energy efficiency
…and another thing about electric rates and the environment…
Last week, I wrote about how a proposal to change the design of residential electric rates might get in the way of efforts to encourage energy efficiency. Sushil Jacob, a keen-eyed student in my Energy Regulation and the Environment class, points to another potential problem. PG&E, the largest utility providing service in California, wants …
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CONTINUE READINGDoes anybody really know what electricity costs? Does anybody really care?
Just about everything that energy utilities and their regulators do has some kind of impact on the environment – even when all they are doing is setting electricity rates. So, when PG&E (California’s largest electric company) proposed a new residential rate structure last week, some were left wondering: as far as the environment is concerned, …
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CONTINUE READINGA Website Named DSIRE
Those who are interested in Clean Tech, particularly from the investment point of view, will want to take a look at the DSIRE site. Sorry, it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the Tennessee Williams play, I jsut couldn’t resist the play on words. DSIRE stands for Database of State Incentives for Renewables and …
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CONTINUE READINGOur Carbon-Based Trade Deficit
A lot of people are worried about the trade deficit. As it turns out, more than half of the deficit is due to petroleum imports, as Matthew Yglesias points out. This graph tells the story:
CONTINUE READINGRiding the Energy Efficiency Wave
At the “Beyond Copenhagen Conference” at Berkeley yesterday, one of the clear messages was that energy efficiency is one of the most feasible routes forward on climate change. Energy efficiency has great interest not only to U.S. consumers, but also to countries like China that are concerned about energy security. The energy security issue is …
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CONTINUE READINGA Smart Grid Requires Smart Planning
Two-way instant communication, ever-changing electricity prices, lightning-fast micro-switches – the smart grid is all the rage. In fact, a report just issued by a firm called Pike Research contains the prediction that worldwide expenditure on smart grid stuff will exceed $200 billion over the next five years. The hope is that a smarter grid will …
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CONTINUE READINGGreening the Web
I always feel virtuous when I send something by email rather than using hard copy, saving trees, transportation fuels, etc. It’s probably true that a single email, even with a large attachment, uses very little energy. Cumulatively, however, Internet servers eat up a lot of power. A new project at Syracuse is one of many …
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CONTINUE READINGAmerica’s Energy Future: A New Report
The National Research Council has released a new report (available for purchase here) on America’s energy future. Here are some key take away points: Use of existing energy-efficiency technologies is the nearest-term and lowest-cost option for moderating our nation’s demand for energy, especially over the next decade. The potential energy savings available from theaccelerated deployment …
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CONTINUE READINGGreetings from New England – Home to Green Jobs, But No Polar Bears
Residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts who stay close to home may not have seen a polar bear in – well – a long time, and the economy may be in a general slump. but the town fathers and mothers have seen a recent growth in green jobs. The Berkshire Eagle reports that The Center for Ecological …
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CONTINUE READINGWaxman-Markey May Lower Household Costs
In another report issued today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency counters the predictions of some critics of climate change legislation by concluding that the Waxman-Markey bill would not lead to higher energy costs for consumers. In fact, the EPA concludes that household energy costs actually may go down. In one scenario, each household on average …
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