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News
from Intermountain Energy Services and
Delta-Montrose Electric Association
About Energy Efficiency Program Development and Implementation
2005 turned out to be the
ideal time for DMEA to launch its Light Bulb Fund Raiser and Home
Energy Makeover Contest while maintaining its geothermal heat pump
marketing. The programs supported DMEA’s long-term goal first stated
in 2000 to help members reduce their overall energy bills by 25% by
2010.
As national awards from
ENERGY STAR, CRN, NRECA and others arrive, DMEA staff are often asked,
“How are you able to develop and launch such innovative energy
efficiency programs?” Their answer is “Intermountain Energy
Services.”
DMEA created its
Intermountain Energy Services subsidiary so other electric
cooperatives could share in the benefits of its program design and
implementation experience. We are available to consult with you on
issues related to energy efficiency, renewable supply and demand
management. We are available for turnkey program implementation as
well. To learn more, visit www.intermountainenergy.com
or contact me.
Ed Thomas
Market Development Manager
Intermountain Energy Services
(970) 240-1279
ethomas@intermountainenergy.com
Sept.
6 Workshop Shares "How to Develop & Launch Home Energy
Efficiency Programs"
2nd
Annual Event to be Presented in Montrose, Colorado
To
help prepare utilities for the growing interest in utility-sponsored
energy efficiency programs, Intermountain Energy Services and DMEA are
again presenting a day-long workshop on September 6 at DMEA
headquarters in Montrose, Colorado (one hour from Telluride and
Grand Junction, Colorado) .
The
workshop is intended for senior utility staff and Board members from
small to medium-sized cooperative-owned and public power utilities as
well as managers of utility power management, member services,
marketing and communications activities.
This
workshop will demonstrate how utilities can: Promote energy efficiency
in ways that increase the utility load factor (i.e. profitable energy
sales) Benchmark for members what is a high home energy (not just
electricity) bill and most cost-effective ways to save Show homeowners
how to reduce energy bills on their own without relying on utility
handouts Introduce a “home energy improvements don’t cost, they
pay” messaging platform Be the Energy Efficiency Expert by
championing the local builders and home improvement providers who are
“doing it right” Conduct a Light Bulb Fund Raiser to help local
community groups while showing members that changing the 5 most-used
lights to CFLs is a good first step
Can’t
make it to Montrose? Intermountain Energy Services will customize this
workshop for your organization and present it at your location. We are
available for your regional, statewide and in-house training,
education and outreach activities. Presentation lengths can range from
a 45-minute training session to a full-day interactive workshop or
board/staff retreat. Content will be customized for the audience and
situation. For details, contact Ed Thomas at ethomas@intermountainenergy.com
or (970) 240-1279.
Light
Bulb Fund Raiser Earns ENERGY STAR Award
DMEA
is First Electric Cooperative to Earn National Award
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy
(DOE) recognized DMEA with the “Excellence in ENERGY STAR Outreach
2006 Award” for DMEA’s outstanding contribution to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions through its “Brightening Our Communities”
campaign promoting the purchase of energy-efficient Compact
Fluorescent Lights (CFLs). DMEA is the first electric cooperative to
earn this national energy efficiency award.
Replacing
the 5 most-used incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents should
save DMEA members about $25 per year while netting DMEA almost $12 in
reduced peak power purchases the first year alone - and the CFLs have
a 9-year warranty. At those rates, DMEA could afford to give away the
CFLs, but instead chose to offer Touchstone Energy-branded CFLs for
sale through local non-profit groups as a fund raiser.
The
fund raiser leveraged ENERGY STAR’s “Change a Light, Change the
World" campaign timing and messaging. Fifteen community groups
sold over 3,000 CFLs for about $5 each, proving that CFLs don’t have
to be heavily discounted to sell. In the process, the groups earned
$6,000 for selling a product better than candy bars and gift wrapping
paper.
DMEA
hired Intermountain Energy Services to conduct an extensive lighting
study to determine the program's value to the cooperative and its
members. The study confirmed that energy efficient lighting offers an
excellent low cost opportunity for DMEA members to reduce their
electric bills and for DMEA to cost-effectively reduce its peak power
purchases.
Home
Energy Makeover Contest Earns CRN & NRECA Awards
DMEA
Recognized at NRECA Connect 2006 Conference
DMEA
recently received a Cooperative Innovators Award from the Cooperative
Research Network (CRN) for its Home Energy Makeover Contest. “The
Cooperative Innovators Award program is designed to recognize
cooperatives that lead the electric utility industry in the use of
technology and to encourage those cooperatives to share what they have
learned,” said Bob Gibson, a senior program manager at CRN.
In
addition, the Home Energy Makeover Contest logo won the Award of
Excellence from NRECA as Best Computer Graphic Design at CONNECT 2006,
NRECA’s national marketing & communications conference.
"Home
Energy Improvements Don’t Cost, They Pay” was the theme of this
initiative that dramatically demonstrated whole house energy efficiency
by urging homeowners to enter a contest with a $25,000 top prize to the
home that can best showcase energy efficiency improvements. Over a dozen
local home improvement contractors embraced this program concept and
worked together to show that, as Doug Rye says, “If you pay too much
for home energy, it’s your own dern fault.”
DMEA
hired Intermountain Energy Services to coordinate all contest aspects.
Finalists’ homes were analyzed using blower door tests with the
nationally-recognized TREAT (Targeted Residential Energy Analysis Tools)
software. The three winners received home energy makeover packages worth
thousands of dollars from local business sponsors. DMEA leveraged a
web-based, self-audit calculator to allow all contest entrants and other
DMEA members to learn how much they could save on their own by making
home improvements that use energy smarter.
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