(540) 343-4496
Stay Dry, Save Money, Look Great

 

Our Roofing, Lighting and Building Washing Services

We offer a wide range of services, including:

• Sprayed-On Polyurea Roofing
• Sprayed-On Polyurethane Foam Roofing
• Traditional Roofing
• Garden Roofing
• Patch and Repair
• Energy Efficient Lighting
• Roof & Building Cleaning

Energy Efficiency News

 

$933,000 in federal stimulus

September 1, 2010
W.Va. announces energy efficiency grants
By The Associated Press
The Associated Press Advertiser
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The governor's office says seven West Virginia counties are going to split more than $933,000 in federal stimulus funds for energy efficiency projects at government buildings.

The money is going to a region including Barbour, Braxton, Gilmer, Lewis, Randolph, Tucker and Upshur counties.

Among the projects are a $166,500 heating system replacement at the Barbour County Courthouse and a $171,000 heat pump system to help heat and cool Buckhanon's city hall.

Electric Rates Compared

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Virginia’s average price of electricity for residential customers is the second highest behind Maryland among six states in the region, a survey shows.
According to a comparison presented at Tuesday’s meeting of the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Work Group, the average price of electricity to residential customers, in cents per kilowatt hour, in March was 10.21 cents in Virginia and 14.56 cents in Maryland.
For other nearby states, the comparable figures were 9.97 cents in North Carolina, 8.54 cents in Tennessee, 8.41 cents in West Virginia and 7.57 cents in Kentucky, the comparison shows. The U.S. average was 11.20 cents.
“It’s interesting that prior to 2007, Virginia typically had rates lower than surrounding states,” said Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Collinsville, who formed the work group in response to last winter’s outcry over rising Appalachian Power Co. electricity rates. The survey includes averages of all electric rates in Virginia, not specifically Appalachian’s.
In 2007, Virginia changed its laws on regulating electric utilities.
“What’s driving that (higher rates since 2007) are the RACs,” or rate adjustment clauses for specific expenses such as transmission costs, fuel and meeting environmental requirements, he said.
So while Appalachian Power is correct in saying it has not had a base rate increase since 2007, it has had the RAC increases instead, Armstrong said.
The work group is studying the evolution of electric utility regulation in Virginia during the past decade, Virginia’s current regulatory law and regulations in other states. Armstrong said it will meet again in mid- or late- July to begin discussing how to change and/or amend the state law on electric regulations.
He hopes to put final touches on that proposal at the group’s August meeting and have General Assembly members who are part of the group propose the legislation in September at an anticipated General Assembly special session on governmental reform.
Armstrong said neither identifying the reason for rising rates nor carrying proposed legislation through the General Assembly is easy.
“It’s so complicated,” he said, and often is not explained to legislators on the floor of the House of Delegates.
His assessment of the problem at this point is that generally a rate of return on an investment is based on risk, with a higher risk yielding a higher return. But with utilities that are monopolies, the government — not the marketplace — sets the rate of return, he said.
Appalachian Power is guaranteed to recoup what it spends on generation, new plants, the environment, equipment, fuel and so on through the rate adjustment clauses, he said.
“Then we come in and set the rate of return and ignore” that the utility is essentially guaranteed that its costs will be covered, Armstrong said.
“On top of that, there is a floor” on electric utilities’ rate of return, he said. Before 1999, the State Corporation Commission could set whatever rate was appropriate, he has explained, but now it cannot go any lower than the average of a peer group of utilities in the Southeast.
It is as if the utility has the safety of a certificate of deposit but the rate of return of a higher-risk stock market investment, he said.
None of this was explained when the utilities’ regulation was changed in 2007, Armstrong said.
“No one knew to ask the question. Now we’re trying to unbreak the egg,” he added.

 

Report Signals Rebound in Energy Efficiency Spending

 

Katherine Tweed : April 20, 2010

The Energy Efficiency Indicator found that energy efficiency projects are on the rise, but many organizations still lack carbon reduction strategies.

Investment in energy efficiency may be rebounding in 2010, according to the fourth annual Energy Efficiency Indicator released on Monday by Johnson Controls and the International Facility Management Association.

The EEI report surveyed more than 1,400 executives and managers in North America who are responsible for making investments and managing energy in commercial buildings. Despite limited capital, 60 percent said they were planning operating expenditures in efficiency programs over the next year, up from 55 percent in 2009.

Other highlights from the survey found:

• Energy cost savings continues to be the most important factor for efficiency upgrades, with 97 percent of respondents reporting that they considered cost savings to be significant.
• Fourteen percent of respondents said they had a publicly stated greenhouse gas reduction goal.
• Despite the impasse at Copenhagen, 75 percent of those surveyed still think some sort of carbon legislation is likely in the next year in the U.S.
• Nearly 50 percent require a less-than-three-year payback for energy efficiency projects.
• Forty percent of those surveyed don't know or have not yet prioritized their strategies for reducing their organization's greenhouse gas emissions.
• Energy efficiency in buildings was by far the top strategy to reduce carbon emissions.
• One-third of respondents are aiming for green building certification for new construction projects.
• The retail industry is lagging, with only 26 percent saying they had plans for efficiency projects over the next year.
• Retrofitting lighting systems was the most popular efficiency measure.
• The second most popular efficiency measure was educating employees.
• On average, respondents expect energy prices to jump 7 percent this year.
• Capital was the largest barrier to implementing energy efficiency programs.

Although some measures, such as the importance of energy efficiency in new projects, were down in 2010, overall investment in retrofitting and efficiency remained flat or increased from the same time last year.

"It's a very challenging economy, yet overall spending was about flat," said Dave Myers, president of Johnson Controls Building Efficiency business, "so I think it demonstrates [. . .] that energy efficiency is here to stay."

There's still much more that can be done, however. Many organizations still seem to be just picking the low-hanging fruit when it comes to efficiency, and the majority of respondents did not have a plan or haven't prioritized a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"If we can build greater awareness, we can have a much greater impact," said Don Young, vice president of communications at International Facility Management Association.

Experts at Johnson Controls expect to see investment continue to grow through 2010 alongside the rollouts of smart building and smart grid technologies that will allow building managers to make real-time decisions to move beyond changing light bulbs and engage in additional energy efficient practices.

"ASP solutions1111 Shenandoah Ave., Roanoke, VA 24017 |Industrial / Commercial Roofing
" Sprayed-On Polyurea Roofing | Sprayed-On Polyurethane Foam Roofing | Garden Roofing |Patch and Repair |Energy Efficient Lighting|

Roof & Building Washing