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| April 2006 | Home · Event Calendar · Getting Here · Contact Us | ||||
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Upcoming EventsLunch & Learn: Photoluminescent Exit Signs and Pathway Systems Lunch & Learn: Effective Daylighting Specifying Green View a complete calendar of upcoming events. News BitsPanel Backs California's Emissions Standards Real Cost of Owning Hybrids SDG&E Buys Geothermal Energy SGIP Update Case Study: HVAC Design and Control
Tech TipOil, acid and moisture (OAM) purgers remove oil that gets cross-contaminated in a chiller. This oil is used as a lubricant for the pump, and eventually enters the refrigerant charge of either low-pressure or high-pressure chillers through the compressor seals. When oil gets into the evaporator, it mixes with the refrigerant and degrades both system efficiency and capacity because it coats the tubes and creates a thermal barrier. Two recent studies have concluded that even if the refrigerant has 1 to 2 percent oil content, its heat transfer coefficient is reduced by 25 to 30 percent. There are three ways to resolve oil contamination in a chiller. For new or retrofit projects, consider an oil-less compressor, such as Trane's S-Series Earthwise CenTraVac chillers, or Danfoss-Turbocor's compressors. Another option is to reclaim the refrigerant charge. A contractor will drain the entire charge, process the refrigerant to remove the oil, acid, moisture, air and other contaminants; then recharge the machine. Finally, consider a purging system. OAM purgers operate 24 hours a day and remove oil that is entrained in a chiller's refrigerant charge, return it to the chiller's oil sump, while returning the clean refrigerant to the system. They often have simple paybacks of less than six months.
Quotables“The most pertinent issue in the water industry is the assessment of the real value of water, and the lack of political will in the developed economies of the world to appropriately price this resource. Water is a product whose price is totally unrelated to its cost to the supplier. Current pricing of water by most estimates is almost half of what is required for sustainable global water supply. This has resulted in rapid deterioration of water infrastructure with grossly inadequate available funding for infrastructure renewal.”
-- Amy Shanker, Executive VP, Black & Veatch
Speak OutEnergy Connection is a monthly publication of the San Diego Regional Energy Office. We welcome your feedback and would like to hear from you. To submit comments, questions or suggestions, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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| Inside the San Diego Energy Resource Center |
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| Energy Policies, Regulations & Legislative Updates |
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California Solar Initiative and Self-Generation Incentive Program (R.06-03-004) On March 16, the California Public Utilities Commission ( CPUC) held a workshop to discuss issues related to implementing a performance-based incentive structure as part of the new California Solar Initiative. Information from the workshop has been posted on the CPUC web site. On March 21, the CPUC issued a draft ruling reducing the incentive level for photovoltaic projects from $2.80 per watt to $2.50 per watt for those program applications exceeding the 50 MW threshold. This ruling is a result of decision D.06-01-024, which specified trigger mechanisms for automatic reduction of incentives for photovoltaic projects. Comments on the ruling were accepted until March 28. On March 23, the CPUC held a workshop to set the schedule for the California Solar Initiative proceeding. Topics for the year will include regulatory, technical, cost, financial and administrative aspects of the program. Long Term Procurement Planning (R.06-02-013) On March 14, the CPUC held a workshop to vet New Generation and Long-Term Contracting Policy issues as part of investor-owned utilities’ long term energy plans. Post-workshop comments to the CPUC are due on Tuesday, April 4, and reply comments are due on Friday, April 14. Energy Efficiency Policies, Administration and Programs (R.01-08-028) In response to protests filed by 28 parties, the California Public Utilities Commission suspended Advice Letter 1769-E/1591-G, which designated 2006-2008 energy efficiency programs for the SDG&E territory. The suspension is effective February 6, and will last for up to 120 days in order for the CPUC to consider the protests and SDG&E responses, pursuant to CPUC rules. Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Project (A.05-12-014) On March 20, SDG&E hosted two public workshops in Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos to announce their preferred and alternate routes for their proposed 500 kV transmission line. Preferred and alternate routes are available on SDG&E’s web site. SDG&E also announced that they are partnering with Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and Citizens Energy on the eastern portion of the line, formerly proposed as the Green Path by IID and Citizens. LEGISLATIVE: SB 1250 (2/8/06) Perata. Deletes current restrictions on incentives provided for energy efficient refrigerator purchases. This bill is set to be heard in the Senate energy committee on April 4. AB 2993 (2/24/06) Leno. Raises the net metering cap to 200 MW for the PG&E service territory. The bill was first heard in the Assembly utilities committee on February 27. ENERGY EFFICIENCY (NON-URGENCY): AB 1970 (2/9/06) Levine. Requires appliance manufacturers to provide energy use labels that estimate annual operational costs in “active/on” and “active/standby” modes. AB 2021 (2/14/06) Levine. Requires the California Energy Commission to establish annual statewide energy targets, investigate how to reduce the peak demand needs of air conditioners and to develop energy efficiency goals for municipal utilities. AB 2321 (2/22/06) Canciamilla. Creates the Governor’s Green Action Team to implement the goals identified in Executive Order S-20-04 (Green Building Order). The team would oversee and direct progress toward reducing electricity purchases for state-owned buildings and other government entities. For a complete listing of current energy-related state bills, visit SDREO's legislative pages. Source for legislative data summaries was in part provided by Energy Policy Initiative Center. - TOP - |
Solar Thermal Program (cont.)
The challenge is that Solar Thermal covers a wide range of technologies from massive concentrating solar arrays (that generate electricity on a utility scale), to space heating and water heating. There's also the question of markets. Do you focus on commercial or residential or both? And what mechanisms should be used? Incentives? Education? Regulation? The goal for any good energy program should be to maximize the energy produced or saved while minimizing the costs.
To help sort things out, SDREO held its first public workshop on solar thermal on March 21. Chaired by SDREO Program Manager Nathalie Osborn, the workshop generated a lot of ideas, insight and feedback from a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including end users, vendors, installers, policy analysts and industry representatives. While most of the attendees were interested in residential solar water heating applications, a few were there to discuss space heating and commercial applications.
Of course, the number one topic was incentives. Virtually all attendees agreed that some sort of logical incentive program was needed to drive solar thermal adoption towards the levels the CPUC is seeking. The disagreements came over what form those incentives would take. Should they be based on performance (actual field output)? Flat dollar amounts based on system sizes? Percentages of total installation costs? Or should it be some combination of these? The devil will be in the details since the more rebates are tuned to system performance, the more difficult they become to administer and apply for. The group consensus was for a program that balanced ease of administration and application with the appropriate market encouragement levels.
SDREO thanks those who participated and helped facilitate a lively and thoughtful discourse on a complex subject. Based on the input, SDREO is now finalizing a program proposal for CPUC review. If approved, formal guidelines and procedures would be developed with an anticipated program launch of Jan. 1, 2007.
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Advanced Metering Infrastructure (cont.)
The updated proposal calls for the replacement of SDG&E’s electricity and gas meters with advanced or “smart” meters that will allow SDG&E to read hourly data through two-way communications. This will enable customers to be charged for the energy they are actually using rather than the current flat rate structure.
According to SDG&E, the smart meters can also provide customers with improved customer service, more real-time information on energy usage data and faster restoration of system outages. Customers will be able to see what their consumption is and adjust their use accordingly by turning off energy-guzzling appliances during peak hours.
For the first two years, SDG&E expects the costs of AMI for all residential and business customers to be approximately $450 million. This cost will be borne by SDG&E customers at $3 per month. After a meter is installed, there will be a one-year test period prior to customers receiving the dynamic rate structure. CPUC approval for the project is expected in October 2006, and installations of the smart meters will be from 2008 until 2010.
For more information on SDG&E’s proposal, please visit their web site or the CPUC web site.
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TEC Program (cont.)
With over $19 million available for energy efficiency projects from 2006 to 2008, TEC seeks projects that can deliver at least 500,000 kWh of annual energy savings. Incentives range from $0.15 per kWh to $0.25 per kWh, depending on the type of equipment or product installed. Visit the TEC web page for the incentive structure.
In addition to the financial incentives, TEC offers discounts for energy efficient products and technologies through the use of blanket purchasing initiatives, which employ economies of scale on behalf of customers. In short, TEC buys in bulk and negotiates a wholesale or discounted price. Savings are then directly transferred to customers. Currently, purchasing initiatives focus on two technologies: vending machine controllers and power management for PC networks.
Vending machine controllers monitor machine usage and power down the machine when it is not in use for a period of time, cutting energy costs in half. Power management for PC networks, on the other hand, is a software program that monitors and controls the energy power settings of individual PCs connected to a network. These systems lower energy usage by an average of 50 percent. When you combine the savings from the purchasing initiatives and the financial incentives provided by TEC, simple paybacks for both technologies are expected to be less than one year.
Gordon adds that the program also offers free technical services, including energy audits to identify potential energy efficiency and economic benefits, workshops, project design assistance, funding identification and coordination with other applicable programs.
Tax-exempt customers interested in learning more about TEC are invited to attend the program kick-off workshop on May 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Click here to register for the workshop or call 1-866-SDENERGY. For more information on TEC, visit the program web page.
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Copyright 2006 San Diego Regional Energy Office
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