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The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities is proposing to eliminate half of their energy efficiency programs.
Dan Reynolds, BPU energy-efficiency coordinator, recently presented a report of the the BPU energy efficiency program results. The report included information between July 1, 2016, and June 30.
Reynolds said BPU officials plan on keeping their Energy Star, lighting and motor rebates for commercial and industrial customers and home energy audits and weatherization rebates for residential customer programs. However, he proposed eliminating the residential attic insulation energy efficiency program, customized incentive for commercial and industrial customers, and weatherization for commercial and industrial customers programs.
While providing last year's energy efficiency program information, Reynolds said there were only two customized incentives for commercial and industrial customer projects last year. Also, he said there were only four weatherization for commercial and industrial customers projects last year. Reynolds added that there were 11 residential attic insulation energy efficiency projects last year, which only resulted in rebates of $2,712.
Reynolds said the most popular energy efficiency program is the lighting and motor rebates for commercial and industrial customers with 110 projects resulting in $260,857 in rebates. He said last year the BPU spent $384,665 on energy efficiency rebates, with customers saving $222,674. He said last year there was a reduction of 3,181,060 kilowatt hours because of the BPU's energy efficiency programs.
Proposed recommendations for next year's programs included reducing incentives for LED lighting, including eliminating LED exit signs, Reynolds said. Also, he recommended budgeting $30,000 on education and outreach for the energy efficiency programs. He said there were no proposed changes for the Energy Star and home energy audits and weatherization rebates for residential customer programs for next year.
Reynolds also discussed some Reforming the Energy Vision projects for next year. Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Reforming the Energy Vision strategy, New York is actively spurring clean energy innovation, bringing new investments into the state and improving consumer choice and affordability. The REV initiative will lead to regulatory changes that promote more efficient use of energy, deeper penetration of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar, wider deployment of distributed energy resources, such as micro grids, roof-top solar and other on-site power supplies, and storage. It will also promote markets to achieve greater use of advanced energy management products to enhance demand elasticity and efficiencies.
These changes, in turn, will empower customers by allowing them more choice in how they manage and consume electric energy.
Reynolds said BPU REV related projects will include utility solar development; electric vehicle charging, which includes smart home charging; smart metering; battery storage; and load factor improvement.