La. Fund Would Aid Energy Efficiency

La. Fund Would Aid Energy Efficiency

Dec 28 - Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

Below-freezing temperatures at Christmas, which likely will translate to unusually high utility bills in January, underscore the need to use less energy, say promoters of a proposed Public Benefits Fund.

The state Public Service Commission is scheduled to begin considering plans to establish the Louisiana Public Benefits Fund in January. The fund would give incentives for making energy-saving improvements on buildings, would help some consumers pay their utility bills, and would educate consumers on the need for reducing energy use.

"Study after study shows a tremendous need for this type of assistance," said James Wayne of the Capital Area Legal Services, a member of the committee preparing the business plan for the fund. "It'll help stabilize demand, which is better for the utility companies and leads to lower rates for everyone."

A coalition of community organizations and utility companies estimate the fund would generate $26.5 million annually from the new flat fees that would be added to the electricity bills for the state's 1.35 million ratepayers. Residential users would pay 35 cents per month extra. Commercial and industrial consumers would pay up to $350 more per month depending on how much energy they use.

The plan is to set aside $13.2 million for a weatherization program. The weatherization money would pay auditors to visit homes and commercial buildings and determine what structural and wiring changes are necessary. The fund then would underwrite low-cost loans for improvements - such as new wiring that can handle energy- efficient appliances and lighting.

The other half of the money would assist in paying utility bills for people who are in crisis situations, according to the Public Benefits Fund business plan.

About $4 million would go for administration expenses.

Lobbyists for the business community already have announced their opposition. They have expressed hopes that the Public Benefits Fund and its additional fees could be turned aside when taken up by the Legislature in April.

Ginger Sawyer of the Louisiana Association of Business & Industry in Baton Rouge said that the proposed funding formula would require the business community to pay 98 percent of the funding.

But promoters contend the 26 other states that have adopted the public trust fund concept have seen significant decreases in energy usage.

An American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington, D.C., report, published in April, found that consumers living in the 26 other states realized a monthly savings of 23 cents to 44 cents on their electric bills.

Entergy-Louisiana's Beverly B. Trahan of Baton Rouge said that the U.S. Department of Energy has documented that every dollar invested in weatherization produces $3.71 in energy savings. She is a member of the committee preparing Louisiana's Public Benefits Fund's business plan.

Trahan said every Louisiana household could expect its energy bills to drop an average of $283 per year after weatherization. Further, Trahan said, the work created by Louisiana's Public Benefits Fund would create 436 new jobs and add $2.5 million in taxes to the state's general fund. Half the houses in Louisiana are more than 40 years old, she said.

Wade Byrd of Baton Rouge, an energy efficiency consultant who helped the city of New Orleans establish a similar program, said that utility companies must produce enough electricity to cover peak usage. When temperatures drop below freezing, like they did Christmas Day, or climb into the 90s, as they often do in the summer, consumers demand more power.

In Baton Rouge, for instance, energy-use spikes dramatically at about 6 p.m. on the average summer afternoon, Byrd said. People get home from work and crank up their air conditioners. Then, as night cools, the amount of power needed drops about 25 percent to the regular daytime levels, he said.

"But the power company has to have the additional power on hand for that couple hours of maximum usage," Byrd said. "You can't save it and you can't turn on a power plant for just those peak hours, so what you end up with is a lot of wasted electricity."

Byrd said weatherization and other efficiency improvements will "level out those usage spikes" so that utility companies don't build additional plants or buy expensive electricity on the open markets.

For far more extensive news on the energy/power visit: http://www.energycentral.com .