GETREEL with Energy Efficiency Loans

 

 

Green Employment Through Renewable and Energy Efficiency Loans

Buildings  consume 40% of all energy used in the United States. Aggressive investment in energy efficiency will allow us to tap this virtually endless opportunity for energy savings.   Though Montana is a net exporter of electricity and natural gas, we pay relatively high utility bills.  Further, the extremes of our weather range from very cold in the winter to very hot in the summer, means a substantial percentage of income goes to heating and cooling buildings. At the same time, Montana has an idled workforce of carpenters, plumbers, and other trades because of the downturn in the economy. Investing in energy efficiency is a win-win for Montana.

Energy efficiency is truly the “low-hanging fruit” in reducing energy use, and the GETREEL (Green Employment Through Renewable and Energy Efficiency Loans) project aims to identify a course that can make energy retrofits more accessible to homeowners and small business without the burdensome requirement of legislative appropriations.

This project is designed to help financial institutions, utilities, and contractors see their shared interest in advancing a program to encourage energy efficiency retrofits that will:

  • Generate revenue for local banks;
  • Reduce needs for new energy production;
  • Create jobs;
  • Save money for homeowners and small business;
  • Add value to the retrofitted property.

Wind, sun, and energy efficiency

Tapping Montana’s vast supplies of clean energy is the fastest, cheapest, most reliable way to increase fuel and energy supplies and hold down prices. Developing these resources – namely biodiesel, ethanol, wind power, and energy efficient technologies — is also a valuable tool to protect Montana’s clean water, farm and ranch families, and our unique quality of life.

Record energy prices in recent years underscore the instabilities we will face with increased global pursuit of fossil fuel supplies. This has prompted widespread calls for energy development schemes that could harm to our water, air and health.

Montana can chart a new course. A forward-thinking energy policy should emphasize new, clean and efficient technologies.

A common-sense energy policy for Montana can keep energy costs down and bring broader prosperity to our rural communities. Here is how:

Conservation and energy efficiency

We need to improve energy efficiency. According to the Western Governor’s Association, for every $1 we invest in energy efficiency in the West, we get $2.50 in return. The Association also found that we can easily improve our efficiency by 20% – as much energy as would be produced by 100 new coal-fired power plants. Which, we ask, is the better investment?

Oilseed biodiesel

Biodiesel burns cleaner than conventional diesel. If made from oilseed crops grown on Montana farms, it’s good for Montana’s economy, and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil. By investing in, promoting and encouraging small biodiesel opportunities across rural Montana for on-farm use and production, we can bring broad prosperity to our farm and ranch communities by increasing demand for Montana crops. For more information. [need link]

Wind and sun

The wind is always blowing somewhere in Montana. Our state has the 5th best wind supply in the nation. And, we have the most potential of any state in the Rocky Mountains. If we tap just a fraction of our wind power potential, we can contribute significantly to solving our nation’s energy needs. Wind power is affordable, too. Electricity from the Judith Gap wind project is contracted to sell power for less than what NorthWestern Energy customers currently pay for electricity.

We can continue to pour our resources and emphasis into the energy sources of the past. Or, we can back solutions that put our state on the road toward broad prosperity, and a clean energy future.

The most energy efficient building in Montana

Over time, Northern Plains’ programs and staffs have expanded to meet new challenges and opportunities. Northern Plains outgrew our office space in downtown Billings and purchased an old grocery store in  Billings’ underdeveloped south side. The building, which opened its doors in 2006, was renovated and equipped with the latest technology in energy efficiency, passive solar design, recycled building materials, and given a new name of “Home on the Range.”

In 2007, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded Home on the Range its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the highest award given. It was the first building in Montana to achieve the award and the 41st in the United States. Billings now has four LEED Platinum buildings within eight blocks of one another, remarkable for a city still considered small by national standards. Home on the Range remains the “greenest” building in Montana.

For more information, visit Home on the Range.

Climate change

Fossil fuels are ancient history

The great majority of scientists worldwide – those who are not beholden to corporations – agree that humans are heating up the Earth from our ever-increasing use of fossil fuels (e.g., coal, methane gas, oil). The 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Science Change included 29,000 series of observational data, and 89% of that data was consistent with an expected response to an overall trend to warming in the earth’s climate. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, adopted at IPCC Plenary XXVII, Valencia, Spain, November 12-17, 2007)

Worldwide, that data shows changes like:

  • The concentration of warm weather worldwide in recent decades, continuing a trend that began in the 1950s;
  • The concentration of those warmer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere;
  • The increasing areas of the world affected by drought;
  • Decreasing glaciers, polar ice caps, and arctic sea ice and corresponding increase in the number of glacial lakes;
  • Increasing intensity of storms;
  • Increasing flooding;
  • Earlier spring runoff;
  • Earlier timing of other events that happen in spring (e.g., bird migrations and nesting, fish migrations, the opening of leaves);
  • Warming of lakes and rivers;
  • Rising sea level;
  • Increased acidity in the ocean.

In May 2010, the National Academy of Sciences announced a new series of reports by the National Research Council. The NAS press release said, “multiple lines of evidence support scientific understanding of climate change. The core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful examination of alternative explanations.” Quoting directly from the report, the release said, “Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for – and in many cases already affecting – a broad range of human and natural systems.” (National Academy of Sciences, press release: “Strong evidence on climate change underscores need for actions to reduce emissions and begin adapting to impacts,” May 19, 2010)

In Montana, climate change threatens:

  • Montana’s number one industry – agriculture. Farmers face the prospect of decreased crop yields as temperatures during the growing season rise. This is because photosynthesis begins to shut down when temperatures rise above 90 degrees and a one-degree rise in average temperature during the growing season decreases the yield of major crops by 10%.
  • Montana’s number two industry – tourism. Within just 25 years, we will no longer be able to boast of glaciers in the jewel of the national park system – Glacier National Park. Ski and other winter sports industries will experience shortened seasons. Fishing will suffer because fish will experience more stress from warmer water or no late summer runoff, already beginning to occur. In some cases, forest fires from more bark beetle kill (exacerbated by warmer winters) will darken summer skies and ruin the enjoyment of Montana landscapes.

Reforming rural electric cooperatives

The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones. They found a better way. Likewise, the Fossil Fuel Age shouldn’t end so much because we’re running out of fossil fuels, but because there is a better way.
— Anne Charter, a founding member of Northern Plains

Northern Plains works to ensure that rural electric cooperatives work openly with members to achieve affordable power by adopting cleaner, cheaper, faster energy solutions.

Montana co-ops and their structure

Montana has 24 distribution co-ops that deliver energy in all 56 counties and provide power to 157,013 members. They are represented on the state level by the Montana Electric Cooperative Association, which lobbies the legislature, provides co-op trainings, and controls co-op public messaging. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association performs similar functions for all co-ops on the national level.

The distribution co-ops rely on other sources for their power generation, including private utilities such as PPL Montana, the generation and transmission (G&T) co-op power supplier Basin Electric, or federal power administrations such as Bonneville Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration. Most distribution co-ops are members of intermediate G&T co-ops, such as Central Montana G&T. They do not actually generate energy but function as middlemen between the power supply and the distribution co-ops.

Many co-op members’ electric bills are becoming unaffordable, and Montana co-ops are falling behind in securing long-term solutions such as energy efficiency programs and renewable power from sources such as wind and sun.

Northern Plains encourages co-ops to set achievable clean energy goals and follow through with them. For example, Delta Montrose Electric Association in Colorado set these goals:

  • Demand-side: 25% savings on energy bills by 2025;
  • Supply-side: 5% renewable generation by 2010; 25% renewable generation by 2025.

We also encourage co-op energy efficiency programs that reduce energy load and save money.

  • Efficient compact fluorescent light bulb programs;
  • Energy efficiency tips and technical instruction;
  • Home energy audits;
  • Energy Star appliance rebates;
  • Weatherization services and workshops;
  • Smart grids that gauge household energy use.

Co-ops should promote renewable energy where it makes sense.

  • Retail net metering that pays people for the excess renewable energy they produce at home;
  • Geothermal heating/cooling systems;
  • “Green Power” programs that allow customers to buy blocks of wind energy;
  • Small hydro where appropriate;
  • Solar, wind, and biomass;
  • Landfill gas capture.

Open and democratic governance

Many rural electric co-ops have strayed from their original foundations of democratic member control, and it is often difficult for members to access important and basic information, participate in elections and meetings, and make their voices heard by co-op boards. Northern Plains supports:

  • Northern Plains supports increased co-op openness and the ability of members to participate democratically as owners of their co-ops.
  • Open board meetings with agenda and detailed minutes available to members;
  • Opportunity for member comments at board and annual meetings;
  • An open records policy;
  • The opportunity for members to make resolutions at the annual meeting.

We also call for a fair and open nomination and election process including:

  • Mail-in ballots that allow members who can’t attend the annual meeting to vote;
  • Nomination by petition and notice of nomination deadlines;
  • Annual meetings held in convenient places and at convenient times for members (e.g. on a weekend as opposed to a weekday);
  • Board candidate descriptions and questionnaires;
  • Term limits for the board of directors;
  • Member input on bylaws revisions.

Cleaner, cheaper, faster

Rural electric co-ops have relied on the subsidized and externalized costs of dirty energy such as coal and oil for too long. The stage is set to move toward cleaner, cheaper and faster solutions. Here are just a few of the reasons why:

Electric co-op rates are becoming unaffordable. The priority of electric co-ops is to provide affordable electricity for their members. However, co-op rates, particularly in southern Montana, have been rising fast, and debt payments for the failed Highwood coal plant have contributed significantly to this member rate increase. Co-ops need to keep their members informed and involved in decisions that affect their ability to pay electric bills.

The future of coal is too expensive. Coal was the cheapest energy source of the last century, however prices have been rising for a number of reasons. As we consume more energy, the supply of economically recoverable coal is becoming less accessible and more expensive. Coal production is decreasing in eastern states, which is likely to raise prices for coal in the West. These factors, along with likely carbon dioxide regulations, forecast a costly energy future if no action is taken. We need decisive action by the co-ops to secure affordable energy alternatives for their members.

Cleaner, cheaper, faster energy solutions are available. The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use. Investing in efficiency measures for homes and businesses is the only way for co-ops to reduce rates and their energy load for the long term. This will save us all money, especially by reducing the need for more costly power plants.

Before another coal-fired power plant is built, we need to take advantage of Montana’s abundant wind resources, along with energy from the sun’s rays, the water’s power, the earth’s natural ground heat, and other renewable sources. These options are more prevalent and reliable than ever. Montana co-ops need to provide incentives and assistance for members interested in small-scale generation, while also finding ways to invest in their own renewable generation. Our co-ops have a responsibility to their members to keep future energy costs down by promoting cleaner, cheaper, and faster solutions now.

A better way

The good news is that a handful of forward-thinking electric co-ops around the country have already set a precedent for smarter and cleaner energy progress. These co-ops, such as Flathead Electric in Montana, Delta Montrose Electric in Colorado, Bluebonnet Electric in Texas, Waverly Light and Power in Iowa, and New Mexico’s Kit Carson Electric are making responsible decisions to move toward a cleaner energy future. They are investing in smart grids; efficient lighting; weatherization; solar and wind generation; small hydropower; and landfill gas generation. In doing so, these co-ops have brought multiple benefits to their communities. These long-term benefits include sustainable jobs and small businesses, lower energy bills, keeping money in the community, reduced energy loads, greater energy independence, and cleaner air.

Progress with Montana Co-ops

Northern Plains is resuming rural electric co-op work we began in the 1980s, seeking greater transparency and smarter use of energy. Our affiliate members in the Stillwater Protective Association and the Carbon County Resource Council are working toward these goals in Beartooth Electric Co-op.

Northern Plains is also working with members of the Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative (YVEC). YVEC has a good start on energy-saving incentives, however, members saw their rates go up 21% in 2009 and are interested in actively pursuing further efficiency and renewable options. Northern Plains is organizing this effort to bring members together with their co-op to work toward effective solutions.