Examples of Energy-Financial Opportunities

Credit where credit is due

Under various programs, it is possible to gain credit for greenhouse gas offsets. The key to receiving recognition for emission reductions is to clearly quantify and document how and why greenhouse gases have been reduced as a result of undertaking an action.

Some of the cost-sharing opportunities include:

• energy efficiency retrofits in commercial, institutional and industrial buildings
• energy efficient technology or cleaner energy supply systems in new commercial construction
• district heating systems
• methane recovery and reuse/recycling projects, such as those from municipal landfills
• van pools and alternative-fueled fleets (bus and commercial fleets)
• energy conservation-oriented public education activities
• wood residue-fueled cogeneration projects.

Opportunity or Burden? Investment or Expense?

CEP works best with an enterprising local government. For example, the City of Portland found out it had 830 electricity, natural gas and transportation fuel accounts among 8 bureaus, adding up to a $9 million bill annually. Seeing an opportunity, it then created a mini-business inside its own bureaucracy, seeded by a 1% assessment on the energy bill of each department -- $90,000. The Portland Energy Office gave back free energy audits and advice to each department and split the savings from bill reductions with them. In three years the city saved over $600,000.

The Portland Energy Office leverages $4 in grants and contracts and more than $13 in private energy efficiency investments for every $1 of its own expenditure.

Financial Aggregation

For smaller municipalities, this may be the key to tapping large pools of private capital. Financial aggregation refers to municipalities grouping energy efficiency projects together to increase the size of the transaction in order to attract investors. Larger deals take the same amount of staff expertise and time to process, but create larger profits for investors