Credit: PUC
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission unanimously approved at its meeting last Thursday in Harrisburg draft guidelines for the next phase of the state’s plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation.
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The guidelines would be the basis for Phase IV of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program, which was established as a result of Act 129 of 2008. The program requires electric utility providers with 100,000 or more customers to establish plans that, in a cost-effective manner, would curtail energy use and peak demand.
Phase IV would start on June 1, 2021, and last five years. The plan calls for savings of about 0.6 percent annually for a total of 3.1 percent for the entire phase. The commission anticipates expenditures of nearly $1.9 billion would lead to savings of almost $3 billion.
“The Tentative Order proposed that utilities design plans which provide more focus on comprehensive energy efficiency measures,” Chairwoman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille said. “This concept is a natural evolution from simple measures, such as lighting, to all-encompassing measures, such as updating HVAC, weatherization and water heating for a building.”
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The PUC will now take comments on the draft plan. Anyone interested has 30 days from when the draft order is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and then they will get 45 days from the date of publication for written reply comments. Comments can be made online through the commission’s e-file system.
Commissioner Andrew Place in his comments laid out where he’d like to see utility make its comments. In particular, he wanted their reaction to the draft order’s proposed acquisition costs. He also encouraged their feedback on how excess savings from Phase III should be treated. Last year, utilities were able to use excess Phase II savings toward their Phase III requirements.
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If that policy were put in place and similar savings rates were achieved, he said four electric companies would have already reached between 49 percent to 75 percent of their proposed Phase IV savings.
“I welcome comments on how to treat carry-over savings activity from all or parts of Phase III to Phase IV, which ideally provides incentives to continue Phase III savings activity in planning years 11 and 12, while also providing incentives to meet and/or exceed Phase IV energy efficiency savings requirements,” he said.
The meeting came a day after Gov. Tom Wolf issued a directive for state employees participating in large gatherings in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In her opening remarks, Dutrieuille alerted those in attendance to the “unprecedented absence” of commission staffers at the meeting.
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“We’ve asked commission staff to take advantage of our streaming capabilities to participate in this meeting,” she said.
Even Place joined the meeting through a teleconference.
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Dutrieuille said while the PUC is an independent public agency, it would be committed to support the governor’s policy.
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