Potential Energy
February 17th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
With the current debate on energy fixated on demand, it’s worth noting that there are significant steps Texas could take to reduce the growth in consumption that portends doom and gloom for our power grid. Not surprisingly, these measures start with the energy providers themselves.
“The most important [step] would be to get the utilities to actually increase energy efficiency programs instead of looking at their future demands,” said Cyrus Reed, a lobbyist for the Lonestar Chapter of the Sierra Club. Changes right at the sources are “by far the most cost effective, environmental clean” options, Reed said, providing “the most bang for the buck.”
Last month, the Natural Resources Defense Council released a study that over “the next 15 years, boosting markets for more efficient products, lighting, cooling, heating and industrial processes can eliminate over 80 percent of forecast growth in electricity demand, while lowering consumer’s energy bills.” It seems like an opportunity that power companies looking to prevent blackouts would embrace, but the report points out that Texas investor-owned utilities such as TXU spend only 0.4 percent of their revenue on energy efficiency programs.
Of course, these programs would need to be coupled with an effort at reducing consumption, too. Two bills, HB 269 and SB 12, start down that path, and a third, more comprehensive, bill is expected, Reed said.
Considering that small changes such as moving a handful of appliances to cost-effective, energy efficient standards could save 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours, or enough power for 200,000 homes, by 2020, there has to be more that Texas can do in the longterm than simply shoving through more and more coal plants.
February 18th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
[…] This Matthew Wright post from the Texas Observer blog has me thinking about how this also applies to meeting energy needs, especially the dichotomy of new generation facilities versus steps toward conservation. Given TXU’s plans for umpteen coal-fired power plants here in Texas, this is a pressing issue. […]
March 8th, 2007 at 9:22 am
[…] But work on that front continues of course, and not all of it is designed to further screw Texas ratepayers. On Tuesday, Environmental Defense, one of the groups that helped negotiate the pending buyout of TXU, released a study (Word doc) that offers specific proposals on how Texas can meet its growng demand for electricity through efficiency and conservation methods, instead of new power plants. Their nine-point plan more than one-upped our clarion call for more efficient dishwashers: […]