(46) Peak period--For the purpose of this section,
the peak period consists of the hours from one p.m. to seven p.m.
during the months of June, July, August, and September, and the hours
of six a.m. to ten a.m. and six p.m. to ten p.m. during the months
of December, January, and February, excluding weekends and Federal
holidays.
(47) Program year--A year in which an energy efficiency
incentive program is implemented, beginning January 1 and ending December
31.
(48) Projected savings--Values reported by an electric
utility prior to the time the energy efficiency activities are implemented.
Are typically estimates of savings prepared for program and/or portfolio
design or planning purposes. These values are based on pre-program
or portfolio estimates of factors such as per-unit savings values,
operating hours, installation rates, and savings persistence rates.
These values may utilize results of prior evaluations and/or values
in the Technical Reference Manual. Can be indicated as first year,
annual demand or energy savings, and/or lifetime energy or demand
savings values. Can be indicated as gross savings and/or net savings
values.
(49) Renewable demand side management (DSM) technologies--Equipment
that uses a renewable energy resource (renewable resource), as defined
in §25.173(c) of this title (relating to Goal for Renewable Energy),
a geothermal heat pump, a solar water heater, or another natural mechanism
of the environment, that when installed at a customer site, reduces
the customer's net purchases of energy, demand, or both.
(50) Savings-to-Investment Ratio (SIR)--The ratio of
the present value of a customer's estimated lifetime electricity cost
savings from energy efficiency measures to the present value of the
installation costs, inclusive of any incidental repairs, of those
energy efficiency measures.
(51) Self-delivered program--A program developed by
a utility in an area in which customer choice is not offered that
provides incentives directly to customers. The utility may use internal
or external resources to design and administer the program.
(52) Spillover--Reductions in energy consumption and/or
demand caused by the presence of an energy efficiency program, beyond
the program-related gross savings of the participants and without
financial or technical assistance from the program. There can be participant
and/or non-participant spillover.
(53) Spillover rate--Estimate of energy savings attributable
to spillover expressed as a percent of savings installed by participants
through an energy efficiency program.
(54) Standard offer contract--A contract between an
energy efficiency service provider and a participating utility or
between a participating utility and a commercial customer specifying
standard payments based upon the amount of energy and peak demand
savings achieved through energy efficiency measures, the measurement
and verification protocols, and other terms and conditions, consistent
with this section.
(55) Standard offer program--A program under which
a utility administers standard offer contracts between the utility
and energy efficiency service providers.
(56) Technical reference manual (TRM)--A resource document
compiled by the commission's EM&V contractor that includes information
used in program planning and reporting of energy efficiency programs.
It can include savings values for measures, engineering algorithms
to calculate savings, impact factors to be applied to calculated savings
(e.g., net-to-gross values), protocols, source documentation, specified
assumptions, and other relevant material to support the calculation
of measure and program savings.
(57) Verification--An independent assessment that a
program has been implemented in accordance with the program design.
The objectives of measure installation verification are to confirm
the installation rate, that the installation meets reasonable quality
standards, and that the measures are operating correctly and have
the potential to generate the predicted savings. Verification activities
are generally conducted during on-site surveys of a sample of projects.
Project site inspections, participant phone and mail surveys and/or
implementer and participant documentation review are typical activities
associated with verification. Verification is also a subset of evaluation.
(d) Cost-effectiveness standard. An energy efficiency
program is deemed to be cost-effective if the cost of the program
to the utility is less than or equal to the benefits of the program.
Utilities are encouraged to achieve demand reduction and energy savings
through a portfolio of cost-effective programs that exceed each utility's
energy efficiency goals while staying within the cost caps established
in §25.182(d)(7) of this title.
(1) The cost of a program includes the cost of incentives,
EM&V contractor costs, any shareholder bonus awarded to the utility,
and actual or allocated research and development and administrative
costs. The benefits of the program consist of the value of the demand
reductions and energy savings, measured in accordance with the avoided
costs prescribed in this subsection. The present value of the program
benefits shall be calculated over the projected life of the measures
installed or implemented under the program.
(2) The avoided cost of capacity shall be established
in accordance with this paragraph.
(A) By November 1 of each year, commission staff shall
file the avoided cost of capacity for the upcoming year, including
supporting data, in the commission's central records under the control
number for the energy efficiency implementation project.
(i) Staff shall calculate the avoided cost of capacity
from the base overnight cost using the lower of a new conventional
combustion turbine or a new advanced combustion turbine, as reported
by the United States Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration's
(EIA) Cost and Performance Characteristics of New Central Station
Electricity Generating Technologies associated with EIA's Annual Energy
Outlook. If EIA cost data that reflects current conditions in the
industry does not exist, staff may establish an avoided cost of capacity
using another data source.
(ii) If the EIA base overnight cost of a new conventional
or an advanced combustion turbine, whichever is lower, is less than
$700 per kW, the avoided cost of capacity shall be $80 per kW-year.
If the base overnight cost of a new conventional or advanced combustion
turbine, whichever is lower, is at or between $700 and $1,000 per
kW, the avoided cost of capacity shall be $100 per kW-year. If the
base overnight cost of a new conventional or advanced combustion turbine,
whichever is lower, is greater than $1,000 per kW, the avoided cost
of capacity shall be $120 per kW-year.
(iii) The avoided cost of capacity calculated by staff
may be challenged only by the filing of a petition within 45 days
of the date the avoided cost of capacity is filed in the commission's
central records under the control number for the energy efficiency
implementation project described by paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection.
The petition must clearly describe the reasons commission's staff's
avoided cost calculation is incorrect, include supporting data and
calculations, and state the relief sought.
(B) A utility in an area in which customer choice is
not offered may petition the commission for authorization to use an
avoided cost of capacity different from the avoided cost determined
according to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph by filing a petition
no later than 45 days after the date the avoided cost of capacity
calculated by staff is filed in the commission's central records under
the control number for the energy efficiency implementation project
described by paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection. The petition must
clearly describe the reasons a different avoided cost should be used,
include supporting data and calculations, and state the relief sought.
The avoided cost of capacity proposed by the utility shall be based
on a generating resource or purchase in the utility's resource acquisition
plan and the terms of the purchase or the cost of the resource shall
be disclosed in the filing.
(3) The avoided cost of energy shall be established
in accordance with this paragraph.
(A) By November 1 of each year, ERCOT shall file the
avoided cost of energy for the upcoming year for the ERCOT region,
as defined in §25.5(48) of this title (relating to Definitions),
in the commission's central records under the control number for the
energy efficiency implementation project. ERCOT shall calculate the
avoided cost of energy by determining the load-weighted average of
the competitive load zone settlement point prices for the peak periods
covering the two previous winter and summer peaks. The avoided cost
of energy calculated by ERCOT may be challenged only by the filing
of a petition within 45 days of the date the avoided cost of capacity
is filed by ERCOT in the commission's central records under the control
number for the energy efficiency implementation project described
by paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection. The petition must clearly
describe the reasons ERCOT's avoided cost of energy calculation is
incorrect, include supporting data and Cont'd... |