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This year marks the 10th anniversary of the National Safety Council's designation of June as National Safety Month. The 2006 theme – making the world a safer place – is one that every utility can support. Through NSC's utility division networking group, professionals in the electric, gas, communications and water services can work to improve safety on the job. The utility division collaborated with the American Public Gas Association and the U.S. Department of Transportation to create the Natural Gas Safety Handbook for Utility Workers and Contractors. This handbook provides safety information on personal protection equipment, excavations, equipment, trenching, barricading, confined spaces, lockout/tagout and first aid. Consumer safety is of equal importance to utilities. NSC fact sheets are an excellent resource for developing safety tips for customers. Topics include utilities and structure safety after a flood, combustion appliances, indoor air quality and carbon monoxide. NSC also offers safety courses online and at training centers on driving, occupational safety and homeland security. For utilities, every month is safety month, but June is a great time to remind customers that safety is everyone's concern. It takes team work to make the world a safer place. DEED program offers wind case studies A new collection of wind project case studies, prepared by the American Public Power Association's Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Developments program, explains why public power leads investor-owned utilities in wind development. Public Power Investments in Wind spots development trends and opportunities for new and growing public power wind programs. The collection includes the utility-scale AMP-Ohio development in Bowling Green, Ohio. Projects were chosen to reflect a good sampling of all the possible choices nationwide, said Project Director Michele Suddleson. Practical concerns, such as rising natural gas prices or customer demand for a green energy product, drive wind investments, say utilities. Community pride is another surprisingly strong driver, helped by the fact that wind towers support local economies. Construction and maintenance jobs, lease payments to landowners, increased tourism and a draw for clean-industry development add value to these projects. Suddleson suggested that the case studies might be a good companion resource for some of DEED's technical publications. DEED recently published two detailed reports on wind integration and impacts of wind supplies on bulk power systems. A new brief, Wind Power, Public Power Utilities, highlights some new incentives and challenges to wind development, such as price increases and delays in turbine delivery due to a worldwide wind boom. White tags market credits for energy efficiency Move over green tags and make room for white tags – energy efficiency credits which represent 1 MWh of energy savings. The latest energy product to hit the market is an alternative to renewable energy credits and trades in a similar way. Instead of being tied to creating and delivering renewable power, white tags come from reducing energy use and are measured through software and control technology. It offers a way of rewarding businesses and others for implementing demand-side management programs, explained Sterling Planet Inc. President and CEO Mel Jones. "It's a measurement of energy efficiency based upon certain rules that are established…so that the customer can determine how many kWh are saved over time," he said in a recent interview. Connecticut will implement the first state white tag standard in 2007. Nevada and Pennsylvania have also adopted legislation requiring white tags as part of a mandated state portfolio standard. Jones said that white tags originated in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. White tag trading currently follows Connecticut REC trading, with prices ranging between $30 and $50 per MWh. However, Jones expects the price range to drop to $15 to $30 per MWh on a national average because Pennsylvania and Nevada do not have established trading markets. Sterling Planet is beginning to sell white tags on its Web site. Congress members act to extend Federal solar tax credits In response to skyrocketing electricity and gas prices across the country, 32 members of Congress introduced legislation in the House and Senate to extend solar energy and fuel cell investment tax credits for homeowners and businesses through 2015. The credits are currently set to expire next year. "By extending these tax credits we are giving this industry time to grow, branch out and succeed," said Rep. J.D. Hayworth. Reps. Hayworth and Michael McNulty, and Senators Gordon Smith and Robert Menendez sponsored H.R. 5206 and S. 2677, the "Securing America's Energy Independence Act." The legislation builds on a stand-alone solar extension bill Rep. Ferguson introduced in 2005. Initial co-sponsors in the House included Reps. Dave Camp, Michael Fitzpatrick, G.K. Butterfield, Sherrod Brown, Rob Simmons, Daniel Lipinski, Mark Udall, Spencer Bachus, Vern Ehlers, Thadeus McCotter, Maurice Hinchey, John Sweeney, Mike Rogers, Charles Dent, John Doolittle, Frank Wolf, Roscoe Bartlett, Ben Cardin, Mary Bono, Zach Wamp and Michael Ferguson. In the Senate, initial cosponsors included Senators Joseph Lieberman, Olympia Snowe, James Jeffords, John Kerry, Maria Cantwell, Ken Salazar and Hillary Clinton. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provided a 30-percent tax credit for solar systems purchased for both residential and business applications. However, these credits will expire after two years without legislative remedy, a term too short to encourage significant industry growth. Both bills both include provisions to extend the residential solar tax credit for residential solar water heating, photovoltaic equipment and fuel cell property, as well as the business solar tax credit and fuel cell tax credit to December 31, 2015. The long-term extension is aimed at reducing the cost of solar energy and creating economies of scale that would drive down costs and allow solar companies to make investments. Geothermal power poised to double The future is bright for geothermal power in the United States, according to a report released by the Geothermal Energy Association in March. The 2006 Update on U.S. Geothermal Power Production and Development reviewed geothermal projects worth a prospective combined 2095 MW, planned for development in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Utah. Developing those projects would nearly double the current total U.S. installed capacity of 2,828 MW. California, with 2,492 MW of installed capacity, has 752.9 MW under development. The U.S. Geological Survey is reviewing 11 pending lease applications near Mt. Shasta for Bend, Ore.-based Vulcan Power Co., which is interested in developing one of the sites for 30 MW to 60 MW. The survey said that Nevada could triple its 274.4 MW with 365 MW in various stages of development. Another 182 MW of potential development are under review. Utah's 26 MW could increase sevenfold with 36.6 MW scheduled to come online by December 2007 and a 100-MW development at Roosevelt Hot Springs likely. In Hawaii, current installed capacity of 35 MW will see a doubling in the near future. Oregon has no previous geothermal development, but Nevada Geothermal is in the exploratory drilling stage for 20-MW Crump Geyser. The 120-MW Newberry Crater is in the final permitting stage by Vulcan Power. In Idaho, U.S. Geothermal is building the 10-MW Raft River Project, and is in the final permitting stage to expand the project by 20 MW. Idatherm discovered an additional 200 MW of geothermal potential in the state, and may undergo permitting in the near future. Arizona, Alaska and New Mexico each have 20 MW of geothermal projects in various phases. GEA Executive
Director Karl
Gawell credits the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 with the surge
in geothermal development.
EPAct made geothermal plants
eligible for the full federal
production tax credit, previously
available only to wind projects. |
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