Energy Conservation News articles from May 2001

Energy Conservation News archives from May 2001

OUTLOOK: NARUC Focuses on Standards.
May 1, 2001... The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC, Apryl Jump, Government Affairs, 101 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005; Tel: 202/898-9382, Fax: 202/898- 2213; Email: ajump@naruc.org) is urging DOE to affirm...

Will PUHCA "Reform" Increase Prices?
May 1, 2001... By a 19-1 margin, the Senate Banking Committee has voted to repeal most of the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA). Could PUHCA "reform" lead to an even worse energy price situation for consumers? Public Citizen (1600 20th St., NW,...

GOVERNMENT: BPA Blown Away by Wind Proposals.
May 1, 2001... "The response blew us away," said George Darr, Bonneville Power Administration's (905 NE 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97232; Tel: 503/230-3000, Fax: 503/230-3816, Toll Free: 800/622-4520; Website: www.bpa.gov) renewable power resource program...

Expansion of Tax Credits Possible.
May 1, 2001... According to the Centre for a Sustainable Economy (1731 Connecticut Ave., NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20009; Tel: 202/234-9665, Fax: 202/588-1297; Email: Center@SustainableEconomy.org, Website: www.sustainableeconomy.org), the Bush...

California Proposes Solar Credits.
May 1, 2001... The California Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee has passed legislation (SB 17; Website: http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/31/) that would establish a tax credit for the purchase and installation of solar or wind energy systems. The bill,...

ENERGY MANAGEMENT/FINANCING "Power-Pact" Prevents Rolling Blackouts.
May 1, 2001... As part of California's statewide Power-Pact program, in early May PAR3 Communications (100 South King St., Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98104; Tel: 206/902-3900, Fax: 206/902-3902; Email: info@par3.com, Website: www.par3.com) sent the first...

$2 B Savings Claimed for Power Trading.
May 1, 2001... A new electricity-trading marketplace that electronically executes highly complex energy transactions and is designed to help bring stability to competitive energy markets will soon begin "beta" testing. E-lecTrade, Inc. (Suri, 120 White Plains...

Don't Use Electricity and Get Paid by Utility.
May 1, 2001... Avista Utilities, a unit of Avista Corp. (1411 E. Mission Ave., Spokane, WA 99202-2600; Tel: 509/489-0500, Fax: 509/495-8851; Website: www.avistacorp.com), has filed a request with the Washington and Idaho utility commissions to implement an...

RESIDENTIAL: Largest TOD Program Approved.
May 1, 2001... Time-of-day plans (TOD) can help dramatically reduce energy costs. EPRI (3412 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304) estimates that just a 2.5% demand reduction at peak periods this past summer would have reduced wholesale prices by 24%. This...

Chicago Homeowners Test Fuel Cells.
May 1, 2001... Several Chicago-area families will soon produce their own electric power in a pilot project to assess the technical, economic, and environmental benefits of using small residential fuel cell generating systems. The precommercial units, designed...

Montana Power Brings Energy Data Home.
May 1, 2001... Thanks to implementation of a new Internet Access System by ORCOM (1001 SW Disk Dr., Bend, OR 97702), Montana Power Company's (40 E. Broadway, Butte, MT 59701-9394; Tel: 406/497-3000, Fax: 406/496- 5240; Website: www.mtpower.com) customers can...

COMMERCIAL: "Digested" Food Wastes Make Energy.
May 1, 2001... Los Angeles International Airport (LAX; Website: www.lawa.org), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, has begun a first-of-its kind, six-month pilot program to recycle food "leftovers" into electricity to be...

INDUSTRIAL: Large Customers Reducing Load.
May 1, 2001... According to Unitil Corporation (6 Liberty Ln. West, Hampton, NH 03842-1720; Tel: 603/772-0775, Fax: 603/773-6605; Website: www.unitil.com), its electric distribution companies are seeking approval from state regulators in Massachusetts and New...

Bush Tour Presages District Energy Push.
May 1, 2001... District energy and combined heat and power systems have been in operation for decades-sometimes even a century-in many U.S. cities and are widely used in the nation's universities, airports, hospital complexes and military bases. ...

Bill Savings from All-Electric Molding.
May 1, 2001... Milacron (2090 Florence Ave., P.O. Box 63716, Cincinnati, OH 45206-2425; Tel: 513/487-5000, Fax: 513/487-5057; Website: www.milacron.com) believes all-electric injection molding machines, which are two to four times more energy efficient than...

TRANSPORTATION: EIA Looks at Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel.
May 1, 2001... The Energy Information Administration has just released "The Transition to Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel Fuel: Effects on Prices and Supply," which discusses the implications of the new regulations for vehicle fuel efficiency and examines the...

UTILITIES/POWER GENERATION Hot Air May Solve Energy Woes.
May 1, 2001... The solution to some of the country's energy woes might be little more than hot air. That's a route researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185), a Department of Energy laboratory, are helping explore in an...

Report Tantalizes Fuel Cell Proponents.
May 1, 2001... A just-published account of basic research in the journal Nature, by Sossina Haile and material scientists at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, appears to show that fuel cells can work practically in a more moderate...

Waste Produces Clean Energy.
May 1, 2001... Sunflower hulls, which were once considered a waste material, can now be used as an alternative, renewable fuel source to produce clean energy. The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC, Energy & Environmental Research Center, University...

World's Largest HCPV Project.
May 1, 2001... According to Amonix, Inc. (3425 Fujita St., Torrance, CA 90505; Tel: 310/325-8091, Fax: 310/325-0771; Email: info@amonix.com, Website: www.Amonix.com), Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), plans to install the world's largest high-concentration...

Major Solar Project Slated for New York.
May 1, 2001... To encourage the use of clean energy in New York, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA, 333 Earle Ovington Blvd., Uniondale, NY 11553; Tel: 516/222-7700, Fax: 516/222-9137) has agreed to help businesses finance the installation of solar panels...

NREL Shatters Old Solar-Electric Record.
May 1, 2001... Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393; Tel: 303/275-3000) have surpassed a record for electricity produced by solar cells made from cadmium telluride-a...

Patent for Integrated Power System.
May 1, 2001... ThermoEnergy (323 Center St., No. 1300, Little Rock, AR 72201- 2628; Tel: 501/376-6477) engineers received U.S. Patent 6,196,000 in March for a process to produce electricity without air emissions. This new process is known as the ThermoEnergy...

APPLIANCES: First High Density Low Power Web Servers.
May 1, 2001... RLX Technologies (25231 Grogan's Mill Rd., Suite 600, The Woodlands, TX 77380-2174; Tel: 281/863-2100, Fax: 281/863-2104, Toll Free: 866/250-4667; Website: www.rlxtechnologies.com) has begun shipping a highly energy efficient web server...

HVAC: Wireless Telemetry Used for HVAC.
May 1, 2001... Aeris.net (1245 S. Winchester Blvd., Second Floor, San Jose, CA 95128; Tel: 888/Go-Aeris; Website: www.aeris.net), a provider of web-to-wireless machine-to-machine communications services, is applying wireless telemetry services to control one...

ASE Blasts Bush Policy.
May 1, 2001... The Alliance to Save Energy (1200 18th St., NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20036; Tel: 202/530-2217, Fax: 202/331-9588; Website: www.ase.org) has issued a statement saying, "the Bush Administration's decision to reduce the air conditioner and...

INDUSTRY NEWS: GE Wins Largest Geothermal Contract.
May 1, 2001... GE Power Systems (1 River Rd., Schenectady, NY 12345; Tel: 518/385-2211, Fax: 518/385-9051; Website: www.ge.com/powersystems) has been awarded the largest contract ever for geothermal power generation by Erga S.p.A (www.enel.it/erga), the...

EU Approves Scroll Fuel Gas Booster.
May 1, 2001... Copeland Corp. (Sidney, Ohio), a subsidiary of Emerson (8000 W. Florissant Ave., St. Louis, MO 63136; Tel: 314/553-2000, Fax: 314/553-3527; Website: www.emersonelectric.com), has received CE (Conformite Europeene) Mark approval for its Copeland...

"Coalogic" Spreading Through Supply Chain.
May 1, 2001... Last month, ECN reported on Praxis Engineers, Inc.'s (852 North Hillview Dr., Milpitas, California 95035; Tel: 408/934-3701; Website: www.praxisengineers.com) Coalogic fuel management solution that has the potential to save individual plants...

CALENDAR.
May 1, 2001... June 5, 2001. Air Barriers III: Air Barrier Solutions for Buildings in North American Climates, Washington, D.C. Contact: Building Environment and Thermal Envelope Council; Tel: 202/289- 7800; Email: pcichowski@nibs.org. June 18-22, 2001....