Increasing Efficiency Potential through Utility Programs and Policy
In addition to using ESCOs and other energy reduction strategies, there are two enabling options that have significant potential to reduce peak energy consumption and reduce fossil fuel use across all sectors: working with the utility to establish more energy efficiency programs and incentives, and working with the City to change policies that will mandate more efficiency. These additional options are not grouped in with the enhanced ESCO, new construction or institutional options because of the cross-sectoral nature of the options.
Utility Programs: NSTAR, as the utility serving Cambridge, could increase the amount of efficiency incentives available to its customers through a number of initiatives and programs identified at the charrette. A complete list of the utility initiatives and programs identified at the charrette is available in Appendix C, and RMI has prioritized these initiatives and programs in Table 11 below. RMI prioritized the utility initiatives and programs identified at the workshop based on the:
- Likely impact of program or initiative to meet City of Cambridge goals,
- Ease of implementation of program or initiative, and
- How innovative the policy is.
Table 11. Top Ten Utility Programs/Initiatives from Charrette
| Sector | Initiative or Program | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Community | On-bill financing | The water bill for the City of Cambridge is being re-done, and this provides an opportunity for the water utility to add an on-bill financing mechanism. This mechanism would allow the City to pursue a Pay-As-You-Save type program. |
| Existing residential and new commercial | Programmable, communicating thermostat | Retrofit existing residential and commercial buildings with programmable, communicating thermostats so the consumer and the utility can see energy use and plan to reduce energy when the consumer is not home. |
| Existing and new commercial | Real-time two-way monitor and display | New buildings would all have real-time two way monitoring to allow the utility and the consumer to see energy use or education in real-time. This allows the utility to verify that peak reductions have been made. |
| New commercial | District heating and cooling | District heating and cooling would significantly reduce electric demand for air-conditioning, subsequently reducing the peak demand. Due to high capital costs, it is most cost-effective to plan for a district system during the planning stage of new construction. |
| Community | Off-peak water pumping | Water pumping represents a significant portion of energy use in the City of Cambridge and shifting water pumping to off-peak presents a valuable opportunity to reduce peak demand. |
| Institutional and Community | Co-generation and tri-generation | Implementing existing prime movers to increase the efficiency of current use |
| Institution | Retrofit campus buildings as model | Use a high energy consuming building for a retrofit opportunity that would raise awareness of energy efficiency potential and encourage additional building retrofit |
| Existing residential | Demonstration retrofit to serve as model | Use a high energy consuming house for a retrofit opportunity that would raise awareness of energy efficiency potential and encourage additional building retrofits |
| All | Renewables | Distributed renewable energy generation |
Policy: The City of Cambridge could enact many policies that would mandate greater savings within each sector. There were a variety of ideas that were introduced at the charrette, many of which have significant energy reduction potential. The top ten policies are listed in Table 12 below, and all of the policy suggestions are listed in a table in Appendix C. RMI prioritized the policy ideas identified at the workshop based on the:
- Impact of program or initiative to meet City of Cambridge goals,
- Ease of implementation of program or initiative, and
- Innovative aspects of the policy itself.
| Sector | Initiative or Program | Description |
|---|---|---|
| All | New building codes, including lighting codes | Create stricter building code standards, including lab and data center standards, to increase efficiency |
| All | Coordinate fire code with EE strategies | When the fire code is updated, ensure that there are energy efficiency measures coupled with the update |
| All | Permit expedition | Expedite building or renovation permits for buildings that are “green” |
| All | Operations and Maintenance training | Provide classes and information on the energy value of keep equipment maintained, and how to maintain equipment |
| Existing residential and commercial | Green design assistance | Provide assistance to interested parties on how to do “green” design, common errors and ways to tunnel through the cost barrier for maximum efficiency potential |
| Institutional | Comprehensive city audit | A comprehensive city audit will provide the City with accurate baseline numbers from which it can subtract its energy reductions |
| Institutional | LEED for new construction | Require LEED for new construction |
| Community | Water utility revenue decoupling | Decouple water utility profits from water sales |
| Institutional | CEA identify co-generation and tri-generation | Task the Cambridge Energy Alliance with identifying strong co-generation and tri-generation opportunities in the institutions in Cambridge |
| Existing residential and commercial | Building energy use disclosure | Require landlords/rental property managers/building owners to disclose the last twelve months of energy consumption data when new tenants/owners are looking at house. |
Together, utility programs and initiatives coupled with strong policy can create a very supportive environment for energy efficiency. Each sector will be positively impacted by any, or all, of the utility programs or policies suggested in the tables above. The City of Cambridge and the CEA may want to further prioritize the policies by which are the easiest to implement and begin changing codes or setting standards to realize immediate savings. The City and the CEA would also benefit from establishing a strong relationship with NSTAR and determining what the most mutually beneficial situation there is where NSTAR can help the City achieve its goals.
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