Energy
Market News
April 2008
NATIONAL ENERGY MARKET NEWS…
1.
Bernie Erickson to Expand Energy
Solutions within the FSG Network - Facility Solutions Group (FSG),
headquartered in Austin Texas, announced that Bernie Erickson CLEP, LC, CLMC, will
expand his Energy Solutions activities within FSG to focus on lighting upgrades
on a national basis. FSG acquired Bernie Erickson’s company O.K. Electric
Supply in September 2006 and established the 22nd branch location at
the time in the Northeast. FSG currently
has 29 locations. O.K. Electric was
founded in 1919, serving industrial and commercial customers in the NY and NJ
metropolitan areas; promoting energy saving projects through their Energy
Solutions division. Bernie Erickson has been in the electrical industry since
high school, when his late father was in the business. Erickson and the O.K.
Electric / Energy Solutions division has done it all with a turnkey package of
services refined over the past two decades. You would be hard pressed to find
anyone in this industry that has walked more miles doing lighting audits in
offices, schools, distribution center, parking lots, casinos, churches and even
Navy Vessels. Bill Graham, CEO of FSG
says, “Bernie is known in the industry as the “B” of the EW’s A to Z of energy (Al Gore is the “A”) and has
upgraded thousands of facilities, uncovering millions of dollars in rebates for
his customers. We are very lucky to have someone of his talent at FSG when
energy conservation and environmental compliant issues are top of mind with our
customers.”
2. Shedding Light on the Lighting Category - No surprise here: the warehouse home center channel
dominates the interior and exterior lighting category, as well as ceiling fans,
a category where big boxes enjoy a whopping 73.5 percent dollar share. But
based on consumer data from NPD Research, the story in these bright categories
seems to be a move to the middle price points from the discount/mass merchants
on one extreme and the specialty lighting and electrical supply stores on the
other.
According to research, the average price paid for a lighting
purchase was $44.82 in 2007, up from $40.22 in 2006. Broken down by
channel, consumer spending at mass merchants jumped $6.20 to $28.88, while
consumer spending at lighting and electrical supply stores declined from $88.29
to $74.50. “Specialty retailers seem to
be coming down, while warehouse clubs and mass merchants are going a little
upscale,” said Mark Delaney, NPD Group’s director of home improvement. “These
shifts may be driven by competition, or just a result of the overall economy.”
Energy efficiency has played an increasingly large role in the sale of lighting
across the country in recent years, but NPD’s research shows an opportunity for
Energy Star or other energy-focused marketing programs. Consumers who purchased
42.4 percent of lighting units did not know if their purchases were Energy Star
compliant. 03/04 HCN
3.
Welcome to GreenBiz -The editors of Electrical Construction
& Maintenance and Electrical Wholesaling magazines welcome you
to GreenBiz, a twice-monthly online newsletter covering the latest news in the
green market of interest to the readers of our magazines. Concerns over oil and
gasoline prices, lucrative utility rebates, the LEED certification program,
green legislation and exciting new developments in R&D are creating new
opportunities for the design, installation and sale of energy-efficient
electrical products. GreenBiz will inform electrical contractors, maintenance
personnel, electrical engineers, electrical distributors, reps, manufacturers
and other electrical professionals about the latest news in this fast-changing
market. http://www.greenbiz.com/
4.
New Guidelines Launched for Green Home
Remodeling - The
American Society of Interior 
Designers
Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched new guidelines
for green remodeling of residential properties in mid-March. The new
"REGREEN" guidelines are organized by the ten most common remodeling
projects and can be applied to a wide variety of projects, from remodeling a
kitchen to a full-scale home renovation. The guidelines are accompanied by case
studies and address the major elements of any green renovation project,
including the home's location, green building materials, and the project's
impacts on energy efficiency, water efficiency, and indoor environmental
quality. According to the USGBC, additional electronic resources will be
available online starting in early summer, with a comprehensive educational
lineup for the interior design, contractor, and consumer to follow. 03/26 EERE http://www.greenhomeguide.org/guide_for_green_renovation/index.htm
5. Solid-State Lighting R&D Multi-Year
Program Plan FY’09-FY’14 (PDF 3 MB) - Provides a
description of activities the Department will undertake during FY’09 through
FY’14, and includes an overview of the status of SSL technology, the current
DOE SSL portfolio, the technology R&D plan, the SSL portfolio management
plan, and the SSL portfolio evaluation plan. (174 pages, March 2008) http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/SSLMYPP2008_web.pdf
6.
DOE
Releases Report on FAA Demonstration of LED Walkway Lighting - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
has published the final report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
demonstration of LED walkway lighting. This report, prepared by Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory, provides an overview of project results which
include energy savings of more than 25% over existing lighting, improved
illuminance uniformity, and positive user feedback. The study furthermore found
that energy savings could be cost-effectively increased to 50% through a slight
reduction in the existing lighting levels, while still easily meeting IESNA
minimum recommended illumination levels for walkways. http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/techdemos.htm
7. High
Inventories Decrease Housing Starts -
High home inventories will cause housing starts to decline 25% in 2008 from
already depressed 2007 levels, according to a recent Skokie, Ill.-based
Portland Cement Association (PCA) Economic Research report. PCA is predicting a
9.5- to 10-month supply of homes to be in "inventory" for sale by the
end of 2008. The main contributor to the large inventory will be the large
number of foreclosures caused by the sub-prime crisis, says Edward J. Sullivan,
PCA chief economist. "Typically, builders accelerate start activity when
the inventory supply reaches five months," Sullivan says. PCA is
estimating that a significant improvement in inventory won't occur until the
second half of 2009. 03/31 EC&M
8. 
GE Creates Organic LEDs - GE
Global Research announces the successful demonstration of the world's first
roll–to–roll manufactured organic light–emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices.
This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance
organic electronics products at dramatically lower costs than what is possible
today. OLEDs
are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate
when an electrical charge is applied. They represent the next evolution in
lighting products. Their widespread design capabilities will provide an
entirely different way for people to light their homes or businesses. 03/14 Live Design Wire
9.
GE Moving Big into Real Estate
- General Electric Co., among the country's
biggest real estate investors using its own money, will soon be using other
people's cash to invest. In what some experts say is an adventurous move, GE
plans to raise cash — $1 billion to $3 billion — from outside investors to
begin investing in commercial real estate and other properties through newly
established real estate investment funds. GE will not be bottom-feeding for
deeply depressed or foreclosed properties. The company’s strategy is to buy
still viable properties at discounts of 10 percent to 15 percent. GE's ambitious
plan is to become one of world's biggest real estate asset management
companies, joining the list of such other giants as Prudential Real Estate, UBS
Global Real Estate, and JPMorgan Asset Management. The first step in GE's new
venture will be attracting money to buy property in a depressed market, even
though the strategy is not to buy troubled properties. 03/24 MoneyNews.com
10.
Home Depot Makes $30 Million Pledge to
Habitat for Humanity - The
five-year, $30 million donation will provide funding and resources with the aim
of building 5,000 "energy-efficient and sustainable homes" by Habitat
for Humanity affiliates. Green building has been
the hottest topic of late in the construction industry, as highlighted at
February's International Builders' Show, which saw the unveiling of a new green
building initiative by the National Association of Home Builders. 03/27
HCN
11.
Wal-Mart Opens Its ‘Most Energy
Efficient Store’ - Wal-Mart
Stores has announced the opening of the company’s “most energy-efficient store”
this week in
12.
States Sue EPA Over
Global Warming - A group of state attorneys general is taking the EPA back
to court to try to force it to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that decided
a year ago that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants
under the Clean Air Act and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take
action. But 17 states and others said in a court filing Wednesday that the EPA
has not issued a decision on regulation. Their court filing seeks to compel the
EPA to act within 60 days. The
plaintiffs in the court action include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois,
Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon,
Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, plus the city
of New York, and the mayor and city council of Baltimore. 01/02 AP
13. 
Automotive
X Prize Purse Set at $10 Million - The X Prize Foundation
officially launched the Automotive X Prize last week and announced Progressive
Insurance as its title sponsor for the prize purse, which will be set at $10
million. The Progressive Automotive X Prize is an international competition
that challenges competitors to design, build, and bring to market a car that
exceeds 100 miles per gallon, or its energy equivalent fuel efficiency, while
meeting market requirements for size, capability, affordability, and safety. To
date, more than 60 teams from nine countries have signed up to compete for the
prize. Applications to compete for the prize will be taken until mid-year, at
which time the applicants will go through a qualification process to confirm
that their cars are production-capable and consumer-friendly. The three-wheeled Alé from FuelVapor
Technologies will compete under the alternative vehicle category. 03/26 EERE
14.
EC&M’s Top 40 Electrical
Design Firms Pushed Their Limits in 2007 - making market and geographical
expansions a high priority. The firms
reported $13.7 billion in overall design services revenue, making an average
increase of 14.7% over the firm’s disclosed totals for 2006. See the March issue of EC&M for the Top
40. This is the Top 10…..
STATE ENERGY
MARKET NEWS…
15. Vermont Approves a Wide-Ranging Clean Energy
Bill - Vermont Governor Jim Douglas approved a bill last week that
will promote energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the state.
Called the Energy Efficiency and Affordability Act of 2008, the new legislation
creates a new $4 million fuel efficiency fund that will be financed from existing
revenues and from the sale of emission credits under the Regional Greenhouse
Gas Initiative. The fund will provide energy efficiency services to the state's
consumers of heating and process fuels. The state will use a competitive
process to award the funds to service providers under performance-based
contracts. The new legislation also assures that the state's residential and
commercial building energy standards are upgraded to keep pace with changes to
the international energy conservation code, and it doubles the spending cap for
weatherization projects in homes of low-income families. See the full text of
the bill: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2008/bills/passed/S-209.HTM 03/26 EERE
16. Build More Green.
Save More Green. Make More Green (
June 17 – 18 Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York, NY) – Green is red hot.
GreenBuildingsNY, the only New York Metro area
event focused on green and sustainable
products for the building and design community, provides the best tools, resources and
education to green up your buildings and your business. An easy-to-access and
competitive source for local and national green building products and services,
GreenBuildingsNY is an architects, developers, engineers and builders
show. http://greenbuildingsny.com/
17. Lawrence
County, PA to Make Buildings Energy-Efficient - A year-long renovation of Lawrence County
government-owned buildings may go unnoticeable everywhere except the budget's
bottom line. Earlier this month, the commissioners selected Johnson Controls
Inc. of Youngstown to develop and implement energy savings strategies and
infrastructure improvements in county-owned buildings.
The company's bid of $2.23 million was chosen over the lower bid
of a second company, because Johnson Controls guaranteed a greater savings to
the county and involved more energy-saving work. The project's investment
carries a guaranteed savings over 15 years of $4.46 million, which means the
yearly debt payments on a bond will be paid from the energy savings. The
buildings in which the improvements will be made include the government center,
old courthouse section, the jail, the Almira building and the adult and
juvenile probation/domestic relations offices, Krause Shelter and Central Court
facilities. More than 3,700 older fluorescent lights will be replaced by
high-efficiency lighting fixtures. 03/22
New Castle News
18. PA
DEP Launches Campaign to Improve Convenience of CFL Recycling - Compact fluorescent light bulbs can save up
to 75 percent of the energy used by traditional light bulbs, said Environmental
Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty, but a lack of options on where to
recycle the bulbs may make some consumers reluctant to adopt the increasingly
popular technology. To help spur the use of CFLs, and make it easier for the
public to recycle the swirly tubed bulbs, DEP is providing receptacles to
municipalities, small businesses and community organizations across the state
hoping the experience will lead participants to continue with their own
programs. The department is partnering with 43 counties, townships,
environmental groups and small businesses statewide in setting up CFL
collection programs. For more information, www.depweb.state.pa.us keyword:
Household Hazardous Waste. 04/04
PRNewswire-USNewswire
19. Dominion Virginia Power, The Home Depot Sell 1,000,000th
Energy-Saving Light Bulb - Jenna Caudillo
of Falls Church, Va., today purchased the 1 millionth compact fluorescent light
(CFL) bulb sold under Dominion Virginia Power's discount program for the
energy- and money-saving bulbs. Caudillo purchased the bulb at The Home Depot
in Reston. Dominion initiated the discount program in October 2007 at The Home
Depots in its service area in Northern, Central and Eastern Virginia. Demand
for the bulbs exceeded initial expectations, and Dominion expects the program's
growth to continue. Dominion is providing a $1.50 discount on single and $3 on
multi-packs of Energy Star-qualified CFL bulbs purchased at The Home Depot
stores in its Virginia service area. In 2008 Dominion added five more of The
Home Depot stores to the program, increasing the total to 38 stores. http://www.dom.com/
20. Environmental Group Says Green Buildings Could Stimulate Economy
- With energy prices rising, the economy slowing and worries about global
warming growing, an environmental advocacy group says increasing energy
efficiency in buildings and homes could help with all three problems. A
report issued by Environment Illinois http://www.environmentillinois.org Tuesday
outlines energy efficiency opportunities in three Midwestern states - Illinois,
Wisconsin and Iowa. Increasing energy efficiency in residential, commercial and
industrial construction; replacing inefficient appliances; and upgrading
existing heating, cooling and lighting systems could create jobs, Environment
Illinois said. It would also save Americans money they could spend in other
ways, and help ease global warming. 3/18 AP
21. Eastern
Iowa Colleges Focus on Going Green - High energy costs and concerns about global
warming have pushed colleges in the Quad Cities to consider going green. The
steps vary in sizes, but colleges are embracing broad goals like reducing their
own energy consumption. Among
other efforts:
R Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. has
pledged to reduce its energy consumption by 2 percent per year for 15 years.
The goal is that, by 2023, it will be using almost 30 percent less energy than
it does now.
R Black Hawk College hopes to build a
multimillion-dollar, 2-megawatt wind turbine at its East Campus near Kewanee,
Ill., that would provide 100 percent of the electrical needs there, with
construction beginning as early as 2010.
R St. Ambrose University, in Davenport, has
buried seven 3,000-gallon tanks on its campus that will store rainwater from
downspouts on a new hall now under construction. 03/24 AP
22. Dallas
Plans Green Building Guidelines - By Oct. 1,
2011, the ordinance requires that all new construction in Dallas be approved
under LEED standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council or commensurate
programs, such as the local Green Built North Texas program. The ordinance’s
first phase would go into effect Oct. 1, 2009. Under the law, builders would
have to create structures (under 50,000 square feet) that use 15 percent less
energy and 20 percent less water than current Dallas codes. By Oct. 1, 2011,
the ordinance requires that all new construction in Dallas be approved under
LEED standards. The city council has yet
to vote on the matter, pending a comment period set aside for developers who
wish to address the issue. 03/27 HCN
23. California
Lowers Goal for Zero-Emission Vehicles - California regulators have drastically
cut the number of zero-emission vehicles required to be sold in the state by
the year 2014, a decision that frustrated environmentalists but came as a relief
to auto manufacturers. The rules adopted Thursday put the number of electric
and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that automakers sell in California at 7,500 by
2014 -- a 70 percent reduction from the 2003 target. The decision is expected
to affect 12 other states that had adopted California's target for
zero-emission vehicles. In essence, the
air board took two steps: It cut the number of zero-emission vehicles it wants
on state's roads, while at the same time offering an alternative: the
gas-electric hybrids. The air board said
the six largest automakers must sell nearly 60,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles in
California while they develop the more advanced technology that will allow mass
production of pure zero-emission vehicles. 03/30 AP
24. States Approve Green Legislation - Washington, Oregon, and South Dakota are among the latest states to encourage renewable energy development and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire recently approved the Climate Change Framework/Green-Collar Jobs Act. Oregon and South Dakota will offer tax incentives for renewable-energy equipment and wind energy facilities, respectively. 03/31 EC&M
25. WA State PSE's Aggressive Energy Efficiency
Plans Means More Customer Incentives, Bigger Energy Savings - With
climate change issues of increasing concern and wholesale energy costs on the
rise, Puget Sound Energy is launching new energy efficiency offerings and
increased incentives to help customers conserve electricity and natural gas and
save on their energy bills. Commercial and industrial energy
efficient retrofits, as well as small business lighting retrofit projects, now
qualify for up to 70 percent funding, up from last year's 50 percent. New
construction projects now qualify for incentives up to 100 percent of the cost
difference between complying with current codes and building to highly energy
efficient standards. 04/01 BUSINESS WIRE
MONTHLY ENERGY MARKET FEATURE…Equipment
Incentives - In addition to the design incentives and 
technical
support available through New Jersey SmartStart Buildings financial
incentives for qualifying equipment are also available. These incentives
were developed to help NJ customers offset some of the added cost to
purchase qualifying energy-efficient equipment, which provides significant
long-term energy savings. A wide range of incentives is available for
qualifying equipment (depending on type, size and efficiency). Listed below are
the types of qualifying equipment and ranges of incentives. For details on
equipment requirements and full listings of incentives, refer to the online
application forms. Please note that almost all equipment incentives require
pre-approval before equipment is purchased. To start the
pre-approval process, submit a completed Registration Form, an Equipment
Application, and appropriate Equipment Worksheets, for the type or types of
equipment you are planning to install along with equipment specification sheets
and a current utility bill.
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Electric Chillers · Water-cooled chillers ($12 -
$170 per ton) · Air-cooled chillers ($8 - $52
per ton) Gas Cooling · Gas absorption chillers
($185-$450 per ton) · Gas Engine-Driven Chillers
(Calculated through Custom Measure Path) Desiccant Systems ($1.00
per cfm - gas or electric) Electric Unitary HVAC · Unitary AC and split systems
($73 - $92 per ton) · Air-to-air heat pumps ($73 -
$92 per ton) · Water-source heat pumps ($81
per ton) · Packaged terminal AC & HP
($65 per ton) · Central DX AC Systems ($40
- $72 per ton) · Dual Enthalpy Economizer
Controls ($250) Ground Source Heat Pumps · Closed Loop & Open Loop
($370 per ton) Gas Heating · Gas-fired boilers < 300
MBH ($300 per unit) · Gas-fired boilers ≥ 300
MBH - 1500 MBH ($1.75 per MBH) · Gas-fired boilers ≥
1500 MBH - ≤ 4000 MBH ($1.00 per MBH) · Gas-fired boilers > 4000
MBH (Calculated through Custom Measure Path) · Gas furnaces ($300-$400 per
unit) Variable Frequency Drives · Variable air volume ($65 -
$155 per hp) · Chilled-water pumps ($60 per
hp) · Compressors ($5,250 to
$12,500 per drive) Natural Gas Water Heating · Gas water heaters ≤ 50
gallons ($50 per unit) · Gas-fired water heaters >
50 gallons ($1.00 - $2.00 per MBH) · Gas-fired booster water
heaters ($17 - $35 per MBH) Premium Motors
Three-phase motors ($45 - $700 per motor) Prescriptive Lighting · T-5 and T-8 lamps with
electronic ballast in existing facilities ($10 - $30 per fixture,
depending on quantity of lamps) · Hard-wired compact
fluorescent ($25 - $30 per fixture) · Metal halide w/pulse start
($45 per fixture) · LED Exit signs ($20 per
fixture) · T-5 and T-8 High Bay Fixtures
($16 - $284 per fixture) LED Traffic Signal Lamps · 8-inch red or green ($20 per
lamp) · 12-inch red or green ($35 per
lamp) · Pedestrian Signal Lamp ($20
per fixture) Lighting Controls · Occupancy Sensors
· HID or Fluorescent Hi-Bay
Controls
Other Equipment Incentives* · Performance Lighting ($1.00
per watt per square foot below program incentive threshold, currently 20%
more energy efficient than ASHRAE 90.1-2004 for New Construction and Complete
Renovation.) · Custom electric and gas
equipment incentives (not prescriptive) ·
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