There?s general agreement that the best way for Marylanders to save on energy costs is to cut electricity use, and Gov. Martin O?Malley?s energy summit Wednesday had a panel of experts hashing out how to do that. William Prindle of American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy said O?Malley took the necessary first step in reducing consumption three weeks ago when he set the target of cutting electricity use in the state by 15 percent in 2015.
“Maryland had no goals on what to do about this issue,” Prindle said. “Certainly markets will deliver the solution, but you need to have the goals.”
The panel of 11 representing industry and consumer groups split on whether the utilities and energy generators or electricity consumers offer the biggest savings, but there was general agreement both are needed.
“We want to be giving the consumer all the power to reduce their consumption,” O?Malley said, but utilities should be allowed to make “greater profits for reducing consumption.”
One of those methods is to permit “decoupling,” as the Public Service Commission did last week for Pepco, allowing the company to make the same profits even if it sells less energy. Under current rules, power suppliers make more money the more electricity they sell. But Paula Carmody, the people?s counsel who represents consumer interests at the PSC, said she and fellow consumer advocates in other states “believe that decoupling equates to guaranteed profits.” She opposed the move.
James Ajello of Reliant Energy said that in reducing consumption, “there is nothing more impactful than letting consumers see the real prices of energy.” Ajello and Baltimore Gas and Electricity President Kenneth DeFontes expressed strong support for metering that allows companies to charge more for electricity use at times of peak demand.
“Give the consumers the tools they need to use less energy,” Ajello said.
PSC Chairman Steven Larsen said that in California, when consumers had the information at what energy cost at peak times, “they responded dramatically,” and reduced their use.
“There is nothing that solves all the problems,” said Kathleen Hogan, in charge of the Energy Star efficiency program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But overall, “energy efficiency is cheaper than building the next power plant.”
