EDAC

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. SEEC Forum follow up: Thanks to all that attended this year’s 7th Annual SEEC Forum! Experienced, diverse speakers and record attendees helped to make it a great success. If you attended, we are asking for your feedback through this survey to make next year’s even better. Stand by for recorded sessions from the Forum, coming soon!

2. CAF Registration Now Open: Correction from earlier this month: the California Adaptation Forum registration is NOW open! The Forum will take place September 7th-8th in Long Beach.

3. Benchmarking Lunch-and-Learn 6/30: Hear about the current state of benchmarking policy and join in discussion about specific impacts to local governments and other public agencies in this Oxnard lunch-and-learn held by The Energy Network and Ventura County Regional Energy Alliance (VCREA).

4. PG&E Phases Out Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power: citing a number factors, including Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) increases, energy efficiency and renewables goals under SB 350, the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) and community choice aggregation (CCA), PG&E announced its decision this Tuesday. (Read more here.)

5. Looking for EE and Climate Funding? Over $177 Million is available for state and local government activities on coastal resiliency, health impacts of climate change, HUD Choice Neighborhoods, and more.

6. What’s New in 2016 Energy Code? BayREN’s Codes and Standards Regional Forum was held this week, bringing together local government policymakers and sustainability staff, building department staff, city planners, and energy consultants to learn about the changes to the 2016 building Energy Efficiency Standards for residential and nonresidential buildings.

7. 2016 Reference Ace Now Available: Energy Code Ace has released the 2016 version of their training tools for California Energy Code (Title 24). This is a great, free resource for building departments and professionals alike.

8. Energy efficiency and affordable housing: Finding the best strategies to bring the economic benefits of energy efficiency to low-income households is a hot topic. Learn in this article from Eco Business about case studies in Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh, a study from Energy Efficiency for All, and how to best leverage key resources like the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).

9. EDAC Meeting Recap: The quarterly public Energy Data Access Committee meeting was held this week, with significant focus on local government data access for climate action planning – a short recap is available here.

10. White House Announces Energy Storage, Green Button Analysis: Last week the White House announced a new investment in 1.3 GW of energy storage to promote a more flexible, resilient grid – and also shared plans to analyze the use of the Green Button energy data platform in the private sector.

11. Opower and Oracle on utility and energy data: his week, Oracle purchased Opower for $532 million. Hear from both companies on the value they each see in combining forces and how the utility industry is moving to a customer-focused industry, in this exclusive interview by Greentech Media (GTM).

12. Innovations in Duct Sealing: Learn what research out of U.S. DOE, LBNL and EPA has led to a transformation in duct sealing (improving air quality and bringing energy savings) in commercial buildings – with examples from Atlanta and California’s Fountain Valley.

13. Sustainable Products and Projects of the Year: Environmental Leader released its new list of Products and Projects of the Year this week. Products range from solar panels to chiller modules; programs range from Hilton’s LightStay program to Bloomberg LP’s Water Risk Valuation Tool. Get ideas for products or approaches to apply in your community!

14. EVs for Economic Reasons: In coverage from North Bay Public Media, learn about how economic considerations are the primary driver toward electric vehicles in Sonoma County.

15. Is Residential Ready for Storage? Learn best practices in making solar homes energy storage-ready.

16. New Solar Homes Partnership: Join the California Energy Commission (CEC) for a workshop on the New Solar Homes Partnership July 8th.

17. AB 793 Compliance Guidance: In a June 10th release, CPUC Judges have requested that the state’s IOUs propose to the Commission comprehensive, innovative, and scalable programs designed to meet the requirements of Public Utilities Code Section 717, and designed to meet the needs of consumers and the marketplace, by August 1, 2016. Learn more and get a review of AB 793 here.

18. Zero Net Energy Review: The document ZNE Evaluation Methodologies: Phase 1 – Draft Report, which PG&E contracted with TRC to complete, is now posted to the CPUC’s EE Public Document’s Area for public comment.

19. Job Announcements: the City of Thousand Oaks is hiring for two Sustainability Analysts and a Sustainability Division Manager! Learn more here.

20. Job Announcement: ICLEI is hiring for a Program Officer, Network Relations! Learn more here.

21. RFP: Lancaster Choice Energy (LCE) seeks a qualified consultant to support LCE’s development of an Energy Efficiency Business Plan for 2016. This support would include program design, budget creation, cost effective analysis, an application for funding under the ‘elect’ option to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and any required auditing and reporting.

22. RFP: Itron, Inc. – operating under contract to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) – invites qualified applicants to respond to this Request for Qualifications (RFQ), Subcontractors to Conduct Process Evaluations of California’s 2015 Local Government Energy Efficiency Programs.



That’s all for this week!




Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:
1. AB 802 Implementation Development Workshop: For those involved watching for guidance on benchmarking, energy use disclosure, and energy savings measurements under AB 802 passed last fall, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has announced a public workshop on March 25th at 9:00am to review and seek input on the initial proposal for implementation of Assembly Bill 802’s building energy use data and public disclosure provisions. The workshop will be in held Sacramento and by WebEx. For more information, and how to participate, click here.
For a refresher on the significance of AB 802, click here (second item down the page).

2. EE Financing Program Criteria and Evaluation: For those interested in financing options, and evaluation of those options, the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) has issued a Notice of Public Workshop for the third in a series of educational workshops on criteria for a comparative assessment of energy efficiency financing programs in California. The workshop will be held on March 29th from 9:30 AM-12:00 PM; for more information, click here.
3. The Energy Data Access Committee (EDAC) will hold its quarterly meeting in San Francisco and by WebEx on March 25th at 1:00pm. The meeting will cover a number of items that may be of interest to local governments - including addition of a second local government representative to the Committee, consistency in energy data, the impacts of aggregation of energy data on climate action planning. For the agenda, and how to participate, click here. (Note an RSVP by March 22nd is requested.)
4. The EECC Public Sector Subcommittee met this Wednesday to review analysis by utilities and other Program Administrators that will be used for development of EE programming plans for the next five years. A recap of items discussed, and links to presentations shared, are available here.
5. Energy Code Training Opportunities: Looking for resources to get up to speed on Title 24 energy code? Free trainings for building inspectors, plan examiners, contractors, and energy consultants are available through Energy Code Ace, funded through the California Codes and Standards Program – which has to-date trained over 3,500 local government and building professionals. Energy Code Ace has upcoming trainings online and in San Bernardino, Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Barbara, San Diego, San Francisco, and more. These are a great resource to connect building department leads to. For Energy Code Ace’s full current training schedule, click here.
6. Representing the many values of EE: ACEEE released a series of fact sheets this week that contain stories on how energy efficiency improvements have had positive impacts on family disposable income, economic development, environment, and health. These powerful stories are a great resource to help share the many values of energy efficiency.
7. Clean Power Plan and EE: ACEEE has also introduced a new webinar series on energy efficiency and the U.S. Clean Power Plan, sharing best practices in EE program and policy design. For information on the first webinar on March 24th, click here. (Or take a look at our EE Events Calendar)
8. Funding for data-driven EE planning: The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE)’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has released a Notice of Intent for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications to advance data-driven decision-making by local governments in support of their climate and energy goals. For more information, click here.
9. New tool to promote green building: A new online tool to connect building professionals to green procurement and green building techniques is available through the American Chemistry Council’s www.BuildingWithChemistry.org. This Environmental Leader article covers more on its development.
10. RPS Guidebook Changes: If Renewable Portfolio Standards eligibility affects your energy planning: the CEC is holding workshops to hear stakeholder feedback on changes to the RPS Eligibility Guidebook. More on this available here.
11. Job announcement: the County of Orange is hiring for a Central Utility Facility Plant Manager! Click here for more information and to apply.
12. And finally: congratulations to the Western Riverside Council of Governments, San Bernardino Associated Governments, and the County of Los Angeles, for receiving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2016 Climate Leadership Award! For more information on their accomplishments and best practices using the Home Energy Renovation Opportunity (HERO) Program, click here.
As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website

That’s all for today!