California’s Energy Efficiency Policies and Programs: A View from its Muddy Trenches

Rafael Friedmann, Friedmann Energy Analysts

Keywords

Abstract

California’s recent electric crisis showed electricity’s crucial role in economic wellbeing and confirmed that energy efficiency and conservation programs can deliver timely and significant savings. The crisis also led to impatience and the discarding of Market Transformation (MT) as a goal, relegating it instead to a tool among others for saving energy. New policy directions, particularly by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) sought to move energy efficiency program administration and implementation to non- Investor-Owned-Utility (IOU) entities.

The crisis also highlighted problems in current energy efficiency programs and policies. The main entities involved government, utilities, vendors and NGOs working in a non-synergistic fashion. It can be argued that the latest CPUC decisions since October 2001 have thrown 2002 energy efficiency program implementation into a fog, losing in the process the inertia of the successful 2001 programs and fostering conflict instead of collaboration, as entities vie for the Public Goods Charge (PGC) funds and roles. This lack of continuity in regulatory oversight, program administration, and program goals and strategies hampers the evolution of mature energy efficiency markets. The energy efficiency community must strive to regain such continuity from the regulatory bodies and programs.

This article seeks to point out the need for a better mix of private and public interactions than what is currently occuring in California’s energy efficiency efforts. Program portfolio definition, implementation and supervision need to be apportioned more clearly among the multiple entities currently involved. These efforts will benefit from actions that foster collaboration and build upon the extensive experience California already has. The paper draws upon the author’s personal observations based on longterm involvement as an efficiency advocate, and most recently, working directly in energy efficiency in California.