Internal

Pulse Energy launched the Pulse™ Platform: a comprehensive energy information software platform to serve a utility’s entire commercial customer base.
Source: Pulse Energy

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson gave a preview of his keynote address to the New Cities Foundation next week. The international convention, hosted in Paris, will hear about the city’s work with leading technology companies, including Cisco Systems and Vancouver-based Pulse Energy.
Source: The Globe and Mail

Utilities

Hydro-Québec has released its 2011 Sustainability Report, the tenth anniversary of the publication. The utility invested $217 million into energy efficiency in 2011, resulting in savings of 989 GWh.
Source: Hydro-Québec

Chelan County PUD’s CFO, Kelly Boyd, told regulators that a heavy runoff forecast will keep the utility in the black, even as market prices for its surplus power are almost too low to cover the cost of production. Runoff from mountain snowfall is expected to hit 118% and 120% of average in the Columbia River and Lake Chelan respectively.
Source: The Wenatchee World

Institutions, Cities & States

Oklahoma passed a law directing state agencies and colleges to achieve 20% energy conservation by 2020. The Oklahoma State Facilities Energy Conservation Program takes effect in August 2012, and is estimated to save the state $500 million over the next decade.
Source: NewsOK

Microsoft will implement an internal carbon tax for all of its 100-plus global offices. The fees, starting on July 1st, will be used to purchased carbon offsets and allow the company to declare itself carbon-neutral.
Source: Huffington Post

Oracle Chairman Jeff Henley is making a $50 million gift to the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Institute for Energy Efficiency. $30 million will go towards a new base of operations, Henley Hall, and the rest directly to the College of Engineering.
Source: AllThingsD

International

The International Energy Agency released its 2012 Tracking Clean Energy Progress report, measuring global growth in such projects. One of the report’s key recommendations is to unlock energy efficiency’s potential through further and stronger efficiency standards.
Source: International Energy Agency

EU leaders are still attempting to pass its Energy Efficiency Directive, mandating a 20% consumption cut by 2020. Member nations have signed up to the directive, but it must be cleared by the three branches of European government before it becomes legally binding.
Source: UPI

The Queen’s speech in the UK included plans for a new Energy Bill, which will include low-carbon generation incentives and an emissions cap for coal-fired plants. The government is attempting to stimulate around 200 billion GDP in low-carbon investment over the next decade.
Source: Wall Street Journal

Please send any story suggestions, questions or comments about Energy Efficiency News to Peter Cavan

From The Globe and Mail:

Vancouver mayor heads to Europe to share secrets of success

By Frances Bula, May 10, 2012

Vancouver and its mayor will be the stars at an international convention in Paris next week that touts the city as the entrepreneurial, high-tech model for the new urbanism of the 21st century.

With his way paid to Paris by a recently created organization that gets money from both non-profit groups and corporations hoping to sell new technologies to those cities, Mayor Gregor Robertson will be delivering the keynote address at the New Cities Foundation with a message about his “entrepreneurial approach to running a city.”

“I’ll be telling the Vancouver story about partnership with the private sector to accelerate adoption of new technologies,” Mr. Robertson said on the eve of his departure for the first-ever conference of the foundation.

He is also the only politician on the foundation’s board, which includes everyone from noted architect Daniel Libeskind to executives of such major corporations as GE, Ericsson and Cisco.

Mr. Robertson said Vancouver is pushing to become the world’s greenest city and to transform itself into a hub for green jobs by working with private companies in two ways.

One is by partnering with global companies that have new technologies to offer. For example, Vancouver has a partnership with Cisco and local company Pulse Energy to try out new energy-management software in city buildings.

Read More >>

The announcement was made in Vancouver by Pulse Energy co-founder and chief executive David Helliwell. “The new Pulse Platform allows utilities to easily and reliably meet conservation goals and engage their commercial customers, with customized energy intelligence for each market segment.”

Pulse Energy has built on years of utility program experience to offer an integrated solution for behavioral and operational change. The capabilities are founded on the Pulse™ Analytics engine, a set of adaptive energy models that provide measurement and verification, actionable insights and tips, savings persistence and consumption forecasting.

Pulse Energy was recently included in the list of “Cool Vendors” in the Cool Vendors in Green IT and Sustainability, 2012 report by Gartner, Inc.¹ According to Simon Mingay, VP Research, Gartner and Stephen Stokes, VP Distinguished Analyst, Gartner, “Energy management is increasingly being complemented by a greater level of analytics and insight, which is delivering ‘energy intelligence’ and is also seeking to optimize real-time supply and demand dynamics, as well as energy optimization within production systems. Enterprises will increasingly need to exploit this technology.”

The Pulse Platform enables program-level rollup reporting and a seamless experience for customers to migrate to more advanced features. The needs of diverse market segments are met through four energy management modules, with an API allowing utilities to build custom applications.

The specialized modules within the Platform include:

- Pulse™ Check, a light-touch energy portal for utilities to reach their small- and medium-sized commercial customers. It leverages the Pulse Analytics engine to directly meet the needs of business owners, by automatically identifying cost-saving opportunities without user training, and pushing insight and suggestions to ratepayers.

- Pulse™ Energy Manger, a proven energy management solution designed for advanced retrocommissioning projects. “Our Power Smart Continuous Optimization Program has greatly benefited from working with Pulse Energy, especially the innovative Pulse Energy Manager,” said Jim Nelson, Senior Marketing Manager at BC Hydro. “We believe that helping our customers better understand and manage their energy usage is a critical component to our conservation efforts.”

- Pulse™ Engagement Dashboard, which raises occupant and community awareness of conservation issues, from classroom competitions to city-wide campaigns.

- Pulse™ Utility Program Manager, which allows utility staff to identify candidate sites for efficiency measures and conservation programs, while continuously tracking program results and performing measurement and verification.

To learn more about the Pulse Platform or request a brochure, please visit www.pulseenergy.com/platform

About Pulse Energy

Pulse Energy helps utilities to easily advance cost-effective energy efficiency, boost customer satisfaction and meet regulated conservation targets. This is achieved through the Pulse™ Platform: a scalable software solution for commercial clients that delivers insights on energy consumption, engages occupants, and accurately measures and verifies energy performance. www.pulseenergy.com

Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

¹ Gartner “Cool Vendors in Green IT and Sustainability, 2012” by Simon Mingay and Stephen Stokes, 26 April 2012.

Media Contact

Peter Cavan
peter.cavan@pulseenergy.com
T: +1 (778) 331-0514
F: +1 (778) 331-0501

Internal & Local

AutomatedBuildings published an article entitled ‘AirCare for Buildings‘, advocating continuous commissioning programs to benefit building owners and the environment. The piece was contributed by Steve Jones, Product Manager at Pulse Energy.
Source: Pulse Energy

Surrey School District recently finished its Pulse-powered ‘Energy Challenge’, involving four of the district’s secondary schools. LA Matheson took the prize for greatest energy savings, using 2,000 kilowatt hours or 18.2% less than the baseline in just a week.
Source: Pulse Energy

Utilities

Speaking at Duke Energy’s annual shareholders meeting, CEO Jim Rogers predicted that federal regulators would likely approve his company’s merger with Progress Energy.
Source: Charlotte Observer

FortisBC has launched a renewable natural gas program for residential and commercial customers, sourced from local landfills and farms. The initiative helps businesses reduce their environmental impact, and provides brand promotion opportunities for their efforts.
Source: FortisBC

Further utilities have joined the Green Button initiative, including National Grid, PacifiCorp, PPL, TXU Energy and Chattanooga EPB. New software entrants include EnergyAI, Melon Power, Snugg Home and Retroficiency.
Source: Environmental Leader

Texan utility TXU Energy has launched a new electricity rate, lowering the cost of energy consumed between 10pm and 6am. The utility estimates that ‘Energy Free Nights 24′ could save a customer $200 a year by shifting 10% of their electricity use to the off-peak period.
Source: TXU

Minnesota co-operatives have launched a $5 million smart grid project, testing battery storage and variable pricing software technology to reduce peak power use. Minnesota Valley Electric, Lake Region Electric and Great River Energy will fund half of the project, with the remained coming from the US Department of Energy.
Source: StarTribune

Utilities – Regulatory

Virginia regulators have approved Dominion Virginia’s energy conservation programs, capped at $90 million and $45 million over five years for residential and commercial respectively. Measures will include energy audits, duct sealing and distributed generation, beginning in July 2012.
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Vermont lawmakers are still debating acceptable outcomes for the $21 million debt Green Mountain Power must cover to merge with Central Vermont PSC. The companies have proposed an investment in energy efficiency programs, but some lawmakers are demanding a direct customer rebate.
Source: Washington Examiner

South Jersey Gas has filed the next tranche of its energy efficiency programs with state regulators, amounting to $24 million through the end of 2013. Five new programs are to be added to the utility’s ‘Energy Efficiency Tracker’, including financing and incentives for commercial, industrial and local government customers to conserve energy.
Source: MarketWatch

Utilities – Appointments

Iberdrola USA has named Jose Maria Torres a Vice President for Finance and Control. Torres joined the Iberdrola Group in 1997 and replaces Dani Alcain, who becomes Control Director at ScottishPower.
Source: PRNewswire

American Electric Power has named Alberto Ruocco a Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Ruocco joins from AEP-acquired BlueStar Energy Solutions and replaces Pablo Vegas, who became COO of AEP Ohio.
Source: Yahoo Finance

AES Corp CFO and President of Global Business Services, Victoria Harker, has announced her departure from the company by August 2012. Harker has led the financial department for six years, with Mary Wood becoming interim CFO this month.
Source: Yahoo Finance

Institutions, Cities & States

The University of California has been recognized with a Climate Leadership Award from Second Nature and the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. The university is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2020, and has already cut energy costs by $32 million annually.
Source: Santa Barbara Independent

North America

Chartwell released a report on dynamic pricing systems to reduce peak demand, finding a particular growth in critical peak pricing. The ‘Demand Response and Rate Programs for Residential Customers’ report also addresses customer engagement with in-home and other pricing display technologies.
Source: Chartwell

The US Energy Information Administration released its analysis of the Clean Energy Standard Act, finding that it would reduce power sector carbon dioxide emissions 44% by 2035 while increasing prices by 18%. The Act would require electricity providers to supply a specified share from clean energy resources.
Source: EIA

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has released a report examining local energy efficiency funding options, such as carbon taxes, city bonds and utility partnerships. Such initiatives will become increasingly necessary as federal funding sources dry up.
Source: ACEEE

International

A Pike Research report has found that the center of the smart meter world is moving, with shipments in North America declining as Asia and Europe grow. Global smart meter penetration reached 18% this year, and should exceed 55% by 2020.
Source: Pike Research

Please send any story suggestions, questions or comments about Energy Efficiency News to Peter Cavan

From AutomatedBuildings.com, May 2012:

AirCare for Buildings

In this new era, energy management software is the AirCare for buildings and building automation system suppliers and contractors and energy consultants are the auto repair shops.

In the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, you can’t insure your vehicle unless it passes AirCare. When you bring your vehicle to the AirCare centre, they run a series of tests to make sure that all of the emissions control systems are working as intended. If you fail any of the tests, you need to take it to a mechanic for a tune-up or repair within 90 days. It’s essentially a retro-commissioning program for vehicles with a check point every two years.

Everyone wins in this arrangement.

Can you imagine what the test results would show if such a comprehensive program was rolled out to the commercial building stock? It’s rare to walk into a building today and find it operating at peak efficiency. Fortunately, that is changing and continuous commissioning is gaining acceptance as the standard way to operate a building.

In this new era, energy management software is the AirCare for buildings and building automation system suppliers and contractors and energy consultants are the auto repair shops. Through close collaboration, those two groups will both benefit and will work together to benefit the customer and the environment.

Pulse Energy plays an important role in continuous commissioning through our Pulse Energy Manager product which provides market leading building-level energy intelligence. Founded in 2006 we provide a product family for commercial buildings and utilities that spans from energy management software to occupant and community engagement. All products are delivered as a SaaS model. The products are delivered to commercial buildings directly, through consultants and through utility energy conservation programs. With hundreds of millions of square feet under management, the company works effectively with many different types of service providers, utilities and vendors to bring value to building owners.

Read More >>

Pulse Energy’s software created a baseline for each school, representing energy performance over a ‘typical’ week. This was compared to actual usage during the competition on Pulse™ Engagement Dashboards, displayed on classroom monitors and providing students with access to the competitions webpage.

Students spent the week on a variety of energy-saving initiatives, such as turning off unnecessary lights, extra cold lunches in the cafeteria and even an ‘Ugly Sweater Day’ encouraging students and staff to turn down their thermostats. LA Matheson took the prize for greatest energy savings, using 2,000 kilowatt hours or 18.2% less than the baseline in just a week.

The competition is part of the Surrey School District’s ambitious goal to reduce energy consumption by 10 million kWh between 2011 and 2016. Pulse Energy has provided the energy intelligence software for the district since 2011, and continues to work closely with school officials and energy managers to promote sustainable energy use.

Please see the Surrey School District Energy Challenge website to learn more.

Utilities

Pacific Gas & Electric’s deployment of electric and gas smart meters is 93% complete, according to figures released by the company.
Source: Willits News

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power gave notice to the City that it will seek to raise electricity rates by 10.5% over the next two years. The utility received only energy rate increases this year, and needs major investments to upgrade aging power infrastructure.
Source: Daily News

CMS Energy announced the retirement, effective July 1, of Laura Montcastle, VP of Investor Relations. Monstcastle’s responsibilities will be divided between a new VP of Financial Planning, Venkat D V Rao, and Chief Accounting Officer, Glenn Barba.
Source: Yahoo Finance

Southern California Edison (SCE) has joined the Demand Response Partnership Program (DRPP) established by the US Green Building Council and Environmental Defense Fund. The DRPP was set up to encourage demand response uptake among commercial buildings, and SCE is the first utility host sponsor.
Source: Environmental Defense Fund

Institutions, Cities & States

The City of Cincinnati has chosen electricity provider FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) to provide 100% green energy for up to 53,000 households and small businesses in the city.
Source: Charlotte Business Journal

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled $800 million in energy efficiency financing over the next four years, of which $450 million will come from the New York Power Authority (NYPA). He also announced that energy efficiency projects completed by the NYPA saved $9 million in 2011 and created 3,000 jobs.
Source: Post Star News

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will audit its biggest customer, Los Angeles Unified School District, in search of energy efficiencies. The District has a $90 million yearly electric bill, with the DWP focusing on the largest energy users per square foot, the “Dirty 30″.
Source: Daily News

California Governor Brown has set new goals for the state’s buildings, requiring all new facilities over 10,000 square feet to achieve LEED Silver certification. Also, 50% of the square footage of existing state buildings should be zero net energy consumption by 2025.
Source: California Newswire

The University of California at San Diego unveiled LEED Platinum-rated student housing, a first for the UC system. The Charles David Keeling Apartments provide housing for 516 students, and their most significant energy reduction comes from natural rather than mechanical cooling.
Source: Marketwatch

The US Green Building Council named its top ten state and local green building policies in California. Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 which attempts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, was named “Most Impactful”.
Source: EcoSeed

BC Lions players visited elementary schools in Nelson last week, to support the FortisBC Energy Champions program. Jason Arakgi and Jon Hameister-Ries, members of the 2011 Grey Cup-winning team, visited four schools in the area to promote environmental responsibility.
Source: The Nelson Daily

North America

The grid operator PJM Interconnection has launched a real-time wholesale electricity price ticker, designed to educate customers on power generation and transmission. The website, developed in association with the University of Pennsylvania, provides pricing updates every five updates for wholesale power provided to Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Source: Power Is Knowledge

Alberta’s carbon research fund is offering $40 million for energy efficiency projects this year. The Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp has approved 32 projects worth $167 million since 2007, and is hoping to focus on initiatives close to the commercial stage.
Source: Edmonton Journal

International

German utilities will spend more than 60 billion euros on generation by the end of the decade, according to the country’s main energy lobby group. The investment, representing around 42 gigawatts of new capacity, follows Germany’s move away from nuclear power.
Source: Nasdaq

Please send any story suggestions, questions or comments about Energy Efficiency News to Peter Cavan

Internal

Pulse Energy, together with local Vancouver firms SES Consulting and Recollective, spent Friday on ‘EarthWork’: Making the world a better place in honor of Earth Day. Teams created an urban park and provided services for cyclists, with two projects featuring particular Pulse Energy involvement.
Source: Pulse Energy

Utilities

Customers of Snohomish County Public Utility District saved an average of 9.3MW over 2011 through energy efficiency, enough to power around 7,000 homes at any one time. This represents a reduced energy bill of $6 million for the PUD’s ratepayers.
Source: HeraldNet

Chelan County PUD switched its power trading contract from Shell Energy to B.C.-based Powerex, expecting to gain around $5 million per year. The five year deal will begin on June 1st, with Powerex paying to access the PUD’s trading system and extra flat fees.
Source: The Wenatchee World

Vero Beach, Florida, has set January 1 2014 as the proposed date for its sale to Florida Power & Light Co. The City has a number of wholesale power contracts to get out of before it can close the deal, primarily related to coal-fired generation.
Source: TCPalm

ComEd appointed Marlow Colvin to the position of Vice President, Governmental Affairs. Colvin was previously an Illinois State Representative, and will be responsible for managing state legislative initiatives for ComEd.
Source: PRNewswire

GreenBiz published an interview with Pacific Gas & Electric’s Saul Zambrano, Senior Director of the Products Organization, covering the future of utilities. “…you can really start to show customers, through the power of information and presentation, different ways that they can become stewards of energy, whether it’s as a residential customer or a commercial customer.”
Source: GreenBiz

Eugene Water & Power is pressing ahead with plans to install 89,000 smart meters, with a final decision to be made in the summer. The utility estimates a $20 million saving from the project, which is planned to begin in 2013.
Source: The Register-Guard

Roger Levy of Levy Associates presented to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners on “Customer Data Access—Valuing Feedback: A Strategy for Customer Engagement.” The presentation highlighted the need to provide customers with energy information.
Source: Intelligent Utility

Utilities – Regulatory

El Paso Electric agreed a $15 million annual rate cut with city regulators, of which $12.1 million will benefit commercial and industrial customers. The decrease is aimed at economic development, but the utility estimates that it needs to spend $1.4 billion in capital upgrades over the next five years.
Source: El Paso Times

Fortis Inc filed a petition with the New York Public Service Commission, seeking approval to acquire CH Energy Group. The filing promises $20 million in overall benefits, including a rate freeze and community benefit fund for Central Hudson customers.
Source: Reuters

Duke Energy released its 2011 Sustainability Report, featuring reduced carbon intensity, improved safety and major investment in renewables.
Source: Duke Energy

California’s state regulator has set demand response budgets for the state’s three largest investor-owned utilities (IOUs). PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric will spend $192 million, $196 million and $66 million respectively over the next three years.
Source: Wall Street Journal

Institutions, Cities & States

The board of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, approved an $8 million plan to fund energy audits and retrofits in downtown buildings. The city will cover up to 40% of the cost of the work, with the landlord paying the rest.
Source: Online Athens

North America

Distributed Energy Financial Group released a whitepaper on utility customer engagement, arguing for looking beyond traditional customer service scores. Instead, the paper advocates metrics such as first contact resolution (FCR) and the “ease of doing business”.
Source: Intelligent Utility

U.S. commercial building owners could save an average of 38% on their heating and cooling bills if they installed a handful of energy efficiency controls, according to a report from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Source: CleanTechnica

International

EU energy and climate ministers agreed to adopt a directive mandating 20% improved energy efficiency by 2020. The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) is a priority for Denmark’s EU presidency, and adoption is expected in June.
Source: Xinhua

Please send any story suggestions, questions or comments about Energy Efficiency News to Peter Cavan

Energy Education in Surrey

Greg, Brent and Harish from Pulse Energy’s Client Services team guided the students of LA Matheson Secondary through a workshop on energy awareness, entitled “Energy Poverty”. This culminated a one week competition between four schools, with LA Matheson saving over 18% of its energy consumption for the week.

The workshop followed an Engineers without Borders format, dividing students into teams representing different countries. The ‘countries’ start with given education levels, supplies and money, encouraging students to learn and think differently about the world through interactive activity.

Ungardening at Semlin

For more information on EarthWork, please see Flickr, Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

Utilities

GDF Suez has purchased the 30% of International Power it didn’t already own for $10 billion. International Power is an electricity generator with 66GW in operation across South America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Source: New York Times

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said its Winter Gas Savings program paid out more than $41 million in rebates to 1.9 million natural gas customers this spring. The conservation efforts saved more than 85 million therms of natural gas, or 20 percent of their normal consumption during the winter months.
Source: Merced Sun-Star

A Chartwell report has found that utility contact centers are improving overall, but are having to deal with increasingly complex topics. “As more utilities introduce advanced meters as well as accompanying programs, utility contact centers are charged with addressing more questions related to energy efficiency and usage,” said a Chartwell analyst.
Source: Chartwell

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asked Duke Energy and Progress Energy to provide more information on their proposed merger, particularly around transmission modelling. The companies responded on Saturday, and are still hoping that FERC will approve their deal by June 8th.
Source: Charlotte Observer

Utilities – Smart Grid

British Gas has begun a new smart meter rollout, claiming that its Phase 3 meters with touch screen displays are the world’s most advanced.
Source: Tech Week Europe

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced that it has nearly finished its smart meter rollout, with only a few thousand of its 600,000 customers still on analog metering. The project was funded with $127.5 million in federal stimulus money.
Source: The Sacramento Bee

Long Island Power Authority announced a smart grid demonstration project, that will test consumer response to dynamic pricing and the scalability of smart grid technology. Landis+Gyr will deploy the project with partners, funded by a Department of Energy grant.
Source: Yahoo Finance

Utilities – Appointments

PJM Interconnection has appointed Ian McLeod as chief communications officer. McLeod joins from the Tennessee Valley Authority, where he most recently managed executive communications.
Source: PR Newswire

UGI Corporation, Pennsylvanian utility holding company, appointed Monica M. Gaudiosi Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary effective April 23, 2012. Gaudiosi succeeds Robert H. Knauss, who is retiring from UGI after 27 years of service.
Source: Wall Street Journal

Arizona Public Service Co. hosted an open house to introduce new manager Phil Smithers to local decision-makers. Smithers will lead the Southwest Division, taking over the post March 1 after the retirement of Jim Valenzuela.
Source: Yuma Sun

Institutions, Cities & States

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the annual list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings for 2011. The list of 25 cities is headed by Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Houston, Dallas, Riverside, Calif. and Boston.
Source: EPA

Gov. Jerry Brown named Andrew McAllister, the acting head of the California Center for Sustainable Energy, to the California Energy Commission. McAllister has been with the center since 2005, and has been running it as managing director since founder Irene Stillings retired in February.
Source: North County Times

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been selected to lead a new joint U.S.-India research center focusing on energy efficiency technologies for buildings. It is one of three consortia that will make up the U.S.-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC).
Source: Lab Manager

MIT researchers studying the relationship between building occupancy and energy consumption found that, while electricity use corresponds to occupancy fairly well, the activity of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems does not. The study suggests possible architectural or engineering solutions. For example, new sensing-based thermostats can control temperatures on a more precise level within buildings.
Source: Environmental Leader

North America

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy released a paper examining whether the treatment of depreciation in the federal tax system is negatively impacting energy efficiency investment.
Source: ACEEE

Manufacturing Business Technology interviewed Opto 22′s Arun Sinha on energy management strategies. “Energy management has to be something that the leadership of the company believes in, whether their motives are related to sustainability or profitability,” he said.
Source: Manufacturing Business Technology

The US Department of Energy has unveiled a $9 million fund for approximately 50 small businesses to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy. The attempts to improve manufacturing processes, building efficiency and reduce reliance on oil.
Source: Renewable Energy Focus

International

Pike Research has forecast that the global market for smart grid software will reach $2.9 billion in 2017, up from around $1 billion today. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 15.2%, to  collect, manage, and analyze the vast amounts of data generated by smart grid technologies.
Source: Marketwatch

Please send any story suggestions, questions or comments about Energy Efficiency News to Peter Cavan