NEEA Releases 2009 Annual Report, Exceeds Business Plan Goals

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the non-profit Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) issued its 2009 annual report, which reports on the final year of its five-year business plan. According to the report, from 2005-2009 the region achieved an estimated total regional savings of 218 average megawatts (aMW) through its 2005-2009 market transformation investments, of which 80 aMW are the net market effects, or savings associated directly with the region's investment in NEEA. NEEA exceeded its five-year business plan savings goal by 6 percent. From 1997 through 2009, the region has achieved more than 600 aMW of total regional energy savings, or enough energy to power more than 450,000 homes annually.

"We are both pleased and humbled by the results this region accomplished through partnership with NEEA over the last five years," said Claire Fulenwider, NEEA's executive director. "Energy efficiency continues to be an essential ingredient to the long-term health of our economy and environment. Although this is a new era of energy efficiency, we are keenly aware of how much work must still be done. Our focus will continue to be on the greatest regional opportunities with the most lasting outcomes, and at the lowest cost possible."

Highlights from NEEA's 2009 Annual Report

Ductless Heat Pumps Pilot Project

In 2009, NEEA worked in partnership with Northwest utilities to launch the Northwest Ductless Heat Pump Pilot Project. The pilot – which is the largest ductless heat pump residential demonstration project in the country – showed how homeowners with electric resistance heating systems could reduce their electricity consumption by augmenting their system with a ductless heat pump (DHP), thereby saving energy and money. DHPs are 25 to 50 percent more efficient than electric baseboard or wall heaters. NEEA worked with its funding partners to help expand the market for DHPs by bringing technical training to the region for contractors, while the utilities offered incentives of up to $1,500. These combined efforts led to higher installation numbers, as well as high customer satisfaction and are helping to accelerate the adoption of this emerging technology in a variety of climates throughout the Northwest.

Continuous Energy Improvement

Also in 2009, while a lot of people were talking about the importance of behavior change when it came to energy efficiency, NEEA showed its impact for the first time in hard numbers. Continuous Energy Improvement (CEI), which was pioneered by NEEA, focuses on process and business practices to help industrial facilities permanently integrate strategic management of energy into their everyday business and manufacturing operations, leading to reduced costs and increased profitability. A regional partnership with the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) brought CEI to medium- and large-size food processors. In 2009 an independent evaluation (possibly the first of its kind in the world) validated that CEI achieved validated energy savings. The evaluation found food processing companies that implemented CEI have achieved an average two percent reduction in energy consumption year over year. Savings associated with CEI are expected to reduce industrial energy intensity by 25 percent or more in 10 years, which aligns with the U.S. Department of Energy's Save Energy Now program.

Energy Benchmarking

In 2009, 85 commercial office buildings representing 29 million square feet were benchmarking their energy throughout the Portland and Seattle metro areas thanks to NEEA's BetterBricks commercial building initiative. These facilities consume approximately 20 aMW annually—and have the potential to save the region 3 aMW through operational changes. In recent years, NEEA has helped expand the practice of benchmarking among commercial office buildings by creating "contests" that tap into the competitive nature of real estate professionals. To launch these competitions, known as the "Portland Energy Showdown" and the "Seattle King County Kilowatt Crackdown," NEEA leveraged its relationships with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), four local utilities and the Energy Trust of Oregon. Through a variety of behavior change techniques, the competitions build skills in energy tracking, energy efficiency opportunity scoping, better building operations, and overall, help to transform how building owners value energy efficiency in a competitive office environment.

What's Next?

In 2009, NEEA's funders approved its next five-year business plan with an expanded role for NEEA that supports the success of its stakeholder's energy efficiency goals. With the approval of this new business plan, Northwest utilities and regional organizations are taking regional collaboration across all four states to a new level.

NEEA's 2010-2014 Business Plan builds on current successful market transformation efforts in the commercial, industrial and residential sectors, while increasing the region's focus on filling the energy efficiency pipeline.

The next business plan outlines how NEEA, together with its utility funders, Bonneville Power Administration and Energy Trust of Oregon, will work to accelerate the market adoption of energy-efficient products, services and practices in the Northwest through collaboration, and to fill the energy efficiency pipeline with emerging technologies. In addition, NEEA's work will focus on expanding both knowledge and capabilities in the market through education and training. The cost of securing energy efficiency through this plan is projected to be less than half the cost of developing new sources such as coal, natural gas or wind.

The 2009 annual report is available online at http://www.nwalliance.org/research/annualreport.aspx.

About the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) is a non-profit organization funded by Bonneville Power Administration (representing approximately 130 public utilities), Energy Trust of Oregon (working on behalf of Portland General Electric and Pacific Power) and the following 11 utilities: Avista Utilities, Clark Public Utilities, Cowlitz County PUD, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Idaho Power Company, NorthWestern Energy, Pacific Power, Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, Snohomish County PUD and Tacoma Power. We work in collaboration with our stakeholders and strategic market partners to accelerate the market adoption of energy-efficient products, services and practices within homes, business and industry.

* Energy equivalency based on the following assumptions: 600 aMW of total regional energy savings; 1aMW = 8,760,000 kWh; annual U.S. household electricity use = 11,480 kWh

SOURCE NEEA