CURRENTS: An Energy Newsletter for Local Governments | Summer 2013 Edition

CURRENTS is a publication by Pat Stoner, the Statewide Local Government Energy Efficiency Best Practices Coordinator.  Pat has been writing and distributing CURRENTS: An Energy Newsletter for Local Governments since 1998.  We thank Pat for allowing us to post his newsletter on our blog.  To subscribe to CURRENTS, email Patrick Stoner (slgeebpc@lgc.org). 

Please visit the Statewide Coordinator web site at: www.EECoordinator.info

Energy Efficiencies In Five Rural Communities In Five Days

Congressman Jim Costa, Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson, Mendota Mayor Robert Silva, and officials from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), Richard Heath and Associates (RHA), and the Center for Irrigation Technology’s Advanced Pumping Efficiency Program were on hand to kick off a week long campaign of energy efficiency upgrades to the western Fresno County rural communities of Mendota, Kerman, Firebaugh, San Joaquin, Coalinga and Huron last August. The campaign was dubbed ‘Five Cities, Five Days.” read more...

Sonoma County Community Choice Aggregation

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted to implement Sonoma Clean Power. This program will focus on providing a cleaner power mix for Sonoma County customers. The Board's decision means that this service will be made available to about 100,000 customers in the unincorporated areas of the county. read more...

How Benchmarking Makes Cities Smarter

By Caroline Keicher Program Manager, Building Energy Performance Policy, The Institute for Market Transformation

2013 looks like it will be a banner year for building energy benchmarking and disclosure policies. With Philadelphia’s policy adoption closing out 2012 on a high note, Minneapolis got us started strong in January of 2013—becoming the seventh U.S. city, and the first in the Midwest, to pass a policy requiring transparency of energy performance in large commercial buildings. read more...

ACEEE Report: Assisting Home Buyers With Increased Energy Use Information

What if people could have access to a piece of valuable information that they don’t currently receive about the house they are considering for purchase? What if this could happen with very little bureaucracy and limited program implementation costs? Sound appealing? read more...

Trading New Development For Water Savings In Napa

The City of Napa has a medium-sized water system of about 25,000 connections. Its Water Demand Mitigation (Water Offset) requirement for new development has historically been known as the ‘Toilet Retrofit Program,’ because the water savings were achieved by replacing older 3.5+ gallon-per-flush (gpf) toilets with 1.6 gpf ultra-low-flush toilets (ULFTs). Several years ago, that replacement toilet specification changed to EPA WaterSense-labeled 1.28 gpf high-efficiency toilets (HETs). read more...

Optimizing Municipal Facility Performance: Retrocommissioning Program Toolkit For Local Governments

By The California Sustainability Alliance

In its Long Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) established a strategic framework for helping local governments advance sustainability within their jurisdictions. The Plan calls for local governments to influence the community, leverage local authority and lead by example by improving resource efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and cutting energy bills in their own facilities. read more...

Solar Energy Resource Guide

The Northern California Solar Energy Association (NorCal Solar) released its 9th edition Solar Energy Resource Guide (SERG) last July. This highly-regarded publication is a primer on just about all things solar, written and reviewed by experts. read more...

Zero Net Energy For Policymakers & Local Governments

Are you pursuing zero net energy (ZNE) buildings, goals or policies in your jurisdiction?Do you need information, tools and other resources to help?
Connect with public sector leaders in Sacramento on July 16th for a Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Leadership meeting to share experiences and learn about tools and resources to achieve ZNE. read more...

Upcoming Events

The following list of upcoming events may be of interested to you. read more...