CIP News August 5, 2014
Welcome to CIP News, where you will find the latest news and information on a wide range of Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) topics. Use the links at the bottom of this newsletter to update your existing subscription profile or to sign up as a new subscriber. If you have comments or questions, please reply to the email address at the bottom of this newsletter.
Version 1.1 of Technical Reference Manual released for program year 2014
The Technical Reference Manual (TRM) defines standard algorithms and assumptions for quantifying the savings that result from common energy efficiency and conservation measures installed through the Conservation Improvement Program. Commerce has released version 1.1 of the TRM as an update to version 1.0, which applies to the 2014 program year. A PDF of the TRM is available. Version 1.2 of the TRM was released on Aug. 1 for program year 2015. Read more.
EPA ENERGY STAR® offers webinar on data center efficiency programs
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® will hold a webinar for utilities on Aug. 7 at noon CDT about its guidance document, “Understanding and Designing Energy-Efficiency Programs for Data Centers.” The webinar will explore energy saving opportunities and share emerging practices for program design and implementation. Read more.
The purpose of the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) Grant Program is to identify new technologies, strategies, and program approaches that utilities can implement to help achieve the annual state energy conservation goal of 1.5 percent as established by the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007. Articles on two projects are below: one a mid-project update and the other an introduction to a new project from the 15 selected in the 2013 grant cycle.
Motivating Manufacturing Energy Efficiency
 The goal of “Motivating Manufacturing Energy Efficiency,” a CARD grant awarded to the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP), is to carry out a program strategy for motivating Minnesota manufacturers to install or put into operation energy efficiency opportunities through onsite energy assessments, lean manufacturing activities and strategies, and directed assistance from MnTAP interns. The focus of the program is on developing methods and approaches that can be transferred to Minnesota utility CIPs. In 2013, MnTAP worked with Schwing America and ST Specialty Foods to implement efficiency measures. Read more. (Photo: MnTAP intern Paul Senne worked with Schwing America. Photo courtesy of MnTAP)
Improving Effectiveness of Commercial Energy Recovery Ventilation
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The goal of “Improving Effectiveness of Commercial Energy Recovery Ventilation,” a CARD grant awarded to the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE), is to identify common problems which reduce the energy efficiency of ERV systems in Minnesota buildings and to develop installation and maintenance protocols to optimize their performance. To accomplish this CEE will select 10 ERV systems in Minnesota buildings that will be analyzed through visual inspection, functional performance testing, and trend data analysis to find issues that impact the effectiveness of the systems and to determine the energy and cost savings that would result from resolving them. Read more.
Save the date: Commerce to host series of meetings on CHP
The Minnesota Department of Commerce will hold a series of half-day meetings on combined heat and power (CHP) on Sept. 3, Sept. 24, Oct. 15, and Nov. 5 at the Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul. The meetings will be held to provide information and facilitate discussion on CHP issues involving Minnesota’s regulatory framework, technical/economic potential, and education/training needs. They are meant to build on Commerce’s past and current CHP work and focus on discussions relating to opportunities and barriers to advancing CHP in Minnesota. More information to come on meeting details.
Commerce to host Improve Your Home energy exhibit at 2014 State Fair
Energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy will be front and center once again at the Minnesota State Fair—August 21-Sept. 1—as the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources hosts an “Improve Your Home” energy exhibit at the Eco Experience on the north end of the fairgrounds. The exhibit will provide Minnesota homeowners, renters, and builders with many measures that can improve the energy-related operation of their homes. It is a partnership of state agencies, utilities, retailers, neighborhood energy groups, nonprofits, trade organizations, finance agencies, and more .Read more. |
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New State Residential Energy Code on target for early 2015 implementation
The updated Minnesota Residential Energy Code is moving through administrative procedures and is expected to take effect in early 2015, according to Don Sivigny, building codes rep and state energy specialist for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). The new code is based on the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), with some modifications, and is projected to provide energy and utility bill savings for homeowners. Read more.
Xcel’s Solar*Rewards program opens to new applications
Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards program opened to new applications on August 4. The five-year, $5-million-a-year program will provide Xcel customers who install solar photovoltaic systems up to 20 kW with performance-based incentives paid annually for 10 years, with the incentive for 2014 set at 8 cents per kWh. The PV system must produce less than 120 percent of the customer’s annual energy use, based on the past 12 months of energy use. The performance-based incentive replaces the up-front rebate provided by the old Solar*Rewards program. Installers or customers must submit new Solar*Rewards applications through Xcel’s online application system. The application system is the same one that's used for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program. For more details on the Solar*Rewards program, read more.
EPA, NY Times cite state’s efforts to save energy, reduce GHG emissions
While some states are howling about complying with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Proposed Rule for Existing Power Plants, “Minnesota has been reining in its utilities’ carbon pollution for decades,” according to a July 17 New York Times article. The article is one of several accounts that laud Minnesota as a leader in pursuing goals of the proposed rule, which calls for a 30 percent reduction in carbon pollution from existing power plants by 2030. A few days before the proposed rule was announced in early June, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy was in Minnesota to meet with Minnesota utility leaders. She praised Minnesota’s programs to advance energy efficiency: “Minnesota has been aggressive on this issue,” she said in a Star Tribune article. “We don’t need to start from scratch. People get this. We just need to learn from what’s already happening and figure out how to jump-start that in other places.” The EPA will accept public comments on the proposed rule until Oct. 16, 2014. A final rule is expected by June 1, 2015. Read the proposed rule as posted on the Federal Register.
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