by Bill


The propaganda line is WV is that coal is our state’s most abundant electricity resource.  That statement, which we see repeated in the state media year after year, is simply not true.

Our state’s most abundant electricity resource is the resourcefulness and ingenuity of West Virginians.  The second most abundant resource is solar energy, which includes the power potential of the wind, as well as direct photovoltaic conversion.  So coal might be the third most abundant electric resource, but gas, at least temporarily, might be catching up fast.

Mike Harman, of Energy Efficient West Virginia, had an op ed piece in the Charleston Daily Mail the other day that illustrates how we can leverage our most abundant resource to lower electric bills in WV.  Increasing the wisdom of our electricity use, by using it more efficiently, or simply using it less, is the key to reducing electrical bills in WV.  Until we fully exploit this resource, we can’t even begin to assess how much new generating capacity we might need for the future.

Mike focuses on what power companies and regulators can do, but every West Virginian has the ability to reduce his or her electric bills right now, without government or corporate “help.”

As I have said many times before on The Power Line — stop thinking like a consumer.  Start thinking like an energy producer.  If you have electric heat, do you really need any incentives to install a programmable thermostat that will cost you $200 and pay for itself in one winter?  Do you really need a power company discount, that will be charged to your electric bill through the rate making process, to get you to replace your incandescent light bulbs with florescent bulbs that will reduce you lighting bill by over one half?  Do you really want to spend thousands of extra dollars on a home solar power system to cover your entire current 1000 kwh per month electrical use without trying to cut that use first to its bare minimum?

As Mike says, we need power companies to start investing now in efficiency and demand management, but there are lots of things you can do right now to save money, reduce your electric bills and build a more reliable and healthy electrical system in our state.  Why wait?  Do it now.

by Bill

If you want to see a clear picture of what is wrong with FirstEnergy's proposals for improving energy efficiency at the WV PSC, you need look no further than the testimony presented in PSC case 11-0452 by experts for the WV Citizens Action Group and Energy Efficient WV on October 28.

Here is a link to that testimony submitted by EEWV's Cathy Kunkel, financial expert Daniel Sawmiller and Upshur County Senior Center director Allen Cook.  Cathy Kunkel's testimony provides a detailed look at everything that is wrong with FirstEnergy's proposals.

It might be worth your while to do some browsing around in the case file, at this link, to see what other parties in the case, namely the Consumer Advocate Division of the PSC and the PSC staff, are presenting in the case.  This evening I read an interesting filing by the CAD which is trying to pry information out of FirstEnergy concerning the demand management programs the company's subsidiaries in other states are currently operating.  FirstEnergy claims it can't do demand management in WV, and if it does, it wants to charge us for it.  At the same time, the holding company has extensive programs in other states that sell demand resources into PJM markets, requiring no state subsidies.

This important energy efficiency case, and similar cases in the future, will determine whether future electricity costs in WV begin to curve downward, or will continue on their current coal cost driven upward trajectory.

by Bill

There is a very strange article by the Charleston Daily Mail's business reporter George Hohmann in today's edition of the paper.  The story is more interesting for what it doesn't say than for what it says.

The story, titled "Becoming More Energy Efficient," starts out pretty well, but focuses the need for consumers to be educated.  Hohmann then goes on to introduce Appalachian Power as the beneficient "offerer" of energy efficiency opportunities.  The next paragraph introduces Energy Efficient West Virginia's (EEWV) Mike Harman and a description of  FirstEnergy's efficiency proposals.  Nowhere in the story does reporter Hohmann give us the facts about how and why the power companies are offering energy efficiency programs.

In fact, both Appalachian Power and FirstEnergy's WV subsidiaries were forced to provide efficiency assistance programs because EEWV and the WV Citizens' Action Group intervened in the companies' last two rate cases and convinced the WV PSC to order the power companies to start improving energy efficiency in our state.  The power companies did not "offer" these programs.  They were forced to, as Mike Harman accurately described it, make this "modest start" by citizen action, not their own initiative.

At the end of the energy efficiency segment of his story, Hohmann concludes with a prominent reference to the fact that energy efficiency programs will be paid for with rate increases, instead of providing the whole truth of the situation.  This truth is that the cost of energy efficiency programs to reduce the need for more electricity is often much less expensive than building new generating capacity.  This is especially true with WV electrical customers being held hostage by our state's overdependence on expensive coal to produce our electricity.

Hohmann concludes his story with some quotes from Jeff Herholdt, director of the WV Division of Energy.  I will quote this entire section of the story below, because it illustrates how warped and bizarre the perspective of the Division of Energy's perspective on energy has become:

Jeff Herholdt, chairman of the West Virginia Public Energy Authority and director of the state Department of Commerce's Division of Energy, said the division is preparing to write a state energy plan for 2013 to 2017.

The division wrote the first plan, for 2007 to 2011. This time, "we're contracting with West Virginia University to do the fossil side and Marshall University to do the energy efficiency and renewable energy side," Herholdt said. "Public hearings will be held on the new plan later in 2012."

Herholdt said the purpose of the plan is to answer the question, "How, on a BTU (British Thermal Unit) basis, do we back out of that portion of oil in our system that comes from foreign countries?"

So Herholdt and the Division of Energy are going to commission two separate studies that separate fossil fuels from energy efficiency and renewable power generation?  Why?  Why not develop an integrated process that starts with cost and reliability and then work from there?  Instead, Herholdt's planning process seems to replicate the current focus on fossil fuel generation as the "real world" while treating more reliable and less expensive energy resources as a sideshow?

And why is Herholdt focusing on the coal industry's national propaganda theme (eliminating foreign oil) instead of building a reliable energy system for WV?  It seems that once again, Herholdt's "energy plan" will be driven by a political and industry agenda rather than solid economics and the innovative powers of West Virginians.

PUBLIC FORUM FOCUSES ON ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS

“Real Solutions to Rising Electric Rates,” a public forum on electric utilities, rising rates and approaches to energy efficiency, will be held Tuesday, August 23 at 7pm at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library.  Doors open at 6:45.
 
Participants will learn about what has been driving electric rate increases over the past few years, how utilities are regulated by the Public Service Commission (PSC), how energy efficiency programs and incentives can help utility customers save energy and save money on their bills, and why citizens need to push for stronger programs.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there about why electric rates are going up and what the Public Service Commission can do to control rates,” said Bill Howley, spokesman for the Coalition for Reliable Power.  “We want the folks at the meeting to leave with a better sense of how energy efficiency programs can help, and how we can get those programs up and running for Potomac Edison and Mon Power,” he said.
 
The West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WV-CAG) formally intervened in the PSC case regarding the Allegheny Power/FirstEnergy merger that was approved by the PSC in 2010. As a result, the PSC ordered FirstEnergy (now the parent company of Mon Power and Potomac Edison) to propose a plan for energy efficiency and demand management in West Virginia.

“This is a very weak plan, and if the PSC approves it, it will lock Potomac Edison customers into five years of poor energy efficiency programs and a lost opportunity to save energy, save money, and lower future utility costs,” said Mike Harman, an active retiree who helped WV-CAG launch Energy Efficient West Virginia last year. “Our efforts resulted in new efficiency programs started up by Appalachian Power in 2010. We think the customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia deserve a plan that is comparable to efforts of nearby states.”  

Business customers, local governments and schools, as well as residential households, can benefit greatly from financial incentives and targeted programs to upgrade old HVAC systems, lighting, hot water, refrigeration, and insulation, according to EEWV and the Coalition. Cost-effective energy efficiency programs with firm but achievable goals can help moderate the growth in electric power demand, reduce the need for expensive new power plants and save consumers money.
 
The groups are also planning meetings in Lewisburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg.   For more information visit www.eewv.org or www.forreliablepower.com

See story in today's Martinsburg Journal.  Note:  Forum will be held on Tuesday, August 23.  There is an error in the Journal's story.  A correction will be printed.

by Bill

PJM has posted a neat little power point that clearly shows the impact of both their normal demand resources and their emergency resources on peak demand days on July 21 and July 22.  The impact is clear and dramatically illustrated on PJM's graphs.  Here is the link.