Image via WikipediaOntario power authority has announced a list of projects to benefit from its conservation fund ( set up to provide funding for sector-specific electricity conservation pilot projects to test new or unique conservation program elements) to the tune of $2 million.

projects to be funded are:-

Canadian Plastics Industry Association – A combination of outreach and educational tools and electricity-use assessment to promote energy conservation within the plastics industry, a large consumer of electricity.

Colleges Ontario – To provide energy management training services and real-time energy management systems to provide the colleges with the facilities they need to reduce energy consumption.

Council of Ontario Universities Holdings Association – Ontario Universities will help to establish a benchmarking system for energy use at each of Ontario’s universities.

Tags: Energy Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Geothermal heat pump, Ontario Power Authority, Photovoltaics, Solar Energy, Solar hot water, Water heating

PECO (an electric and natural gas utility serving 1.6 million electric and 480,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania and part of Exelon Energy Delivery) is inviting alternative energy producers to submit bids to sell alternative energy “credits” to help the company fulfill renewable energy requirements set by Pennsylvania’s recent Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) legislation. PECO wants to purchase up to a total of 250,000 renewable energy credits per year in a fixed price 5 year contract to be concluded in Spring of 2008 with a view to supply of energy credits by end 2008.

PECO is Pennsylvania’s largest utility, serving approximately 1.6 million electric customers operating and maintaining a network with 550 power substations, 21,000 miles of distribution and transmission lines, 27 gas gate stations and 6,000 miles of underground gas mains. PECO has been recognized as Pennsylvania’s safest utility by the state Department of Labor & Industry with related awards also from the Energy Association of Pennsylvania and the American Gas Association.

Tags: Alternative Energy, Electric power transmission, Energy Efficiency, Exelon, Greenhouse gas, Natural gas, Renewable energy, Renewable resource

Image via Wikipedia Powerfactor energy savings - also known as Demand Side Management

Energy consumption was brought into focus for industry when the Climate Change Levy (CCL) was introduced. There is a proven way to save energy costs and reduce this levy that large electricity users may be overlooking. While there are no tax benefits for installing efficient and effective power factor correction measures yet, the Government is to introduce Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA) that enable the full cost of certain energy saving devices, when used in certain applications, to be written down against taxable revenue in the first year (Why power factor correction equipment was not included in the tax allowances introduced along with the Climate Change Levy is a complete mystery!). However the fact remains that by applying powerfactor correction methods, many large electricity consumers can reduce their electrical energy costs significantly.

Tags: AC power, Climate Change Levy, Energy Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Power-factor correction