Victory! City to DOUBLE green energy efforts

CPS, city plan ways to save on energy use

By Anton Caputo, Express-News

CPS Energy announced Wednesday that it was nearly doubling its conservation goals over the next 12 years, a move that will be accompanied by significantly more stringent building codes to promote energy efficiency around San Antonio, Mayor Phil Hardberger said.

Utility officials made the announcement at CPS Energy's Summit on Energy Efficiency. The new goal of saving 771 megawatts by 2020 would offset nearly as much power production through efficiency programs as the utility's new $1 billion coal plant will produce.

It doesn't change the utility's plans to pursue two new nuclear reactors at the South Texas Project in Bay City, but could postpone the need for new power plants after that, CPS Energy Deputy General Manager Steve Bartley said.

“These are very aggressive goals in our opinion, but we believe they are achievable,” Bartley said. “We're talking about a fundamental transformation on how CPS Energy does business.”

The summit brought experts from all over the country to discuss the challenge of meeting the nation's booming energy demand at a time when conventional power sources are becoming more scarce and expensive and the threat of global warming is making people rethink the wisdom of depending on fossil fuels.

Hardberger applauded Wednesday's announcement by the city-owned utility and promised that a citywide sustainability plan unveiled at a City Council meeting next Wednesday would help drive the conservation goals.

“Clearly, building code improvements are going to be a major component,” he said. “We must act now. We don't have a choice. ... Energy efficiency is a necessity, not a luxury. That's the direction we have to go.”

Details of the new efficiency plan haven't been ironed out and will have to wait on a consultant's report that should be complete in three or four months.

Bartley said the efficiency program would cost about $800 million, but that the utility would have to pay only a fraction of that cost because much would be spread throughout the development community by more stringent building codes.

“But it'll give them something,” he said. “They'll be able to market energy efficiency.”

The utility already offers free programmable thermostats through its Peak Saver program. These allow customers to set heating and cooling units to automatically adjust during the day. It also allows the utility to remotely cycle a home's air conditioner on and off during times of peak demand.

CPS will launch another conservation program early next year when it begins rolling out “smart meters” to commercial customers, said Bruce Evans, director of customer solutions and delivery.

These will allow customers to see if they're using electricity when it's most expensive.

“You may decide not to run your dishwasher at those times when it's most costly,” Evans said. “You may decide you would rather wait to pay 8 cents a kilowatt hour rather than 35 cents.”

CPS had planned to roll out the program to commercial and residential customers over the next five years. But the timeline may be extended because the utility was counting on a 5 percent rate increase, which the City Council cut to 3.5 percent last month, Evans said.

The utility also announced it was creating a new senior-level position to take charge of its sustainable energy initiatives and that it would step up its use of renewable sources of power like wind and solar.

The utility's current renewable power goal is 15 percent of peak demand by 2020. That is being increased to 20 percent, or about 1,200 megawatts.

Even without the increase, CPS is tops in the nation for wind power among municipal-owned utilities.

It's a green accolade that utility Chairwoman Aurora Geis made sure to highlight, particularly with nearby Austin usually garnering attention for being an environmentally conscience city.

“That is twice the wind capacity of our neighbor to the north, and I'll leave it at that,” she said.

Staff Writers Vicki Vaughan and David Hendricks contributed to this report.