The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has adopted a Final Order extending Pennsylvania’s Act 129, which set energy savings goals for the Commonwealth. The order creates new goals for the period from June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2016.
Under the order, each electric utility has been given its own energy savings goal, ranging from 1.6 percent for West Penn Power to 2.9 percent for PECO, with a statewide average of 2.3 percent over the three-year period. The Commissioners based the individual utility goals on a statewide evaluator’s market potential study.
Act 129 has been estimated as saving Pennsylvania electric consumers more than $270 million a year, while saving costs of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. No peak demand reduction goals were set in the order. The PUC and evaluators will be assessing the cost-effectiveness of the programs already in place first, with a decision on continuation of the peak demand goals expected next spring.
The order requires each utility to offer at least one whole building energy savings program to all residential and small commercial customers. And utilities meeting their energy savings goals ahead of schedule are required to continue investing in energy efficiency programs as long as funding remains available. These “excess savings” would be counted toward future goals set by the PUC.