oregon, representing 90% of the new home starts within the BPA service territory, adopted building codes whose specifications met the SGC standards. This required BPA to reevaluate the program and to set higher building standards for the 1992 SGC program.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Consolidated Edison's Enlightened Energy C&I Rebate Program for commercial and industrial customers provides rebates to eligible customers who install efficient lights, HVAC equipment, and motors. Con Edison drew much attention to the program in its early stages, which was previously referred to as the Applepower Program, when its rebate levels for summer peak coincident demand were $500/kW -- far above average national rebate levels. Con Edison's interest was straightforward: to eliminate the need for expensive upgrades of midtown (New York City) substations. Now the program has a broader agenda and incentive mechanisms in New York have made it possible for Con Edison to embrace DSM as a profitable corporate strategy.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Enlightened Energy C&I Rebate Program is its use of fuel substitution as a tool for capturing energy efficiency. Because Con Edison provides electricity, gas, and steam service, the utility has found cost effective means of encouraging customer fuel switching without the threat of lost revenues. (Con Edison does, however, provide rebates for gas air conditioning installations to its electric customers who reside in the Brooklyn Union Gas service territory.) Significant electricity savings are realized by the utility as a result of the steam and gas air conditioning rebate components. The steam and gas air conditioning programs take advantage of the fact that steam and gas demands peak during the winter, and excess capacity is available during the summer.

The measures included in the Enlightened Energy C&I Rebate Program have been implemented on a smaller scale for several years. The program expanded significantly in 1991 due to a shift in the focus of the utility's DSM efforts from peak demand reduction to a total energy savings approach. This shift in emphasis brought increased spending for the rebate program, and resulted in significant overall program growth. Lighting design and service companies have promoted the availability of rebates for efficient lighting projects, and the lighting rebate measures have experienced a large expansion due in part to this activity.

In 1991 Con Edison spent over $40 million to achieve summer peak capacity savings of 72 MW and energy savings of 184 GWh. One of the celebrated examples of the program's effect is the campuswide lighting retrofit that is underway at Columbia University. A third party energy service company is financing the 42-building retrofit, and is using Con Edison's $1 million rebate as an impetus to realize fast and highly cost effective savings for the cash-strapped university.

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