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CALIFORNIA ACCELERATES ENERGY SAVINGS INITIATIVES
San Francisco-Based Nexant, Inc. Helping Utilities Implement New Programs
May 3, 2006---San Francisco, CA---Already one of the nation's leading proponents of energy efficiency and conservation, California is actively promoting new policies to encourage even greater energy efficiency. And the state is not merely talking the talk-over the next two years, California will invest an estimated $670 million a year in energy efficiency programs, a figure that may reach $850 million a year by 2009.
The attention being given to energy efficiency issues has increased significantly following a January 2005 ruling by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the agency charged with overseeing the state's energy sector. The ruling established investor-owned utilities as the administrators of the state's "public goods charge" fund that pays for energy efficiency programs, making those utilities responsible for achieving aggressive energy management goals and directing the utilities to make energy efficiency a top priority.
"No state has ever placed energy efficiency at the forefront of energy policy in this manner, or has committed the level of resources that California has to meet the goal of optimizing energy efficiency investments," the CPUC stated in its 2005 ruling. Thus far, investments in utility-led energy management programs support this statement, with an average of $670 million per year earmarked for 2006-2008 and $850 million a year authorized for 2009-2011.
One company playing a critical role in the drive for increased energy efficiency-both in California and throughout the U.S.-is Nexant, Inc., a global energy consulting firm headquartered in San Francisco. Nexant designs, develops, and manages state- and/or utility-sponsored energy efficiency and energy management programs in California, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, and New York. Additionally, Nexant works with government agencies, energy end-users, and energy service companies to promote and implement energy conservation in all energy-use sectors.
In California, Nexant is working with utilities to develop and deliver energy management programs for customers; helping utilities market and promote their energy efficiency and energy management programs; and measuring and verifying the effectiveness of these utility-sponsored programs. To date, Nexant has helped utilities and utility customers across the country save millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. This savings allows industrial, commercial, and residential customers to consume less electricity, thereby enabling utilities to reduce the amount of power they must generate to meet consumer demand. Equally important, the energy conserved through Nexant's efforts eliminates the generation and emission of millions of tons of CO2, the primary greenhouse gas causing global warming.
"The CPUC's leadership has been instrumental in establishing the California Energy Action Plan's 'loading order' of energy resources in which energy efficiency resources are the preferred means of meeting our growing energy needs," said Terry Fry, a Nexant vice president who currently manages several energy efficiency programs for California's major utilities. "Investments in energy efficiency resources not only help us maintain a more reliable power grid, but also bring substantial benefits to both the economy and the environment."
ABOUT NEXANT
Nexant's products and services help clients solve critical strategic and operational challenges in several key areas: electric power, energy management, energy technology, retail and wholesale power markets, enterprise risk management, chemicals and petrochemicals, and oil and gas. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA and maintains offices in London, U.K.; Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; White Plains, NY; Washington, D.C.; Houston, TX; Madison, WI; Boulder, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; Phoenix, AZ; and Los Angeles, CA. The company is owned by a select group of investors and Nexant management and employees. Nexant® is a proprietary trademark of Nexant, Inc.
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