Six New Decarbonization White Papers
On behalf of the Southern California Edison Company, CEG was paid to lead the writing and policy analysis on the following six new white papers:
City of Lewisville, Texas…New Sustainability Action Plan
CEG was hired to write a new Sustainability Action Plan for this growing north Texas community of 100,000. In addition to suggesting final strategies and writing the actual Plan, CEG helped lead related public workshops.
Electrification Revenue Impact on Local Governments Report
CEG delivered a report that quantifies the likely fiscal impacts for California local governments as they decarbonize in response to State of California goals. Local governments are moving away from natural gas to electricity and electrifying more of their end-uses to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, address increasing safety concerns and improve indoor air quality. This important work involved calculating franchise fee, utility user tax (UUT) and other energy tax trade-offs that occur under different electrification scenarios.
Energy GHG-Reduction Strategies White Paper Guide for the Southern California Edison Company (SCE)
CEG was hired to research and compile an exhaustive list of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies available through buildings and codes and standards policies, along with an implementation timeline for making many of them a reality in the Southern California Edison (SCE) Company service territory. To their credit, SCE is aggressively pursuing strategies to reduce GHGs as part of a new, Company-wide focus. The White Paper was a companion piece to the Company’s 2017 release of the Clean Power and Electrification Pathway initiative.
CEG Won a Major RFP to Prepare Long-term Solar and Storage Strategy for Boulder, Colorado
The City of Boulder needed to get from the 20 Megawatts (MW) of solar to 50 MW by 2020, and 100 MW by 2030, so they hired CEG to help them figure out how to do it--both as a current customer of Xcel energy, and as a municipal utility if their efforts to municipalize move forward. CEG shared more than 50 solar Best Practices with City staff and local leaders, ranging from new PPAs for city buildings, on-bill financing, utilizing parking lot structures, establishing new Community Solar program(s), and starting aggressive new solar programs for the C & I sectors which comprise ~75-percent of the electricity load. Click here access the City of Boulder website and view the final reports.
100-Percent Renewable Energy Supply RoadMap and Strategic Energy Planning Services
As the primary expert and team lead on local government renewable energy Best Practices CEG helped win competitive RFPs to design new renewable energy strategies for the cities of Santa Barbara, California and Lafayette, Colorado and the County of Santa Barbara to take them to 100-percent renewable energy goals. CEG’s analysis and most of our draft energy strategies were ultimately included by each of these local governments in their final roadmaps.
“Value of Solar” Project in Colorado
CEG was hired by the Governor and the Colorado State Energy Office Director, Jeff Ackerman to facilitate and help negotiate common ground and agreement between the solar industry and Xcel Energy. Despite necessary legal posturing by both sides due to ongoing legal filings, CEG helped devise a solution over a few months, and led a group of statewide industry and utility leaders through an in-depth discussion on the “true value of solar.” To read press related to this group, please see the articles in the Denver Business Journal,
GreenTech Media and the Denver Post.
Statewide IOU Codes and Standards Team: Local Government Support
CEG spends the majority of our time in 2022 helping Southern California local governments design and implement new electrification policies which reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This full-time work is supported by the Southern California Edison Company, considered by many to be the number one electric utility in the world.
The Sustainable Energy Roadmap Project: San Joaquin Valley, California
California’s San Joaquin Valley is ground-zero for large scale solar project encroachment on America’s most prized agricultural land. The stakes are high not only for the Valley but for the more than 50-percent of Americans that rely on this food source. CEG provided technical assistance to Valley local governments over two years, and CEG was the lead author on a highly acclaimed 70-page White Paper which documents the major public policy issues related to this important topic. For the formal press release on the White Paper, please click here: Press Release
CEG Authored an Innovative Comprehensive Renewable Energy Plan (CREP) for San Diego County
CEG and a team of colleagues completed a Comprehensive Renewable Energy Plan (CREP) for the County of San Diego. Purposes of the CREP include identifying opportunities for increased renewable energy production while protecting habitat-sensitive land and identifying investment patterns needed for future planning scenarios involving an increasing State Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that goes from 33% to 50%, to 75% and 100%. CEG led a year-long review of national Best Practices for this innovative project.
White Paper on Hydraulic Fracking
CEG wrote and assembled a White Paper on hydraulic fracturing, and then helped local government representatives in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia decide on ways to address the impacts related to this relatively new practice within the oil and gas industry. CEG also helped design a subsequent survey for the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. CEG led the team writing on the report, “Local, Regional, and State Government Perspectives on Hydraulic Fracturing-Related Oil and Gas Development.”
Regional Energy Planning in Ohio
CEG led a regional energy planning initiative in the State of Ohio with the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). This resulted in a major report outlining the economic development opportunities for Ohio associated with moving to cleaner energy resources.
The Role of Building Integrated Photovoltaics in the U.S. Market
CEG surveyed and interviewed regulators, installers/venders and builders in five states for BIRA Integrated Clean Energy Solutions in an effort to discover major barriers, workarounds and ways to increase market share for building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). CEG then wrote a report summarizing the market opportunities.
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CEG was the lead author for Version II of the Local Government Energy Assurance Guidelines, which helps local governments build resiliency into their energy infrastructure.
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CEG wrote and co-produced two energy films. You can find both films on by clicking here.
CEG worked for the U.S. Department of Energy through the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and was responsible for motivating utilities, States and local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to increase their efforts in the energy efficiency and renewable energy workforce areas.
CEG’s was hired as the primary Green Job Developer on behalf of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) on an $8 million U.S. Department of Labor-funded project. Mr. Burmeister helped manage the project, and was responsible for finding solar, wind, and energy efficiency jobs for the unemployed in Ohio, Arizona and Texas.