In this Issue:
- MSWG Conference
- E-Waste Summit
- DEQ’s Wallace Awarded
- Air Quality Board
- PowerForward Kickoff
- Calendar of Events
Newsletter Links:
Sponsored by the
Utah Department of
Environmental Quality
In this Issue:
Newsletter Links:
Sponsored by the
Utah Department of
Environmental Quality
Officials offer Cool Ways to Conserve
Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. is taking on the heat in order to meet his statewide goal of a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency by 2015. On May 30, he signed an executive order directing state employees to heed PowerForward email alerts that signal the need to conserve electricity in the heat of the summer.
“This could have been a proclamation or a declaration,” Huntsman said. “Instead, it is an executive order that I hope translates to everyone in the state that we mean business.”
Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. signs
the PowerForward Executive Order
On June 1 the PowerForward conservation program kicked into high gear with a red-light green-light system that signals the peak times between noon and 8 p.m. when Utahns should put the brakes on turning up their air conditioners. On comfortably warm days a “Green” light triggers a message encouraging Utahns to use common sense conservation such as turning off the lights when not in use. On days when temperatures are pushing triple digits, a “Yellow” or “Red” light asks Utahns to conserve even more because that’s when demand for electricity is highest and most expensive.
“The program started in 2001 as a simple alert system. It has progressed significantly to a broader program aimed at promoting an ethic of electricity conservation in Utah,” noted Dianne Nielson, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, which manages the program in partnership with electric companies. “The Web site www.powerforward.utah.gov will be the source of information. It also will provide a mechanism to send an email alert. There will be one alert for the Wasatch Front and another for Utah’s Dixie region, recognizing the needs and demands are different.”
PowerFoward does work, officials said. In a given year there has been a savings of up to 100 megawatts of power, which equates to enough power for 70,000 homes, Nielson added. “That’s a big difference.”
Rich Walje, president of Utah Power, couldn’t agree more. “Frankly, in a residential home, about half of the electric energy use is used to cool something. … The reason we like PowerForward, as a utility, is it actually works. The historic savings is basically the equivalent of half of a peaking power plant. By not using that energy, we also forgo investment in power plants.”
The Huntsman Administration has made PowerForward an integral part of its energy efficiency policy.
“PowerForward represents an essential piece of our energy efficiency platform,” said Laura Nelson, energy adviser for Huntsman. “It supports the necessary private-public partnership and it is an important educational tool that will help meet the state’s energy efficiency goal of 20 percent improvement by 2015.”
The executive order requires all cabinet members to submit annual reports to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding actions taken in response to PowerForward alerts and efforts to achieve the state’s 2015 energy efficiency goals. DEQ is to prepare a comprehensive report on each agency’s efforts for the Governor annually.