Brittle Power- PARTS 1-3 (+Notes) - Natural Capitalism Solutions

Chapter Seventeen: Achieving Resilience 331commercial and industrial buildings, are now being financed by a new entrepreneurialsystem. Limited partners who seek both cash flow and tax sheltersteam up with a general partner who manages the investment and with projectdevelopers and operators (these may also be the general partner). For example,the National Conservation Corporation obtains third-party financing for amass of individual projects. The company identifies an unexploited market inenergy saving which will save somebody money. It can negotiate with a utility,under independent arbitration, to determine how energy can be saved, howmuch, at what cost, and at what financial saving to the utility. Once the companyreaches agreement with the utility (approved by the state regulatory commission),the company makes audits and installs efficiency improvements freeof charge, then gets repaid by the utility out of its own monetary savings untilthe company’s investors have been paid off. All parties—shareholders, ratepayers,and building occupants—thereby benefit; the financial benefit is splitamong them. National Conservation has started such a pilot program in athousand homes in New Jersey, with completion scheduled for mid-1982. 131Some energy-intensive industries are already seeking similar ways to get relativelycheap energy by making or financing energy-saving investments andsplitting the savings either with the building owners directly or with the utility.Energy services deliveryA few years ago, one of the recognized barriers to building energyresilience was the lack of “outreach”—information on what opportunities wereavailable and help in implementing them. The above examples, and the successof specialized “energy management companies” (such as Energy Clinic,Inc.), “house doctors,” and other private services, suggest that “outreach” israpidly emerging as a profitable venture. It also appears to be focusing less onsimply providing information and more on delivering a complete “packaged”service to reduce the “hassle factor” or making detailed arrangements tochoose, install, and check unfamiliar technologies. Some such services are alsoemerging in the public sector, such as Portland Energy Conservation, Inc.(PECI), established by the city of Portland, Oregon as a one-stop “efficiencyshopping center” for businesses and householders.An even simpler and more fundamental approach is beginning to changeprofoundly the nature of the utility business. Its premise is that people wantenergy services such as comfort, light, and mobility, rather than electricity, oil,or natural gas. Consequently, those services can be sold directly by an EnergyService Corporation, which would take responsibility for determining thecheapest method of providing them. If conventional utilities do not evolve inthis direction, they can expect increasing competition from private firms which