Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies Update

25 April 2002

• Welcome to New Coalition Member
• State Legislative Update on Renewable Portfolio Standard, Net Metering Legislation
• U.S. Senate Nears Completion of Major Energy Policy Legislation
• Coalition Statehouse Briefing Features Wind and Distributed Energy Technologies
• Colorado Wind and Distributed Energy Conference Draws Large Turnout
• Aspen Skiing Company Launches Two New Clean-Energy Initiatives
• Member Profile: IDALEX Technologies
• Coalition Website to go Online Soon
• Upcoming Event: Spring P2/Transportation Forum on 1 May

Prowers County Development, Inc.
Lamar

Prowers County Development, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization, serves as the economic development arm for the City of Lamar and Prowers County. Its mission is to enhance and improve the economy of Prowers County through job creation and recruitment, improved infrastructure and business enhancement. Its vision is: ”Prowers County reflects the diversity of our agricultural heritage coupled with the opportunities of modern technology.”

For a complete member list of the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies, contact Craig Cox.

In the Colorado Senate, Senator Terry Phillips’ (D-Louisville) renewable portfolio standard (RPS) legislation, SB 180, passed the Public Policy & Planning and Appropriations Committees on 24 April, clearing the way for consideration of this legislation in the full Senate. The Phillips bill implements a state renewable portfolio standard of two percent in 2004, increasing to ten percent in 2010 and beyond.

In the Public Policy and Planning Committee hearing, a number of witnesses testified in favor of the legislation, including renewable energy developers (FPL Energy and Renewable Energy Systems-North America), farmers (Rocky Mountain Farmers Union), the ski industry (Colorado Ski Country USA) and environmental organizations (Land and Water Fund of the Rockies). Supporters discussed the economic development opportunities offered by wind and other renewable energy technologies, along with their environmental benefits. When asked whether there was sufficient transmission capacity to accommodate increased wind generation in eastern Colorado, Steve Ponder of FPL Energy replied that his company has identified about 500 MW of wind resource located near existing transmission lines in Colorado. Several witnesses noted the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s determination last year that a proposed new windfarm near Lamar represented the least-cost resource for Xcel Energy’s new power acquisition.

Xcel Energy represented the primary opposition to this legislation, calling it “too aggressive” and “punitive,” and that it would create a “seller’s market” for renewable energy generation. In his testimony before the committee, Xcel Energy’s Fred Stoffel said that the RPS would require significant new transmission capacity and that it would lead to a rise in consumers’ electricity bills. In addition, Stoffel said that SB 180 would not provide credit for the company’s existing wind capacity (most of which is sold at a premium through Xcel Energy’s Windsource green-pricing program).

SB 180 will now go to the Senate floor for debate. For a copy of SB 180, visit http://www.leg.state.co.us/2002a/inetcbill.nsf/billcontainers/
59704C4EAE39D1D887256B410073A8F4/$FILE/180_01.pdf

On 15 April, an electric utility net metering bill, HB 1415, passed the Colorado House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate for consideration. This legislation passed the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources on 23 April and has been referred to the Senate Public Policy & Planning Committee for consideration.

HB 1415 standardizes net metering for the state and sets the utility purchase price for renewable-generated electricity at avoided cost. This legislation has proven controversial among some clean-energy advocates in Colorado. For more details, see the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies Update of 5 April 2002.

For a copy of HB 1415, visit http://www.leg.state.co.us/2002a/inetcbill.nsf/fsbillcont/
306BC1E5A13A50F087256B7B004F4687?Open&file=1415_01.pdf

The U.S. Senate is nearing completion of major energy policy legislation that has taken nearly two months to consider. On 24 April, the Senate agreed to a $14-billion package of energy tax breaks, about half of which would go to renewables and energy efficiency, while the other half would help producers of oil, gas, coal and nuclear power.

In the Senate package, motorists would receive a $1,000 tax credit for buying hybrid gas-electric cars, while homeowners would receive $2,000 to install solar panels for heating water or other purposes. The Senate legislation establishes a $250 to $300 tax credit to help homeowners install fuel-saving insulation, windows and doors, more efficient air conditioners or heat pumps.

In addition, a low-profile provision inserted into the bill by Senator Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), provides for new U.S. government incentives to companies to build a pipeline capable of transporting unexploited reserves of natural gas from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay to major U.S. markets.

The Senate is expected to wrap up consideration of this legislation shortly. Once it passes, this bill will move to a House-Senate conference committee which will have to resolve a number of significant differences between the House energy bill that passed last August and the Senate bill. For example, the House bill permits oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while the Senate rejected such a provision. The Senate bill contains a national renewable portfolio standard of ten percent (see Update of 22 March), while the House bill has no similar provision.

The third and final briefing of the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies for legislators and other interested parties was held on 9 April at the state capitol. Drawing a large audience of legislators and other interested parties, this briefing featured Mike Sloan of Virtus Energy Research Associates, Gary Nakarado of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Matthew Brown of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

This briefing was conducted by the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies under the auspices of the Colorado Legislature’s bipartisan Renewables and Energy Efficiency Caucus, in conjunction with the Colorado Wind and Distributed Energy Conference held at the Denver Renaissance Hotel (see next story).

The “Colorado Wind & Distributed Energy: Renewables for Rural Prosperity” conference was held in Denver on 8 and 9 April and drew 366 interested parties from around Colorado. Participants included landowners from potential wind farm sites in eastern Colorado, as well as wind developers, rural electric cooperatives, local government officials and economic development representatives.

Conference sessions provide "state-of-the-technology" information and explored the cost and benefits of wind and distributed energy technologies along with their applicability to rural landowners. In addition, potential state and national funding sources were examined. Many participants said that they enjoyed learning about “net metering” and presentations related to project planning and economic viability. Others expressed interest in specific case studies and “real world” examples of how landowners can benefit from wind and distributed energy technologies.

This workshop was preceded by the Colorado Sustainable Living Roundup, which organizers said was very successful, attracting thousands to The Urban Farm at Stapleton, where over 50 exhibitors demonstrated their “sustainable living technologies.”

ASPEN SKIING COMPANY MARKS EARTH DAY WITH TWO NEW CLEAN-ENERGY INITIATIVES
—Company’s Actions Address Climate Change and Air Pollution

On 18 April, coalition member Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) announced two new major environmental initiatives: a switch to environment-friendly "biodiesel" and a tripling of the company's purchase of renewable energy.

The company notes that biodiesel, “which smells like French fries,” is a non-toxic and biodegradable renewable fuel made from soybeans or restaurant grease. Over two years, ASC will switch the company's entire fleet of snowcats to an 80/20 blend of regular/biodiesel known as "B20". An industry first, the switch will keep more than one million pounds of pollutants out of the air annually, forever. In terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, ASC says that the switch to biodiesel is equivalent to planting 200 acres of trees or not driving a million miles in your car.

The second component of ASC's Earth Day initiative is an increase in the company's purchase of renewable energy to run day-to-day mountain operations. Currently, the company buys 155,200 kilowatt hours of wind energy each year from Holy Cross Energy to run the Cirque chairlift at Snowmass and power 30 percent of The Sundeck restaurant at Aspen Mountain. In June, ASC will triple renewable energy purchases to raise the company's total renewable portfolio from .6 to 2 percent of total supply. This increase will keep nearly 600,000 pounds of pollutants out of the air every year.

ASC Senior Vice President of Administration Dave Bellack says, " We decided that if renewable energy was important to us, we should be doing it right. Tripling our renewable energy purchases is both a statement and a major environmental benefit."

ASC has been recognized for its environmental work internationally, in the U.S. Congress, and through numerous prestigious awards including three Mountain Sports Media Golden Eagle Awards for overall environmental excellence and recently recognized by Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel as a "best practice" company. For additional information visit www.aspensnowmass.com/environment/.

COALITION MEMBER PROFILE: IDALEX TECHNOLOGIES

On the morning of September 1, 1992, Dr. Valeriy Maisotsenko and his wife closed the door to their apartment in Odessa, Ukraine, forever. Still inside their apartment were all of their worldly possessions. They began their journey to freedom with just two suitcases. Conventional thinking would assume this luggage carried family heirlooms, money, or practical necessities. However, there is nothing conventional about Dr. Maisotsenko.

In his luggage was his doctoral dissertation on heat and mass transfer, the basis for his life-long scientific work. This work had gained Dr. Maisotsenko recognition from the communist government as one of the top 11 inventors in all of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Yet, Valeriy understood that to profitably commercialize his revolutionary new thermodynamic cycle, he had to come to America. Today, Valeriy is an American citizen and a partner in IDALEX Technologies. IDALEX is a private research company dedicated to the development and commercialization of its proprietary and patented technology.

IDALEX has discovered and is commercializing a revolutionary process for rejecting heat. The traditional refrigeration cycle is defined as the rejection of heat from one location to another. A typical air-conditioner (an example of the refrigeration cycle) uses ozone harmful refrigerants and an energy-consuming compressor to reject this heat. The IDALEX system is capable of rejecting heat without a refrigerant or compressor.

The IDALEX system is a thermodynamic breakthrough that capitalizes on a renewable, natural, clean energy or psychrometric energy found in our atmosphere. This cycle can improve any refrigeration or energetic cycle. This extraordinary breakthrough can create enormous cost and energy savings in a wide range of applications.

The cycle has been deployed in a Natural Air Conditioning system for residential and commercial applications. In this setting the unit achieves a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) over 30 (the current debate is whether the SEER should be raised to 13).

When used as an Inlet Air Cooling System for combustion turbines, used in the production of electricity, the IDALEX system can increase the operating efficiency of the turbine by 8-15 percent.

The IDALEX system is currently being used in conjunction with a desiccant wheel in Japan as part of a fresh air make-up unit to meet indoor air quality requirements without adding an additional burden on refrigeration systems, making it ideal for a Building Cooling Heating Power System used with a distributive power system.

IDALEX Technologies is located in Arvada. For more information, or to discuss additional applications for this technology, please contact IDALEX at 303-375-0878 or e-mail at TimHeaton@Idalextechnologies.com.

COALITION WEBSITE NEARS COMPLETION

The new website of the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies is nearing completion and should be online within about two weeks. Non-member companies and organizations are invited to contact Craig Cox regarding establishment of reciprocal website links.

UPCOMING EVENT:

1 May
Spring P2/Transportation Forum

—Tired of fighting traffic every day? Wondering what you and others in your workplace can do about it?

The theme of this event on 1 May from 8:00 a.m. through lunch is “Transportation: A 21st Century Challenge…What Can Businesses Do?” It is sponsored by the Colorado Business Energy Partnership at the University of Colorado at Denver, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment's P2 Program, the Colorado Pollution Prevention Partnership and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. It will be held at the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria Campus in Downtown Denver (9th Street and Auraria Parkway) in the Baerresen Ballroom (Room 320 A,B,C), and the participation fee is $10, payable at the door.

For complete information and online registration, visit http://coloradop2.org/springfrm.htm

This newsletter is circulated to members of the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies and other interested parties. Please let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the distribution list.

Additional member-only updates are provided to coalition members as events warrant. If your business or non-profit organization is interested in coalition membership, I would be happy to provide information upon request.

The Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies is preparing to launch a web site in the near future and looks forward to providing links to other appropriate web sites.

Please continue to keep in touch on any matters related to energy issues and let me know if I can provide any help or information to you.

Craig Cox
Executive Director
Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies
303-679-9331
coxcraig@att.net

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303-679-9331 or info@newenergytechnologies.org