The Turlock Irrigation District Board of Directors adopted a set of energy efficiency goals on March 9 that will cover the next decade, but admitted that convincing customers to pursue energy efficiency projects in these economic times was challenging.
"We can't force customers to implement these changes," said TID employee Willie Manuel.
According to TID projections, TID could technically reduce usage by about 40 percent, but given customer demand only a two percent reduction is achievable. Every dollar spent on energy efficiency within TID resulted in $3.61 in energy savings last year.
The projections are based on an industry-accepted formula, adapted to reflect TID customer data. The calculations determine the technical potential for energy efficiency measures, the percentage of energy that could be saved solely considering projects that produce more benefit than cost, and those that are achievable considering customer adoption behavior.
The adopted goals range from 13,285 megawatt hours of achievable energy efficiency savings in 2010 - .65 percent of total TID MWh load - to 18,379 MWh and .75 percent of total TID MWh load in 2019.
While the projections cover a decade, TID is required to update its energy efficiency goals every three years under California Energy Commission guidelines. The newly revised set of goals fall short of those adopted by the Board in 2007, dropping by more than 40 percent from 2011 through 2013.
"We believe the economy is going to be slow for the next couple years, and our customers will find it difficult to invest in energy savings," Manuel said.
More than 80 percent of each year's achievable savings would come from commercial and industrial customers. Most achievable savings would come in the area of lighting, while the remainder would come from installing energy-efficient pumps, refrigeration units, and heating ventilation and air conditioning units.
"We can't force customers to implement these changes," said TID employee Willie Manuel.
According to TID projections, TID could technically reduce usage by about 40 percent, but given customer demand only a two percent reduction is achievable. Every dollar spent on energy efficiency within TID resulted in $3.61 in energy savings last year.
The projections are based on an industry-accepted formula, adapted to reflect TID customer data. The calculations determine the technical potential for energy efficiency measures, the percentage of energy that could be saved solely considering projects that produce more benefit than cost, and those that are achievable considering customer adoption behavior.
The adopted goals range from 13,285 megawatt hours of achievable energy efficiency savings in 2010 - .65 percent of total TID MWh load - to 18,379 MWh and .75 percent of total TID MWh load in 2019.
While the projections cover a decade, TID is required to update its energy efficiency goals every three years under California Energy Commission guidelines. The newly revised set of goals fall short of those adopted by the Board in 2007, dropping by more than 40 percent from 2011 through 2013.
"We believe the economy is going to be slow for the next couple years, and our customers will find it difficult to invest in energy savings," Manuel said.
More than 80 percent of each year's achievable savings would come from commercial and industrial customers. Most achievable savings would come in the area of lighting, while the remainder would come from installing energy-efficient pumps, refrigeration units, and heating ventilation and air conditioning units.
