Questions about the Portland Clean Energy Fund pilot program

Below are some questions that people posed during the May 19 conference call that we couldn't get to on the call:

Glad to see that there is an objective to create good jobs beyond the pilot. Please connect with Verde Energy as we are setting up a social enterprise to hire and train low-income Latinos and Native Americans to do energy efficiency work in Portland.
- Tony DeFalco, Verde, Portland

Are the Energy Advocates in the Portland pilot program paid or volunteers?
- Susan Wright

We work with the energy/peak oil community and have run events where the Portland peak oil task force has presented their work.  Has there been any interaction between your two projects/groups?
- Greg Geyer, Terrachord LLC, Dalton, MA

In the Portland situation, is there a “tithe” that each utility must provide for this program and/or others like it?  Is one in the offing?  Or is the $2.5 million contribution absolute?  That’s not much given how much conventional revenue the utilities generate. - Robert Jacobson

What is the size of your available workforce? Doing 50 retrofits a month is going to require a large number of BPI certified  professionals.
- Doug Donovan, Greener Dawn, Inc., La Jolla, CA

Was there any problem with legislation at state or local level that the utilities interpret as calling this extra bill on utility bill a "tax"? Our utility is afraid to do so without a change to the state Constitution. - Karen F. Wimpelberg, Alliance for Affordable Energy, New Orleans, LA

Previously Elizabeth Mattiuzzi wrote:

Below are some questions that people posed during the May 19 conference call that we couldn't get to on the call:

Glad to see that there is an objective to create good jobs beyond the pilot. Please connect with Verde Energy as we are setting up a social enterprise to hire and train low-income Latinos and Native Americans to do energy efficiency work in Portland.
- Tony DeFalco, Verde, Portland

ANSWER: Looking forward to connecting tomorrow, Tony!

Are the Energy Advocates in the Portland pilot program paid or volunteers?
- Susan Wright

ANSWER: Paid. Conservation Services Group is the subcontractor to Energy Trust of Oregon who is fulfilling this role during our pilot.

We work with the energy/peak oil community and have run events where the Portland peak oil task force has presented their work.  Has there been any interaction between your two projects/groups?
- Greg Geyer, Terrachord LLC, Dalton, MA

ANSWER: Not directly since the Fund launched but the Peak Oil Task Force's work informed the Climate Action Plan, which identifies the Fund as a key action related to carbon footprint reductions in the existing buildings sector.

In the Portland situation, is there a “tithe” that each utility must provide for this program and/or others like it?  Is one in the offing?  Or is the $2.5 million contribution absolute?  That’s not much given how much conventional revenue the utilities generate. - Robert Jacobson

ANSWER: No tithe. We are designing the pilot so that utilities are able to recover costs and have no risk in terms of loan default. There is legislation moving through our state legislature that has other potential implications for utilities.

What is the size of your available workforce? Doing 50 retrofits a month is going to require a large number of BPI certified  professionals.
- Doug Donovan, Greener Dawn, Inc., La Jolla, CA

ANSWER: There are currently 30 Home Performance with Energy Star contractors in the region. Home Performance contractors will likely be the homeowner-facing contractor who may organize subcontractors to perform various aspects of a whole-home retrofit. We are working with Energy Trust of Oregon and Work Systems Inc. to align the region's training investment with our scale-up plans.

Was there any problem with legislation at state or local level that the utilities interpret as calling this extra bill on utility bill a "tax"? Our utility is afraid to do so without a change to the state Constitution. - Karen F. Wimpelberg, Alliance for Affordable Energy, New Orleans, LA

ANSWER: Haven't ever heard "tax" mentioned in our discussions with utilities. Concerns are generally around collections on loan portion of bill. The loan parameters in our pilot are set up so that repayment amounts are equal to or less than current energy bills, assuming usage and rates remain constant. So I can't see how the notion of a "tax" would apply but perhaps I'm missing something.