Louisiana advances solar power and energy efficiency
Louisiana is taking decisive steps this summer to give consumers more choices in how we use energy and opportunities to save money and clean up the environment in the process.
After months of debate, the Public Service Commission voted last month to restore an energy-ef ciency program that had been repealed and defeat a plan to discourage solar power.
Both the ef ciency and solar programs at the PSC are still being nalized, but it appears likely we are developing a trend toward giving consumers options to reduce energy waste and use more solar power.
I joined the 3-2 majority in both key votes: reinstating the ef ciency program and defeating the move to weaken our solar policy.
I believe our energy future in Louisiana lies in giving consumers choices, ways to save money by cutting waste and pathways to clean energy.
Energy ef ciency means lower utility bills, less pollution, less reliance on foreign oil and more reliable utility service. Forty-six states and the federal government have programs to promote energy ef ciency.
The Louisiana program will give families and small businesses help from their electric and gas utilities on how to use energy wisely. The rst phase will be a four-year pilot program known as “Quick Start.”
The state’s major gas and electric utilities, including CenterPoint Energy Arkla and SWEPCO, will develop ef ciency plans using lessons learned from programs they run in Arkansas and Texas.
Here are examples of what other states are doing and what may be offered here:
• Home energy audits,
• Use of ef cient light bulbs,
• Tune-up of heating and airconditioning systems, and
• Weatherization, including insulation.
Programs will be evaluated for their effectiveness and cost. What works will become the basis of a permanent approach.
In June, the American Council for an Energy-Ef cient Economy released a study of the potential of energy ef ciency in Louisiana. ACEEE, which ranks Louisiana 43rd among the states in ef ciency performance, said Louisiana has “large, untapped reserves” of ef ciency, which it called “a clean, abundant and cost-effective energy resource.”
ACEEE said ef ciency programs are the cheapest way to meet electricity demand. Ef ciency programs cost two to four cents per kilowatt-hour saved compared to power plants costing three to seven cents per kilowatt-hour.
Business owners and residents who have tried energy ef ciency testi ed before the PSC.
They spoke of the 2-year-old “Energy Smart” program in New Orleans that has saved residential consumers up to 45 percent on their electric bills, cutting annual costs by nearly $700.
Ken Smith, an ef ciency advocate from Little Rock, said the clean-energy movement in Arkansas generated 11,000 jobs last year.
Mandy Mahoney, representing the Southeast Energy Ef ciency Alliance, said states with ef ciency programs attract investment and jobs.
PSC members voted 3-2 to reinstate the ef ciency program. We also voted to seek public comment on issues including limits on the program’s cost.
The same 3-2 margin defeated a plan to weaken the PSC’s solar policy. That policy requires electric companies to pay the same price for solar power generated by consumers in excess of their own needs as the consumer pays for power from the company.
The “net” excess power from solar systems is registered on special “net meters” that are governed by the PSC’s net-metering policy.
Utilities pushed to have excess solar power priced at an “avoided cost” rate, equal to what they pay for electricity from large suppliers and industrial plants making electricity from waste heat.
Louisiana utilities are wrong to discourage solar. The solar movement is growing but still represents just a fraction of the power sector.
I illustrated that fact in an exchange with the manager of an electric cooperative serving the Baton Rouge area. After he told the commission that solar users were harming electric utilities by reducing demand for power, I asked him how many of his 100,000 customers used solar.
His answer: 100. That is one-tenth of 1 percent. “Where’s the re?” I asked.
The statewide numbers are the same. The 15 electric utilities regulated by the PSC have 1.9 million customers. Of that total, 2,579 have installed solar systems – that’s onetenth of 1 percent.
Does solar threaten utility pro ts?
Karl Rabago, a former Texas utility regulator testifying for Louisiana solar installers, touched on that point when he said the growth of solar in Louisiana will put downward pressure on rates.
“Now is the time to accelerate solar development through your netmetering policy,” Rabago said.
Rabago said numerous studies document the bene ts of solar and other “distributed” generation (distinguished from the centralized generation of utilities).
Foster Campbell of Elm Grove is the North Louisiana representative on the Public Service Commission. He served in the Louisiana Senate from 1976 to 2002. He can be reached at 676-7464 or foster.campbell@la.gov.
