EC February 2016

ec@lists.wvsierraclub.org

8 participants
13 discussions

Fwd: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Fwd: The Next Quantum Leap in Energy Efficiency
by James Kotcon 03 Feb '16

03 Feb '16

This is likely to be the key to our strategy for the IRP, the CPP and energy policy in WV generally. While renewables are cost competitive for new generation, they do not yet compete with old plants that have been mostly paid off. To close these existing facilities, we need to reduce overall demand quickly, and that is what the big utilities are afraid of. Read the report, Click on the webinar. This is the stuff we need to know. Jim Kotcon ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ned Ford <Ned.Ford(a)fuse.net> Date: Wed, Feb 3, 2016 at 12:14 PM Subject: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Fwd: The Next Quantum Leap in Energy Efficiency To: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS(a)lists.sierraclub.org This report by some old friends (The Quantum Leap) addresses how to raise efficiency standards above 2% per year. This goal is an essential component of a strategy which can still, at this date, eliminate fossil fuel generation by about 2030. Without the efficiency savings, the cost of renewables is a high barrier, since what we want is not just renewables at parity with fossil generation (we already have that) but new capital investment to replace existing fully amortized coal, gas and nuclear plants at a rate which hasn't existed in this country since the 1960's. And on a much larger scale than the coal rush in the 1940-1970 era. This report may be useful in regulatory work, but it is certainly a great place to start a conversation about how we cut carbon as fast as possible. - Ned -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: The Next Quantum Leap in Energy Efficiency Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2016 08:26:55 -0800 (PST) From: Regulatory Assistance Project <info(a)raponline.org> <info(a)raponline.org> Reply-To: info(a)raponline.org To: ned.ford(a)fuse.net Can't read or see images? View this email in a browser <http://zc1.campaign-view.com/ua/viewinbrowser?od=11287eca45b58a&rd=18d88732…> [image: RAP Newsletter Heading] <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> *Energy Solutions for a Changing World* *The Next Quantum Leap in* *Energy Efficiency - Game On* *-David Farnsworth* Ten years ago, the most aggressive electric efficiency efforts in the country were achieving first-year electric savings of about 1.0 percent of annual sales. Today, at least five different states have—or plan to—double those levels of savings, achieving between 2.0 and 2.5 percent first-year savings annually. Since 2006, nationwide customer efficiency spending has nearly quadrupled, from $1.6 to $5.9 billion, and substantial additional savings have been realized through federal equipment efficiency standards, building codes, and other regulatory mechanisms. By many measures, we have made solid progress on energy efficiency over the last decade. But there continues to be room for more of this low-cost, high-benefit resource. “It looks like many states are getting the message,” says Rich Sedano, RAP principal and US program director. “Every state may want to take a fresh look at the possibilities for upping their game on energy efficiency—there continues to be considerable space to grow.” We at RAP think that the efficiency bar could be raised substantially. In our recent paper, *The Next Quantum Leap in Efficiency: 30 Percent Electric Savings in 10 Years* <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…>, we examine whether it would be possible to meet 30 percent of electricity system needs in ten years with efficiency. Continue Reading <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> ------------------------------ *Webinar: The Energy Efficiency Quantum Leap * A recent RAP webinar explores the next quantum leap in efficiency savings. Chris Neme of Energy Futures Group (EFG) shared the findings of a study <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> (mentioned above) he co-wrote with Jim Grevatt for RAP demonstrating how states can achieve persistent savings of 30 percent of load over ten years. This quantum leap in efficiency cannot be brought about without major policy changes, including increasing ratepayer funding of energy efficiency, making efficiency more profitable for utilities, aligning efficiency goals with long-term objectives, and creating new models for acquiring efficiency. View Webinar <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> ------------------------------ *Recognizing Early Action Under The Clean Power Plan* *-Ken Colburn* Data suggest that the electric power sector’s long march toward decarbonization <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> was already well underway before the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) rulemaking, let alone the final rule’s compliance period, which doesn’t begin until 2022. If so, then the emissions reduction obligations imposed by the CPP might be characterized as consistent with the dramatic changes already underway within the power sector as much as they are a driver of those changes. This is an encouraging characterization, because it suggests that compliance with the CPP is likely to be accomplished without departing greatly from the utility resource planning and state policy pathways already in motion. Some are concerned, however, that the CPP could temporarily slow the adoption of cleaner, more renewable energy sources and more efficient end-use of energy. Continue Reading <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> ------------------------------ *Webinars* ------------------------------ *Teaching the Duck to Fly - Second Edition * March 3, 2016 1 p.m. EST Join us for a webinar <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> where Jim Lazar shares new insights on opportunities that have arisen and technologies that have evolved since his 2014 paper *Teaching the Duck to Fly <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…>. *Drawing from the soon-to-be-released *Teaching the Duck to Fly - Second Edition*, Mr. Lazar will discuss each of the strategies, how they can be deployed and managed, and how each affects the load shape that remains, thus demonstrating that the amount of flexibility they can provide has increased. Together, these measures enable utilities to adapt to a supply portfolio containing a high level of variable renewable energy resources and still provide adequate, reliable, and economical service to consumers. Register Now <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> ------------------------------ *RAP in Action* ------------------------------ Ken Colburn discusses energy efficiency and state planning requirements <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> during a panel about the Clean Power Plan at the Association of Energy Services Professionals' National Conference and Expo <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> in Phoenix. RAP staff will be attending the 2016 Winter Committee Meetings of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> in Washington, DC, later this month. Find us in the halls, and be sure to stop by our table and pick up copies of our publications, including two hot-off-the-press reports, *The Next Quantum Leap in Efficiency: 30 Percent Electric Savings in 10 Years* <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…>, and *Teaching the Duck to Fly – Second Edition*. Hope to see you there! In early March, Chris James will highlight the role of markets for clean energy <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> under the Clean Power Plan at the Climate Leadership Conference in Seattle <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> . ------------------------------ *Global Highlights* ------------------------------ Demand response is important for Europe to meet clean energy targets reliably and efficiently <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…>, according to a new RAP policy brief. ------------------------------ Manage your Subscription <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/click.zc?od=11287eca45b58a&repDgs=18d88732ee…> This email was sent by info(a)raponline.org to ned.ford(a)fuse.net Not interested? Unsubscribe <http://zc1.maillist-manage.com/ua/optout?od=11287eca45b58a&rd=18d88732ee12d…> Regulatory Assistance Project | 50 State Street, Suite 3 | Montpelier VT 05602 <http://www.raponline.org>www.raponline.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS list, send any message to: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq

1 0

Fwd: FYI If your chapter is fighting gas pipelines, ...
by James Kotcon 02 Feb '16

02 Feb '16

Wow, I knew they were big. But this is bigger than I thought. JBK ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Glen Besa <glen.besa(a)sierraclub.org> Date: Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 5:53 PM Subject: FYI If your chapter is fighting gas pipelines, ... To: CONS-FRED(a)lists.sierraclub.org Find report here: Report on climate impacts of pipelines <http://sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/virginia-chapter/d…> For Immediate Release January 28, 2016 CONTACT: Glen Besa 804-387-6001 *Climate Disrupting Pollution from Atlantic Coast and * *Mountain Valley Pipelines nearly twice that of Virginia power plants and other stationary sources* A new report by the Sierra Club finds that greenhouse gas pollution from the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines would be almost twice the total climate-changing emissions from existing power plants and other stationary sources in Virginia. The report, prepared by Richard Ball, PhD., a retired US EPA and DOE scientist who served as a lead author on the First and Second Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and is the Energy Chair for the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, estimates total carbon dioxide gas equivalent from each of the two pipelines over the natural gas fuel cycle, including fugitive emissions of methane from fracking in the gas fields, leakage during transmission and storage, and combustion of the delivered gas. It also shows the estimated planetary heating from all four proposed pipelines for Virginia. Last week, the US EPA urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require applicants for new pipelines to assess a project’s indirect impacts, including potential increases in gas production and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions[1]. “Our report provides an assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines as the EPA suggests,” said Dr. Ball. “We urge FERC to consider this report and to require the pipeline developers to address climate concerns in a programmatic environmental impact statement that takes a comprehensive look at impacts from all proposed new or expanded pipelines.” “Statements made by gas industry executives and public officials, including Governor McAuliffe, that natural gas is a clean fuel ignore the significant climate impact of increased reliance on gas,” said Kirk Bowers, an organizer for the Sierra Club working with communities opposing the new natural gas pipelines in Virginia and West Virginia. The report’s emission estimates from production and processing operations, including fracking, are based on a 2013 published analysis by Laurenzi and Jersey, researchers with ExxonMobil. Total pipeline emission estimates in the report include production and processing as well transmission and storage, and combustion of the delivered gas. In addition to emitting large amounts of CO2 when burned, natural gas is a major contributor to climate change in the extraction and transmission stages, where significant amounts of methane escape from wells and pipeline leaks. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, and these “fugitive emissions” of methane have emerged as an area of serious concern that undercuts the case for natural gas as a cleaner substitute for coal. “Natural gas only seems like a cheap and easy fix for climate change,” said Glen Besa, Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, “In reality, methane pollution is a serious problem that makes natural gas a dead-end solution. We have to stop kidding ourselves. Virginia should be investing in wind and solar and energy efficiency, not expanding infrastructure for more fossil fuel burning.” The lowest estimates of greenhouse gas emissions for Atlantic Coast Pipeline at 40.7 million metric tons per year (MMT/yr) are more than 5 times the annual carbon pollution from Dominion’s Chesterfield Power Station (7.2 MMT/yr), the largest coal fired plant in Virginia, and equal to more than 80% of the total carbon pollution (49.4 MMT) from all 177 stationary sources in the EPA’s 2014 inventory of GHG emissions in Virginia [2]. The larger capacity Mountain Valley Pipeline’s total emissions of 54.3 MMT/yr would be 7.5 times the emissions of Dominion’s Chesterfield Power Station and actually exceed the total 2014 emissions from all of Virginia’s stationary sources as estimated in the EPA’s 2014 inventory. *If both the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines were to be built, their combined climate disrupting pollution would total 192%, of the emissions from Virginia’s existing power plants and other stationary sources.* Emissions from the other two proposed pipelines, the WB Xpress and the Appalachian Connector, would nearly double the total emissions from the ACP and MVP for a total of 185 MMT CO2eq at a GWP of 25 in the base case, the ExxonMobil rates, or 3.7 times the EPA GHGRP (stationary source inventory) total for Virginia. These comparisons illustrate the magnitude of the pollution these pipelines would generate; however, actual pollution from these pipelines would also occur in West Virginia where the natural gas is produced by fracking and in North Carolina as well as Virginia where the gas would be burned. “There are more immediate and familiar concerns with these pipelines including property rights and water pollution,” said Besa, “but climate change impacts should be considered by FERC particularly in light of the recent Paris agreement committing the United States to reducing our total emissions of greenhouse gas pollution.” XXX *Richard Ball has a Ph.D. in physics and worked on scientific research on the planet Earth and on energy issues for 10 years at the Rand Corp. He has 27 years’ experience working on energy policy and technology analysis, atmospheric science of acid precipitation, and climate science at the U.S.EPA and the U.S. Dept. of Energy, including serving as a lead author on the First and Second IPCC assessments of climate change. Now retired, Dr. Ball serves as volunteer Chair of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter's Energy Committee.* ------------------------------ [1] FERC Should Review Indirect Impacts, GHG Emissions From NatGas Projects, EPA Says, NGI’s Shale Daily, Jan 21, 2016; http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/105081-ferc-should-review-indirect-… [2] EPA’s “Flight database” from its Greenhouse Gas Reporting system. http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do Glen Besa, Director Sierra Club-Virginia Chapter 422 E. Franklin St, Suite 302 Richmond, VA 23219 glen.besa(a)sierraclub.org P-804-387-6001 F-804-225-9114 Web: sierraclub.org/virginia - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-FRED list, send any message to: CONS-FRED-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/terms

1 0

Fwd: [Coal Volunteers List] Mary Anne Hitt's latest: Coal bankruptcies leaving workers, communities behind
by James Kotcon 01 Feb '16

01 Feb '16

Pretty good into to coal bankruptcies. This will be the emerging coal issue of 2016, so we will want to know something about it. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/28/1476412/-Coal-Bankruptcy-101-Compa… JBK ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Heather Moyer <heather.moyer(a)sierraclub.org> Date: Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 3:28 PM Subject: [Coal Volunteers List] Mary Anne Hitt's latest: Coal bankruptcies leaving workers, communities behind To: #Coal <coal-list(a)sierraclub.org>, #Coal-Volunteers < coal-volunteers-list(a)sierraclub.org>, #Media <media-list(a)sierraclub.org> Hi friends- Beyond Coal director Mary Anne Hitt's latest column is now live. It's a great piece penned with attorney Peter Morgan about how coal companies that are going bankrupt are leaving many in the lurch, esp as company execs gets millions in bonuses. *Retweet:* https://twitter.com/sierraclub/status/692805692202336257 *Possible Tweets:* Coal Bankruptcy 101: Companies Are Leaving Workers & Communities In the Lurch bit.ly/23wnflZ <https://t.co/1xiVMqxngw> Coal bankruptcy 101: Give execs millions in bonuses, leave workers & communities in the lurch bit.ly/23wnflZ <https://t.co/1xiVMqxngw> *LINKS* *Compass:* bit.ly/23wnflZ <https://t.co/1xiVMqxngw> *Daily Kos: * http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/28/1476412/-Coal-Bankruptcy-101-Compa… *Huffington Post:* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-anne-hitt/coal-bankruptcy-101-compa_b_91… -------- *Social media question or request? Please email social-list(a)sierraclub.org <social-list(a)sierraclub.org>* *Heather Moyer* Senior Content Producer 202-675-6276 Sierra Club 50 F Street, 8th Floor Washington, DC 20001 -- To access the Beyond Coal Campaign Resource Portal, go to: https://sites.google.com/a/sierraclub.org/beyond-coal-resource-portal/ To sign up for this list, email neha.mathew(a)sierraclub.org with the subject and message "SUBSCRIBE #coal-volunteer" --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "#Coal-Volunteers" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coal-volunteers-list+unsubscribe(a)sierraclub.org. To post to this group, send email to coal-volunteers-list(a)sierraclub.org.

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

EC February 2016