Every five years the large rate-regulated utilities in Iowa have to propose energy efficiency plans for their customers that are reviewed by the Iowa Utilities Board in dockets that are open to the public. The Clean Energy Districts of Iowa (CEDI) will be intervening in each of these dockets over the course of this year.
The least expensive energy is the energy we don’t need to produce, hence the Iowa Legislature’s decision many years ago to require that the largest utility companies in Iowa help their customers consume less energy. Given the high cost of energy, energy efficiency also helps reduce the higher energy burdens faced by low-income households.
The five-year energy efficiency plans that are approved by the IUB are funded by the ratepayers, not by the utilities. Each ratepayer pays a very small fee for each kilowatt hour or therm of energy they purchase each month. The utility collects this money and then uses it to administer its energy efficiency programs and to provide customers with the incentives that are approved by the IUB.
Since investments in energy efficiency result in fewer sales to their customers, utilities don’t have a great incentive to help their customers save too much energy. Hence the need for others like CEDI to make sure these plans are as robust as possible and to ensure that they are being promoted well.
CEDI will focus on the following topics in each of these dockets:
- Complementarity with the Energy Efficiency Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). CEDI has published fact sheets that highlight ways US taxpayers can take advantage of the various incentives in the IRA to invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles. Ideally, the incentives offered by the utilities will complement these federal incentives and thus accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient technologies like heat pumps for space heating and cooling as well as hot-water heating. CEDI will advocate especially for higher rebate incentives for cold-climate heat pumps.
- Provision of High-Quality Technical Assistance to All Ratepayers. Energy systems are complicated, involve different kinds of technology, and often are quite expensive to change. High-quality, in-person technical assistance can help homeowners, businesses, and farmers navigate this complexity so that they can make wise investment decisions that will save them money and reduce emissions over the long term. Currently, such in-person and high-quality assistance is only being offered to the largest customers. CEDI believes all customers have a right to such assistance.
- Increased Funding and More Effective Assistance for Low-Income Households. A shocking percentage of Iowa households live at or near the federal poverty level. For example, Alliant Energy reports that nearly 25% of the ~411,000 households they serve have household incomes that are 0-200% of the federal poverty level. Another 18% of the households they serve have incomes that range from 200-300% of the federal poverty level. Despite these facts, only 7% of the company’s proposed five-year energy efficiency plan is focused on the needs of these households with much higher energy burdens. CEDI will argue that more funds be spent on low-income households and in more successful ways than they are spent currently.
IUB review of Alliant’s application for approval of their next five-year energy efficiency plan has already begun (EEP-2022-0150). Here are links to CEDI’s Direct Testimony and related Exhibits as well as links to CEDI’s Rebuttal Testimony and Exhibits in this docket.
IUB review of Mid-American Energy Company’s proposed plan (EEP-2022-0156) will begin in June, and the review of Black Hills Energy’s proposed plan (EEP-2022-0225) will begin in the fall. CEDI testimony in these dockets will be filed later this year. Use the links above to locate CEDI’s filings in these dockets.
Energy efficiency is a great example of “green meeting green.” Energy efficiency puts more money in our pockets and reduces our consumption of fossil fuels, which produce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
Posted: April 28, 2023
