Energy Efficiency and CHP Initiatives

The Pace Energy and Climate Center seeks to advance electricity market rules and utility regulatory policies and practices supportive of greater investment in energy efficient and clean, distributed generation technologies.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Distributed Generation (DG)

The Pace Energy and Climate Center has very deep technical knowledge and experience on CHP and DG issues.

• Northeast Clean Energy Applications Center (NE-CEAC):
  In conjunction with University of Massachusetts-Amherst Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering, the Center operates NE-CEAC for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The partnership with the Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering offers the Center the ability to provide technical support to end-users with particularly promising projects and to run technical workshops under accreditation from the Association of Energy Engineers. The goal of NE-CEAC is to promote a doubling of the installed CHP capacity in industry and buildings throughout the seven-state Northeast region. The Center provides the policy leadership for this organization, working to educate regulators and other stakeholders on ways to address the regulatory, financial and market hurdles that thwart the development of CHP projects. This activity solidifies the Center’s reputation as the leading policy institute for advancement of the next generation of DG technologies.
   
• Northeast CHP Initiative:
  In addition to the Center’s involvement with NE-CEAC, the Center's Deputy Director, Tom Bourgeois, is an executive board member of the Northeast CHP Initiative, which is an organization of project developers, equipment manufacturers, engineering and consulting firms, academic and government interests. The mission of the Northeast CHP Initiative is to promote CHP within the region.
   
• Technology Transfer Projects:
  Our work on technology transfer projects for the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), Oak Ridge National Labs, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) encompasses several areas including:
  • Market Assessments – The Center has contributed to several analyses of the economic and technical potential for DG/CHP in New York State and elsewhere;
  • Policy Analysis – The Center has conducted a wide variety of CHP-related policy analyses focused on removing regulatory and market barriers and on identifying, quantifying and recognizing DG/CHP benefits;
  • Tools – The Center has participated in the development of a number of DG/CHP market-support tools that facilitate the identification of prime host sites; estimate the impacts of standby rates on the economic viability of projects; and aid the owner or developer in the DG/CHP siting and permitting processes;
  • Outreach – The Center has been responsible for organizing and implementing a variety of CHP outreach • initiatives targeted to regulators, policy makers and end users in key market segments.

For more information, please contact: Tom Bourgeois at tbourgeois@law.pace.edu.
 

"15 by 15" Initiative

The Pace Energy and Climate Center helped conceive the initiative of the New York Governor to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent by 2015, which is the nation’s most aggressive energy conservation program. The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) convened an Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) proceeding to implement this proposal, and the Center is actively participating in this effort.

Pay-as-you-Save Northeast Program Launch

The Pace Energy and Climate Center and PAYS® America, Inc. are conducting a comprehensive outreach, education and regulatory intervention campaign to introduce the PAYS® system throughout the Northeast. PAYS® is an innovative new approach to financing resource savings measures through a tariff charge on consumer utility bills. PAYS® has three components intended to enable energy efficiency investments to attract necessary capital:

1. PAYS® charges are collected through utility tariffs using the same collection mechanism as all other distribution utility delivery charges,
2. PAYS® charges “run with the meter” rather than with individual utility customers, so that the customers who benefit from the savings pay for the conservation measures only for as long as they occupy the location where the measures were installed, and
3. An independent third party certifies that the measures will produce the promised savings.