Last week Xcel Energy announced that Boulder is about to become the nation’s first “Smart Grid” city. What could this mean for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission programs in Boulder — and will it take effect in time to help the city meet its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol goals, due in 2012?

Smart Grid is Xcel’s program to try to make the electric power grid more efficient and resilient through the use of information technology. According to the utility’s Smart Grid strategy and vision, “Our long-term smart grid concept imagines an evolved energy grid with layers of functional, sophisticated intelligence built in intelligence that will foster communication and integration among the grid’s various components and processes. This would enable the grid to better monitor, manage, and even balance itself.”

…Not a bad idea. In recent years, problems with how the national and regional power grids operate have caused or exacerbated major blackouts.

Locally, this could mean that Boulderites might be able to access richer information about their information use, so they can make smarter decisions about when and how to use power…

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The Colorado Carbon Fund (a new carbon offset program from the Governor’s Energy Office that will fund energy efficiency, renewable energy and greenhouse gas mitigation projects throughout the state) is ramping up. On Feb. 14 the state issued a request for proposals seeking a “third party administrator” — a company that will manage the CCF on behalf of the state.

Interested parties will have to move fast. Inquiries are due 5 pm, Feb 29 (this Friday).

Recently I spoke with CCF program manager Susan Innis, who explained the process of deciding which projects will get funded — and who will buy the offset credits to pay for the projects…
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One of the lucky ones: I’ve got my Ecopass. Where’s yours?

I’ve been chatting with Boulderites about energy, transportation, and CO2 emissions issues, and I keep hearing a recurring plea: “I’d love to get an Ecopass. I’d use it. Why can’t I get one?”

The attraction of an RTD Ecopass, which provides a lower-cost annual pass good for unlimited rides on all regular RTD transit services, is obvious. The cost savings are enormous.

How cheap is it? My neighborhood (Greenbelt Meadows, in the SE corner of Boulder), participates in the Neighborhood Ecopass (NECO) program. This year I contributed $120 for my pass, since I’m car-free so my RTD usage is high. My neighbors contributed an average of about $75-85/household. If I was to buy 12 one-month RTD passes (at $144/each, to cover the same transit options as Ecopasses), I’d pay a whopping $1728 per year!

The catch: Currently, Ecopasses are available only to employees of participating companies, or to neighborhoods that can generate sufficient participation among residents. Unfortunately, most Boulderites are not eligible for Ecopasses — which has led to significant levels of “Ecopass Envy” in some quarters.

This program appears to have succeeded in generating significant interest in using public transit more. However, if so many of the people whose interest has been piqued by Ecopasses cannot get them, the question becomes: Is this program undercutting RTD’s mission by creating more frustration than ridership?

Conflicting priorities at RTD may be hobbling the Ecopass program — thus preventing it from achieving its full potential to cut carbon emissions, relieve traffic congestion, and other benefits.

Here’s what I’ve learned about this problem so far, and what some Boulderites are doing to try to expand access to Ecopasses…

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Colorado.gov

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.

Last Thursday, the University of Colorado, Boulder, was one of more than 1,000 colleges, universities, high schools and other educational institutions around the U.S. to participate in Focus the Nation’s national teach-in day.

Despite morning transit hassles caused by very icy roads after the mini-blizzard of the night before, I was able to make it over to the campus to check out a couple of CU’s events. (Here’s the full lineup of CU events.) I was a little late getting to Governor Bill Ritter’s kick-off talk, but I did catch most of his remarks.

As expected, Ritter touted the state’s Climate Action Plan, blue ribbon panel on transportation, his 2007 executive orders on greening state government, and (of course) the CU student government’s recent decision to shift $50,000 from wind energy credits to as-yet-unspecified carbon offset projects to be funded by the newly unveiled Colorado Carbon Fund.

The Governor’s Q&A was a bit more revealing…
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• FACTBOX-U.S. candidates Obama, Huckabee on key issues | Reuters
  Huckabee: Backs an unspecified cap on carbon emissions and 35 mile-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard by 2020; favors alternative energy and energy independence. Obama: Wants to lead an effort to impose caps on carbon emissions and prompt U.S. automakers

  (tags: carbon+tax , carbon+offsets, fuel+efficiency, Huckabee, Obama, elections)

• Paying People for the Costs of Climate Control (Part 2) - Dot Earth - Climate Change and Sustainability - New York Times Blog
  Peter Barnes cites problems with a straight tax on carbon content of fuels.

  (tags: carbon+tax tax)

• What America Must Do: Step on the Gas
  The first thing the next American president should do upon taking office is to insist that the U.S. Congress pass a huge increase in gas taxes. (Subscription)

  (tags: carbon+tax elections president) (more…)

• Paying the Cost of Climate Control - Dot Earth - Climate Change and Sustainability - New York Times Blog

  The main problem with carbon taxes is that they don’t physically limit carbon emissions; they only raise the price. Since we’re effectively addicted to fossil fuels, the tax has to get very high to persuade us to cut emissions by 80 percent.

  (tags: carbon tax)

• Peak Food » Blog Archive » New EU emission targets will help

  The European Commission is proposing that car makers will be charged up to 95 Euros for every g/km over 120 g/km emitted by their entire model range for every car sold.

  (tags: carbon+tax ,)

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• Wind-power credit’s effectiveness in helping environment debated : County News : Boulder Daily Camera
  “Sound too good to be true? A growing number of skeptics thinks so. Critics argue that renewable-energy credits — the commodity the cards actually represent — are just a way for people to absolve their environmental guilt by throwing money at it.”
  (tags: Boulder energy wind renewables credits controversy skepticism media newspaper)

• Economic View: One Answer to Global Warming: A New Tax » Science News » BuzzTracker News Headlines
  Roundup of posts and articles: “The case for using a carbon tax to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”
  (tags: carbon+tax economics discussio)

• Clive Thompson Thinks: Desktop Orb Could Reform Energy Hogs
  “Used Orbs to signal changes in electrical rates: glow green when the grid was underused (electricity cheaper), red during peak hours. Bought 120 of them, handed them out to customers. Within weeks, Orb users reduced their peak-period energy use by 40%.”
  (tags: energy communication habits tools psychology environment motivation)

• National Energy Research Database
  “National Energy Research Database (NERD): free online research library for renewable and conventional energy. Compiles academic studies, technical reports and research articles from govt and nonprofits . Us My Folder feature manages your search results.”
  (tags: research resource database energy renewables)