Amy Gahran

Electrician and entrepreneur Jeff Jones, wiring up my Saver Switch today.

Several weeks ago, Xcel Energy called me to see if I wanted to sign up for their Saver Switch program. That’s when they install a remote-controlled switch on my outdoor central air conditioning unit, which they use to cycle my cooling off for up to 15 minutes at a time on up to 15 hot summer days per year. This helps the utility manage peak electricity demand and hopefully avoid blackouts or brownouts. For that, I get a $25 credit on my September or October utility bill each year I have the switch.

That sounded like free money to me, so I said sure! Today, my Saver Switch finally was installed.

The installer was Jeff Jones, an electrician with Hunt Electric (Xcel’s installation contractor). I had a great conversation with Jeff — turns out he’s got a local business that specializes in renewable energy and off-grid solutions for residential and commercial buildings. He’s trying to convince the state of Colorado to offer more incentives for developers to include renewable measures like photovoltaics in new-construction housing developments. He also dabbles in biofuels, especially ethanol-powered vehicles.

Here are some local energy tidbits Jones shared with me…

Amy Gahran

Welcome Jeff Jones, the newest Boulder Carbon Tax Tracker volunteer!

Jones said that homeowners are often concerned about the maintenance cost for solar. He’s got an idea for that. “If you put solar throughout an entire new development, the homeowner’s association could purchase a maintenance plan from a contractor that would cover upkeep and repairs of the solar systems. That cost could be rolled into the HOA fees that homeowners pay. But the homeowners would be saving money on their energy bills, so it’d probably be a net wash or even a gain for them.”

I asked Jones what he thought about the potential for renewable energy measures for existing buildings within the city of Boulder. Keep in mind that most of the land within city limits is already built out, and — thanks to our greenbelt — this city can’t really sprawl.

“I think renewables have a lot of potential where you’re doing a complete renovation, tearing out the floor and walls” he said. “Or on big buildings with flat roofs. They’re ideal for solar, and you have more freedom to adjust the panel orientation than on your average house. Those kinds of existing buildings are more cost effective for renewables.”

Amy Gahran

My new Xcel Energy Saver Switch, the box and the guts. It’s controlled by a pager signal.

As Jones and I gabbed about energy issues (we’re both longtime energy geeks), I mentioned the Boulder Carbon Tax Tracker project to him. I thought he’d make a great contributor given his decades of hands-on experience with energy and building projects in Colorado and elsewhere. He agreed — and so we’ll probably be seeing some contributions from his perspective here soon.

You can volunteer, too! If you’re in or near Boulder, Colorado and are interested in energy, the environment, or how local government spends our taxes, we’d love to have your help! This volunteer community journalism and discussion project explores what Boulder’s really getting for its carbon tax dollars, how we’re progressing toward the city’s goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and whether it makes sense for a local government to address global climate change.

We need people from a diverse range of perspectives and expertise to help with writing, research, photos, video, audio, interviews, event coverage, and more. We’re also forming a panel of expert advisors representing key players from all sides of Boulder’s carbon tax and climate action efforts.

Interested? You can volunteer online or e-mail Amy Gahran at amy@gahran.com Thanks!

…Now, I’ll be interested to see if I still get my Saver Switch bill credit even if I don’t run my air conditioning at all this summer, thanks to my new attic fan…

This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 7:08 pm and is filed under About this project, Buildings, Commercial, Residential, Utilities, Your stories, renewable energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.