California Center for Sustainable Energy

Letter From the Executive Director 

On August 14th, an overheated transmission line near Cleveland sagged into a tree and touched off the biggest power failure in North American history.* As millions went without electricity for days, many people wondered – could it happen in San Diego?
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Program Spotlight
San Diego Green Schools Program 

Engage students in energy efficiency! California Center for Sustainable Energy has joined together with the Alliance to Save Energy to bring the San Diego Green Schools Energy Education Program to twelve high school and/or middle schools in the San Diego County area.    learn more >>

Letter From the Executive Director

On August 14th, an overheated transmission line near Cleveland sagged into a tree and touched off the biggest power failure in North American history.* As millions went without electricity for days, many people wondered – could it happen in San Diego?

The answer is, yes, of course it can. The interconnections are similar, our grid capacity is already strained and our infrastructure is likewise outdated. In fact, the Regional Energy Infrastructure Study ( REIS) (http://www.energycenter.org/planning/reis.html) concluded in December 2002 that San Diego’s transmission capacity is simply not capable of supporting the region’s current growth.

While SDG&E is making plans to upgrade its transmission system, this alone won’t solve our region’s problems. It will take a coordinated, consistent effort by the various stakeholders to bring about a sustainable energy future and avoid catastrophic blackouts. For its part,  CCSE is already taking some of the steps needed.

First, we are actively promoting and supporting clean, distributed generation solutions that help reduce the load on the grid and provide power directly where it’s needed. Our CPUC-funded Self-Generation Incentive Program provides substantial rebates for installations up to 1.5 MW – in many cases, enough to keep a business up and running right through an outage.

Second, our energy efficiency education programs are teaching business owners, engineers, architects, contractors and homeowners alike how to save energy and money through new technologies, more efficient appliances, better building designs and even simple changes in behavior.

Finally, we are working with local governments, businesses, public agencies, advocacy groups, local residents and the energy providers to build consensus for the coordinated effort and planning that’s needed. Everyone may not agree on the details but solutions that are clean, renewable, sustainable and efficient have been embraced by all.

So before the lights start flickering again, consider what you can do. Turn off your task light at lunch. Get your CEO to look at self-generation. Install a more efficient air conditioner and/or a whole house fan. And keep the pressure on your local politicians and business leaders to be proactive and not reactive in the fight for a sustainable energy future!

Electricity travels at the speed of light but the machinery of change moves slowly. Let’s just hope it’s not too slow to prevent the next big outage.

Sincerely,

Irene M. Stillings

* Based on a report by Cambridge Energy Associates, 8/22/03.

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Program Spotlight
San Diego Green Schools Program

Engage students in energy efficiency! California Center for Sustainable Energy has joined together with the Alliance to Save Energy to bring the San Diego Green Schools Energy Education Program to twelve high school and/or middle schools in the San Diego County area.  Currently, the Grossmont Union High School District, Santee School District and the Juvenile Court and Community schools through the SD County Office of Education are already participating. We have received significant funding to implement this program but it must be done by this fall, so don’t delay and get involved! 

Here’s why:

· Energy and money savings. The program is long-term and comprehensive and includes energy savings from behavior, operations changes and retrofits. The school districts agree to participate in developing a baseline of energy use for each participating school and to return a percentage of the non-cost energy savings back to the schools that achieve them. 

In cooperation with their teachers and custodians, students have had the opportunity to contribute to significant energy savings (averaging up to $14,000 on electricity in California schools from no-cost behavior and operations changes alone). These savings are significant not just in the kilowatt-hours they represent, but in the concrete experience students gain in strategizing about how to save energy, taking action, and seeing the results in dollars and environmental benefits.

· Strengthens student learning. The program provides an ideal design to engage students and strengthen learning through hand-on learning opportunities and develop leadership skills while providing immediate energy savings to schools. 

· Support teachers. The program supports teachers in integrating hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities into their math, science and language arts instruction.   CCSE will provide various resources to teachers, including a wide array of instructional materials, professional-quality diagnostic tools such as light and watt meters, project and student newsletters, and web-based tools that will put students in contact with other Green Schools students around the world. Custodian resources will include training and planning support.

To participate in the program, just call (858) 244-1177 and ask about the Green Schools program or visit http://www.energycenter.org/greenschools/index.html

This program is funded by California ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.

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